ROCKS AND ROLL FOUR-WHEELING WITH SUV FAR CRY FROM PARKING LOT.

Byline: BILL BECHER

I've always wondered what would happen if I pushed the button on my SUV that says ``4X4 low range.'' I found out after slipping backward down a steep and rocky hill in the Mojave Desert on an off-highway desert tour with Ecological 4-Wheeling Adventures.

Fourteen of us in nine four-wheel-drive vehicles met at the Bureau of Land Management Jawbone Canyon Station about 20 miles north of Mojave. A volunteer group, the Friends of Jawbone, supports the station. Here you can find maps and books about OHV adventures in the Mojave and even see a stuffed bobcat.

Roger Vargo, who has been leading tours for Ecological 4-Wheeling Adventures for a dozen years, collected our paperwork and checked that we all have working CB radios. He used the radio for a running commentary on local geology, history, flora and fauna. We heard about the human mole and the metal-eating termite. Most important, Vargo used the CB to tell us when to push that mysterious ``low range'' button.

At Opal Canyon Road we got our first taste of driving in the dirt. We pulled over for an orientation talk and found out we were on an off-highway, not off-road adventure.

``Off-highway means there's still a road,'' Vargo said. ``It may not be much of a road. But it's still a road. In some areas, driving completely off roads is fine. But not in restricted areas.'' We heard about other essentials, like keeping your momentum up on a hill.

I lowered the pressure in my tires to about 25 pounds to gain traction and hoped tp have less chance of getting a flat. We headed into the El Paso Mountains, a hunting ground for prospectors since the 1880s. They've found gold, silver, copper, coal and pumice ash, the gritty stuff used in Old Dutch Cleanser. Tunnels and mining claim-marker posts still dot the area.

At the Last Chance Canyon Overlook, we stopped to look at jasper. A rock collector's kind of rock, it has the color and luster of caramel candy. Prior to 1994, you could collect jasper here, but since the area became part of the state park, collecting is not allowed.

Our group looked like the parking lot at the Promenade Mall: a Cherokee, a couple of Toyota pickups, a Cherokee and a Wrangler, a Land Rover, a Mercedes ML320 and my Explorer. But we were not hauling jeans from the Gap - we were going to be descending the steep dirt road into Cudahay Camp.

As we approached a rusty metal water tank riddled with holes, the CB crackled and Vargo explained how the metal-eating termite made these holes.

``Lots of different critters make the desert their home,'' Vargo said. ``One of the more unusual is the metal-eating termite. While it's true they'll go after wood or paper, they really have a strong affinity for metal. You hardly ever see the termite itself, but you do see the cocoons.

``The metal-eating termite has an extremely short life cycle. They hatch with explosive velocity. The termites head straight into the nearest piece of metal, eat a hole in it and die. But they leave their cocoons around.

``The cocoons come in all different sizes. Some are smaller than a pencil and look metallic. Some are as big round as your thumb and are frequently red or green. And that's the story of the metal-eating termites.''.

After finding some cocoons in various calibers, we headed out of Last Chance Canyon to explore some mines. This is where I backslid. I forgot the edict about maintaining momentum. But after carefully backing down, I made sure I pushed the low-range button. Getting a fresh start, I kept the pedal to the metal and made it to the top.

Vargo says he sets up his trips so they start easy and get progressively more challenging as drivers get used to off-highway driving.

It seemed that the newbies in the group like me were getting the feel of having dirt, rock and sand under their tires, which was good because of the tougher challenges ahead. We skirted the edge of the Black Mountain Wilderness Area, closed to vehicles.

Our lunch break was at ``Burro'' Schmidt's tunnel. A group from several off-road clubs was parked near a helter-skelter collection of buildings, cars and equipment in the junkyard style that seems to accumulate around desert dwellers.

Burro Schmidt was a part-time prospector who spent 38 years of his life and much of his money digging a tunnel through Copper Mountain. His original motivation was to provide a shortcut to transport his ores out of the canyon.

