2016 JKU Backcountry AKA "The Goat"

[Eagle05]

Last Minute is the Best Minute

I had to make a last minute trip to Atlanta and decided to take the long way home. The dog and I stopped for the night just down the road from Cheaha State Park at Tulipseed Campground. It's National Forest and only $5 a night. Cheap for this part of the world. Other than a group of manic kids, it was peaceful. I can't complain though. At least they were outside, and loving it by the sound of it.

I even met a fellow ExPo member at the campground who was out exploring with his family in their Jeep. The Ursa Minor draws people in like crazy. I was parked on a main road in downtown in Savannah a few weeks ago and it was all I could do to get in and out of the Goat between viewings. It's fun though.

Sunday morning was more of the long way home plan and I followed Skyway Drive (FR 600/600-2 I believe) after the pavement ended. It was nice to slow down and take some dirt for a change. We've been exploring a lot lately, but it's been way too much highway. I was overdue for the different scene. I'm glad there wasn't any rain or a ton of muddy spots as I was solo and without a winch. There are some parts that would be tough for me if it was any wetter. I didn't see any other drivers except two lucky moto riders who easily tore past me. All in it was quiet couple of hours that I really enjoyed. I miss the elevation out west and some was better than nothing versus I have down south. I think my dog is happy to be home. All the jostling back and forth probably rattled his brain. If this wasn't such a last minute trip I probably would have remembered the air compressor and could have aired down a bit. Traction was good but it would have been a lot softer.

 

[Gear]

Awesome build up of the Goat! I am stoked to see someone using the Goose Gear setup with the Ursa Minor. They were designed to go hand in hand. My tip for the Ursa Minor top is to replace the metal zipper tabs with something else. In high wind they will jingle and drive you nuts. I have replaced mine with these cool zipper pulls from Blue Ridge Overland Gear. Round rubber finger pulls found on several of their larger bags i.e. Kitchen Pantry bag. Thanks for sharing your build, I need to get mine active again.

 

[Blink]

Do you find the AEV 2.5 lift does fine will all extra weight?

 

[Eagle05]

Do you find the AEV 2.5 lift does fine will all extra weight?

Yes. I think it rides much better than stock and really does seem to adapt well to changing conditions. Before I had the GG and UM installed, the rear end bounced around quite a bit. Now that it's loaded, it is smooth. Even when the cargo area is loaded down and we are pulling a trailer it does well and is comfortable to drive with good (better) road manners. This weekend was my first extended time on more varied terrain and I was very happy with the way it flexed and absorbed the bumps.

 

[Eagle05]

Awesome build up of the Goat! I am stoked to see someone using the Goose Gear setup with the Ursa Minor. They were designed to go hand in hand. My tip for the Ursa Minor top is to replace the metal zipper tabs with something else. In high wind they will jingle and drive you nuts. I have replaced mine with these cool zipper pulls from Blue Ridge Overland Gear. Round rubber finger pulls found on several of their larger bags i.e. Kitchen Pantry bag. Thanks for sharing your build, I need to get mine active again.

Thanks, Justin. I'm assuming the pictures of your Jeep are the ones floating around that have inspired a lot of others. You're right, they are a great combo.

I have tons of BROG gear. I guess I'll "have to" get a few more things. Around here we would love to get some of that wind you're taking about. It would seriously improve the hot and sticky climate, or at least up my tolerance of it. Really hoping for a job out back west next summer.

 

[Eagle05]

An Adventure...

I took a week off to travel to Big Bend National Park. Although I only drove 180 miles of 3,057 miles on dirt, it was a wonderful, and memorable trip. And that includes Harvey and Houston being along my path.

Fortunately I was ahead of the storm on the way out west, but as a result of my bad decisions, a lack of accurate information, and maybe bad timing and luck, I found myself nearly stranded in Houston Monday night on the return journey. After five hours of driving in Houston, it was feeling more like escaping prison than overlanding the way I had to constantly back track to find a new way out of the city. There were so many flooded homes and business, abandoned cars and trucks, I was truly shocked, and it only got worse Tuesday from what I read. I feel for the city because it's going to take a long while to recover.

After a few dead ends, I nearly parked for the night on a high overpass. I told the police I had plenty of supplies and would be fine. Then after a bit I noticed some less than savory folks looting nearby abandoned cars and decided to keep digging and hoping for a clear path out. I ended up backtracking, doing some bumper deep fording (maybe I should get a snorkel), and after having no other option, some opposite direction driving on the interstate. I found a road to the north that took me out of town, and I kept going for three hours until I found an open gas station that had fuel left.

I now know I should never have been there, and wish I would have gone north sooner. The local news reports were all promising and I took what I thought was the best route at the time to get me quickly through. The northern route towards Dallas and I-20 would have added just two hours to my drive. Instead I lost five trying to not become a rescue, and another two getting north anyway.

This explorer itch definitely pushed me along, and every time I found a clear road ahead I was thrilled. The same itch is what allowed me to prepare the Goat and stock up on food, water and extra gas. With that, some over confidence crept in there and definitely got me into some uncomfortable spots without much for a safety net.
I'm always striving to learn new things, and I tell everyone I know to own your mistakes. Well, I made a few and learned some stuff too. It was definitely a trip to remember. I hope the folks more adversely affected by the storm are able to bounce back and move on. I'll be thinking of them. If the countless convoys of recovery vehicles I saw heading that direction during my 12 hour drive east Tuesday is any indication, they'll have a lot to help coming their way.

