The Rebelle Rally is a 7 day, 1,200 mile, mainly off-road rally spanning from South Lake Tahoe to the Glamis Recreational Sand Dunes in Imperial Valley, CA.  In this article, I4WDTA certified trainer, participant and veteran wheeler, Nena Barlow, talks about her experience in terms of the importance of teamwork and communication when tackling this challenging venture.  Read on, these principles apply to all of us whether on an overlanding trip or during our  day to day interactions.

The nature of true teamwork is being open to what others bring to the table, objectively identifying each other’s strengths and weaknesses and working together to create a plan to take advantage of each other’s strengths and overcome weaknesses. I learned a lot about teamwork leading up to and during the Rebelle Rally. Though I can only imagine what other teams experienced, what I can share are some specifics that my teammate, Kande Jacobsen and I, experienced and figured out together.

It goes without saying that no Rebelle team could have finished without teamwork. I am always in wonder at how the things we learn are usually not the things we expect to learn. One of the things that was so fun about the rally were the cool things I learned from my partner Kande. I am one of those who says “No one ever knows it all” and “learn something new every day,” and I can honestly say that I learned things from her that had  never occurred to me before.

I can’t say this without laughing, but she was a great coach for teaching me how to dress and eat. Seriously! First, I have always been a natural-fiber t-shirt and jeans or cargo pants kind of girl. Kande enlightened me to the miraculous technology of synthetic fibers. Not only were they lighter and quick-drying, but also helped with my dilemma of packing space. We knew we did not want to haul heavy bags of our week’s worth of clothes in and out of the truck every night.  Kande said leggings were more comfortable and easier to pack than jeans and cargo pants. She looked at me with a deadpan stare when I said I needed pockets for my credit cards and license and phone and stuff. “You will be carrying those on you during the rally?” Oh, yeah, huh. Leggings it was! I was all in, and even embraced the loudest print patterns I could find.

Then there was the food. I had recently become aware of my body’s disagreement with dairy products, but Kande was adamant about us eating high-protein, non-bloating foods, and just all around healthy. Though I enjoy quality foods, I am known to live on peanut M&M’s and pretzels if that is what is convenient. Kande insisted on healthy, low-sugar, high-protein snacks, and she was right. I never felt that afternoon crash like I do when snacking on carbs and sugar all day. The only crashes I had were the morning that I gorged on Drew’s scrumptious pancakes, instead of the high-protein and fruit breakfasts I had been sticking to, and then the other kind of crash—the morning I crashed the truck, but that is an different and not diet-related story.

I admired Kande’s unflagging determination to plot coordinates as absolutely accurately as possible. While I have always adhered to a horseshoes and hand grenades attitude towards navigation, Kande never lost her patience for checking and double-checking every line or dot on that map. It was my role to compute any math and set time parameters for reaching checkpoints, and calling it off if I couldn’t drive the terrain we had planned or had not reached a checkpoint by the turnaround time required to reach the critical green checkpoints. We respected each other’s roles and reassured and uplifted each other when we made mistakes.

We made it a priority to take care of each other. Kande knew that I could not make complicated decisions or calculations before sunrise, and that I needed chocolate around 3 pm each day. I knew that Kande needed meat on a regular basis, and to keep her away from sugar and red dye. Another thing I did to help Kande perform her job was to hold the magnifying glass for her while she plotted coordinates. We are both well north of 40 and the old eyes needed both reading glasses and a Hubble-sized magnifying glass! Was this tedious? Yes. Was it necessary for us to be as accurate as possible? Yes.

We had planned as much as we could in advance—everything from packing to snacks, to who would handle what aspects of the trip. As with any trip, there were many things we had to figure out on the fly. Once we saw the pace we would need to keep in order to compete effectively, we had to make some decisions and adjustments. For example, I took on the job of the heavy lifting. I loaded all of our gear in the truck each morning.

