Speaking Up on the Trail

A few years ago, I wrote an article about the social dynamics of groups on the trail--how sometimes in a sticky situation there are too many people shouting opposing opinions at the same time, and how at other times no one speaks up when they should. Recent mishaps with weather calls and recovery snafus have brought this topic back to mind.

HERE is the link to the whole article I wrote for JPFreek Magazine.

Remember that, in most cases, it pays to take an extra few seconds to think things through, discuss circumstances calmly, clearly, and thoroughly. Unless, for example, someone's rig is on fire, or sliding out of control towards a cliff, there is usually no need for urgent action. Step back and explore all the options.

In a spotting situation, there shouldn't be a bunch of people yelling out all at once. Observers should communicate their concerns through the designated spotter.

Finally, and very importantly, a good trail leader should not be offended by someone in the group asking for clarification on a judgement call or recovery staging, BUT it's better to risk offending that person rather than risk personal safety or vehicle damage. As a professional instructor, I expect to be explaining what I see and the judgements I make all day long as a way to help others develop their own on-trail decision-making skills. Ultimately, you, the driver, are responsible for the "go" or "no-go" call for yourself, so, in my book, it is ALWAYS okay to ask for more information.

Happy trails!

Recommended 4-wheeling Equipment

By popular request...from our Jeep School workbook--the Equipment list for 4-wheeling! It is in written form, below the photos, so you can cut and paste, but for a better format, see the attached photo.

Recommended Equipment for Four Wheeling

Basic Outdoor Preparedness Gear (stuff for your own self-preservation):

Water & food

Extra Clothing (know the weather forecast)

First Aid Kit

Matches, Lighter, Candles, FIRE

Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Trash Bags, wet wipes, hand sanitizer

Detailed Road Maps, Topo Maps, Compass, Watch

Knife

Tarp, rain gear

Cell phone, CB, HAMM radio, or Personal GPS Locator Beacon

Flares, signal mirror, police whistle

Flashlight (windable, or with extra batteries)

These are the most used recovery items. Invest in quality items.

1. TIRE CARE: Jack, spare tire, repair kit, tire pressure guage, air compressor                      Keep your spare tire inflated and in good condition. Make sure you have the correct lug wrench for your wheels.

2. VEHICLE PULLING: Tow Strap                                                                                                       A tow strap should be at approximately 10-15 feet long and rated for at least twice your vehicle’s gross weight.  Buy good quality strap with loops on the ends, not hooks.

3. DIGGING OUT: Compact folding shovel/axe/saw                                                                            A Forester tool, Handle-All, or plain old shovel is an invaluable all-purpose tool for getting yourself unstuck in a variety of circumstances, and are also useful for general survival.

These items are an important part of your regular excursion kit:

Heavy duty work gloves

Jumper Cables

Fire Extinguisher

Recovery Strap (20' to 50', with loops, rated at 3-4 times the vehicle weight)

Baling wire, Duct tape, Zip ties, Ratchet Straps, bungee cords, equipment tie-downs

Stop Leak radiator repair, Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid, extra water

Replacement fuses and electrical tape

Basic tools: wrenches, pliers, mallet, ratchet, spark plug socket, vehicle-specific tools

Variety of hoses, clamps, nuts, bolts, washers, parts specific to your vehicle

Additional equipment to consider for more extensive excursions:

Extreme caution is urged for the use of these items. Make sure you are thoroughly familiar with their function and operation.  Read owner’s manuals thoroughly and follow all safety precautions:

Hi-Lift Jack

Full-size Shovel (especially for sand, mud, or snow areas)

Full-size Axe, Bow Saw, Chain Saw (in heavily-forested areas)

Winch with accessories: tree strap, clevis, snatch block, chain

Extra gas 

Job Description

Barlow's Seeking Talented Guest Services People

Barlow's is hiring crew members! Email inquiries or resumes to nena@barlowjeeprentals.com


Short description: 
Exceptional customer service, communication and multi-tasking skills to handle contracts, reservations, phones, and Jeep washing & prep. Very active indoor/outdoor on-your-feet job. Strong guest services background and love of outdoors required. 4-day work week, with holidays and weekends required. Get dirty and have fun. Email inquiries or resumes to nena@barlowjeeprentals.com or drop application in person to 3009 W Hwy 89A, Sedona.

