Conquering the Canyons
Calico, CA - By Heather Thomas

             From early that morning ‘til late that afternoon the sun dappled its golden light through the wide crevices of the high desert mountains, down to where the veiled canyons silently age.  The canyon bottoms are peppered with crimson, gray and russet boulders, and the long dry grasses sway in the gentle, warm breeze.  The canyon walls are steep and jagged with wide flat ledges, spacious enough for a vehicle to drive down to the soft sand and cumbersome boulders below.  The canyon is ancient; a quiet place where sure-footed animals seek refuge from the blistering heat found on the terraces and plains above.  The four-wheeling enthusiast will occasionally escape to this timeless land, but it is only the adventurous spirit who dares these ledges and plays in the unforgiving landscape of the canyons below.  

The drivers and passengers exit their vehicles and cautiously walk up to the lead Jeep.  After a full day of typical four-wheeling, they see the devilish passage which is halting their forward progress and postponing their well-deserved dinner.  It’s a steep downward slope, strewn with Volkswagen-sized boulders and seemingly impossible to pass.  But, some of us have been here before, and we know it is challenging but not impossible.  As their leader, she straightens up confidently and thinks of how she is to explain the difficulties of this impediment and how they can be conquered.   Thus far, our group has had an uneventful drive though these canyons; fortunately, a challenge requiring skill and teamwork was now upon us.

             Our leader got out of her Jeep for a closer look at our passageway.  Her eyes narrow as she scans the boulder-laden crevice below and tries to think of something enticing to say.  “This final obstacle is most likely one of the most difficult you will encounter in these canyons.  The boulders protruding from the side of the canyon walls are just close enough together to create a v-notch and allow a vehicle, Jeep or larger, enough terrain and traction to reach the bottom.”

             Most of the drivers don’t have a renewed faith in defeating the challenge before them.  Nevertheless, a couple of fanatical Jeepers have the look of liberation upon their faces.  It’s obvious that we won’t make it back to our campsite in time for dinner tonight.

             Steve, who drives a highly modified and customized TJ, was feverish to begin.  As excited as he is, we could tell that he is also pondering something.

             Steve stumbled over his words with excitement. “Wow!  This is…this is just a great v-notch!  Are we all gonna go down this thing?”

             Our leader grinned and rolled her eyes.  “I’m going.”  Then with a serious, yet playful gaze she asks, “Who else wants to take on this challenge?”

             Steve, knowing only a few on this trip would have the determination and craving for such a challenge, realized the folly of his question and grinned.  He turns to the group of drivers who are staring blank-faced and wide-eyed at the waterfall of boulders below us. 

             It was apparent that we would have a lot of observers, but there must be someone else who wants to try his skill.  She scans the crowd of drivers before her and again asks, “Is there anyone else wants to try this v-notch?”

             A shout resounded from the back of the crowd.  Jeff, who also drives a highly customized TJ, made his way to the front of the crowd.  His expression was serious and showed much concern, “Since you’re already first in line, it makes sense that you’d go first.  But, are you sure you want do to this first?” 

             For the past seven years her husband has primed her in the four-wheeling sport.  She’s learned how to “read” the boulders and how to carefully maneuver over them.  It was her spotter who taught her how to understand the reaction the tires have to the terrain beneath them – the feel of a slip or the feel of a safe slide, the feel of a firm grip opposed to the feel of waning traction.  She’s learned how to crawl the Jeep over and through grisly rock gardens, how to intuitively know how far her Jeep can tilt before the thing rolls over.  For her, rock crawling is a fine art; however, it’s an art that requires teamwork.  She knows that focusing on her spotter, watching his facial expressions; his “just a bit more” and “stay right there” stance is of prime importance.  We can see that she places 100 percent confidence in the information he relays to her about the trail directly in front of and beneath that Jeep.  The relationship between a driver and her spotter is built upon unwavering trust and a reciprocal four-wheeling knowledge between the team.  He knows when she is anxious about a certain cliff or climb, and she knows when he is anxious for her, yet determined on calming her nerves.     

            She turns to her trusted spotter with a questionable and apprehensive look.  Once again he assures her with a smile and that omnipresent “go get ‘um” expression.  Sometimes it seems as though there’s an expectation that she will always take on these challenges.  Although, most of the time she does “go for it,” she’s just as tense about a difficult obstacle as the rest of us four-wheelers.  She suppresses her doubts and answers Jeff’s question, “Yep, I’ll go down first.”

             Pleased with that answer, Jeff smiles and quips “Well, let’s get going then because it’s going to be dark soon.  Me and Steve are gonna be going down this thing in the dead of night.”

             As she jumps back into the driver seat of her Jeep, she calls out to the others in the group, “There’s a bypass that will lead you back up the canyon and onto the flat plain above.  It will then take you right back to our campsite.  See ya there.”

