Back in the 1960's when I was a kid, growing up in my hometown of Merced, CA, (now I'm showing my age,) there was a playground a mile or so from our home that featured a teeter totter as the premier attraction.  On a bad day, my buddies and I would have to hike over to the park to tackle the teeter totter; on a good day, like a Sunday after church, my folks would take my siblings and I over to the park, and while my folks would sit and watch, my siblings and I would play on the monkey bars and the teeter totter.  The bad thing was I had to put up with my siblings for playmates, the good thing was we didn't have to hike or ride our bikes over to the playground. Things were quite low-tech, way back in '65!

 

Left:  Headquarters for Teeter Totter is under an umbrella, to ward off the hot sun of the Mojave Desert.  Right: This CJ-5 is attempting the balancing act on the Teeter Totter.

Fast-forward ahead forty years to 2005!  Picture this:  You're on a teeter totter, again, just like in '65, except that you're in a well-equipped, trail-ready rig and you've just paid a dollar for the supreme serendipity of 90 seconds on the Teeter Totter, hosted by On the Rocks 4 Wheelers.  Unlike that teeter totter at the park in the '60's, you spend a buck to have some fun, and the buck you spend goes to a good cause, namely, to keep our trails open and to blunt attacks from the radical, left-wing environmentalists.

 

Left:  Readying the 'totter for the next participant.  Right:  This FJ-40 gives it a try.

The object of Teeter Totter is to balance your rig perfectly on the beams, which takes a lot of skill.  It looks easy but it isn't, as your vehicle has to be perfectly balanced, and in most cases, that takes multiple drive forward an inch, drive back a half-inch; you get the idea.  You have a total of 90 seconds, that's 1-1/2 minutes on the totter to achieve your balance.  You may drive back and forth to achieve your balance in your effort, but keep in mind that as soon as the beam leaves the ground, the stopwatch will start.  When the beam touches the ground the again the stopwatch will stop and the longest time that you're balanced without the beams touching the ground is your time.  The longest time wins.

 

Left:  A careful balancing act is performed, as the driver and passengers hold their breath.  Right:  Perfect balance in just 7 seconds; the winner!

Like society in general, and High Desert Round-Up games in particular, Teeter Totter is divided into classes:  Men's stick and automatic and Women's stick and automatic.  No, we're not talking about automatic washers, we're talking transmissions.  You see, if you have an automatic tranny, it's a bit easier to 'totter, as you don't have to deal with the clutch.  Anyway you look at it, the Teeter Totter is a lot of fun, and the buck you spend goes to help keeping our trails open for future generations to enjoy.  Didn't our folks do that for us?

 

Left:  V for VICTORY is proclaimed for doing the Teeter Totter, and winning it, in just 7 seconds.  Right:  Sometimes you need to have a different prospective on life, as you balance you Jeep on the Teeter Totter, at High Desert Roundup, 2005.

I didn't get to do the Teeter Totter  this year, as I was too busy taking photos to actually participate in anything. Just as an aside, I took 648 digital photos, exactly, during my 2005 Hi Desert experience, so I was busy observing most of  the action through the viewfinder of my Fuji FinePix S5100 camera.  However you can be assured that the Teeter Totter will be in my future, perhaps at High Desert, 2006.

Teeter Totter is a balancing act at Hi Desert Round-Up that you don't want to miss.