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Any (4-wheel) Overland types in here?

ScorpioVI said:
Have you guys spent any time in Idaho/Wyoming/Utah/Nevada?
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I've been all over Nevada. Just turn off the paved road.

edit: Seriously though, that's how we discovered Nevada. Turn off the paved road, drive for a while, unload the ATVs, explore some mineshafts, whatever, camp, climb some ridges, shoot some guns, get the ATVs stuck, etc. I'd recommend the Hwy 50 corridor. Lots of mining history around Eureka and Austin, and you don't have to go too far. Spencer's hot springs is just east of Austin, good for camping and usually some granola-y naked people. Kingston (near there) has a sweet bar (or they used to). Been a while since I've been to the bar. There's also a little lake west of Kingston if you want to camp near water, and the road goes through to Austin. It's not that remote.

If you want to be further away from people and highway corridors, I suggest the obvious- carrying tools, extra fuel and water. For a first timer I usually recommend staying somewhat close, to a regularly traveled road (and that's a relative term). Usually in the fall there are hunters out and about as well.
 
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Yakoo752 said:
I will take you up on it when I get back. While I do not desire to leave the fire road, with a wife and infant... being able to read the trail and know if it's an option is valuable!



awesome, ridge is high on my list. I'll wait as suggested.

and that's my issue. I don't want to toss the truck down a ravine and than figure out what I'm driving to work on Monday.
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And that's the benefit of a small group of similarly minded people. Solo vehicle trips always have a bit more risk, even if it's something as simple as a dead battery. Having another vehicle near reduces the stress tremendously.

I tend to go solo, so my latest 'overlanding' purchase was a Garmin InReach se+ satellite communicator. (Costco has a sale for $230 right now, iirc)

There's a series of "Guide to ____ backwoods & 4-wheel-drive trails" books by Charles A Wells that's pretty good. There's a few others, but many of those are more on-road destination oriented. I've found his 'green/blue/red' guide to be fairly assessed too. Couple that with the MVUM maps that are available through the forest service, and you'll find a huge amount of places to go within any given comfort zone. (The MVUM maps don't have any difficulty ratings though)
 
Charles R said:
I tend to go solo, so my latest 'overlanding' purchase was a Garmin InReach se+ satellite communicator. (Costco has a sale for $230 right now, iirc)
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How much is the monthly on that? And is it possible to subcribe for just a short period and turn it off again? I don't want to pay like a yearly subscription if I'm only using it a few months out of the year.
 
They do a $15 for 30 days option.

unlimited SOS
10 texts and .5 per after
unlimited preset messages
10 minute pings
.10 per tracking point
.10 per location ping
1 basic weather text
$1 premium weather text
 
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Yep. You can pay one month at a time, and suspended it for as long as you want. It's set up like a pre-paid phone. Pay the fee, and it's good for a month. But you do need to actively suspend the subscription too.

I haven't activated my subscription yet because my overland rig is down at the moment. But I'm going to just go ahead and do an annual plan. For me, the yearly totals are worth it just to have it as an "always available" device.
Most likely I'll just do the lowest sub level, which comes to around $150/yr.
 
LakeMerrit said:
Agree with all the experiences > gearhead dick measuring with overlanders and 4x4.

To me it's about getting the solitude / back country experience of backpacking, but you get to bring a bunch of beer / bbq and don't have to hump it all in on your back.

The wife and I have yet to be stuck/unable to keep up with the $80,000 kitted out Jeeps/LCs in our stock, unibody 2004 Honda Pilot..... I mean I'm sure they are capable of some crawlin that we aren't, but for most of the types of trips folks actually enjoy doing as a group it does the job just fine.

Of course I'd prefer a sweet kitted out rig, but getting too caught up in the gear seems to miss the point to me.
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This :thumbup

We spent 10 years taking our Honda Odyssey 60-100 mils up dirt trails. Got lots of WTF?'s from the hard core Jeep crowd every time they came across us camped out in the middle of nowhere.

Doing the same thing and more in our '14 Audi Q5 TDi now - only we have a far better range than any of the gas powered 4x4's so get to more remote areas in more comfort.
 
Yakoo752 said:
They do a $15 for 30 days option.

unlimited SOS
10 texts and .5 per after
unlimited preset messages
10 minute pings
.10 per tracking point
.10 per location ping
1 basic weather text
$1 premium weather text
Click to expand...

Charles R said:
Yep. You can pay one month at a time, and suspended it for as long as you want. It's set up like a pre-paid phone. Pay the fee, and it's good for a month. But you do need to actively suspend the subscription too.

I haven't activated my subscription yet because my overland rig is down at the moment. But I'm going to just go ahead and do an annual plan. For me, the yearly totals are worth it just to have it as an "always available" device.
Most likely I'll just do the lowest sub level, which comes to around $150/yr.
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Thanks guys! Just ordered from Costco. Seemed like a good idea to have for when I'm running solo.
 
scootergmc said:
Just find a little lake with driving access, unimproved campsites, and pitch a tent. Lots of places in the Sierras.
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Hey guys my google-fu and sink bookmarks are failing me - didn't we have like some kind of "overlanding day-trip destinations w/in 2 hours of the bay area" thread? I cannot for the life of me remember what the thread was called but the gist of it was "where can we go that's enough off the beaten path to require some type of truck / SUV, but not hardcore to the point of needing a kitted out 4Runner / Wrangler"? There were a few lakes and other spots posted where people went paddleboarding and kayaking and such and it was pretty low-key / deserted comparatively speaking.
 
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OldMadBrit said:
This :thumbup

We spent 10 years taking our Honda Odyssey 60-100 mils up dirt trails. Got lots of WTF?'s from the hard core Jeep crowd every time they came across us camped out in the middle of nowhere.

Doing the same thing and more in our '14 Audi Q5 TDi now - only we have a far better range than any of the gas powered 4x4's so get to more remote areas in more comfort.
Click to expand...

I have a 2004 Nissan Dessert Runner. It has 38K miles on the clock, because it was a garage queen, until I got the Mustang. It is a 2 wheel drive, but is geared for off-road. I just installed an ARE shell and a BedRug carpet kit. I would love to find some nice (non life threatening) trails to go and explore/camp/fish.

NorCalAthlete said:
Hey guys my google-fu and sink bookmarks are failing me - didn't we have like some kind of "overlanding day-trip destinations w/in 2 hours of the bay area" thread? I cannot for the life of me remember what the thread was called but the gist of it was "where can we go that's enough off the beaten path to require some type of truck / SUV, but not hardcore to the point of needing a kitted out 4Runner / Wrangler"? There were a few lakes and other spots posted where people went paddleboarding and kayaking and such and it was pretty low-key / deserted comparatively speaking.
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This!!! :thumbup
 
Seriously people, get some blm/forest service maps or atlas and just pick some spots and go. There are literally millions of places to explore.
 
can you peel my grapes before you feed them to me :x

:laughing

I ask because I don't really know how to get into this in California. Where I am from, you can easily get shot stumbling into a pot farm. I'm sure that can happen here as well so I'd rather not tempt fate too much.
 
Dude, pot farms are not around every corner. Most are on private land anyway, and I've never seen one on a blm/forest service road.
 
Or try this, book a hotel in Murphys or Sonora and spend the daytime driving around in the woods. Worry about the camping later.
 
ScorpioVI said:
Have you guys spent any time in Idaho/Wyoming/Utah/Nevada? Can you recommend places to see? Cool campsites you've been to? Etc.

Going on a 2-week trip in late October. Spending the first week with family in Wyoming and Idaho doing the touristy things in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. And then the following week it's just me and the dog making our slow way back to Cali via Utah and Nevada.

I only have a rough outline of where I'm going to be so far so looking for input from people who have been there done that.
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My sister lives in Idaho. She likes the Sawtooth Mountains area and often camps at the lakes near Stanley Idaho. Its really beautiful but might get pretty chilly in late October. Southern Utah seems like a good destination for that time of year.
 
I've been following this dude's YouTube channel for ages. I don't think I'd be as calm as he is if my rig burnt down in the middle of nowhere. When he wearily plopped himself down on his camping chair with his Jeep burning in the background I just started laughing at the dichotomy.

On a side note, I've met a lot more preppers in the overlanding world than any other hobby aside from shooting, seems to go hand-in-hand.

Action starts at the 10-minute mark if you can't sit through the exploration part.

[youtube]afpnkCOsMFU[/youtube]
 
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Damn that sucks. Wonder what started it - maybe some brush he was stopped over ignited underneath, caught the wiring, melted a fuel line, burned gas just steadily trickling out from the tank and that's why it died down but flared right back up?
 
Only halfway through still watching - just got to the part where he says he left his wallet in the car and doesn't have a way to charge his phone.

Wouldn't a solar panel charger for the phone be a minimum addition to his toolbox he pulled out? Also...wallet would have been one of my first things to grab (if it ever came out of my pocket in the first place).

https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/topics/camping-and-hiking/best-solar-charger

https://www.backpacker.com/gear/the-best-solar-charger-for-backpacking
 
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