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Palo Duro Canyon Jeep Jamboree
Amarillo, Texas
May 15-17, 1998

No less than 140 Jeepers gathered for the 10th annual Palo Duro Jeep Jamboree on a brisk windy morning in Amarillo Texas. Myself and my companion Leon were happy to be among the crowd. Some of the best scenery in Texas awaited us. Meanwhile some most interesting scenery surrounded us, in the form of modified and unusual Jeeps.

Gator
Mascot for the Florida Gatorcrawlers

Mooo When we drove onto the private ranch (owned by Thomas Christian), we paused the Jeep caravan for a moment to let a herd of draft horses through. Having been here last year, we knew to look for the magnificent Shire horses that Tom keeps. These are the largest horses in the world (yes, even bigger than the Budweiser Clydesdales) and they are a sight to behold. They are used to pull wagons of people around the ranch. After the Cowboy Breakfast at the rim of the canyon and the drivers meeting, we descended into the canyon. The red sandstone contrasted beautifully with the greenery. Amongst the juniper were several longhorn cattle. We compared brushguards and decided they definitely had a better model.

Palo Duro presents a mix of terrain. There are tight creek washes, that become filled with treacherous mud (in some cases quicksand) when wet. Luckily that isn't often. There are lots of boulders and rocks to climb, and some steep uphills with loose dirt and sandstone. Watch out for the mesquite thorns and cacti. There are lots of both and they'll puncture a tire real fast.

Lawra

Wash1

Wash2
Marcia winds through the wash.

We rode for two days in a group with several other SAJE members (our local club). All the groups supposedly went over the same trails except for one group of extreme-ers. (But they had to get up really early!). I don't recall any major mishaps in our group but there was evidence of other stories when we got back to camp. There were a couple of Grand Cherokees from Florida that were going to be taking back personal bruises from Palo Duro rock as souveneirs.

Army
This Jamboree is hosted by Jeep Exclusive of Amarillo, Texas. We really enjoyed the results of their hard work. They clear trails beforehand and provide leaders for the runs. Our leader, Lawrence, had a good sense of humor and was imperturbable. Thanks Lawrence!

Hump
Morning pre-run antics

Dewayne
Dewayne Catchings gets the thumbs up.

Later that day we found a loose dirt hill that didn't look too imposing, but noone was able to conquer it. Various drivers and Jeep models tried it but to no avail. When Phil Cook and his Scrambler challenged it he got a little sideways and was pouring out gasoline from his gas cap, a known problem in Scramblers. It's deceiving what loose dirt will do.	Gathering for lunch. Ask anyone who's ever been to a Palo Duro Jamboree and they'll usually tell you about the great food, dust, and the fun trails (in that order).
Back at camp, there was always great food (best biscuits and peach cobbler ever!) cooked by the ranch staff. The staff cooks everything ranch-style in huge pans over open pits. Lots of folks brought their own portable showers, to find themselves again underneath all the dust at the end of the day.

Back at camp, there was always great food (best biscuits and peach cobbler ever!) cooked by the ranch staff. The staff cooks everything ranch-style in huge pans over open pits. Lots of folks brought their own portable showers, to find themselves again underneath all the dust at the end of the day.

Saturday night was the raffle. Val Minozevski from SAJE won the winch! And a couple from our group won new tires for their Cherokee. Thomas Christian spoke to the crowd about the history of the ranch with the softly lit canyon walls as his backdrop curtain. Someone from Jeep Exclusive led a sing-along and folks gathered around campfires to reminisce about other Jeep adventures and more to come.