In Part 1 of this series, taking a look back at the history and evolution of Petersen's 4-Wheel & Off-Road's "Ultimate Adventure" event, we recalled how the event began in 1999 and then evolved over the next few years into what is essentially the same template the current staff follows to this day. This time, we're looking at UA2005 through UA2009, a period in which the vehicular bombast of the official UA Vehicle Builds increased, as did the level of terrain the event tackled and the grueling schedule. In short, Ultimate Adventure had become comfortable in its dirt-drenched, mud-soaked skin, and was firmly out in front of any similar copycats that tried to duplicate this intrinsically special event. Ultimate Adventure ties the most epic routes together with insane levels of 'wheeling, incredibly capable off-road machines, and a demand for road-day endurance that only a select few are able to meet.

The timing of the UA is great for long days, but where it hit in this era—smack over the Fourth of July holiday—didn't do much to garner cool, comfortable weather. And given the event's frequent navigation to southern latitudes, hot and sticky weather would become a hallmark of UA for years to come. But that's just one of the reasons why the event's first rule is "no whining." Another reason is that long, drawn-out days behind the wheel can tax the human brain and psyche even if you are on the off-road trip of a lifetime. Keeping spirits up is one big reason why points of interest, cool side-trips, and road-day 'wheeling made their way into the UA template. For UA2005, the 21 rigs in attendance kicked off in the steamy town of Seymour, Missouri, and left air conditioning, uninterrupted sleep, and boredom in the rearview.

Route Recap: Seymour, Missouri (Southern Missouri Off Road Ranch); Fayetteville, Arkansas (Outlaw Adventures Off-Road Park); Clayton, Oklahoma (Rock Creek Off-Road Park); Poteau, Oklahoma (Axle Breaker trail).

Official Vehicle: The Ultimate K10 was a stepside '85 Chevy pickup with a RamJet engine, Offroad Design Doubler, 1-ton axles, and 39-inch BFGoodrich Krawlers that was created under the careful tutelage and scrutiny of staffer David Kennedy.

Notable Notes: Tom Boyd installed a fiberglass pickup front clip on his early Bronco, and for some reason flopped the rig on its passenger side several times on several different trails. The terrain and 'wheeling were intense and took the UA trail-days to an entirely new level.

Time marches on, and with it, so too does technology. This was the first year expanded coverage of UA began on the magazine's website. This meant dragging along an additional staffer to man the uploads, but with over 20 vehicles in tow, what's another body here or there, right? After the super-sweltering heat and humidity of Missouri and Oklahoma the previous year, the move to Idaho promised some drier air, if not cooler temps. After the requisite tech inspection, some pitched in to help staffer Fred Williams, who was literally still bolting parts onto the official FJ Cruiser buildup in the parking lot. Last-minute thrashes have always been a UA staple, but test-driving the official vehicle that's gonna lead an event of 20-plus rigs over 1,000 miles and climb 15-foot waterfalls in the process … that's entirely a UA thing too!

Route Recap: Boise, Idaho (Rattlesnake Alley trail); Elko, Nevada (Gas Tank Alley trail).

Official Vehicle: With Toyota back as the title sponsor of UA2006 to promote its then-new FJ Cruiser, Fred Williams took charge of overseeing the buildup and installation of a linked front suspension to support a solid axle and 39-inch BFGoodrich Krawlers. The green paint and overall shape earned the Ultimate FJ the nickname "Ninja Turtle" around the office.

Notable Notes: Some super-technical rockcrawling yielded plenty of sheetmetal carnage and a flop here and there. It was also the third year running that "Hawaiian shirt Wednesday" was a thing, after participants donned Rick Pewe's favorite style of clothing in honor of his birthday, which landed on a Wednesday during UA2004.

Yeeehaw! UA2007 kicked off in the Lone Star state, and given that everything is bigger in Texas, it was only fitting that the official vehicle of UA2007 was a four-door JK Wrangler sitting atop a chopped and modded Ram diesel chassis (more on that below). The "Cowboy Style" event that year proved to the 'wheeling world that Texas has some upper-level terrain that tests the mettle of even the most experienced 'wheelers. With everything from steep, rocky ledge-climbs to technical rockcrawling and bottomless mud pits, this UA offered a little bit of almost every kind of terrain between the several-hundred-mile road-days.

