[trw]

I attended this one again (I did for the first time back in 2008) because I had a ton of fun the first time I did it.

This year, however, the Jamboree went sour after the first day. The weather got so bad a lot of Jeeps didn't make it out of the canyon at the end of the first day as the trails began to fill up with water from the torrential rains. The exit trail out of the canyon is a steep and twisty trail that turned to pure clay from the rain and made it nearly impassable. I was the last Jeep up that trail myself, and the few Jeeps that did get up had both a winch and a locker and used both.

From what I heard over the CB, most people had to leave their Jeeps on the exit trail overnight, as it was too dangerous to back down, and there were quite a few on that trail as the back log of groups was immense from it taking so long to winch 1 Jeep up the exit trail (it took long enough to move a broken Jeep out of the way, by then there was a long line of Jeeps waiting to winch up the exit trail).

The people that did leave their Jeeps had to pile into Jeeps already at the bottom of the canyon for another way out.

I never heard what happened to them after that, whether or not they made it safely out or not. Once I made it to the top of the canyon, there were only about 6 or 7 Jeeps that made it out, the rest were still down there.

struggling with the exit trail left me with 2 flat tires (struck a boulder, got dirt in the beads) and trashed idler pulleys from all the water (the road back to the property entrance alone was under loads of water) I ended up limping back to town and leaving the next day after getting the tires fixed.

On my way home, I was passed by a few other dirty Jeeps (none from my group though) so I assume they canceled the second day, I imagine a lot of trails were washed out as the creek crossings were quite deep when I crossed them the day before.

If anyone has heard anything on the other Jeeps (I'm hoping someone here was there as well) I would like to know if everyone made it out O.K. that was a truly scary thing, and I was worried afterward, the wind gusts alone made it hard to walk the exit trail.

we did manage to get a full day of wheeling in though before the weather turned bad, here are the pics I got:

[trw]

take 2

[trw]

take 3

[nwiTJdave]

looks like a blast. sorry to hear about the weather

[IslandTJ]

Great pics, mahalo for sharing .

[1398653]

Wow, sucks you only got one day of wheeling in. Did they refund people some money or offer money off another trip for not being able to run the two day event?

[yoda13]

great pics...sorry it turned bad...

[74CJMatlock]

Great pics. I'm interested in the pair of flatties. Not common to see one of that vintage--much less two together. Do you know anything about them?

I realize that JJUSA can't control the weather, and they can't make money giving refunds every time it rains. However, you'd think that in the interest of repeat business, they could at least give discounts to next year's JJ if the trails were truly impassible on the second day.

[cstepp2002]

anyone that participated in JJ2010 @ palo duro canyon, could you please get in contact with me? I need pics and would love a video of the climb out!

[grogie]

Wow... weather turns too bad that Jeeps can't make it out! Who would have thought? Thanks for sharing the pictures. Still looked like a nice time.

[trw]

Northern Texas is known for severe weather (and tornadoes) that day was one of those days mother nature decided to throw a hissy fit and we all got caught in the middle of it.

I emailed JJUSA about the outcome, and they've told me 25 Jeeps were left stranded in the canyon overnight, and that they are working on compensation packages for everyone.

I do want express my appreciation towards the the trail leaders for trying their best to keep everyone safe, JJUSA has assured me new emergency plans are being worked on for future events.

As for the flatties, those things were awsome They had small issues (but that's to be expected from a vehicle more than half a century old) but they were easily fixed on the trail and just amazed me all day at their abilities; not once did they have to be strapped or pulled for anything (well, until the end of the day that is, they were behind me, so they never made it up).

I did speak with the drivers a couple times, they have been upgraded with a few modern conveniences such as power steering, power disk brakes, and electronic fuel pumps. That is all I know about them really.

[jeepraider]

Good ol amarillo weather. i went to high school there. matter of fact we had our senior trip to that very canyon. 29 years ago.

[gkart65]

great pictures

[Gymguyjeep]

Is there anywhere to trail ride out there that is legal and not on private land? I was passing through that area a couple of years ago and looked for a place to ride and found nothing. The guy across from the main entrance that runs vehicles on trail rides was no help at all.

[gkart65]

north of Amarillo is an OHV area. Canadian River. Nothing in the canyon, it is all private or park. The Jeep club has 2 events a year, spring Jamboree and a fall ride. Jeep Exclusive is the club name.