Tips for first-time families from a Jeep Jamboree newbie

The Killington Jeep Jamboree was the first Jamboree ever for my family. I’d only been off-road a handful of times, in other people’s vehicles. It was also the first time I drove my new 2018 Jeep Wrangler JL Rubicon off-road. And it was pretty much the first time that the five of us: me, my wife Michelle and our three small kids had ever spent 8 hours in a vehicle together on two successive days.

We didn’t know what to expect.

We read the Jeep Jamboree itinerary, looked at the Facebook pages, talked to friends and prepared our kids. But we still weren’t really sure how it would all work out. So we thought we’d write the story of our Jeep Jamboree experience so that other newbies and first-time families could expect.

There are a bunch of caveats. The most important one is that we were invited guests, not paying customers for the Jamboree. I wrote an article about the new Jeep JL in February of 2018 that attributed part of the Jeep brand success to the passion of enthusiasts and specifically mentioned the Jeep Jamboree. The Jeep Jamboree folks loved it and invited me to join a Jamboree when I got my own Jeep. Which almost didn’t work out because the Jeep I ordered took months to arrive at the dealership, landing just a week before the Jamboree started.

The next caveat is that we were newbies. I’ve been driving off-road for all of 8 months. I took six off-road classes at Northeast Off-Road Adventures in the Catskills where I drove a rented Jeep Grand Cherokee, manual TJ and manual JK off-road. At best, I’m a novice driver.

The third caveat – and an important one – is that my wife didn’t drive on this adventure. She hasn’t driven manual since an unfortunate incident with an Audi S4 and a big hill in Mobile, Alabama fourteen years ago. I chose the manual JL because I (perhaps weirdly) feel more comfortable with a manual off-road and I’ve been missing driving one for the past 5 years.

Our experience was also specific to the Killington Jeep Jamboree, and we were blessed to have beautiful weather this year, with not a drop of rain during the two days of off-roading. All the other Jeep Jamborees will be different to a lesser or greater degree.

Finally, this was a family experience for us. We have three very energetic kids – an 8-year-old boy, a six-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy. The two older kids had been off-road with me before, but not for such a long stretch. We really had no idea how they would handle it.

Having said all that, we had a great time! The Jeep Jamboree folks were wonderful and the trails were fantastic. We also learned some things that we did right and others that we’ll do differently the next time. So here are our experiences and lessons learned from the trip:

Packing

Clothes: If you haven’t done a lot of off-roading before, you’ll be surprised by how thoroughly dust, mud and bugs can invade your Jeep and your kids. We did bring sunscreen and bug spray, both of which we used copiously. We were a little short on long pants and shirts. Vermont in the summer can be surprisingly cool at night and first thing in the morning, so plan a change of clothes in the evening as well as sweatshirts for the Jeep in the morning. The second day we had the kids dress in layers which worked pretty well.

Extra Water and Snacks: We were on a classic Jeep Jamboree where you get a very healthy lunch that you pick-up after breakfast but before hitting the trail. It was great for the kids as there was a selection of five different kinds of sandwiches as well as fruit, chips and water. For kids, you’ll definitely also want to pack snacks for mid-morning and mid-afternoon. We got two bottles of water per person from the Jamboree folks in the morning but used even more, so bring extra. Bringing a few trash bags is also important as you don’t want to leave anything in the wilderness and it’s easier to collect the wrappers as kids eat them than dig them out of the Jeep afterwards.

A Cooler or Fridge: While my Jeep was close to stock, I did add an ARB refrigerator which was invaluable. Having the water still cold by mid-day was really helpful. It will also help preserve your lunch from getting squashed or dumped out of the Jeep when it’s tilted at 30 degrees or more.

Waterproof Blanket and Chairs: If it rains, you can still have a great outing, but you might find yourself eating inside the Jeep. But in nice weather, you’re going to have a picnic environment at lunch. We threw in a waterproof blanket (the kind that folds up and Velcro’s together) which was great because it was easy to wash off. I almost left out folding chairs after looking at the available space in the back of my Jeep but was very glad that I brought a couple of chairs for my wife and me.

