Seven days of intense off-road driving across two states, 12 counties, two national parks, and four iconic off-road parks. Over 1,200 miles of rocks, dirt, sand, a bit of asphalt, as well as some of the best desert scenery in the US Southwest. And one turtle lovingly named Filbert, or Mike, or even Jimmy the Desert Tortoise depending on whom you believed.
Oh yeah, and no cell phones or GPS equipment allowed. That’s how Julie Covert and Jennifer Peine spent 10 days in October.
See, Covert and Peine were participants in the inaugural Rebelle Rally – the United States’ first all-woman off-road navigation rally race. The event, founded by noted off-road competitor, driver and navigation instructor Emily Miller, was designed to build a platform for women to shine.
Held from October 12-21, the Rebelle Rally featured 33 two-women teams in its 4x4 class that traversed a course from South Lake Tahoe to the Glamis sand dunes in Imperial County, California. The Rally is not a race designed for speed, but a demanding event based on navigation, headings, hidden checkpoints and time where the teams could only use maps, a compass, a roadbook, and their wits. No professional driving or navigating skills were required, just an adventurous spirit and willingness to take on off-road challenges.
“My goal is for women to sharpen and refine their capabilities and build the confidence and skill set to take on future journeys – wherever they may lead,” Miller said in a release about the rally.
Quadratec, along with several others, teamed up with JPFreek Adventure Magazine to help sponsor and provide parts for Covert and Peine, who competed as team JPFreek in a modified 1982 Jeep Scrambler, which, by the way, was the oldest vehicle in the race’s 4x4 division.
“I admire you for driving the oldest vehicle, or I’ll be impressed if you finish,” Covert recalled people telling here before the event started. “Just because my Jeep was nine years older than the next oldest vehicle did not mean I would have a more difficult time finishing.”
“I knew my Jeep was just as capable as the others…..and it would be much easier to fix if repairs were needed.”
Covert, from Drummond Island, Michigan, was contacted by her friend Eric Walton, editor of JPFreek Magazine, shortly after the Rebelle Rally was announced back in November 2015. He wanted her to drive in the event.
“There was no way I could say no, especially with my husband’s encouragement and support,” Covert said in her event recap. “I truly had no idea what I was getting myself into.”
"At first the reason I wanted to do it was as a personal challenge – to put all the skills I had learned during the prior five years to the test. Driving on dirt roads and sand dune trails for seven days, while camping out each night, sounded like a grand adventure. I had never explored the eastern part of California, and here was my opportunity," Covert added in a piece she wrote for the Drummond Island Digest.
But she also needed a crewmate, so she recruited Peine, her cousin by marriage, to be the team navigator.
"I work as a Circulation Clerk in the Children’s Department, in a Public Library," Peine, from Martinsville, Indiana told JP Freek in an interview before the event. "Our workplace is surrounded by indoor things like children, books and crafts—not the dirt, mountains, grease, gear, sleeping bags, rocks, maps, and compasses that normally surround me on our family’s vacations. This really is my brand of Bourbon and I can hardly wait to get out there. To challenge myself, in an environment I love, by pushing the bounds of what I think I know—that’s the ultimate adventure test.”
Both women, while avid outdoors lovers and capable off-road drivers, did not have any real experience competing in off-road events before the Rally. They took a required on-line navigation course, honed driving skills in the sand dunes of Michigan’s Silver Lake during the summer, and spent massive amounts of time fundraising.
And then came the Rebelle Rally. Seven days of navigation across the Nevada and California desert in their CJ-8, looking for checkpoints that were both required (green level) and recommended (blue) as well as difficult to find (black). The more checkpoints found each day, the more points gained.
Trouble followed at times, obstacles were conquered, scenery devoured, and - most important - friendships were forged. We'll let Covert and Peine tell more about the race through the link below.
And then there was the part about a turtle. Not just any turtle, mind you, but an endangered desert tortoise.
"In a morning meeting on Day 6, we were instructed that we'd be going through some Bureau of Land Management land that was home to the endangered desert tortoise," Covert described in her recap. "Our instructions were clear: 20 miles per hour on the dirt road and if you see a tortoise do not touch it! Desert tortoises can live for years without water as they store water in their bladders. However, if they are scared, they might empty their bladder and lose all their water, which then means certain death in the desert heat."
"If the tortoise was on the road, we were to immediately stop...and we were not to proceed until the tortoise had moved at least 100 feet from the road. I've always loved turtles and tortoises and have never seen a desert tortoise. Well, I got my wish. Filbert (or Mike or Jimmy) as it was named by some of the teams, took an hour to move far enough from the road that we could continue on our way."
While the team overall didn’t finish exactly where they hoped - a missed green checkpoint early in the Rally cost them a spot near the top - they said they definitely made it a point each day to still try and score as many points as possible while enjoying the process.
“I’m not sure fun is the way I’d describe it,” Peine said in her event overview. “It was exhausting and completely incredible, but I wouldn’t say it was fun.”
“The Rebelle Rally sets such a relentless pace that it constantly challenged my body, mind, and spirit. I think my struggle came mostly from the unending learning curve and growth that takes off from grasping something entirely new. I found joy in every day.”
Said Covert in her recap: “I was proud to be representing in the vehicle that caused one of the crew to say on Day 0 ‘I vote that is the best Jeep’. Three words sum up the rally for me – grueling, awesome and affirming. The time pressure compounded by the lack of sleep and dirt in everything were grueling. The areas we traveled through with spectacular views were awesome. And being able to test my driving skills in areas I was unfamiliar with affirmed for me that I can easily pick my own line of travel.”
Both Covert and Peine wrote up their Rebelle Rally experience and you can read more about Team JPFreek's adventures here.