PLEASE note: this is NOT a mechanical position—this is a front office guest services position which does NOT require mechanical skills!

Long description:

To many people, working at Barlow’s might seem like a dream job: work with Jeeps, in a fun and casual atmosphere, in one of the most beautiful locations on the planet. Yes, it is all that, but first and foremost, it is actually WORK. In a nutshell, the job requires exceptional customer service skills combined with unflagging physical and mental energy.

The main facets of the job are handling rental contracts, instructing guests in trail driving and Jeep operation, managing reservations, and prepping Jeeps for rental. New hires start in the following order, and progress as skill mastery allows: first, Jeep washing; second, phones and reservations; third, rental contracts; fourth, preparing guests for trail and Jeep usage. We will train the right candidate for all of that—you don’t have to come in knowing all about the Axle Lock button, or how to strip the frame off a Jeep soft top, or even how to get to Soldier Pass—what you DO need is to be: highly self-motivated, but with a strong teamwork ethic; smart, without being arrogant; humble without being sheepish; both mentally and physically energetic and capable; all this with the amazing ability to mother the timid customers, tame the rowdy ones, and have them all eating out of your hand.

In the past, we have screened a lot of applicants who had a misconception of what the job is really like. It’s not glamorous most of the time. Let’s expose the “dirt” about working at Barlow’s…

First, we wash Jeeps. We wash Jeeps A LOT. And we wash Jeeps day in and day out in all kinds of weather. It’s like the Karate Kid workout: Your shoulders will be sore from the constant circular motion of washing and drying Jeeps, and your back will be sore from leaning over vacuuming interiors, and wiping out various unidentified sticky things that you really don’t want to know what they are. Your hair will get messed up and your coworkers will spray you with the pressure washer, usually by accident. Your legs will be covered in red dirt, and most likely you will develop calluses on your knees from kneeling down to spray mud out or inspecting the undercarriage. Your feet will get soaked—great when it’s 106 degrees out, but miserable when it’s 41 degrees. Bring a change of shoes and socks.  And, sometimes, we even clean Jeeps with toothbrushes. I’m not kidding.

You will be on your feet most of the day. You will be standing, walking and running while answering phones, washing Jeeps, taking reservations, filling out contracts, talking guests through maps, demonstrating the features of the Jeeps, washing Jeeps, directing people to the bathroom, loading a cooler with ice into the Jeep, removing t-tops or soft tops from Jeeps, scraping up your fingers zipping windows into Jeeps, smiling while answering the phone while you are sucking on your sore finger, washing Jeeps, inspecting Jeeps, parking Jeeps, and washing more Jeeps.

You will be talking a lot, and you have to be charming the whole time you are doing it.  You have to make people feel loved and warm and fuzzy from the moment they drive onto the property or the moment you answer the phone, even if your cat puked in your shoes and you bent your rear axle (again). You will answer tons of questions about Jeep rentals:  what trails can we use, what time can we pick up the Jeep, how much does it cost, why is it so much more than Avis, how many people can we fit in a Jeep, do I have to make a reservation, do you have automatic Jeeps, do I have to be 25, do I have to have insurance, can I use someone else’s credit card, can I take your Jeep to Timbuktu, where are we located because the GPS sent us to the wrong county…You will also be answering tons of questions about Sedona in general: where to stay, where to eat, why aren’t the Hertz guys there, what are vortexes, where to shop, where to park an RV, what the weather will be like in 38 days, where is the nearest major airport, and how do I get to Sedona from there. After a busy day, you are tired of the sound of your own voice.

Then there are the times when we are not busy. That’s when we wash Jeeps—REALLY wash Jeeps—scrub upholstery, wax and polish paint, clean engine compartments, scrub tires and soft tops, and spray mud out of places you never knew Jeeps had. And when that’s done, we clean the shop. There is always dirt. ALWAYS. Shelves, carpet, countertops, bathroom, and all over the garage. There are usually dirty, broken and/or greasy Jeep parts laying around, too.

Some days the time just flies by, and you go home dirty and smelly and collapse on the couch. Other days drag by and you have to take a deep breath, look around and see what needs doing, even though playing Farmville sounds much better.

