2009 JEEP JAMBOREE ROAD TRIP SUMMARY...
There are those times when we all are sitting around and looking
through our old wheeling magazines day dreaming and think of how
cool it would be to have the opportunity to just hit the road for a
couple months and take in some of the different wheeling that there
is to be had around the country. This winter the tables are going to
be turned just a bit while myself, my coworker and many of the great
friends and people we met along the way will be looking back on the
two months that we got to spend traveling around the country
wheeling and taking in some of Americas national parks and
treasures.
Jeep Jamboree USA holds over 30 jamborees around the country each
year and this fall myself and my coworker Shawn Gulling had the
opportunity to drive a 2009, 4 door JK Rubicon to attend and work at
7 of these events. For those of you that may not be familiar with
Jeep Jamboree USA I’ll give you a quick bio; the company was started
by the legendary Mark A. Smith (Off Road Hall of Famer) and has been
allowing Jeep owners the opportunity to go on organized trails rides
put on by JJUSA for the past 23 years. Mark started it all back in
1953 with while meeting with friends every year doing trips through
the Rubicon trail just outside of Lake Tahoe in Northern California,
not knowing at the time the fan following or history making events
that were to come.
We
began our trip on Labor Day in Georgetown California (headquarters
of JJUSA) headed for Llano Texas for The Texas Spur. Before
departing on our journey we decided that we would take in as many
sights and see as many national parks across the country as our
route and schedule would permit and just a couple hundred miles into
the trip we were at our first, Yosemite National Park. Unfortunately
sections of the park were on fire and closed so we had to route
ourselves around and only got to see some of the beauty of Yosemite
as we made our way through. Just a few more hours and we entered
Death Valley National Park, appropriately named since it was still
106 degrees when we went across at 5:00 pm on a September evening.
“The Texas Spur” consists of climbing huge granite rocks that are
ironically scattered across the Texas Plains to winding around trees
and across what are normally dry creek and river beds. The trails
are tough enough for carnage and the climbs are steep enough that
you lose sight of the trail, trail guides and everything but the sky
when attempting trails like “Little Moab”.
Leaving Texas we headed back towards Colorado for the next event,
along the way we stopped to see the Great Sand Dunes National Park.
An incredible amount of sand was in an area that didn’t look like
there should be a single grain let alone thousands of square acres
of it. We had to fight the urge to dump the air out of the tires,
engage the lockers and haul ass past the park guards to see just how
far we could get through the dunes in our Jeep. The next stop on our
journey was Mesa Verde National Park; an incredible place with many
reconditioned and original Indian ruins and dwellings that you can
actually walk to and see up close.
The next stop for some wheeling was Ouray, Colorado where the
wheeling takes you through some of the prettiest mountains that
Colorado has to offer, we often hear of the Rocky Mountains being
mentioned but the San Juan’s are an incredible sight to behold
especially when you are at over 13,000 ft. and crossing passes like
Imogene Pass and dropping down into the resort town of Telluride.
The next leg of the journey was our longest stretch of road taking
us across the country to Monticello, New York for the Catskills Jeep
Jamboree. We rolled into Monticello and the first thing that came to
mind was that they had to have some pretty awesome wheeling because
it certainly wasn’t the town or the setting that keeps people coming
back. Ask the local coordinator and he’ll be the first to tell you
about the gangs, shootings, robberies and big city stories that you
would expect to be coming out of the city and not a rural New York
town.
After getting the chance to get out and spend a day on the trail
with the coordinator, guides and participants we enjoyed ourselves
while taking on some of the water crossings, off camber climbs,
twisting and turning through the trees towards a few small rock
gardens and then into a large channel of mud and muck colorfully
named “The Love Canal”. With 18 vehicles in the group and no takers
on being the first to tackle it we decided to take on the challenge
and put our 4 Dr. JK to the test. The Rubicon quickly became
submerged in the stagnant mud hole and began pushing mud like the
front end of the Jeep was outfitted with a snow plow. A few attempts
forward and back we were making good progress until the engine died
from not getting enough air due to a plugged exhaust pipe. A little
bit of winching was needed to get us onto dry ground so we could get
the Jeep running again and back on the trail to finish out the day
and back for dinner and the evening’s festivities.
On
the way from New York to Maine we made our way up through some of
the famous coastal cities like New York City, Newport, Rhode Island
and several little harbor towns as well as the Acadia National Park.
Almost everyone has seen pictures of New England in the fall, Maine
just happened to be the next stop on our tour for the 20th
annual Maine Mountains Jamboree and we happened to be lucky enough
to catch the colors at their peak. Bethel Maine is the epitome of
New England from what we got to see. The small town is incredibly
hospitable and they all look forward to the Jeeps and participants
coming to town even holding a parade on Saturday morning, with all
of the rain this year during the event the citizens were there for
the parade waving at the Jeepers. One of the special treats for the
participants this year was that Mark and Irene Smith showed up for
the event and were available for the people to meet them and get
some autographs.