We had originally thought to do our map plotting in the morning in the tent at one of the big tables, but quickly found that there was more space and fewer distractions to have Kande sit in the truck to plot. She took on the role of rounding up all the day’s food. she had purchased and arranged our snacks, and she also decided it should be her to pick up our sack lunches each morning. When we reached checkpoints, it became my role to jump out and record the tracker, while Kande used every spare second we had parked to do more plotting. These roles were decided upon once and never discussed again all week. We respected each other’s roles and let the other person do their job. It proved an efficient time saver.

Were there mistakes? Oh yes, we both made a lot of mistakes, and we each had our moments of doubting ourselves, but we made the effort to encourage and lift each other up, shake it off and move forward. The hardest for us was Day 4, Dumont Dunes. That was the day I wrecked the truck. We thought we were finished in the dunes and I let my guard down. It took over an hour for us to regain composure and reassure ourselves that we, and the truck, could continue.

We were determined to pick it up. We went on to nail our next black checkpoint (The most challenging and difficult checkpoints to navigate. They yield the highest points.). We went from the low to that high, then back to low when it took us until well after dark to find base camp that night. Though both of us were in pain, exhausted, and hungry, Kande was absolutely certain she knew where we were and had us on track to find camp. Though much of our rally navigating was a team effort throughout the day, at that point I was totally lost. I put my trust in her and just drove where I was told. We did get to base camp, rested, recovered, put it behind us and went on to have a great Day 5.

Teamwork means supporting each other, and not blaming when things go wrong, but committing to learn what you can from mistakes, getting over it and moving forward. There will always be moments when you are feeling low or when your teammate is feeling low. That is when it is critically important to dig deep and find that positive and supportive thing to say or do. Focus on how wonderful it will be to cross that finish line together. Laugh as much as you can. Give it everything you have–don’t hold back.

By Nena Barlow: Rebelle Rally participant, International 4WD Trainer Association certified trainer, and owner of Barlow Adventures

As a professional off-road driving instructor and 15 year member of Moab’s Search & Rescue, I have seen a lot.  The back country can be very unforgiving.  Most of the back country mishaps are a direct result of the decisions that took place just moments before the unfortunate happened.  It is not the typical “hold my beer and watch this” that gets people into trouble, but more often it is when they simply let their guard down. (brain to off position)  As we trek farther from the perceived safety of pavement and its link to endless resources, we need to shift our off-road decision making mentality.  In other words, the further out we get, the more conservatively and smarter we need to drive.  This is where teamwork, training, research and effective communication will help to take you farther, safer.

Recently, I was contracted by the United States Army Special Forces division to create an off-road expedition training program.  Their commander requested I incorporate several emergency medical and vehicle recovery scenarios into the training.  I was fully prepared for these scenarios, but could not have predicted the real life emergencies we would stumble upon during our exercises.  Day one: 22 miles into the desert with a temperature of 113°.  As I looked to the west, I saw a lone female subject walking over  scorched earth in our direction.  I approached her and asked if she needed help.  Nearly in tears, she said, “Yes, my husband has driven off of a ledge and our vehicle is going to slide off into a canyon.”.  Her plan had been to walk the 22 miles back to civilization to get some help.  She then asked if we could possibly help her.  I looked over my shoulder at  the United States Army Special Forces Division and replied, “Why yes ma’am, I think we can help you.”.  Once we arrived at the scene, I was able to quickly assign roles and facilitate a winching rescue for the vehicle.  We were also able to patch up the bumps, bruises and scrapes that her husband had received during the accident.  We then turned them around and sent them back toward civilization.

Just a few more miles up the road, we came across a giant boulder that had fallen from the ledges above and was now blocking our path. Once again, tasks were assigned and a plan was created to move the obstacle out of our path.  Using a whiteboard, we detailed a mechanical advantage system to help illustrate the plan and it’s objective. Once everything was ready and inspected, we reviewed exactly what everyone’s role was.  This helped assure a total overall level of safety.  Keep in mind, when winching a boulder off of a ledge, your rigging must release, otherwise when the boulder starts heading down, it can take your vehicle with it to the bottom. This could be bad. Later that night, the Army Commander pulled me aside and complimented me on the realism of scenarios that I had put into place for the benefit of their training. I just smiled and said, “Why thank you sir.”.  I can only assume he thought I had staged each of these situations.