There are always list of projects that need doing. You will most often be working with one or two other crewmembers, but sometimes it’s just you, so you must be highly self-motivated. Your coworkers are highly self-motivated and expect the same of you. Anyone who is perceived to be slacking or not holding up their end is not tolerated for long. If there are dirty Jeeps sitting outside, a pile of dirty dishes, and dirty towels and coolers spread all over the shop, and you are sitting on the couch reading a magazine, expect some rather direct remarks.

Still reading? Okay, then here’s the good stuff…

Our Jeeps are awesome and you will get to know each one by name and personality. They also want to go out and play with you from time to time. Your coworkers are enthusiastic Jeepers and outdoors-people. They are smart, compassionate, supportive, and watch your back. Even though most of our crew members are college-educated, with business management backgrounds, and could run any of a number of different businesses, they have chosen, as you have, to take a job that allows one to go to work in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops (or jeans and hiking boots, depending on the weather). While washing Jeeps or doing Jeep demos, you are outside, soaking up the gorgeous Sedona climate, which is great 99% of the year. You get to meet people from all over the world, with diverse backgrounds, and all looking to you to help them have fun. Just in the course of the job, you will learn more about 4-wheeling and Jeeps than most people can imagine. There is the opportunity to travel to different 4-wheeling destinations and events and meet and work with people throughout the industry. You get to live in the Sedona area, and Jeep, hike, bike, and/or ride whatever to your heart’s content. There are very few days a year that are unpleasant enough to keep you indoors all day, and you are within 1-hour of high-country pines for cooler weather, or 1.5-hours of the lower desert for warmer weather.

Most importantly, you have to be comfortable in your own skin AND have an innate love of people to be able to deal with all of the different personalities that you will encounter at the counter. You must have the attitude that there is always more to learn, you must have the inner strength to wash that one last Jeep at the end of a long day, and you must possess the self-confidence to know when to say “It’s okay—I got this!”

Happy trails!

Life of a Sedona Jeep Tour Guide...

I've been getting a lot of requests for this one lately--an article I wrote over 10 years ago that was meant to screen potential guides for my then position as a tour company manager. I resisted the urge to edit and update it. The content really applies to almost any position in the 4-wheeling/outdoor industry. Enjoy!

Life of a Sedona Jeep Tour Guide
by Nena Barlow

Arguably, Sedona, Arizona is the Jeep tour capital of the world. With the great weather, gorgeous scenery, and easy access to a myriad of trails, no wonder there are so many tour companies. Many people think that being a Sedona Jeep tour guide would be their dream job. If you are one of those, read this first!

Do you think you want to be a Jeep tour guide? Many people think it sounds like fun, and it is, for a while. But, for most people, the romance wears off quickly. The average career lifespan of Jeep tour guide in Sedona is less than two years, but there are those who have been guiding for five, ten, even twenty years.

I have been in the Jeep tour business since 1996, which makes me about ninety-six in Jeep years. I have eaten enough red dust to be convicted of smuggling federal property. I have ushered thousands of visitors into the backcountry. I have grown tired of the sound of my own voice. I have watched Jeeps go from the showroom floor to tour status to beyond reasonable maintenance, relegated to the Jeep retirement lot, with 150,000 trail miles on them. I have hosed off various types of excrement from Jeeps. And I have seen guides train, passed by them on the trail for a while, then saw them eventually move on to a "real" job. Let me give you insight to the whole world of professional Jeep tour guiding, from start to finish.

It takes a certain type of person to really be a guide as an ongoing career. Most "career" guides are very serious nature and history lovers. They drive Jeeps all week, then spend their days off hiking, biking, or even Jeeping. They love to read. They have heated debates with their associates about the current scientific name of the javelina, the best way to eat agave, or the latest tour joke. They are clever, independent, resourceful, animated, and loud. They are very much people-people. They love to entertain and be the center of attention. And they can deal with a great deal of ups and downs, not just on the trail, but also in their schedules and bank accounts.

The first thing that hopefuls need to know is that fewer than fifty-percent of applicants will even get an interview, due to the sheer volume of applications. When I was a Jeep tour trail boss, my interview technique consisted primarily of trying to talk the applicant out of the job. I would tell them all of the disadvantages of the job, like bouncing around all day long, eating dust in the heat, or getting drenched in the freezing rain, all the while being charming and entertaining, and answering the same questions you have heard a thousand times. Some applicants are dismayed by the fact that there are no fixed paid hours. Guides are paid by the hour only for driving tours, on a rotating schedule, at the whim of the weather and tourism flow. Some applicants are even distressed to learn that they have to wash their own Jeeps. If none of that seems to phase them, we move on with the interview.

