Express-News: G. Chambers Williams III
Williams: Jeeps saddle up for Hill Country
San Antonio Express-News

MOUNTAIN HOME — Jeeps and longhorns may be different breeds, but they mixed well together last weekend as hordes of the little off-road vehicles invaded the Texas Hill Country for the annual YO Ranch Jeep Jamboree.

The longhorn cattle dotting the landscape of the 40,000-acre ranch near Kerrville actually paid scant attention to the 180-plus Jeep vehicles on hand for the event, but for the nearly 300 participants — who came from as far away as California and North Carolina — the cattle were part of the real Texas experience they came to enjoy.

It was the ranch's roads, or, perhaps the lack thereof, that provided the greatest enjoyment to the Jeep aficionados. The main purpose of the trip was to have a chance to pilot their vehicles over terrain that would stop any mere ordinary automobile in its tracks.

Trails cut through the Hill Country limestone provided challenge after challenge for the drivers.

"The whole idea is to get out and see country off the beaten path in vehicles that are designed to go just about anywhere you want to take them," said Gordon Faubion, a Dell Computer engineer from Austin who brought his 1992 Jeep Wrangler and his 4-year-old son Tanner to the event.

"I'm having a great time, but it would be better if I had more capable tires," he said, a bit embarrassed because his Jeep was the first in his group to be pulled the rest of the way up the first steep and rocky hill on the first trail drive of the day. His tires were more city than country, unlike many of the other Jeeps that had been outfitted with big, deep-tread off-road tires.

"Take some video so my wife can see how bad I need new tires," he shouted to some friends from the driver's seat as he waited for the tow. A quick tug on the bright yellow "yank strap" and Faubion's Jeep topped the hill easily, to the cheers of a group of drivers waiting at the top — drivers who had already driven their own vehicles to the top unassisted.

Nobody got too smug about Faubion's need for assistance, however, because most of them would need a similar tow sometime during the weekend as they negotiated tough hills on the trails set up for the event.

Tows are common, which is why Jamboree rules call for all participating vehicles to be equipped with suitable tow hooks. No tow hooks, no driving the trails, the policy says. Since most of the trails on the ranch are wide enough only for one vehicle, the rule is meant to keep traffic moving as the off-road caravans move along their routes.

Some of those attending the event — such as Faubion, who bought his Jeep a year-and-a-half ago — were relatively new to the sport, but others, such as Erick Swanson of San Antonio, have been at it for awhile.

"I've had my '95 Wrangler for six years, and it's my second Jeep," he said. He had done the YO jamboree before, as well as other off-roading throughout South Texas, he said. His wife, Dana, was along for her first jamboree, however.

"It's neat seeing all the different Jeeps," she said. They don't have kids, but they brought their chocolate lab puppy, Buckley, who seemed to enjoy running around and socializing with other Jeepers during frequent stops on the trails.

The YO Jeep Jamboree is the first of 40 of these events scheduled for the United States and Canada this year, all of which are held under the sponsorship of Jeep Jamborees USA in Georgetown, Calif., an organization founded in 1953 by off-road driving guru Mark Smith.

Smith began the jamborees with an annual event that traversed the famed Rubicon Trail from Georgetown to Lake Tahoe, Calif., through the Sierra Nevada mountains. Other venues were added over the years to create the schedule that now includes jamborees as far east as northern Maine in the United States.

Although Smith has turned day-to-day operation of the jamboree business over to his son and daughter, he occasionally shows up for one of the events — as he did last weekend at the YO Ranch. Most of the time, though, he is too busy traveling the world as a four-wheel-drive and off-road consultant for DaimlerChrysler, the parent of Jeep.

"I'm here, but I won't be doing the trails," he said on the first morning of the two-day event. "We're going antiquing."

Smith said that generally about a third of a jamboree's participants are first-timers, while others might have been on two, 10 or two dozen jamborees. Some Jeepers take in as many as they can each year.

The only two held in Texas are the YO and the Palo Duro Canyon jamboree, which will be held May 4-6 on the private Figure 3 Ranch in the red-rock canyon near Amarillo where the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was filmed.

It was after attending the Palo Duro jamborees for seven years in a row that Tony and Nancy Winkler of San Antonio got the idea for a jamboree in South Texas. They approached Smith, who then enlisted them as the permanent local coordinators for the event.

The first one was held on the YO Ranch in 1994.

The Winklers, who bought their first Jeep in 1978 and still own it, formed a club, San Antonio Jeep Exclusive, to support the YO jamboree.

The YO Ranch was chosen primarily because of its scenic beauty and great trails, and because Jeep had used it in the early '90s as the setting for a nationwide media introduction of the then-all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

"Our club provides the trail guides and helps build the trails, but the Jeep Jamboree people run the event," Nancy Winkler said.

Tony Winkler, who flies a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jet for American Airlines, said he enjoys seeing new participants come to the jamborees to try out their vehicles for the first time in rugged off-road situations.

"Newcomers are always amazed at what their Jeeps will do," he said.

Most of the jamborees have a variety of trails to choose from, rated from one to 10 depending on how challenging they are.

A special "Jeep 101" course is usually offered the first morning to those who are new to off-road driving.

All of the jamborees are limited to Jeep vehicles only — there are no exceptions — and Cherokees and Grand Cherokees are welcome, too. The larger vehicles aren't recommended for some of the narrower trails, however, including the Rubicon. The Grand Cherokee can negotiate the Rubicon, but there is a strong chance that it will be damaged somewhere along the way, jamboree officials said.

In fact, body damage is possible on any jamboree, even though the trails are generally designed to allow vehicles to make it through without problems. But people with trail-modified Jeep Wranglers and CJs (the civilian version of the old military jeeps) tend to accept minor body damage more gracefully than those who are making huge monthly payments on $30,000-plus vehicles like the Grand Cherokee.

The jamborees generally are held on Fridays and Saturdays, with registration on Thursday nights and departures on Sunday mornings.

Prices generally are about $225 each for adults, $100 for children ages 7-14, and $75 for kids 3-6. The price includes meals and trail guides, and in most cases, camping at the jamboree site. Those who prefer to stay at nearby motels or hotels must pay those costs themselves.

Some of the most popular jamborees, besides the Rubicon, include Arch Canyon in Utah, Canyon de Chelly in Arizona, Ouray in Colorado's San Juan Mountains, and Adirondack in upstate New York.

One note to those not familiar with the jamborees and the sport of off-roading in general: Jeep Jamborees USA is a member of the nonprofit organization Tread Lightly! Inc., which promotes environmentally responsible off-road driving. Jamborees do not condone irresponsible high-speed, jump-and-splash style off-roading; instead, they promote safe, family-friendly events that emphasize protection of the environment so the trails will be available for years to come.

For information about this year's jamborees or to register for an event, call Jeep Jamboree USA at (530) 333-4777, or visit the Web site at www.jeepjamboreeUSA.com.

G. Chambers Williams III, (210) 250-3236; chambers@express-news.net.

03/10/2001