With my 4Runner freshly outfitted with the new bumper, winch, sliders, roof rack and lift, I thought it was about time to put it through its paces. Let’s see what this old girl can do!
My friend (she has a newer, but stock, Jeep Wrangler Sport) and I decided to take an off road 101 course, taught by Off Road Consulting (https://offroad-consulting.com/). The location for the training event was Rausch Creek Off-Road Park (http://rc4x4.org/) in Pine Grove, PA.
My expectation was that there would be a small(-ish) group of folks with their rigs for intimate day at the park. I was quite surprised when my son and I pulled into the lot to register and saw about 75 vehicles getting ready to start their day of off roading. It was kind of surreal and my son even said it felt like we just encroached on some sort of gang lair. We went to the registration booth and got signed up with Kyle, from Off Road Consulting. I asked him where we should meet up and he said to get my vehicle in line behind the blue Jeep. Easy enough, right?
Back in the lot, all I see are Jeeps!
I parked in one of the lines then walked up to the front of each trying to figure out if I was in the right spot or not. It turns out that each line was specific to either one of the training courses (not just the 101 course) or some sort of guided trail, based on level of difficulty (green, blue, red or black). I definitely did not want to get in over my head and end up in a line that was heading out to do some boulder crawling. I talked to some of the Jeep owners as I was trying to determine if I was in the right lane. All very nice people and very welcoming of a non-Jeep owner.
I quickly determined that I was in the wrong line. I finally flagged down one of the guides and they helped me find the line I was supposed to be in, which was Kyle’s off road 101 course. Now getting out of this line and into the correct one was easier said than done given the number of vehicles in line or moving around and then also trying to navigate through or over the deep rutted washouts.
I finally found the right line and also found Kyle. He was making it down the line, speaking to each driver, checking each vehicle over to ensure we would all have a safe and enjoyable day.
Once everyone was where they needed to be and after Kyle spoke to us, he gave each driver a 2-way radio and then we were ready to go! We started out slow into the off road park. Kyle spoke to us over the radio and got us comfortable with what we were to expect and how our day was going to go.
Rauch Creek is big. It is over 3000 acres with tons of trails. Each with their own level of difficulty. The last thing I wanted to do is lose sight of the vehicle in front of me and end up on a trail way over my vehicle’s capability (and my stress level). Kyle did a great job in keeping us together and also keeping us safe. He taught us to to read the trail and to think about where we place our wheels to traverse over an obstacle, keeping us and our vehicles safe.
We spent the day going down trails or over obstacles at increasing levels of difficulty. We started down a rocky trail under the power lines, traversing some big water puddles. Next Kyle got us comfortable with severe leaning and how to steer safely when in such a situation. We then tackled some steep climbing and really steep hill descents. Toward the end Kyle gave us great instruction traversing a deep waterway.
I was quite surprised, at times, how technically challenging some situations Kyle took us through. I’m not going to lie — there were times I was a bit nervous. I even didn’t think I would make it through one hill climb that involved a left turn up a steep embankment. My 22 year old rig doesn’t have automatic traction control or rear lockers like some of the newer vehicles in our group. Kyle patentily walked me through the tough part and I eventually made it up and through safely.
I share this training adventure as I feel having the proper training is so important before going it alone on any sort of off road trail. Knowing your vehicle’s capabilities and how it handles (or doesn’t) certain situations is better determined in a safe environment rather than when you accidentally encounter an unforeseen obstacle all alone when the stakes much higher.
Off Road Consulting offers different levels of training, as well as specialized training for vehicle recovery, winch training, and others, at Rauch Creek or at other nearby parks. Even through I considered myself pretty knowledgeable, I enjoyed this training so much that I will be attending more advanced training in the coming months.
