Hummer X Club to the Rescue

Nightmare Gulch.  The Creepy Crossover.  Last Chance Canyon.  Even the names of trails in the El Paso Mountains sounded ominous and foreboding when the Southern California chapter of The Hummer X Club first planned a late January run in and around Red Rock State Park.  In reality, the trails were technical, difficult in spots, produced some minor vehicle carnage....and also nearly resulted in a real-life nightmare.  Not for our group of HXC drivers and families, but for a wayward Boy Scout troop with whom we crossed paths.

Oddly enough, the first encounter happened early in the day when we were airing down at the entrance to the Ricardo Campground where the Scouts had spent the night.  Both groups left at around the same time, 10am.  For the Hummer X Club, it would be a challenging day of driving and fun.  For the Scouts, the fantastic day would take a definite turn for the worse.

Our group of drivers waved to the Scouts as we fired up our three H2s and one H3, proceeding onto the trail to conquer one obstacle after another through Nightmare Gulch, a trail that winds deep into the forbidding canyons.  The bright sunny skies had clouds along the horizon, but the temperature was mild and it turned into an outstanding day of highly technical driving.  Two rigs required winching pull free of some boulders in the first half mile of trail due to some drivers being overly ambitious in their original attack.  Between the deep sand, the loose rocks, enormous boulders, off camber hills, a deep and thick mud pit, crumbling stone stairs, and several spots on a Jeep trail that were barely wide enough for the H2s, spotting was required every 100 feet or so.  Soon our group found their rhythm and chose better lines and we began making good progress. We had been warned not to attempt Nightmare Gulch by wheelers who were familiar with the trail, but not with the H2 and H3.  We rightfully had confidence in our trucks’ abilities, and by the end of the day the doubters were proven wrong.  After many hours, as the skies darkened and rain began to fall, the small string of Hummers reached the far end of Nightmare Gulch.  [Editor’s note:  Unfortunately, with the arrival of the foul weather the cameras were put away at this point as well – you’ll have to use your imagination for the rest of the story.]

Now it was on to the Creepy Crossover, which would take us over and down into Last Chance Canyon.  Our group split up into two pairs.  Leery of the slick ground in the steady drizzle, two of the H2s took an easier route.  One H2 and the H3 decided to brave Creepy Crossover - which ends on a slick chunk of red rock at a 38 degree down-slope, into a narrow gully, then up an equally steep but much shorter side, and finally into Last Chance.  Each group made it unscathed and we rejoined.  It was time to make a decision.  Given the lateness of the hour, bad weather and the dropping temperature, we could have turned left and taken an easy route out to the north.   Instead, we turned right to tackle Last Chance Canyon and try to make it out before dark.

After Nightmare Gulch, Last Chance seemed unusually tame.  The rocks were smaller, the strewn boulders fewer and farther between, and the increased width made it seem like a four lane highway.  But just up the canyon, the Boy Scouts were not finding it so easy.

Someone had told the Scouts that the hike was about eight miles.  They had been hiking for nearly twenty and were still miles from their destination.  The soft sand that our Hummers were appreciating was straining their knees and ankles to the limit. 

As the Scouts later told us, despite the best encouragement from the Scout Masters, one by one they were beginning to give up.  Shivering in the wet and cold, they sat down and were done hiking.  With the temperature in the low 40s and slated to go down to freezing, the situation was taking a serious turn.  Three of the Scout Masters and two of the older boys who were in better shape decided to hike out to find help, and they did just that – in the form of our small group from the Southern California Chapter of the Hummer X Club.

We had stopped to spot each vehicle over a not-so-dry waterfall when the Boy Scouts appeared.  One boy was in shorts and a t-shirt - with only a plastic garbage bag over him for protection from the elements.  Our drivers looked on in surprise as the remainder of the small group arrived with harried and weary faces.  We quickly learned that there were fifteen Scouts up canyon - tired and sore enough that they were unable to continue.  The Scout Master’s truck was miles down canyon and it was two-wheel drive.  They had been hiking since 10:00 AM.  It was now 6:00 PM.

Our only question was, “Can you show us where they are?”

The plan came together quickly.  One rig would stay put with two adults to watch over all of the kids and pets.  The other three, with room now for the Scouts, would go find them.  Within minutes, two of the Scout Masters were taking their first rides in Hummers as we quickly moved back up the canyon, over the rocks and through the sand.

For the one HXC member who was left behind to hold down the fort, it seemed like forever until his CB finally cackled with the report: “We have the Scouts!  We are inbound with the Scouts!”

The trip back was filled with whoops and hoots and hollers from boys that, just moments before, were exhausted, defeated and scared.  The Scout Masters held on with white knuckles and breathed sighs of relief in between a torrent of “Thank Yous” as the three rigs sped through the easy parts of the canyon for the benefit of the boys.  Dry, warm, and off-roading in Hummers, the Scouts positively sprang back to life and agreed that the whole experience had been worth it!  Even a blown tire and a quick emergency tire-change in the rain didn’t dampen their newfound spirits. 

Once out of the canyon and back to the Scout Master’s vehicles, the tired soreness quickly returned.  They shuffled out of the Hummers with a chorus of moans and groans and limped back to their own rides.  But they were smiling from ear to ear.  As were the Hummer X Club members.  HXC had been the Scout’s Last Chance out of a definite Nightmare (Gulch)! 

As we drove back to civilization in a driving rain, there was much discussion about the Boy Scout motto and what it means for an off-roader: Be Prepared.  That one rule saved the day.