Jeep tour companies are looking for personality first. They want someone who is responsible, yet entertaining; informative, yet interesting; and safety-conscious, but fun. Many of these traits may seem contradictory, but it is exactly what makes a good guide. And, contradictory to popular belief, guides are not hired for their four-wheeling prowess, in fact, personality, not off-road experience, is the single most important factor in guide selection. There are some really great four-wheelers who will never make the cut as a guide. Likewise, there are many great guides who were hired without any previous four-wheeling experience. The priorities of most tour companies fall in this order: first, safety; second, entertainment; third, education.

What happens to the applicants who do make the cut? Training, training, training, which may take anywhere from two to twelve weeks, depending on the traineeís previous experience. Trainees must learn about local history, geology, ecology, environmental etiquette, company policies and procedures, and, yes, how to drive a Jeep. No matter how many years of 4x4 experience a trainee has, there are many things that must be learned to manage the responsibility of driving a heavy Jeep with paying guests as a full time job. Most companies don't pay for training time, either. That alone tests the resolve of the trainee.

Training involves lots of studying. Jeep tour companies each compile their own guide training manuals, which include company policies and area information. A trainee should also spend a lot of time at the library, the historical society, and area parks. Most companies will expect you to know more about the area than you will ever be able to share in one two-hour tour, but you need that depth of knowledge from which to draw. Veteran guides have forgotten more than most people will ever know about Sedona, and rookies will still be expected to be able to discuss at length the virtues of the agave, or the patterns of geological erosion, or the effect of the World Series on the socio-economic structure of Sedona.

The key to ongoing success as a tour guide is to read a lot. Not only does it freshen your material for both you and your guests, but also it keeps your information congruent with current events and ongoing changes. Scientific names of animal species change, working geological theories evolve, and new archaeological discoveries emerge. Nothing is static - keep reading and exploring! The biggest mistake guides make is thinking that once they have been cleared to do tours, they know everything they need to know and are done training. 

My favorite step in Jeep tour guide training involves the infamous "ride-along's", where the trainee rides with veteran guides to observe their touring technique, presentations, and interaction between guide and guests. It is my favorite, because, invariably, a guide trainee will come to me and say "Joe said this about this, but Jane said that about this." Presentation details vary from guide to guide, and it is important to do your own reading. Presentation, interpretation, and perception vary widely, so always check your facts. Otherwise, it can become like the telephone game: by the time a story filters through a handful of guides, it doesn't even remotely resemble actual fact!

Interwoven with these ride-alongs will be hands-on four-wheel-drive training in a tour Jeep with the trainees and a trainer. Tour Jeeps handle much differently than a stock Jeep, and it takes some adjustment to become proficient at driving them, even if the trainee has Jeeping experience. As a trainee, remember that you are there to absorb as much as possible from the trainer, who is usually a very tour-experienced person. Set your ego aside, please. Have the self-confidence to ask questions. Don't act like the driving is part of the interview. You have already been hired, now the company wants to train you to a certain point in your ability to manage a tour Jeep. The only people who are dismissed during driver training, are the ones who do not listen to the instructor. A tour company is putting a lot on the line by letting you drive one of their pieces of equipment on the company insurance policy with paying guests.

Each company has their own method of clearing a new guide for tours. Some companies have you do a tour with managers and senior guides on board (the worst possible passengers you could ever have), or some slowly wean you by having a veteran ride along with you for your first few tours. But, basically, you will be cleared to do tours when your driving and navigating is transparent, you project confidence and clarity in your information presentation, and you exhibit an easy going control of your tour. 

Getting cleared to do tours does not mean that initiation is over. There is some hazing involved. In a small town, all the other Jeep tour guides know who the new guy is immediately, and the posturing can be downright juvenile. At times, I have compared the Jeep tour guide crowd to a pack of wolves - they establish a pecking order, and they can smell fear. But, for the most part, the tour guides from all of the companies are fun to work with, behave professionally on the trail, and are just good working people. One of the fun games guides play is coming up with new and clever banter to exchange when passing another tour Jeep on the trail.

