The Event

Last September 27-30 we attended our first Jeep Jamboree in Bethel Maine. It was the 18th annual Jamboree for Bethel. There were over 130 Jeeps of all kinds and 250 + people. The types of Jeeps varied widely - Willy's, Army Jeeps, CJ's, TJ's, YJ's, Jeep Cherokees, JK's 2 and 4 doors - Sahara, X's and Rubicon .... and 1 Jeep Liberty. Doug and Jodie Wilson are the organizers of the Bethel Jamboree. Many thanks to all the land owners who allowed the use of their land for the trails, all the trail guides who accompanied us and prepared the trails before and after, the lunches were prepared by the local school ... The whole weekend went very smoothly - at least from a participant standpoint. Our experience was great and yes we will be back next year to the event. THANKS to all.

Our Jeep

Our JK Wrangler Unlimited 4D Rubicon is our first vehicle. We purchased it last December and received it 5 months later in May 2007. Jeep did not anticipate so many sales and some hard top issues added some delays. JS has been an avid participant in the JK Forum since last December and has purchased all our equipment from the states. JS and my Dad have worked on the Jeep since last June to ensure it would be ready for the Jamboree. Without my Dad's help our Jeep would not have been outfitted like it was. So thank you Dad !!!

We use our Jeep on the weekends to do activities with our Dog Pete - a 4yold Chessie - Dog Training, Canoeing, Camping and this winter, dog sledding. Now we will add to our list Off Roading !!

The People we met

We met many first timers to the Jeep Jamboree like ourselves and many returnees as well. Most of the attendees were from the east coast of the USA - Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, NYC, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Cape Cod. We met Linda and Sylvia with family and friends. They were a lovely bunch that enjoy the outdoors and make this event since 2006 a happy return. We followed Linda's Jeep the first day - she drives a rental jeep off road like a walk in the park. She had a 2 inch lift and some bigger tires put in since last year. We also met the Donovan's who had a wonderful time at their first Jamboree; Paul and Paul (father and son) from Boston area who had a blast and filmed most of the trails with a new camera (we are waiting for their footage); A documentary filmmaker and friends from Paris who drove a stock JK 4 door Sahara 2007 - She was at her second Jamboree this year. Her foot rails did not make it though:*) She is totally into it and will make upgrades to her Jeep for next year event. We also met 2 nice young men from New Hampshire who were close by on the trails with us - Hilman with only one wheel traction and Steve aka Smiley Face with his white Jeep (won a Jeep Jamboree trip).

Special thanks to our guides Ron, Jim (first time as trail guide) and Pete. We learned many skills with their help and they helped ensure our safety and protect our nice Jeep.

What's next?

We will definitely return to the Bethel Jamboree and add next year the Vermont event. If the Canada Jamboree are back on next year we will have to register to one of them as well. We will definitely buy another Jeep in the future when we have a place in the country.

What we have learned?

Good clearance, good tires, sway bar disconnect and diff lockers make a load of difference. We had no difficulty at all on the trails. Experience is also key to ensure fun and minimize incidents.

How did the JK 4D Rubicon did on the trails?

It is obviously longer, wider and taller ... I think lots of people were apprehensive of how they would do on the trail. We heard many comments throughout the weekend that the 4 doors did really well even in the difficult trail category. People were surprised.

Sept 27 - Arrival

Noon - We arrived in Bethel around noon the 27th. We stayed at the base camp at the Bethel Inn. We arranged for a deluxe accommodation in the main building. The room was roomy and OK comfortable with AC and a gas fireplace. The buildings of the Bethel are really nice but are currently in need of a refresh of paint, carpets and deco. This place looks really popular for it's golf course. The inn is a perfect central place to have all the meals of Jeep Jamboree and its conference place ideal for the meetings and registration.

5 PM - Registration was made at the conference center. We proceeded to an inspection line so the guide could rate our Jeep capabilities. Our Jeep is pretty well equipped and rated a 6+ (maximum rating). We then registered inside and signed up for our trails. We chose trails rated 3-4 for our experience - Ice Caves (Irish District) for the Friday and Moose River for the Saturday.

Sept 28 - 1st Day Off Road - Ice Caves Total Mileage 50.1 KM - Time 7:43 - 621 meter

6h30 AM - We proceeded to have breakfast in the main dinning room. We were quite anxious to see how the day would unrol. We then proceeded to the line up for our trails at the Bethel Cinema parking lot. Ron and Jim were our guides for the day. We had 9 Jeeps in our group. All in all we covered many trails during that day; Our roof rack took care of a dead tree dragging it a few feet forward :*) We also used our tow strap for the first time on Hilman (got stuck in a big mud hole due to the traction problem he realized after the trail); Had lunch on top of a granite mountain. Ron showed us how to take care of a fallen tree with a strap. We will definitely add a chain saw to our rig and a hand held cutter. Jim showed us the grace of his 49 Willy. He took all obstacle with such easiness. This was great first day to learn off-roading. JS drove all day. Ron had us run many trails and brought us back @5pm ... We were exhausted :*) We cleaned up our Jeep at the fire station. Cool concept.

Sept 29 - 2nd day - Moose River Run - Total Mileage 54.2 KM - Time 7:46 - 481 meter

Our guides for the day were Pete accompanied with his brother, Ron and Jim. They mixed 2 trails in one. We were a bit apprehensive with the numbers of participants over 20 Jeeps of all kinds - Some stock and some very modified. We took down the pressure of our tires to 18 - It was much better than the day before. We then understood how a CB is useful with a big group. Pete and all did a lot of use to communicate direction, validating where all were, etc. We loved our CB. JS will change the speaker to enhanced quality of sound for next year. The terrain had a little bit more obstacles - water crossings with 1 big one, loads of mud trails and 2-3 holes, a log bridge crossing. It was a good ride. The wait was not bad at all for the amount of Jeeps involved. There was a downhill obstacle with a rock and right turn against a tree. We did learn how to put our wheals to help us clear the tree. Our roof rack did hit the tree this time - It won't next time :*) On that same obstacle - a memorable run was the New York family with a stock JK 2007 4D Sahara - They had removed their doors for that day. As they came down the steep hill the wife and kids were screaming like in a roller coaster each time the jeep was moving or slipping. Their seat belts were holding them in place - I hope Paul got that on video. That was fun !! We came back at almost 5pm drenched. Cleaned up the Jeep and went on to east a nice lobster dinner, recap of weekend with all participants, prizes draw and then went to sleep.

We will be adding pictures and video of friends we met on the trail as they send them to us.

We will also add the JPEG GPS maps of our trails when we figure out how to super-impose to the nice National Geographics maps we bought.

See you all next year !! Please go and see the pictures of the event on the following link - Please share with friends and Jamboree staffs. I used a mix of Canon 20D with 17-85 and 10-22 lenses and a small Panasonic Lumix 10Mpix. We hope you find good pictures of your Jeep in there.

View the Jeep > Off-Road > 2007 > 20070927 - Bethel Maine 18th Jeep Jamboree folder...