             The group did not disperse and make way for the bypass.  Instead everyone found seating upon the ledges and boulders of the mid- and bottom-section of the treacherous passage.  There was a separate group of four-wheelers ahead of us that had taken the bypass earlier (due to a dispirited Bronco).  They must have heard the commotion and decided to walk back up the trail to witness what they hoped would be soon be vehicle carnage.

            She isn’t inclined to give those Bronco owners any satisfaction.  But, the pressure is nerve-racking; she certainly doesn’t want to leave white paint on the boulders below, nor does she want to hear the screeching of battered metal and the loud bang of breaking Jeep parts.  She takes a deep breath and gathers some will-power from who-knows-where before she starts down the first “prerequisite” waterfall.  She feels the scrutiny of the spectators as she passes them.  Our leader tries to find her line down this rocky slope, but it is getting dark and it’s difficult for her to distinguish gaps from shadows.  The attention is transferred from the unfound path to her salvation.  Immediately he begins guiding her and shows her the line.  It is now up to him to direct her down, but it is up to her to follow his course explicitly.  

            Her spotter motioned his left hand down.  “You’re going to come down two feet off the left boulder, feel your way down to the next rock; it’s about ten inches down.”  

            He made a change in his hand signal; she knew that she was almost to the next boulder and that she should slow the Jeep’s progress as much as possible.  “There you go, now line up your right tire; go just a bit more to your right.”  

            He pointed to her right, and then he motioned his hand downward.  The length of the downward movement told her that the rocks on her right were lower than the rocks on her left; the height difference would cause the Jeep to tilt deeply toward the passenger-side front tire.  They scanned the left side of the crevice and about another two feet down was a large, protruding boulder.  One wrong move here and that pretty Jeep would fall from its precarious position.  

            Each of the Jeep’s 35” tires was now balancing the Jeep on top of four different ledges.  For a safe crossing, each tire had to follow the correct line down and over the “rock waterfall.”  She slowly continued on.  Just as interpreted, the driver-side of the Jeep lifted and the passenger-side dropped deep into a cavity between the surrounding rocks.  The tire was holding to the solid stone, but the tilt struck her more abruptly than she expected.  

            It was difficult to see his directions in the enveloping darkness, and we could see she was nervous about that.  “How do the back tires look?  Can I move forward without the backend falling into the crevice?”  

            “I don’t think so.  Back up about two feet and reposition the Jeep to your left a bit.  Then try coming down again using the line that’s more to your right.”  

            “Back up?” she said loudly with a jolt of surprise.  “It’s a lot easier coming down than backing up!”  

            There was a burst of laughter from the crowd.  “Can’t I just inch over to the right instead?”

             Even though his features were barely distinguishable in the darkness, she could see the apprehension he was feeling from tenseness of his jaw and the intensity of his gaze.  He knelt down to examine each tire’s placement and decided that she should back up three feet, which meant she had to climb, in reverse, back up the boulder she just descended.  “Nope.  Go back up and keep your eyes on me.  You’re gonna be okay, just take it slow.”

             Well, she didn’t really take it slow.  He told her how far to turn the wheel and that she should slowly back the Jeep up.  She turned the wheel and stepped on the gas just hard enough and just long enough to perfectly clear the boulders behind the Jeep.  It is true that she has complete faith in his spotting, but it’s also very evident that she knows that Jeep.  It looked great and the crowd responded with roars of excitement.  She was re-energized from the thrill, too.  The apprehension lifted and her confidence bolted through.  She was ready to conquer the boulder-laden v-notch.

             Our leader repositioned her Jeep as instructed, selected a new line and descended once again.  This time the right side didn’t drop so far and the left tires stuck to the very edge of the boulders.  The next drop in the staircase of boulders was respectfully awaiting the Jeep’s arrival.  The front tires made their way down the opposing boulders and the rear tires agreeably followed.  It was here that she relied heavily on her spotter’s expert navigation.  As the Jeep’s front left tire touched the welcoming sand of the canyon deck, the driver side of the Jeep traversed up and over the last remaining impediment.  It was over; she was down that hellish route.

             Her concentration was broken by the vastness of the dark canyon and the many people fired up within it.  The crowd was ecstatic to see “some woman” drive down such a perilous obstacle.  “Yahoo!” and “I can’t believe that!” resounded from every direction.

             Her proud spotter darted over to the Jeep and embraced her through the open window. He turned to take in the spectacle and bask in the limelight.  “Now, that was awesome!  You did a great job!”

            She looked up at him and for the first time that evening noticed the brilliant stars that filled the night sky above them.  She smiled and watched him as he turned back to the crowd.  He was so proud of her.  She was his champion that night.  What he didn’t realize was that she thought this was their accomplishment to share.  Without him she wouldn’t have dared this feat; he was her champion that night, too.