What can tour guides expect to make once they are trained? Most companies are paying anywhere from $11 per hour for rookies, up to $20 per hour for veterans. But a really good guide will nearly match his or her hourly wages in tips. The downside is that guides only get paid for hours driving, and those hours can vary seasonally. This is not a job for people who need a steady income. The tour business has its peaks and valleys, which directly correlate to the weather and seasons. It takes self-discipline to save and adequately manage your finances. Among veteran guides, the saying "Winter is coming" has a special meaning and foreboding.

Most new guides begin in the spring, the busiest season of the year, where you spend as much as ten hours a day in the Jeep, you barely get a chance to scarf down cold pizza or a power bar for lunch in between tours, then drive until dark, go home, fall asleep on the couch, then get up in the morning and do it all again, for about ten days straight, before you finally take a day off, then ten more days straight, all until May, when we get a little breather. Summer days are really long and boring. You get one or two tours in the morning, then lay around for hours in the heat of the day, then everyone goes out for sunset tours, so you are driving until eight o'clock at night, then you come home, fall asleep on the couch, and do it all again tomorrow.

We endure the grueling days, because winter is always ahead. I advise new guys to sock away twenty dollars a day during the spring and summer, in order to build enough of a winter supplement to survive. Most guides get through winter on peanut butter sandwiches and ramen noodles. Over the course of a year, a full time guide averages twenty-five to thirty hours per week, with the spring and summer kicking at forty hours per week, and winter piddling in at as little as ten hours per week, depending on weather.

In spite of the eratic hours and unstable finances, there are some amazing benefits, which cannot be measured by your bank account.

You get to spend most of your days outside. When you are on the trail, you are captain of the ship. You work with an amazingly sharp and entertaining group of people, upon which I am a sure a sitcom will be based someday! You meet people from all over the world and from all walks of life. I have toured people from Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Ecuador, and New Jersey. I have toured with blind people, so we spent the tour talking about the sounds and smells of the forest. I have toured with deaf people, so I scribbled out rock formations, history, and jokes on a note pad for them. I toured with a family from Turkey who sent me a beautiful leather wallet as a thank you for the toy cap gun key chain I gave to their son, as a memento of the "wild" west. I toured with a family from Manhattan whose 12-year-old little girl had never picked up a rock before. I have toured with numerous people who burst into tears at the sheer beauty of the scenery. I have watched elk spar, coyotes hunt, mountain lions stalk, hawks mate, bears scratch, and tour guides eat. I have answered questions like "why do they allow the animals to just run loose out here?" (The questions themselves are worthy of an entire book--coming soon!) If you love the outdoors, nothing can compare.

So what happens to most Jeep tour guides? For some, it is something they are proud to say they have done, but are glad to have moved on to more sane and steady work. For others, it becomes a way of life. "The worst day Jeep tour guiding is better than the best day in an office!"

Happy trails!

Trail Ratings

As the Jeep event season looms closer, and winter-bound Jeepers start licking their chops over the trail selections of various 4-wheeling events around the country, I find the ever-sticky trail rating questions frequently crossing my path:

"Can my Jeep make it through the _____ trail?"

"What's a good moderate trail to do at _____?"

"What's the most fun trail at ______?"

As most of you already know, the askee cannot adequately answer any of these questions without acquiring a slew of other information from the asker: "How is your Jeep set up?", "What's your definition of moderate?", and "Is your idea of fun an easy scenic jaunt, or a heart-pounding steel-crushing rock fest?"

But beyond those subjective conversations is a larger befuddlement in the entire 4-wheeling world:

There is NO universal trail rating system.

In Arizona, we have used a 0-5 scale for a long time, with 0 being paved road, and 5 being impassable to any vehicle that ever rolled off a factory line. And we throw around terms like "easy" or "beginner" to "adventurous" or "extreme". Utah (specifically, Moab) has gone to a fairly well-defined 1-10 scale that categorizes anything in the 9 or 10 rating as buggy class only, relegating those of us in originally factory-built rigs, no matter how modified, to the 1-8 trails only. But to confuse matters further, Colorado and California use a 1-10 scale that makes trails like the famous Rubicon an 8-10 on their scale (the same trail might be a 6 or 7 on the Moab scale).

