D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
March
2009
A Zoom with a View
Dennis Jennings rolls out his new Steel Horse Adventure Tours business, jouncing into the New Mexico landscape in a Pinzgauer Swiss Army jeep.
Story and photos by Donna Clayton
Dennis Jennings is ready for an adventure — and he wants to take you along.
A few months ago, Jennings bought a hulking 35-year-old Pinzgauer Army jeep with only 28,00 miles on the odometer, brought it into perfect working order, laid in some cushy upholstery and set about procuring the necessary paperwork and training to enable him to take people out into wilds of New Mexico through his new business, Steel Horse Adventure Tours.
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Dennis Jennings gets out to enjoy
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Want to take some friends to cool hiking areas and local historic sites? Planning a big game hunting trip? Climb into his six-wheel-drive monster, Jennings says, and leave the driving to him. And with his passionate exploration of the area's terrain and historical wonders, he knows where to take you.
Outside Yankie Creek Coffeehouse on the corner of Texas and Yankie Streets in Silver City, Jennings is eager to hit the trail to Saddle Rock Canyon with his special party of one this morning.
"Boy, we've got a beautiful day today, don't we?" he asks, surveying the blue sky above. "Warm, too!"
Jennings also is eager to talk about his new business — lifting off with his first clients this month. He'll have one featured tour per month and take passengers out from the Silver City visitor's center on Mondays and Tuesdays, and pick up passengers at the Community Market in the Mimbres on Wednesdays, he says. The rest of the time, he'll be available for the custom outings — groups wanting to go hunting, perhaps, or to a hiking destination, or birding from the banks of the Gila River.
He's got a special "geology and archeology tour" of the Inner Loop area lined up on March 24. It'll be a full day's journey out through Pinos Altos and up Hwy. 52 to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. Retired WNMU geology professor Jack Cunningham will add his expertise to the outing.
Ask Jennings about his Pinzgauer Army jeep and the man waxes rhapsodic. And it's not just the cup of high-test coffee in his hand talking.
"It's simple yet sophisticated technology," he says of the authentic Army jeep. He explains how the six-wheel drive and independent suspension give a better ride than a four-wheeler. Like a boy with a shiny new toy, he lifts flaps, demonstrates a few safety features and points out his flashy upholstery.
"These aren't the 'standard issue' seats," he says of the plush, bright-red buckets. "Back there, either," he adds, pointing a thumb at the bench seats where his tour passengers will ride.
Java placed securely in his vehicle's military-esque "cup holder," Jennings straps himself in and gives instruction as to how to get into the high-clearance jeep. He smiles as the reporter grabs onto the roof and swings into the seat — truth be told, with a fair amount of athletic grace.
He pulls away from the coffeeshop, navigates the small maze of one-way streets, and pulls onto Hwy. 180, heading toward Gila.
"Oh, this is a fun one," Jennings says of today's itinerary to Saddle Rock Canyon. "There are three terrain changes in a short period of time. Right out of town, boom!, you're in this beautiful canyon." The destination has appeal for birders, hikers and history buffs, he says.
Jennings has a whole drawing board full of adventure ideas, from customized hunting and hiking trips to star parties and cowboy dinners, from wildlife-spotting excursions to walks through history, along with visits to ghost towns, petroglyph sites and historic cemeteries.
He talks about his business set-up process and how he's not only gotten the Pinzgauer up to speed but has just acquired permits to be able to take his clients on US Forest Service and BLM lands.
"That's BLM around the Cookes Peak area," he says. "What a landmark! I have to be able to take people there. Some call it the 'Matterhorn of the West,' and that's what I thought of it the first time I saw it.
The 8,400-plus-foot peak is visible from both I-10 and I-25 in southern New Mexico, but this often-viewed summit is seldom climbed. The shapely Cookes is the highest peak in Luna County, which borders Mexico. You can see into Mexico from its summit.
