|
The new paradigm of off roading |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Keith Sheffield/Tahoe World
|
|
Monday, 09 April 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Dec. 25, 2005
I’d been sitting in my truck on I-80 somewhere near Gold Run for two hours waiting for the road to open.
 Chain controls were strictly enforced with seemingly little snow on the pavement. My studded tires on my two-wheel drive truck were enough to drive safely on the interstate, but you couldn’t tell that to the highway patrol, which wasn’t taking chances. If you had a two-wheel drive vehicle, you had to have chains to cross the pass — whether or not you really needed them.
Three chain checkpoints turned a six-hour road trip back from visiting my family into an 11-hour ordeal. I spent more time stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-80 than it took me to drive the 240 miles from Visalia to Auburn.
I made a pact with myself that night — 2006 is the year I get a 4WD vehicle.
Saturday, March 31
“I can’t believe I just did that.”
 “Yep, you did it.”
I was out of my rig looking at the rocky slope I just traversed, grabbed my camera in time to shoot the next Toyota Land Cruiser to climb its way over the precipice.
I was the greenhorn on the trail run with the Battle Born Cruisers of Northern Nevada. Everyone else was rolling in an old school FJ40- or FJ60-series Land Cruiser or a Toyota truck, and there I was with my jelly bean-looking FJ.
 What do I know about off roading? I almost peed myself back there.
Spring 2006
What the hell is that? What is that thing? I’ve never seen anything like it.
 I’m in my truck driving to Truckee for a meeting and a silver SUV looking more like something out of a sci-fi movie is a quarter mile ahead of me.
Seriously, what is that thing?
I catch up to it in Truckee. I’m completely enthralled with this SUV. I don’t get enthralled about SUVs. Shelby Cobras, yes, but not SUVs. What the hell is this thing?
After the meeting, I’m back at the computer. I Google FJ Cruiser. A link pops up to Toyota’s Web site. A 3D model comes up. I can virtually build an FJ. I think I’m looking at my next vehicle.
Saturday, March 31
I joined Battle Born Cruisers last month, and met up with the drivers of three other rigs at Jumbo Grade — a Bureau of Land Management trail system just east of Highway 395 at Washoe Lake. Reno is to the north, Carson City to the south, and Virginia City — where we’re headed — lies a mountain or two over to the east.
 I have no idea what I’m in for. I’ve driven in dumping snowstorms and the FJ handled really well. I’ve played around some easy off-road trails, but now the nose of my rig is pointed up a 40-degree slope and I’m trying not to freak out.
At the top of the first climb, Shawn Waymire, the trail leader on this ride asks what I think of all this as a first timer.
“I wouldn’t even have hiked that hill,” I say.
“That’s why we have four-wheel drive,” he replies.
Wild horses gallop across the ridge as we make our way up another mountain trail. It’s the second coolest thing I’ve seen today. The first was an abandoned mine, of which there are many in these mountains.
We don’t go over much technical terrain. We’re just out exploring, and well, my rig lacks the armor for more adventurous trail runs.
 As we venture toward Virginia City I add some pinstripes to the FJ — painted by the sagebrush — and then we head up a steep slope.
Waymire takes his brawny vehicle easily up and over that rocky outcropping I mentioned before. His rig is more suited to the technical stuff, whereas I’m not so sure about mine.
Waymire parks it and jogs down the trail toward me.
“It’s easier than it looks,” he assures me. “Make your turn when you get up to that tree.”
There’s something you have to understand about this rock outcropping. It’s difficult to put into words what exactly I was looking at — and whether it was smart to drive a vehicle over it was a 50/50 proposition.
On the one hand, it probably was easier than it looked like Waymire said. On the other, my rig could lose traction and I’d begin the long, backward end-over-end tumble 1,000 feet down into the canyon below.
I opted to take it on. I lined up with the tree, made my turn, took my FJ up the grade and looked straight into the midday sky.
“Hooooooooooly craaaaaaaap!”
Then things began to level out and the pucker factor reduced by about 1,000.
After that one little traverse, I now look at the world differently — in terms of whether or not my FJ can take it on.
It shouldn’t be too hard. After all, it was field tested at Lake Tahoe’s own Rubicon Trail.
— If you’re an off-road enthusiast, let us hear from you. Share photos from your adventures as well as the stories behind them. E-mail
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
Click here to see more photos from Keith's off-road adventure with the Battle Born Cruisers.
For you Toyota geeks out there:
Did you know the Toyota Land Cruiser’s roots go back to the U.S. Army’s need for a more updated 4WD vehicle than the Willys jeep could provide during the Korean War?
Want to know more about the history of Toyota’s Land Cruiser? Go to
Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. Powered by ! |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 April 2007 )
|