Then factor in that trails like Black Bear Pass near Ouray CO--the trail is actually very easy to drive--would barely rate a 4 or a "moderate" on the scenic Jeepers scale, except for that one little sticky fact about the narrow shelf road and excrutiatingly tight switchbacks with a sheer drop off of hundreds of feet promising certain death if you screw up by just a few inches--how do you calculate that HUGE intimidation factor into a trail rating?

Ask two different wheelers about the rating of a particular trail, and you will get two entirely different replies. For example, take a trail I will call "Bad Deal"--if you ask my friend Rick, whose Jeep has no straight sheet metal, a full roll cage, and carries crash helmets for its passengers, Rick will tell you that Bad Deal is a really easy trail. If you ask a recent client of mine, Jim, with a shiny stock 2011 Grand Cherokee, he would say it was impassable--that it wasn't a "trail" at all. The truth? In the rental and 4x4 instruction business, we would call this trail difficult or extreme, because it does take an aggressive 4wd with a driver who can make some good line choices to be able to make it through without damage beyond a few brush scratches and a little exercise of the skid plates. But, in the rock crawling world, this trail is barely a speed bump, and you have to go out of your way to make it interesting.

With all of this said, how can you properly choose a trail? Read, research, ask...Ask detailed questions of a knowledgable person you trust, or, at the very least, ask a variety of people and hope the truth will reveal itself in the averages (online forums are great for that!). Other good sources of info are local clubs, 4x4 shops in the area of your intended trails (and good people to know ahead of time in case you need some repairs), Jeep or ATV rental shops, and sometimes you get lucky and find a knowledgeable trail person at the local BLM or USFS Ranger Station.

But, what do you ask in order to get a true picture of what you are trying to get yourself into?

As an instructor, I address this with clients, and advise them to ask detailed questions about trails they are considering, such as:

"What size are the biggest rocks I will have to surmount? Labrador-sized? Volkswagon?"

"How tall are the ledges? Are they easy, rounded steps, or 90-degree steps?"

"What is the trail surface like? Sand? Sandstone? Slippery shale?"

"Are there bypasses for the harder obstacles on that particular trail?"

And, if you have particular fears or interests, ask about those too:

"How wide are the shelf roads?"

"How steep are the sidehills or inclines?"

"Is there adequate trail to pass other vehicles or stop for pictures?"

"Are there (ruins, mines, historic sites, etc.?"

And, last, but not least, don't forget to plan to get in and get out comfortably:

"How far to the nearest gas station to the trailhead? Closest air?"

"What about bathroom breaks...facilities at trailhead or just plenty of shrubs near the trail?"

"Closest place to pickup lunch/snacks/drinks on the way?"

Remember--the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask.

Happy trails!

Photo details:

Red XJ on "Bad" Deal during a Wheeling 101 with AZVJC

1-10 Moab scale from Red Rock 4-Wheelers

6-trail with red Jeep photo from JeepTrailInfo.com

"Everything is NOT going to be okay" sticker is located just above the "oh crap" strap on Lance K's rig (aka "The Raisin" formerly known as a TJ).

Maps and Route Planning

With warmer weather just around the corner (according to the groundhog), now is a good time to go through all the stuff you need to prepare for a fun and safe 4x4 excursion. The topic today is MAPS.

One of the questions I am asked the most is "What's a good map to buy?" The challenge is that there is no one map source for everything everywhere. I have shelves full of maps, atlases and software for exploring where I may be headed. I recommend that you check with at least three different sources for current information about where you plan to visit. I will share some of my favorites, but they may not have editions available in your area. If nothing else, it may help you to research what you DO need and find something published for your region. Possible sources should or could include:

An atlas is a good place to start for trail exploring. They won't give much detail on the condition of the roads, or even represent every tiny side trail out there, but they will give you a general lay of the land and usually better detail on all main access roads than the local land use maps. They will also represent different land status boundaries: Forest Service, BLM, private property, state trust land, reservation, etc. My favorite series is the Delorme Atlas & Gazeteer, available at Amazon and many local retailers. These measure approximately 11"x16", and open up to 2-pages per view, for a good studying size!