"There's so much history down there, too," Jennings says, growing more animated in his gestures as he goes on about Buffalo soldiers and Apaches, stories he's learned from reading since he moved to Silver City from California three years ago. "There's a spring there. It's been used by humans for at least 10,000 years, as long as people have been around. And there are petroglyphs all over the place! Frying Pan Canyon. . . I can't wait to take people there," he adds excitedly. "And I just hooked up with a guy who's willing to meet me out there and give a talk to my tour passengers. He asked if I'd be interested and I said, 'Heck yeah!'"
Forest Service officials have been very cooperative, he says, as have the folks from the Bureau of Land Management.
"There's been a change in the agency there, toward promoting cultural resources," he says of the officials at BLM. "They have to be careful because of animal-impact issues, especially pack animals. I'm doing day trips, so there are no animal or camping impact issues.
"Telling people how to behave out there, having respect for the history and the artifacts at the sites, that's part of my job," he says. "They told me I have to take the SiteWatch training, and I said, 'That's great!' Then I'll know even more about protecting these beautiful, important places." Having worked in the sheriff's department back on the West Coast, Jennings is used to protective enforcement.
The road opens up before us, revealing mountain ranges on the distant horizon. Jennings shares his enthusiasm for Chaco Canyon, the cultural and historic site up north. He returns wave after wave from oncoming motorists.
"It's a 'guy thing,'" he says with a pleased smile. "They love seeing this vehicle."
We turn onto Saddle Rock Road and the terrain instantly becomes hillier. We dip down into an arroyo.
"Everything in here is functional," Jennings says, patting the minimalist dashboard. "This is real Swiss Army, their standard vehicle. It's perfect for what I'm doing. It's designed to go up and down these narrow mountain roads. It's better than a Hummer because of the high clearance. It can travel at a 42-degree angle, as long as the wheels have contact, in low gear. It's not fast — 60 miles per hour max! But that's good because my people want to be able to see stuff, so I don't want to go too fast."
Giving the steering wheel an affectionate pat, he adds, "It's the little Army truck that could."
The terrain changes into a sandy wash banked by rocky cliffs with huge boulders as Jennings drives the Pinzgauer deep into Saddle Rock Canyon. As the jeep does what it's made for, cruising up and down arroyos, he talks about "mountain man" James Kircher — who, at one time, made his living by collecting bounties on Indian scalps he procured.
"He eventually became an Army scout. He died in 1852," Jennings says, reflecting on the horror of killing women and children for your paycheck. "We have to look at a story like that in the context of the times," he adds with a slight shudder.
He suddenly shifts his attention to the landscape around us.
"See how that just opens up?" he asks, pausing the vehicle. "I've seen a mountain lion once here, just crossing the road." A hawk circles above us, a red-tail, he concludes. "And over there, the 'wild raging ground squirrel!'" he adds with a laugh, pointing. He's learned to identify a few new animals since moving to New Mexico, he says, counting a coatimundi as perhaps the most exciting thing he's spotted.
"We see beauty," Jennings says of the craggy hills on either side of the canyon. "But this is ambush country!" He launches into tales about Apache massacres, here and in other places he plans to run tours.
Sun is pouring in, warming the cab, on this bright morning. Jennings explains how to open a window by releasing a military-style leather strap. In colder weather, he can open the flap between the cab and the back of the "Pinz," allowing the heat to flow back for his passengers.
"I have a propane space heater, blankets, and these!" he says with a comical flourish, donning an authentic German military hat and Swiss Army scarf.
He starts the vehicle moving forward again, then adeptly shifts his military vehicle's gears to round a tight curve and head up another incline. On the fly, he changes from six-wheel to four-wheel-drive with a series of serious-looking levers.
Shifting from tales of Buffalo Soldiers to Pinzgauers, Jennings notes that the name of his business — Steel Horse Adventure Tours — is more apt than he'd realized. "Pinzgauer" refers to a breed of draft horses used for more than 2,000 years. Bred as warhorses, they are especially good at handling difficult mountainous terrain.
"Think of Clydesdales, but these, Pinzgauer Norikers, are good to ride. Just like my little workhorse," he says, again patting his utilitarian dashboard.