Hats and Sunglasses: It’s been years since I was a serious hiker, so I’d forgotten how important a good hat is. First of all, if you’re taking the top down on your Jeep, it shields you from the sun and keeps bugs out of your hair. It’s also great at reducing glare. If it rains, a good waterproof hat will make the trailside meetings a lot more enjoyable. Though you may spend a good part of your day under shade, sunglasses are also really important. If you wear glasses for distance vision, you might consider the flip-down sunglass variety to make it easy to deploy them when the sun suddenly hits you as you’re on a tricky bit of terrain. Along with this, I’d stress a great, lightweight raincoat for all participants. We didn’t need it during the Jamboree but the next day – on our drive back home – it was drenching, and the kids were a lot less miserable with raincoats.

Hiking Boots or Shoes: Given how beautiful the weather was, I was pretty surprised at how much mud we encountered on the trails. There were lots of times we got out of the vehicles in slippery or steep terrain. Same goes for the kids. They peed in the woods more times than I can count, so having good footing was important. Don’t let them wear flip flops.

A First Aid Kit: We didn’t have any trail injuries – and for the record there has never been a major trail injury in the 12 years of the Killington Jeep Jamboree. But what we did experience were some itchy bug bites and one kid with a headache. The off-road first aid kit we brought had cortisone and ibuprofen, both of which we used.

Headlamps: Because of the timing of our Jamboree it wasn’t critical but in March or October, a handsfree source of light would have been vital for both driver and passengers.

Diversions for the Kids: I started day one as a purist: no electronics, coloring books, crafts, or music in the Jeep. Turns out I was wrong. Kids have a limited span of attention. Even my 6-year-old daughter who is a true enthusiast and has listened to a half-hour lecture on vehicle recovery without blinking reached her limit on day one. Day two was much improved when we let our kids do their own thing but insisted they pay attention at key moments.

Your Backup Jeep Key: This didn’t happen to us, fortunately, but it’s not too hard to let a key slip out of your pocket when you’re on the trail. The best strategy is to leave it in the ignition – except our Jeep has a stop-start button! So next time we’ll bring the backup key and store it in a safe place. If you have a proximity backup key, you’ll want to make sure you take it out of the Jeep after the trail, so your Jeep doesn’t drive itself away from the parking lot of your hotel!

4×4 Accessories

I was on a very limited budget for modifying my Jeep before the Jamboree. Based on our experience, here are a few 4×4 accessories that are well worth having:

A Rapid Tire Deflator: The first day we drove some distance on surface streets before arriving at a trailhead and airing down. The second day, we expected the same – but it turned out that the trail started from the parking lot and all of the more experienced drivers on the trail had already aired down. Having a rapid deflator (one from ARB that removes the core of the tire valve) spared us embarrassment from holding everyone else up. It’s also smart to practice airing down tires before you arrive at the trailhead.

Air: You can manage without this as trail guides and other Jeepers on your trip will happily air you up with their on-board systems at the end of the day. But having an air solution – whether it’s a portable compressor, on-board air or Co2 will boost your confidence and self-sufficiency. Just remember that the small portable systems you use for soccer balls and street tires probably won’t work for your off-road needs.

Basic Recovery Gear: We went with the theory that we could avoid adding a winch for our first trip as most of the other Jeeps at the Jamboree had them. Still, it’s only polite to have a basic recovery kit in case you do get stuck. A pair of gloves, a rated snatch strap and soft shackles should be the minimum.

A Professionally Tuned CB: A CB radio with an external antenna is required for the Jamboree but a couple of folks on our trip had trouble with theirs because they weren’t tuned correctly – including a guide who ended up swapping rigs so that he could communicate!

Basic Training: Whether you get it from a friend or an off-road school like I did, I highly advise you to get some basic education before you spend two full days off-road. Basic skills like closely following spotter directions, staying off the clutch, putting a tire on the high-point and not gunning the throttle unless you’re told to were really invaluable on this experience. The Jeep Jamboree Guides were awesome and super-helpful but there’s only so much they can do if you’re not listening or get freaked out.

Here’s a brief account of our trip…

Registration –

I have never, ever seen so many Jeeps in one place! The window for pre-inspection and registration was from 5-7pm, so we decided to be prompt and have our Jeep there right at 5pm. Surprise! We were actually about 100th in line out of 150 or so vehicles. The great news was that we only had to wait 10 minutes or so for the vehicle inspection. The Jamboree technical team was incredibly efficient. They took a walk around the vehicle, checked the CB and handed me a sheet which accurately described my setup all in less than a minute.

