By Bark R. Woof

Quote of the weekend, from an anonymous first-timer:  "C'mon, why are we  sitting still?  This is taking all day!!"

Well, this month Big Guy missed the club run because he committed to doing the Jeep Jamboree in the Catskills, held near Monticello, N.Y.  We know there are a lot of you guys who do not love the JeepJams, and most of the time the comments are fairly accurate.  Trails are often not the most challenging, too many novices, who don't know how to drive, slow the whole process down, and if you don't drive a Jeep, you are excluded.  Also, they are expensive.  And the Catskills JeepJam is the most expensive of them all, taking advantage of the big money from the Big Apple, I suppose.  However, the Catskills Jeep Jamboree is developing into quite an adventure.  They have set up some truly challenging trails, and the promise of access to 3500 new acres of land for trail construction hold good tidings for future JeepJams in the Catskills.

We arrived up in Monticello around supper time Thursday the 22nd, checked in at JeepJam headquarters (Mr. Willy's, a nice restaurant), and chose the White Trail, rated 7-8, with promise of mud and rocks to play on.  Only one other trail was rated as tougher than the White, and that was the Green Trail, rated 8-10.  We thought we'd warm up with the White Trail and then move to the Green on Saturday.  Then we shot over to All-Seasons Campgrounds to set up our tents and settle in.  Only things more numerous than the roaring bullfrogs, who serenaded us all night long, were the mosquitoes.  Then we got back in our Jeeps, and headed out for some FOOD FOOD FOOD.  I sat in the Jeep while the two-leggeds went into the diner (that's what they called it) and got food.  They brought me some hamburger and chicken, so the wait was worth it.  I just napped anyway.  Back at the campsite a fire and some yellow fruity-smelling candles kept the mosquitoes at bay; nothing could shut those bullfrogs up, though.

Friday morning dawned a little less humid than Thursday, much more bearable for a dog like myself.  We hauled ourselves up and got over to headquarters, pulled into the line for the White Trail.  After napping a bit, the Big Guy came back with some deeelicious bacon and sausage for me. Adam, a trail guide and organizer of the whole shebang, came over to us and asked if we wouldn't rather do the Green Trail today, as the White was overloaded and the Green was light.  So pulled over into the Green Trail, and got up at the front of the line, which is always good.  The trail was a good one, lots of rock to crawl over, and narrow twisty trails, but I kept waiting for the really hard parts.  There were a few tough hill-climbs, and some pretty tight squeezes.  Big Guy even put his right rear against a tree once (no damage), but the trail wasn't really as tough as the guides made it sound.  Uncle Eric, who was there in his '87 YJ with new Goodyear MTR's got to use his new winch almost right away, as a Grand Cherokee dropped off a log bridge into some mire and had to be pulled out.  Abe K., a fellow LIOR member, cut the side-wall of his right front tire, leaving him with no spare (foreshadowing, boys and girls), and the trail ended with a really tough little rock garden up out of the woods into the Rivas Farm, and out home for the night.  Then we stopped back at the campsite and headed over to dinner at Mr. Willys.  Chicken and Ribs.  Nothing special, but the best part of the day for me, of course.  Sleep came easy and early Friday night.

Saturday dawned a little warmer, humidity coming back up.  Oof, how's a dog to survive this heat?  We jumped onto the White Trail for Saturday.  Big guy, and myself, feel that the White Trail, though rated easier than the Green, was in fact a bit tougher.  The hills seemed steeper and muddier, and the rocks more pointy and threatening.  White Trail included some water-crossings that were positively puckering.  One river crossing required you to slide your Jeep down a rock-face that seemed to be at as near to vertical as one can get, without rolling forward, into a fast-running stream about 3 feet deep. This submerged your front end until your rear wheels came down into the streambed as well.  Uncle Eric got a little cock-eyed on his entry into the stream and lifted his left rear quite high off the ground.  Looked like he was trying to pee against the rocks there.  Michelle, in the passenger seat, was contemplating just how cold that water would feel, if they rolled into it, which was a distinct possibility at this point.  After getting winched backwards to where they could re-align their entry into the stream, they made a successful crossing.  Here the trial looped back around, dropping in a left VERY off-camber turn back down to the stream-bed where it re-crossed the stream.  Big Guy always breathes hard in off-camber situations, and his knuckles turn kind of white on the steering wheel.  Here he screwed up, cut the turn too low on the bank and ended up nearly against a tree, leaning hard to left.  With a little help form Abe's winch (from behind him) and a snatch-block, and muscle power of Allan of the Blue YJ and Mike the guide pushing against the left rear quarter, BG got around the tree there without rolling over, and with only minor dinks.  He was annoyed with himself and grumbled about his mistake for a good half-hour.

A short while later the Jeeps on the trail came to a standstill.  Billy the guide called out over the radio that he'd lost a wheel.  Most of the lugs on his left rear wheel snapped off, dropping his wheel into the mud.  We sat for a while as they figured out how to deal with it,then most of us moved on around Billy as he waited for parts so he could repair his vehicle.  Shortly after this Abe got  on the radio and called out that he'd cut another tire.  Now Abe has no good spare, as he'd cut a tire the day before.  And Abe runs the same size tires as Big Guy, so Abe finished the trail on Big Guy's spare.  It seems that Abe cuts a tire every time he gets on a trail, and it has been said that if Abe were driving a Sherman Tank, he'd cut the treads.  He's a terror to tires.  I think someone should invent and all-titanium tire for Abe.

The last major obstacle was a steep, winding very muddy hill-climb.  BG took three shots at it, but basically made it up without too much difficulty.  It had gotten quite warm, so while we were waiting, BG closed the windows of his Cherokee and turned on the AC.  Some luxuries are well worth it.  By the way, this was the only Cherokee on this trail that day.  It still surprises people, especially CJ "snobs", that Cherokees can do the job out there.  When complimented, I know BG always says, "well, the Jeep is well set-up," but even a dog knows that Cherokees are truly under-rated trail machines by most 'wheelers.  Besides, BG's Cherokee, to borrow a quote from George the trail guide, isn't like "your Mom's Cherokee going to the grocery store."
Several delays, from tough obstacles or parts breakage, kept us out until after 6:00pm, a terrible thing when on a Jamboree.  We went straight to dinner from the trail, steak and chicken, and then stuck around for the big raffle.  BG struck out (as usual), tho Michelle got herself an add-a-trunk for her YJ.  That damned winch sits and teases BG every Jamboree.  Really tired by now, we hit the sack fairly early Saturday night.  After breakfast (mmmm more sausages) and fair-wells, we hit the road for our trip back into the morass of the metro area.  The trip was a good one.  Equipment all worked well, trails were tough, good time was had by all.  So, this is the Bark-ster, from the back of the Bark-mobile saying, until next time, keep all four paws on the ground, and your furry side up!