Youths Get to Kick Up the Dust

He liked off-roading on the narrow, sometimes cliff-hanging trail, and splashing through mud and water on the back-country ride.

But for Benjamin Ferrufino, 14, the best part of a recent trip to the San Bernardino Forest was getting away from the city: “Here, you can get away from all your troubles.”

Ferrufino was one of 45 Anaheim boys and girls whisked away from their city neighborhoods last weekend for the mountain trip.

For the first time, they climbed into 4 x 4 vehicles and sat shotgun next to experienced off-road drivers for a back-country trail ride in Big Bear.

They trekked along the 13-mile rocky, winding dirt trail that took them 9,200 feet up the mountain. It was hot; later it rained and hailed. Getting drenched was part of their adventure in the great outdoors.

More than 60 volunteers from the Anaheim Police Athletic League, the San Bernardino National Forest Off Highway Volunteers, and Dirt Devils of Southern California, a 4 x 4 group, participated in the inaugural outing, aimed at giving urban youth the chance to experience nature.

“We wanted to give them something they’ll remember the rest of their lives,” said Anaheim Police Det. Tim Crawford, who helped organize the event. “For most of these kids, they spend most of their lives in the city and they really don’t have a good outlook on life. This gives them another opportunity to see that there are other parts of life.”

Members of the Police Athletic League, which sponsors local youth programs, rounded up the children from Anaheim Boxing Club, Ponderosa Park and Jeffery-Lynne community centers and an outreach program from St. Boniface Catholic Church.

Rick Russell, also an off-road enthusiast, dreamed up the trip as a way to give disadvantaged children the chance to explore remote areas of the forest.

“When I drive through some of these inner cities, I feel lucky I can go up to the forest and go camping. Some of these kids never have been up to the forest,” said Russell, owner of Chino-based Sidekick Off Road, which makes off-road maps and videos. “A lot of people donated money and time to make this work.”

The youths described it as an experience they will always remember.

Carlos Crespo, 12, said he had fun on the bumpy, dusty ride. But his favorite part of the trip was talking on the CB radio to his friends in other 4 x 4s.