After Maine it was off to Indiana for the 20th annual
French Lick event, by this time we had a reputation and people knew
that by the time we showed up there was sure to be rain since all of
the previous events had been plagued by rain as soon as we rolled
into town and the sun would almost be guaranteed to shine as soon as
we departed. True to our reputation we brought flash flooding to
Indiana for the weekend throwing a complete kink in the plan the
local coordinator and guides had planned for the participants and
their weekend! With all of the running water on the trails and mud
there were several bent tie rods, broken axles, body damage and
missing fender flares by lunchtime on the first day. By Sunday
morning the sun was out once again and we were on our way to
Williamsburg, Kentucky.
The sixth stop on our round the country, whirl wind tour was much
like the others in the previous month and a half on this trip…rainy!
At this point we were pretty confident that we could either start a
pool to make us some gas money or just bet people at the event that
we could and would predict the weather even if it went against what
the local forecasters were predicting.
On
Friday morning, we decided to run “The Worser Trail”….. That wasn’t
a grammatical error, they really named it that. It was named after
those scouting the trail were told by the land owner that “the
further you go the worser it gets” so the name stuck. The trail was
muddy and had some great rock obstacles, cross axle challenges and
ravines that had to be negotiated to get to climbs with boulders,
roots and mud to add to the challenge and keep things exciting and
interesting. This trail left a few vehicles with body damage, torn
sidewalls and a few other mechanical issues but no one was left
behind.
The folks on “The Commando Trail” were delayed by the conditions and
didn’t get off the trail and back for dinner until almost 9:00 pm
but they were luckier than the folks on “Cliff Hanger”. These poor
people thought they were just going out for a day of wheeling until
they were on their back after lunch only to find that their only way
out had literally been washed away. Cliff Hanger is a trail that you
go halfway and stop for lunch and the only way out is back the way
you came in. The mud holes became so deep from the continuing rains
that sink holes developed and at one point they actually had to cut
down trees to fill the void and build a crossing to get the folks
out. After several other guides gave up the chance to eat dinner and
headed out to assist in the rescue, burning up three winches in the
process the last Jeep was off the trail and headed back to town
around 3:00 am. When the weekend was done the participants went away
happy and had some great stories to tell their friends back home.
Last and final stop was Moab, Utah…… now I could fill several pages
of things to see and do in Moab. For those that have never been
wheeling in Moab it should be right at the top of your bucket list
with the Rubicon Trail. We went out on Poison Spider on Friday which
is one of Moab’s more popular trails with some challenging
obstacles, great views and one of the trails there that has a story
behind it. Part way through the trail there is a trailside monument
that has toys, trinkets and a few other small items that are placed
there by some of the folks traveling the trail. The story goes that
during the pioneer days when people were crossing the area there was
a small child that was bitten by a spider and subsequently died from
the bite and the name was given to the trail. I have no proof or
know of anyone who can verify the story but it makes for a good
trail story for the participants.
Hell’s Revenge was the trail we had picked for Saturday, Hells
Revenge is not the toughest trail out there but it does have some
good challenging ledges there as well as some great scenery, for
those that really want to test the boundaries of their vehicles and
driving capabilities they can hit some of the very tough obstacles
like Hell’s Gate, Tip Over Challenge or any of the Hot Tubs that can
test the very best drivers with the most modified rigs. Those that
want even a little more of a challenge can take on the Escalator
which is a climb that you have a minimal margin of error and are
smart to have a spotter if you want to try and get up it.
Moab was the last Jeep Jamboree on our trip and for the season so
after the event we headed out to see Arches National Park, Capitol
Reef, Bryce Canyon and one of my favorite national parks on the
trip, Zion. All of the parks were worth visiting but I could spend a
week or two just hiking in and around Zion just to take the serenity
of nature’s creation in. One more night of camping and we would be
back in Georgetown to end our trip so we stayed in the Kodachrome
State Park in Utah.
Our last day on the road took us to one more stop on our route which
was Mono Lake right on the Nevada, California border, Mono lake is
10 times saltier than the ocean and the salt creates spires called
“Tufa Towers”. After leaving Mono we headed over the mountains into
the Sierra Nevada’s through Lake Tahoe and finally back to
Georgetown where it all began.
This trip was an incredible adventure and something that will stay
in my mind and conversations for the rest of my days. Given the
chance I would do it all over again and I would encourage anyone who
has the opportunity to take a trip of a lifetime to do so. There is
so much diversity in this country from the landscape to the people
that inhabit the various parts of it to the wheeling or adventures
that can be found. I only wish for all of you that read this that
you have an opportunity in your lifetime to experience an adventure
like we were able to. |
