More than half a century ago in the early 1950s, a visionary with a love for the outdoors and a passion for remote locations started what is now known as the Jeep Jamboree. Mark Smith, a resident of Georgetown in northern California’s El Dorado County, is that visionary, and his early trips along the Rubicon Trail have evolved into Jeep Jamboree USA. Each year, enthusiastic members travel to 38 Jamboree events across the country, and some even join international trips.

George A. Wheeldon’s involvement with the group started in the early 1960s with local trips into the Sierra Nevada range. He was asked to accompany the group and, in his capacity as a professional geologist, mining history expert, and all-round great lecturer, to speak to Jamboree participants about what they were seeing in the surrounding landscapes and what they couldn’t see — the underlying formations of the magnificent mountains and canyons, the rich mineral veins, and the human history that brings the rocks to life.

For the past 10 years, George has been an official consultant to Daimler Chrysler, sponsor of the Jamboree. He travels to many of the organization’s events in the United States and was a contributor to the Jamboree’s 50th anniversary book.

“ I thoroughly enjoy my association with Mark Smith, the group that he has worked hard to form, and its sponsor,” George says. “I’m impressed with the Jamboree’s ‘Tread Lightly’ program, which focuses on the need to treat the land as the special resource that it is. And I’m equally impressed with how enthusiastically the Jamboree members embrace this idea.”

To learn more about Jeep Jamboree USA
and Mark Smith’s Rubicon Trail Adventure, visit www.jeepjamboreeusa.com