I Hate Gates- The scouting trip from Hades.

[LaOutbackTrail]

Trip Video
Mr. Leary and others have set out on a grand quest of creating an overland route for the Central States of the U.S. Well, turns out the process is far more difficult than it appears, especially in Texas! Oh Texas, how I hate you. Every seemingly GREAT dirt road is interrupted by a gate. This means you must back track for miles to reconnect to another road to potentially find your way along.

Our early morning started with meeting Mr. Leary at his house in our town of Denton, TX where we then traveled to Wichita Falls, TX to meet up with the rest of the group. I sprinted ahead to an Oreilly's Auto Parts along the route to fix my exhaust.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

As the photos above and below show, the beginning of the route went as planned.

We encounter our first gate after our first exciting road (above). Grrr.
Two gates later, I capture these shots...

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

The gate caused re-routes occurred several more times over course of the morning/afternoon. By 1:30 TJWilly cut out and headed home.

So now we are less one vehicle, I am in the lead and try to use my non existent bull bar. JSMarine nearly needs his!

We then entered a dust storm straight from the Grapes of Wrath, which also reminded JSMarine of Iraq. Someone then let out an Arabic mating call over the radio, therefore I warned them that JS might have a war flashback and kill us all.

Then there was the Pease River....

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Pease River.

PALO DURO!!!!

She needs to know her role.

 

[Wes Craiglow]

Clearly, I am out of uniform for these trips.

**Note to self: Go to REI. Get zip-off cargo pants.**

 

[Wes Craiglow]

Awesome! Great write-up. Wish I had been there!

Soon enough....

ps. The story of how you guys helped the accident victims was heartwrenching and heartwarming altogether. Excellent indication of the value and spirit of overlanders. Well done. Proud to call you all friends.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Clearly, I am out of uniform for these trips.

**Note to self: Go to REI. Get zip-off cargo pants.**

Note to self: shave legs if attempting to wear zip-off cargo pants.

Not ONCE did these gentlemen zip off the zip-offs

 

[TJ Willy]

Yeah... hated leaving. It was a tough decision. Looks like y'all had a great adventure.

 

[RU55ELL]

Looks like a good time.

 

[Street Wolf]

No doubt a great time even with all the set backs. :sombrero:

 

[Wes Craiglow]

So I hate to spoil the glory with a pointed question, but...

Do we have the connection from the Clayton area over to PDC? .gpx or .kml files, please?

(For what it's worth, I'll be connecting north from my end into MO Ozarks very soon.)

 

[Mr. Leary]

I'll post pics soon... there are lots of pics and they are large...

 

[Mr. Leary]

So I hate to spoil the glory with a pointed question, but...

Do we have the connection from the Clayton area over to PDC? .gpx or .kml files, please?

(For what it's worth, I'll be connecting north from my end into MO Ozarks very soon.)

The route we scouted (or attempted to scout) is independent of that project. I will be scouting the Oklahoma Overland Route later this summer, and I am contemplating using a good chunk of the trans america trail, which runs through northern Oklahoma, then we can hop off of it and head to Little Sahara, and from there down to Palo Duro, bypassing all of eastern and central Texas. I'm sad to say it, but this trip is making me worry that Texas is not a good place for overlanding, as it is all private, with only scattered parks here and there... (reminds me of a bunch of toddlers who can't share, actually).

I will also be working slowly on a Red River Run... subject to weather. The water levels are still high enough to create lots of quicksand conditions... as Scott so clearly demonstrated on the Pease River.

I know a thing or two about sandy conditions... and will keep working on it. I'll let everyone know when/if I think it is safe to attempt the trip.

 

[jsmarine]

videos?

LaOutbackTrail, your wife said she video taped the recovery of your 4runner, we want to see those vids! Post em up!

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

LaOutbackTrail, your wife said she video taped the recovery of your 4runner, we want to see those vids! Post em up!

Of course! I'm working on the video now.