After technical inspection, we walked through a tunnel and joined a line waiting to receive our registration kid including wristbands and nametags. That line was unsurprisingly pretty long, and it took a bit longer to clear – possibly 20 minutes. We received t-shirts and a registration packet that included wristbands and nametags for all five of us (we kept them in our glovebox after the evening meal the first night and handed them out at breakfast the second day so the kids wouldn’t lose them overnight). I realized after the Jamboree that there was also a hidden gem in this bag: a small rectangular sticker that fits neatly under the “trail rated” badge on the side of my Rubicon showing that I drove the 2018 Killington Jeep Jamboree. Among other things, it’s something nice to point to when friends ask me if my Jeep has ever been off the pavement.

Incidentally, that line for registration was completely empty just thirty minutes later when we were walking out. It was around 6pm then and there was still a full hour of registration to go. The real reason to get to registration early is the third part of the process: trail selection. We decided to start the Jamboree with the easiest possible trail – Chateauguay, which was rated a 3-4 on the 1-10 trail rating scale. There were no trails rated 1 or 2 and also none rated 10 (that’s reserved for the famous Rubicon Trail in California). Then I took a chance and signed up for the Vertigo trail for day 2. That was still the third easiest trail (a 5-6) but it technically required a winch. I don’t have a winch, but the trail guide said that it would be fine, as almost every other participant would have one. We took the last available spot on the Vertigo trip, so that was a good reason to come early.

Morning: Day 1 –

For two night-owls, the 6am alarm came early the next morning! It took some doing to get our three sleepy kids out of bed an hour ahead of their normal schedule, and we realized quickly that we should have started even earlier. As it was, we went to the wrong dining spot first. Our second lesson was that instead of parking in a general lot for breakfast, we should have parked our Jeep in the trail lineup parking lot and walked from there. It was the same place we’d been inspected the night before. We didn’t actually get to the dining hall until after 8am, close to the end of the meal, partly because we were getting our gear organized in the Jeep. Fortunately, the Jamboree inserts a half hour between the end of breakfast and the driver’s meeting, so we didn’t miss anything.

The kids loved the breakfast. There was pretty much everything there from cold muffins, cereal and bagels to scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage, bacon and French toast. After the Jamboree, the meals were on the top 5 list for our older kids, probably because it was a relaxed camp-type atmosphere and they could get food and drinks for themselves while staying in sight of us without us worrying about them – even the three-year-old who proved surprising adept with the orange juice cistern. The food was pretty basic for adults, but the experience with the kids kept us from even considering going to a restaurant.

During breakfast, I picked up our lunch. The Jamboree crew checks your name and gives you one big clear plastic Ziploc for each family member. The first day I tried to do it for the whole family myself while the kids were eating because we were late. That was a mistake. I didn’t pick out all the right things. The second day we picked up lunch after breakfast on our way out to the Jeep and that worked much better. The kids were delighted with the choices they had for sandwiches, fruit and snacks.

The driver’s meeting on Day 1 made a couple of points that bear keeping in mind (other than the unsurprising warnings about mosquitos, mud and sunscreen). They said that if you have a very trustworthy child, keep them in sight at all times when you are on the trail, as vehicles may move without warning. If you have an untrustworthy child, you should be holding their hand. That was good advice.

One of the big anxieties we had was how our daughter in particular would take to squatting in the woods to pee. I’d had a previous experience with her where she wasn’t too keen on it. Perhaps the fact that everyone was doing it (ladies on the right, gentlemen on the left) helped, as neither she nor our two boys objected. One thing we did have to negotiate was hogweed, an invasive plant which apparently is more toxic than poison ivy and which we spotted in numerous places on the trails.

Another sensitive issue is #2. And by that I mean poop. Our kids fortunately held their bowels during the day, saving it for the evenings in the hotel, but when we started the Jamboree we realized that we were going to have to somehow get them to go into a plastic bag if it came to that. While peeing in the woods is permissible, it’s not okay to leave human feces among the trees. So the next time, we’ll plan to bring some kind of portable potty seat with liners just in case.

The trail driving itself surprised me in a few ways. It was gorgeous and just unbelievable scenic. But we also learned a number of things about our family and the Jeep. Here are a few:

