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Surviving the Gate Keeper
4-Wheeling in Calico
May 30, 2008 - 3:39PM
SARAH BATCHA Staff Writer
I survived the “Gate Keeper.”
Anyone who has been 4-wheeling in Calico, will understand why that is an accomplishment.
Even the most experienced driver may have difficulty driving, or rather climbing, their jeeps over the big boulders that raise up to mark the entrance to Doran Canyon.
Many were unable to make it up, but my driver, Kurt Kauffman knew what he was doing. Kauffman is part of the MyJeepRocks.com crew which hosted me for the day and escorted me through the desert canyon trails.
Some may argue that there is nothing thrilling about driving around in the dirt. I may have been one of those before — but now I beg to differ.
While we rarely got up to speeds over 20 mph, it was all really quite exhilarating.
At some points, all that I was able to see through the windshield was blue sky. At other points, I could look to my right and find a rock a few feet away from my face. All this, of course, was during my small venture into rock crawling.
The rest of the trail run was fairly smooth after that. Kauffman even let me drive.
I protested when he prompted me to take the wheel, stating that I have a hard time driving even on straight, flat highway. According to him, that was all the more reason to experience it.
Driving was much more fun than I expected it to be. I went from being anxious and frightened that I was going to kill us both, to feeling uplifted and free-spirited in a matter of minutes.
I'd almost forgotten how beautiful the desert can be, and they definitely helped me reconnect to nature — a statement some may find strange because of the preconceived notions about 4-wheelers and off roaders.
But these people respected their surroundings, cleaned up after themselves and just about everyone else that had come before them, and managed to have fun in a completely legal way.
“There are more responsible 4-wheelers than there are irresponsible ones,” said Sarah Fulka, co-founder and administrator for the MyJeepRocks.com Web site. “While there are a few yahoos on the trails that tend to give the entire community a bad name at times, we work very hard to educate these people about the consequences of their actions
4-Wheeling in Calico
May 30, 2008 - 3:39PM
SARAH BATCHA Staff Writer
I survived the “Gate Keeper.”
Anyone who has been 4-wheeling in Calico, will understand why that is an accomplishment.
Even the most experienced driver may have difficulty driving, or rather climbing, their jeeps over the big boulders that raise up to mark the entrance to Doran Canyon.
Many were unable to make it up, but my driver, Kurt Kauffman knew what he was doing. Kauffman is part of the MyJeepRocks.com crew which hosted me for the day and escorted me through the desert canyon trails.
Some may argue that there is nothing thrilling about driving around in the dirt. I may have been one of those before — but now I beg to differ.
While we rarely got up to speeds over 20 mph, it was all really quite exhilarating.
At some points, all that I was able to see through the windshield was blue sky. At other points, I could look to my right and find a rock a few feet away from my face. All this, of course, was during my small venture into rock crawling.
The rest of the trail run was fairly smooth after that. Kauffman even let me drive.
I protested when he prompted me to take the wheel, stating that I have a hard time driving even on straight, flat highway. According to him, that was all the more reason to experience it.
Driving was much more fun than I expected it to be. I went from being anxious and frightened that I was going to kill us both, to feeling uplifted and free-spirited in a matter of minutes.
I'd almost forgotten how beautiful the desert can be, and they definitely helped me reconnect to nature — a statement some may find strange because of the preconceived notions about 4-wheelers and off roaders.
But these people respected their surroundings, cleaned up after themselves and just about everyone else that had come before them, and managed to have fun in a completely legal way.
“There are more responsible 4-wheelers than there are irresponsible ones,” said Sarah Fulka, co-founder and administrator for the MyJeepRocks.com Web site. “While there are a few yahoos on the trails that tend to give the entire community a bad name at times, we work very hard to educate these people about the consequences of their actions
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