Schmidt started digging and blasting in 1906. In the 1920s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a road through Last Chance Canyon to the Dutch Cleanser Mine, obviating the need for Schmidt's tunnel. But by that time the tunnel had changed from a practical project to a fixation, Vargo said.

Schmidt completed the tunnel in 1938 and died in 1954. It was never used except by tourists who can walk through the approximately 2,000-foot-long passage, escape the desert heat and marvel at the results of one man's obsession.

I asked Vargo about the ``eco'' in his company's name. OHV enthusiasts have taken a lot of heat from environmentalists, to put it mildly.

``We try to be ecologically compatible,'' Vargo said. ``That means we stay on established roads, we drive at reasonable speeds and we try not to cause damage to the environment. We haul our trash out. We teach and show respect for Mother Nature.''

Vargo is critical of the way automobile companies promote their SUV products.

``The ads on TV often show people driving fast, jumping and bouncing on dirt roads, or splashing through riparian areas. Most people's vehicles couldn't sustain the wear and tear if they drove like the stunt drivers in commercials.''

I saw what he meant when we passed through the Goler Gulch Narrows. The road follows a skinny canyon cut through the rock. Vargo got out and showed us where to place our wheels as we drove verrry slowly.

All of us made it through without getting stuck or leaving any paint on the rocks. We finished the tour in Randsburg, a town built when the nearby Yellow Aster gold mine was prospering. It's time to get refreshments at the White House Saloon.

Patricia, 54, and Martin Plumeri, 48, tax accountants from South Pasadena, were on their first guided four-wheel trip in their Land Rover.

``We've not had our car long and decided this was something we wanted to do,'' Patricia said.

``I was a bit nervous coming thorough the very tight squeezy part,'' she said. ``We were so close to the walls of rock. It would mash up the sides of our vehicle. But we found our Discovery to be very solid and we felt in control.''

Lee Goff, 67, of La Crescenta is also a CPA and has been on more than a dozen of Ecological 4-Wheeling's tours.

``When I got my first Trooper I used to go out on my own,'' Goff said. ``One time, I got hung up and there was nobody around. Another time, I got a flat. It's a lot more fun and safer to go with someone else.

``You get to know people and have some camaraderie. And there's the safety issue. If I got a flat tire or hung on a rock, there's somebody who could help me out.

``I just like to be out in nature away from the freeway traffic. You get to see some stuff you'd never see on the highway.''

So even if it's not like the TV stunt drivers, four-wheeling in the desert is definitely a blast. Just remember to keep your momentum up on the hills.

IF YOU GO

What: Ecological 4-Wheeling Adventures (www.eco4wd.com)

Contact: E-mail roger(at)eco4wd.com or call [phone].

The dirt

--Overnight camping as well as motel-based multiday trips are available.

--Trips require a vehicle with working four-wheel drive low range, seatbelts, metal top or rollbar, spare tire, CB radio (which can be rented), jack and tire-changing tools, working windshield wipers and a spare fan/water-pump belt.

--Suggested items include at least two gallons of water, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, camera, spare vehicle key and a trash bag. Carrying a fire extinguisher, basic set of tools, towrope and first-aid kit is wise. It's also smart before you go to get a chassis lube and make sure all your wheel lug nuts are tightened to factory torque specs and can be loosened by hand with your lug wrench. Make sure your spare has air.

--Dress in layers as the desert can be cold early and late.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) A Land Rover you'd more likely see in traffic on the 101 Freeway navigates a rocky stretch in the El Paso Mountains.

(2 -- color) Visitors check out a room carved out of soft volcanic material at Cudahay Camp in the Last Chance Canyon area, one of the sights on the Ecological 4-Wheeling Adventures tour.

(3) Lee Goff guides his Jeep up a road through Last Chance Canyon, while other vehicles wait.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News

Box:

IF YOU GO (see text)