I am always amazed at the number of people in need that I run into while teaching my off-road training classes.  It’s almost as if these people went out ahead of time and got themselves into a mess in order to make our classes more interesting.  Just a few week ago, I was leading a three-day training expedition and a participant asked me about back country vehicle repairs and what I carry with me for these. I then rattled off a list of spare parts and tools I typically carry including the required supplies to create a makeshift welder.  Oddly enough, within an hour we came across a Porsche Cayenne with a broken tie rod. The timing was perfect and we had a welding 101 class out on the trail.

The stories seem endless and with each is an opportunity to teach, hone and refine our skill set.  I once came across a group of Russian tourists that had driven their Jeep into a deep water crossing and had no knowledge or way to recover it.  One time I pulled a Toyota Yaris rental car 68 miles out of the desert canyon on a very tight UTV trail.  The driver told me he had taken the UTV trail because he thought it was a shortcut to the interstate.  Deep in Canyonlands National Park, I once found a mother and her three young daughters that had been stranded and out of water for three days after burying their jeep up to the frame in a deep sand wash.  After several hours of digging in the hot sun, it was time to try to recover their vehicle.  It was then that, I discovered that they had never put the Jeep into four-wheel-drive.  When I asked the mother about this oversight, her response was: “We don’t know anything about that stuff because we are from California.”. (My apologies go out to everyone from California!)  I’m not quite sure what that meant, but because of this simple mistake, they nearly became another statistic.  In the dark of night, I once came across a pick up truck that was teeter tottering with the front two wheels off of a cliff.  The driver was too afraid to move, so he had been sitting motionless for nearly 39 hours.  On another occasion, I found a gentleman that had driven through a stream that became a raging river after a rainstorm.  He had been stranded for two full days eating only a pack of cigarettes that his ex-wife had left in the glove compartment. Yummy.

So many of these unfortunate tales could have been avoided with better planning and preparation.  There is never a substitute for having a good plan.  Always know where you’re going and have multiple backups in place for whatever may go wrong.  If you carry a GPS or digital mapping system, you should also carry paper maps and a compass.  I typically carry multiple mapping systems plus paper maps because batteries die and things get wet.  I can always rely on good old fashion map reading.  This skill is one that seems to be disappearing from people’s skill-sets.  Additionally, many of the above listed mishaps could have been minimized by simply being able to communicate with the outside world.  With so many new devices on the market such as the SPOT satellite messaging device or the DeLorme InReach, there is no reason to have to be stranded alone for a prolonged period of time when in trouble in the back country.  As an Off-road trainer, I choose to carry both systems so I can teach the pros and cons of each.  Unfortunately, even with the best of plans and the latest gear, mistakes will happen and vehicles will break.

When traveling off the grid you are bound to stumble upon bad situations, people in need of help or find yourself in your own off-roading nightmare. The question is this: are you prepared for things that could go wrong?  Do you have the training and knowledge to assure that you do not become another statistic?  Before venturing out, obtain Off-road driving and recovery training from a certified trainer.  Practice your skills. Get to know your rescue equipment before you need it. Here at Coyote Adventure Safari we specialize in multi-day overland expedition training that helps prepare adventurists for the big picture. We cover everything from navigation skills and recovery techniques to back country cooking and so much more. Our next three-day training session is June 9-11. You can read more about these trips on our Coyote Adventure Safari Facebook page.

Additional trainers in your area can be located by visiting the International 4 Wheel Drive Trainers Association (I4WDTA) at www.i4wdta.org

Author: John Marshall, Owner of Coyote Adventure Safari.
CoyoteAdventureSafari@gmail.com
435-260-6056