This year was the 20^th anniversary for the French Lick Jamboree, a very popular event French Lick is probably one of the most revisited jamborees around the country. Normally the trails are a nice mixture of rolling hills with some off camber spots and scattered rocks that add a little difficulty to the trail. This year myself (Will Morgan) and a coworker Shawn Gulling embarked on Labor Day for a 7 week, around the country road trip for Jeep Jamboree where we would be hitting a different Jeep Jamboree each week, working the event and then hitting the road to the next. The French Lick Jamboree was the 5^th stop on the trip and each previous event we were plagued by rain….. This stop was to be no different than the previous ones.

There were flash floods just prior to the event kicking off and the morning of the first day for the trails the road into the ranch where the event is held each year was inaccessible due to the rain and flooding blocking the road. Those who didn’t stay on site were routed around to another town and forced to take back roads to get to the event so things were slightly delayed but not cancelled.

The added moisture on the trail this year changed everything!! The trails actually had turned into creeks that made the mud holes deeper, the off-camber spots that much more difficult and the couple trails that were for the modified groups became trails of destruction. “Randy’s Ravine” one of the trails for the modified group is usually tough enough just trying to negotiate around the rock ledges and boulders but was a virtual running creek bed this year. The running water mixed with all of the mud and slime on the tires made for an extremely challenging task to get through the trail causing 5 bent tie rods, a crease in the door and rocker of our company 4 Dr Jk Rubicon and resulted in one of our fender flares being peeled off all before lunch. We certainly couldn’t continue taking our Jeep to events and running with the modified groups in our stock Jeep and not have any kind of body damage to it other than what was already incurred on the Rubicon Trail this year, French Lick seemed like the perfect spot with the right conditions for us to get some new trail scars.

Every year we see many of the same faces return to the French Lick Jamboree, not because it has the hardest trails out there, nor is it because the setting is sold as the most scenic even though the scenery is fantastic with the fall colors and the trails are challenging enough to stay entertained on. After working at this event for the last 4 years I have been able to see what brings the same folks back year after year, in addition to the trails and the setting the guides really work to make a personal connection with the participants. The trail guides have a way of competing with each other’s groups to see who can have the most fun. All weekend it is very common to hear calls of “Arrgghhh” from the black group…”The Pirates“and the others proclaiming that their color group is the best making for some entertaining banter over the weekend. Typically the guides will set up tables by color with party type novelties for the groups at dinner so the groups can continue to mingle and further get to know one another even after the trail rides are done. It’s these little things that seem to be what makes the participants have so much fun and of course the setting and accommodations at “The Ranch” make it an inviting event that keeps people coming back year after year.

As always any information on this or any of Jeep Jamboree USA’s events across the country can be found on their website at http://www.jeepjamboreeusa.com/.

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