• The CB is a lifeline — A great guide and a chatty group can turn the CB into a source of entertainment and company.
• 4-Low keeps you from overheating – The easier trails cover a lot of distance. Particularly when you’re climbing, even on easy terrain, 4 Low ended up being a better choice than 4-High. The guide warned us early to move into 4-Low and monitor our engine temperature and he was right that it made a big difference. It was something I hadn’t learned in other people’s Jeeps.
• There are Lots of Families – We were nervous we’d be the only family with multiple kids. Instead we were between two jeeps with small kids, including one with three like our own with a baby under a year old.
• Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for a Break – We were nervous about stopping our whole group when our kids had to pee. Instead we were greeted with thanks from some of the 50+ year old men. Just sayin’!
• The Pace is Brisk – The difference between a learner’s group and even the lowest level at the Jeep Jamboree was noticeable. It was a professional endeavor. Because the obstacles were generally a bit easier than other trails, we were only spotted only once the entire first day. On moderate terrain which was still challenging for me as a novice I found that first gear was too low (in 4-Low with a manual JL Rubicon) because I was slowing down the whole group. It took some time to get used to the pace. Shifting in 4-Low also involved some unsettling clanking I had to get used to.
• Even the Easy Trails have Tough Obstacles – Near the end of the day we drove down a riverbed. We hit our skidplates, made some mistakes and it felt challenging. This was not a dumbed-down off-road experience, especially for my level of experience.
• Keep the Kids Occupied – I mentioned this earlier, but this was probably our biggest single learning from day 1. We went into day 1 all gung-ho saying we were going to bond with nature. No coloring, crafts, games, electronics, music, etc. Let’s just say that that caused multiple choruses of “are we done yet?” as early as 1 hour into an 8-hour day. They made it through, but it added unnecessary stress, particularly for my wife.

Night 1 –

After a full day on the trail we were all exhausted. We ate dinner at the beginning of the window, took the kids back to the hotel, got them all into the shower and then my daughter convinced my wife to take her to the pool. That was a good strategy because she was probably the most impatient the first day and it completely recharged her for day 2.

Day 2 –

We took the Vertigo Trail. Right out of the box I made a mistake, because the other drivers had aired down in the parking lot, knowing that the trail started directly from the parking lot instead of requiring travel on public roads like Chateauguay. But the guides were kind enough to make an early stop and let us air down before things got tough.

Here’s what we learned on Day 2:

1. Two Drivers is a Great Idea – My wife has actually driven off-road but silly me, I ordered a manual Rubicon. I regretted in on day two when I was a bit more fatigued and would like to have traded off some time at the wheel.
2. Mind Those Mirrors – The early challenges of Vertigo were trees. It was a really narrow trail. My wife fortunately had the common sense to have us fold in the rearview mirrors because we would have certainly lost one on our four-door JL if we had not. We later found out that someone did lose a mirror on this trail on day 1.
3. The Guides Will Take Care of You – Vertigo was significantly more challenging than Chateauguay and our first day guide had some doubts that it was advisable for a stock vehicle. But the day 2 guides suggested that we just plan to bypass the most difficult loop and we’d be fine – and we were. The key difference in day 2 was that the obstacles required real spotting throughout the day. The great news is that as long as you can follow directions, expert spotting makes you a much better driver, just the same way that an expert caddy can improve your golf game.
4. Harder Can Be Better – I say this with a caveat: you have to know your limits and your vehicle’s limits. And it quickly became apparent that the Rubicon’s were a lot higher than mine. So fortunately, with expert spotting I was able to get through obstacles that I really thought there was no way I’d traverse. It gave me a tremendous sense of personal accomplishment. Best of all, my vehicle came through without any damage, still looking new but with the skidplates properly broken in
5. Treats – The guides on this trip surprised all of the kids with ice pops near the end of the day. They did it when we were at the top of a trail with a great view and it made for a memorable moment that the kids loved.
6. A Surprise Challenge – We finished the three loops early (the third of which we bypassed). So the guides decided to take us down the Glades on the way out – a slightly more difficult trail. The highlight of this trail was a curve of deep mud. It was deep enough, in fact, that the guides set up a Jeep to winch and told us that we’d probably get stuck. All of our kids were awake (from the ice pops) and this was one of those obstacles where the need for momentum created a lot of thrills. We actually made it through without getting stuck, everybody whooped and cheered, and our kids were thrilled. Then the three of them passed out in their car seats for the remainder of the trip.

We finished early enough on the second day to take the kids to the pool before dinner, which was great. They arrived recharged and refreshed for dinner and had enough energy to stay for the awards banquet afterwards which was by turns entertaining and touching. I should note that several families missed out on winning a free Jeep Jamboree as they were not in the hall when their name was called!

It was a memorable experience, and one we hope to repeat as smarter, more experienced Jeepers next year!

David Vinjamuri is President of ThirdWay Brand Trainers and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Marketing, New York University. He is a contributor to Forbes magazine, and the author of Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands