Story and Photos by RJ Jackman
For years, I’ve enjoyed looking at old magazine articles and news clippings from early Jeep events – seeing how much fun Mark Smith would have during the early Jeepers Jamborees on the Rubicon or the wild photos from the Utah Skyline Jeep Club and their snow rally at Ecker Hill. That seemed like the type of wheeling and adventure I wanted to experience. It’s difficult to find; most off-road clubs are geared towards brand-new Jeep whatevers or hard-core buggy guys. There isn’t a lot for people who want to do medium-hard wheeling in older vehicles with people who are patient with constant roadside repairs. The closest I had experienced was participating in the Friday FlatFender Fun Run (FFFR) during Easter Jeep Safari in Moab. It’s an amazing experience running a trail with 50 Flatties built any way a person could imagine; the camaraderie is unparalleled. After the FFFR in 2018, I was lamenting that it would likely be an entire year before I could experience anything like that again; why couldn’t there be something similar in our little corner of Idaho? Since it appeared no one else was going to do anything like that, I took matters into my own hands and created the Idaho Vintage Jeep Rally with help from good friends and family. We base the event out of Pocatello every August and geared the rally to all vintage 4x4s. We’ve adjusted the format a little over the past six years and feel we’ve hit a good stride for keeping the event fresh while having an appropriate number of challenges. Best of all, we have been able to keep the event free.
We have settled into a 3-day event. Friday evenings, we get together and have a meet and greet. This gives everyone a chance to pop hoods and kick tires; it is a good chance for people to show off a rare Jeep or recently restored ride. There’s usually some parking lot tuning and repair happening too. This has proven to be a great way to get things moving faster for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday has become the busiest day; starting with a scenic trail ride, we follow with a potluck dinner and Bluegrass jam and raffle. We have had great scenic rides in the past of varying distances. This year, we went south of Pocatello on a 113-mile loop with over 50 rigs. The route consisted of a good mix of pavement, gravel roads, and dirt two tracks. The group traversed a little-known pass, stopped for a swim, and followed part of the Oregon Trail. We keep these rides fairly mild for people who don’t want body damage or are experiencing their first vintage 4×4 event. We fought a few vapor-locking Jeeps but surprisingly had no issues otherwise. We got back to town a bit late for dinner; dinner is at Jackman’s shop, affectionately referred to as Jackman’s Jeep Ranch, camping happens here, too. For the last few years, the potluck has been serenaded by the Bannock County Bluegrass Association and has become a crowd favorite. After the participants have filled their bellies, there is a free raffle. All of the raffle prizes are unsolicited and contributed by rally-goers. Dana Wasserburger has donated the grand prize for the last several years: an amazing custom Flatfender model.
We finish off the event with a more challenging trail, alternating yearly between Shelley Rocks and Lake Channel Sand Dunes. Shelley Rocks traverses a lava flow and can challenge stock or built vehicles, providing a fair possibility of mechanical or body damage without careful driving. This year, we ran Lake Channel; this area has fun trails across small to medium-sized dunes, a large sand bowl, and even a couple of optional rock gardens. The sand was perfect this year to where the skinny-tired 4-cylinder Jeeps were able to crest dunes and almost hang with the few V8 rigs on the trail. We had a few mechanical breaks, but everyone made it out under their own power.
We hope everyone can join us next August, it’s worth the money.
Friday Meet And Greet at Ross Park
*1- Tim Ryans Commando
*6- Even though its a Jeep rally we welcome any vintage 4×4 to join along.
. *8- celebrities like Stan Fuller have been known to make IVJR appearances. Great time to get up close to Grampas Jeep.
*12- Carlo Wilson brought out his beautifully restored Jeep FC.
.*41- RJ Jackmans Spud
Saturday Scenic Trail, Knox Canyon, Bull Canyon, Jensen Pass and Daniels Reservoir.
*45- heading up Knox Canyon
*49- Lunch stop Bull canyon
*59- Daniels Reservoir getting ready for a swim.
Sunday Sand Dunes and Rock Crawling
*66-Tony Moniz enjoying the fresh desert air in his CJ3a.
*67- group playing on rocks.
*70- Shawn Neilsen in his Ford Turbo powered CJ2a
*74- Stan Fuller on the hunt for more rocks.
*80- Southeast Idaho has great variety of terrain but the lava flows are some of our favorites.
*88 David Williams CJ5
112 – Kevin DeGoff conquering the waterfall rock garden in his 4.3 powered flatfender.
114 – Roger Grendahl made it most of the way up the waterfall rock garden before his clutch linkage started acting up. Pretty good since he just bought this Kubota powered flatfender, this was its first wheeling trip.
127 – Isaiah Whitworth had to show everyone that CJ5s are fun too on the waterfall rock garden.
*132- Joe Jenkins joined us from Washington in the Canary that also did really well in the sand.