Route Recap: Gilmer, Texas (Barnwell Mountain OHV area); Huntsville, Texas (General Sam's Off-Road Wilderness Park); Bandera, Texas (Cline Ranch); Utopia, Texas (Trees Ranch); Mason, Texas (Katemcy Rocks).

Official Vehicle: The UAJK was an exercise in excess. Take a brand-new four-door JK Unlimited, drop it off at AEV in Missoula, Montana, slide it under a modified Ram Mega Cab frame, and stab a 325-hp, 610-lb-ft 5.9-liter Cummins turbodiesel and NV4500 transmission between the framerails, then slap it all atop some 42-inch BFGoodrich Krawlers and go 'wheeling in Texas!

Notable Notes:  The 5,500-acre Trees Ranch near Banders, Texas, was a combination off-road park and exotic game ranch. The mud-bog day wreaked havoc on the vehicles, which showed during the ensuing road days as the electrical and cooling systems were plagued with problems. Every fuel stop turned into a water-balloon fight. This was also the year the term "Cronies" was first used in reference to the small team of volunteers who help to herd the UA cats and fix broken stuff.

With UA2008 came some fresh-to-the-event faces on staff, namely Kevin McNulty and Ali Mansour. Ali manned the official buildup of the UAZ71 truck at Off Road Evolution in Fullerton, California, while Rick Pewe did his regular job of prerunning the route and scouting the trails, beginning in South Dakota and winding through beautiful country, heading more or less in a southwesterly direction. The terrain was double-tough, with a rollover by Handsome Fred Perry to set the tone for the week. Big ledges, awesome trails, and Americana galore were on the menu, and, as is the norm now, it all came out in a nice DVD you could purchase and coverage spread across two issues of 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine.

Route Recap: Keystone, South Dakota (Hal Johns trail); Medora, North Dakota (Badlands/Walker and Northwest Passage trails—private ranch); Miles City, Montana (Glendive Short Pine BLM OHV Area); Rangely, Colorado (Megasaurus trail).

Official Vehicle: The UAZ71 was a super-capable '00 GMC Sierra 1500 that received a solid-axle swap with a kingpin Dana 60 front, 14-bolt rear, and Offroad Design NP203/205 doubler to support BFGoodrich's then recently-released 40-inch KM2 Mud-Terrain.

Notable Notes: The carnage this year was higher than usual, with several flops and rollovers, a ton of busted parts, and mechanical issues from fragged axleshafts to electrical issues to snapped suspension links to simple fuel pump failures.

UA 2009 marked the first time the event reused (sort of) a previous official buildup to lead the event. The magazine-owned Super Duty from the 2002 event had been kicking around the office parking lot in varying states of disrepair until staffer Kevin McNulty kindly leaned on Offroad Design to help resurrect the pickup from a problematic nuisance to an ultra-reliable trail-slayer. It came out bitchin' and mopped the trails on UA2009 with ease. The event kicked-off in Butler, Pennsylvania, the home of the jeep, and meandered, in the haphazard way that only UA can pull off, to the event's finish in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Route Recap: Six Points, Pennsylvania (Outback Off Road Adventure Park); Western Pennsylvania (Grinnik's Coal Mine Trail—private property); Mantau, Ohio (JeepSkool OHV); Somerset, Ohio (Painted Rock Adventure Park); Harrison, Michigan (Rocks and Valleys Off Road Park); Drummond Island Resort, Michigan (Turtle Ridge Off Road Park).

Official Vehicle: The newly dubbed "Ultimate Ranch Truck" was a much-needed refresh of the official UA2002 Super Duty. Offroad Design ditched the dented factory bed for a custom-fabbed ranch-style flatbed. New front sheetmetal, bumper, and a sweet coil-over front suspension rounded-out the majority of the work that Offroad Design did, but the company really left no stone unturned. Aside from a busted factory Sterling rear axleshaft and a Sterling ring-and-pinion, the rig performed one million times better than it had on UA2002. In short: run a 14-bolt, kids.

Notable Notes: Lots of epic water-crossings in the way of a ferry and the Mackinac bridge. Stops of interest included the world's largest Cabela's store.