As for Big Bend, it was awe inspiring. I went for the stars, but didn't know there was so much more to see.
We drove Old Ore Road, River Road West, and Black Gap. My wife was not a fan of Black Gap, but I loved it. The roads were completely dry and the desert scenery was greener than I could have ever imagined. I cannot wait to go back and stay longer.

As a Goat update, I added some L Track to the roof to secure the MaxTrax for the trip. They've been secure up there for a few weeks and haven't been needed to be used except to protect the solar panels from some branches. I definitely need to upgrade the UM struts as it's pretty tough to lift the top up from the outside, and it really wants to close on you quickly if you don't have the support pole installed inside.

I also removed the fridge slide. I'm undecided on if I really need it. It adds weight, and takes up extra room in the rear. Most of the time I find myself not actually using it now that the shelf has been removed. Without it, the added space allows me to put my Alu-Box 60L sideways instead of front to back. Trial and error. My wife loves when I play this game. I swear half of the time in the car she was dreading the next time I'd say, "I'm thinking about... (insert any vehicle/camping related thought)"

 

[xbombtek]

Ok, I'm just going to get this out of the way. Roll Tide!

That said, very nice build! Looks, and reads, like you've built a great rig!

 

[Yvan06]

That looks so awesome dude ! Except for the flooded areas which must not be the best memories of the trip... But still, really nice pictures !

 

[kriegersa]

This is pretty cool, I lived in Enterprise for a while and liked that little town.

You'll need to go to Taj, if you haven't yet.

Its fantastic indian food.


Awesome build!

 

[Eagle05]

So many miles...

Well, we didn't take the Goat, or do any off roading, but we just got back from a 19 day 4,200 mile trip from Lower Alabama to Expo East, downtown Boston, a farm in Vermont, upstate New York, DC, Detroit and Kentucky. As much as I would have loved to roll with the Goat, it was so nice averaging 50+ MPG in my VW diesel sportwagen. I even made it nonstop from Louisville back home on a single tank. Totally worth the self inflicted dehydration along the way just to see if I could do it. It was 600+ miles on about 12 gallons of fuel.

Expo East was great - even though we only made it for one day. Who knew Vermont and NY were so great this time of year? Probably a lot of you, but I had never seen it.
Six of us even lived in a van for two days during the Bourbon Chase relay -- not unlike a thousand other people also running the race. What a great, and chaotic, event.
Such a great trip, and proof for me that the fun Jeep toys and dirt roads aren't all I need to survive. This trip was a completely different trip compared to August's out to Big Bend. We slept comfortably in the wagen multiple nights, crashed a lot of couches and a few sleazy (full of character(s)) motels. It was awesome, and tough to come home from. The best part was seeing, all the great vehicles at the expo... and then spending two more weeks on the road talking about every single one of them over and over again. Specifically, the GXV Adventure Truck. Whew. I think I'd need to sell a few organs to make that purchase work, but it sure looked amazing.

For the Goat, it meant sitting in the driveway for a few weeks to weather another near hurricane. After so much time in the VW it was nice to get behind the Wrangler's wheel again today. Unfortunately, we've come to the conclusion that the Goat isn't the solution we've been hoping for. Having two very different and specialized travel vehicles just isn't for us. It may be sooner rather than later, but the Jeep will be going up for sale before this time next year so we can attempt to consolidate to one comfortable rig that allows a bit better range than the 17 MPG we get now.

I've got some thinking and researching to do in the mean time. So we'll see.

The guest quarters at the farm.
Some of the Bourbon Chase vans at Maker's Mark.

 

[ShawnB]

Really dig your build so far! Nice work!

 

[Eagle05]

Ok, I'm just going to get this out of the way. Roll Tide!
That said, very nice build! Looks, and reads, like you've built a great rig!

That looks so awesome dude ! Except for the flooded areas which must not be the best memories of the trip... But still, really nice pictures !

This is pretty cool, I lived in Enterprise for a while and liked that little town.
You'll need to go to Taj, if you haven't yet.
Its fantastic indian food.
Awesome build!

Really dig your build so far! Nice work!

My apologies for the slow response on these. I really appreciate the comments. This thing always surprises me how much attention it gets. I can't go anywhere locally without people saying they saw me. It's certainly not a skip out of work vehicle.

 

[Eagle05]

The Goat is FOR SALE

I've been procrastinating on writing this, but the FOR SALE thread is posted.

I have no regrets buying and building this vehicle. I learned a lot, and had a ton of fun talking to others, researching parts, and tinkering with the Goat -- that's not even counting all the driving and camping adventures. I really hope a new owner will get a lot of use out of it.

$46,500

 

[Eagle05]

Christmas Vacation Time

I'm a little bummed to be leaving town for a few weeks without the Goat, but we're off for a few weeks in search of snow. And maybe some time with friends and family along the way too.

Depending on how the next few months go with work, and if the Goat sells or not, I may have myself, and my better half convinced to keep it and just sell off the Ursa Minor top. I won't make that decision until March at the earliest, but there's definitely a big part of me that doesn't want to let the Jeep go. Even if it makes more sense to sell it as a complete package for a new owner to take exploring. So we'll see there.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.