I use National Geographic TOPO software to review terrain, load my GPS, and print for reference. The State editions give the best detail. Keep in mind that some of these surveys date back to the 60's, so roads may or may not exist as indicated--use the data for topographical reference and navigation. Available at http://www.natgeomaps.com/topo.html

As you get closer to deciding where you plan to explore, invest in the maps produced by your local land use management, like US Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management (Coconino National Forest, shown above). All of them will have maps printed with current legal roads, but most of them will only show main access roads, not the more desirable Jeep roads. In more popular recreational areas, more detailed maps may be available from the land management office (aka ranger station or visitor center):

Find the Verde Valley Recreation map and other local information here: http://www.redrockcountry.org/maps/index.shtml

In very well-known recreational areas, there are usually a variety of retail maps produced to meet the demand for trail information. These providers are usually locals who know the lay of the land very well, and ONLY that local area:

I love Latitude 40 maps for Western Colorado and Eastern Utah, available at http://2pedal.com/publisher/latitude-40%C2%B0-maps-inc

In the western US, we are blessed with some very dedicated authors for creating trail books that include not only maps, but driving tips, points of interest, and give a comprehensive overview for driving the particular trails. The most consistent author for the Southwest US is Charles Wells with his Backroads and 4-wheel-drive Trails series, available at: http://www.funtreks.com/

You can always try http://www.jeeptrailinfo.com/trails_maps.html for very detailed individual trail maps that you can download and print instantly, but the site has limited trails of the southwest, and the author seems to be too busy Jeeping, instructing, and writing about maps, than actually producing more of them (wink).

And, no matter how much good printed material is available, conditions can and do change, and the burden of responsibility is on YOU as the trail user, not the map printer or the land use management. Always check with local 4x4 clubs or 4wd shops about current conditions. Many of them won't be willing to tell you where the trails are, but if you know where you are going, they will be happy to give you condition updates. Each state has an association of 4-wheel-drive clubs--google it, then find a club in the area you are visiting.

If you are ever in Sedona, stop by or call our shop for local trail conditions: www.barlowjeeprentals.com

Happy trails!

Wet Weather 4-wheeling Tips

With the first round of nasty winter weather across the region, it's time to brush off our winter driving skills:

The first tip is not about how to drive, but whether going out is the "right" thing at all. Etiquette is what we do when others are looking, ethics is what we do when no one is around. Consider the urgency of your trip: Wet roads may not be impassable, especially for experienced drivers, but driving on them may tear up the roads and trails unnecessarily, not to mention risk mud and water damage to your Jeep. Some mild trails can become very slimy and slippery, even for expert 4-wheelers. In general, we recommend AGAINST using trails during wet weather unless you absolutely have no other choice. Do the right thing.

With regard to water crossings: A good guideline for flooding streams is "If you cannot see the bottom, do NOT cross." If you cross, do so slowly--don't splash. And don't forget to thoroughly assess the condition of the bank on the far side.

With regard to slippery terrain: Most of the time, steady and fluid corrections are usually the key to successfully traversing nasty terrain. If you make sudden changes to steering, throttle or brakes on wet or icy terrain, you will very quickly come to understand what we mean by "breaking the tenuous threshold of traction." A little blip of the throttle is a good thing when your back end starts trying to pass your front end, but the most important thing to remember is to keep your tires pointed in the direction you are sliding or leaning. By keeping your tires under you in the direction gravity and inertia is moving you, the better steering control and anti-rollover influence you will have.

There are some very important things you should know about driving down steep hills at any time, but especially when conditions are wet:

1. You don't want (or need) to start DOWN a hill with ANY momentum--gravity will get you down. CREEEEEEP off the top of hills.

2. You want to go STRAIGHT down steep hills, not turn your tires any direction but straight down the hill. Many inexperienced drivers' tendency is to turn the tires away from the slide, and then they just flop over.

3. NEVER use lockers going downhill. Lockers only work when you are using the throttle. Lockers downhill only make it difficult to steer and harder on your front axle.

4. Don't lock up the brakes. If you lock up the brakes, you are just going to slide, and you are risking snapping an axle when you hit a rock. If you start to slide, ease up on the brakes a little to regain some steering control.

Always remember that your safety comes first. If it's nasty out, don't go looking for trouble!

Here is my blog post from last year for on- and off-road driving tips: http://trailwiseusa.blogspot.com/2010/01/winter-driving-on-and-off-pavement.html

Watch some of my favorite wet weather 4-wheeling videos--some luck and lots of skill involved...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF0bc6i2HDs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DboX5D2wmg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNvrKmnjqHA