Trial by Fire- FIDO expeditions gets underway-Snoverland Expo!!

[yabanja]

I have spent the Last 3 months building "FIDO"- our 2000 Mitsubishi Fuso pop-top camper to prepare for this spring's Overland Expo and ultimately extended international travel. The build thread can be seen here:http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/116607-Diving-in-Head-First!

We just returned to Salt Lake City after 18 days on the road covering the 1600 miles to and from the expo-nearly half of which were in the dirt. The weather was challenging and we had quite an adventure. I hope to share it with you in a fairly coherent manner including many photos and my first attempts at video.


This trip was the shake down cruise for the truck to see if the basic structure and idea would work for us. In this regard it was a resounding success and we are eager to move forward with the completion of the project.

May 13, Day 1:

It was really down to the wire on completing the truck and I missed my expected departure date by three days. The truck was useable at this point but many of the finer amenities of the camper were still non functional(no big deal for us as we are coming from a background of tent camping-just having a roof is a luxury.). I did get the propane stove to work, and that was about it. The water system, toilet, shower, heater, and water heater are still non operational. We brought our entire camp kit with us in case the truck fell apart (tent, pads, stove, table, chairs, etc...) We didn't know when we departed that the weather would illustrate so clearly the luxury that stepping up to a camper would bring.

I am recently retired but my wife Sakshi is still working and doesn't have as much time as me. She flew to Flagstaff where I was to pick her up on Thursday around noon. We purchased the full Overland Expo Experience Package and registered for tons of classes. We planned to camp on site from Thursday evening until Monday morning. My original plan was to take a leisurely trip from Salt Lake to Flagstaff over the course of five or six days while hitting as many dirt roads as possible and meandering through the countryside smelling the roses. The delayed departure threw a wrench in the works and I had to be to Flagstaff in a day and a half.

I departed Salt Lake City mid morning on Weds the 13th. I really hadn't driven the truck much yet at this point. If you have never driven through Salt Lake on the I-15 corridor you are really missing out. The average speed is 80-90 mph with Minivans full of screaming children with texting mothers careening in and out of lanes at will. The snow season here means that frost heave has taken it's toll on the roads and they are super bumpy. To top it all off I had a very strong headwind which stayed with me all day. The truck will do 70 mph on the flat if you really push it under ideal conditions. With the headwind and hills I was down to 50 at times. I have not dialed in the suspension for the relatively light weight of the truck yet and the ride is.....punishing. It is especially rough on expansion joints where both wheels hit the bump at the same time which is exactly what I-15 is like. By the time I reached Nephi about two hours into the trip my eyeballs were about jiggled out of my head. What a way to start a trip! I was only a quarter of the distance I wanted to cover that day and I already felt like I had been put into a cement mixer with a couple of bricks thrown in for fun. I stopped and had lunch at Dennys to regroup.

I decided to reduce the tire pressures to see if that would help and I also turned off the freeway to the lower speed highway 28 to Salina. The lower pressures combined with slower speeds made a world of difference. The truck really likes to cruise at 50-60 mph. I noticed a rhythmic vibration around 50 mph which was driving me crazy and was about to do a stretch of the 75 mph I-70 so I stopped and checked the lug nuts. They were fine. I suspected that the balance beads I used to balance my wheels were inadequate weight or not working so I decided to find a tire shop in Salina to remove the beads and balance the wheels conventionally. After checking a couple of places I was directed to GCR:

They were super helpful and got me right in. After spending nearly two hours balancing and fiddling with my leaking dual valve stems they only charged me $68!! I hit the road and the vibration was greatly reduced.

 

[BurbanAZ]

Sounds like a great thread/ story so far. Can't wait to read more.

 

[yabanja]

Fatigue starts to set in.....

As the day progressed the weariness brought on by working long days on the truck 7 days a week for two months really started to set in. I took a small break at a rest area about an hour from Kanab:



I called my friend Scott who has a house in Kanab to see if he was around, but he was in Salt Lake for the week. I promised to look him up on my return trip and headed on. It was starting to get dark and I decided to find a place to camp for the night. I headed south down House Rock road in the dark and found a nice spot on a little side spur. It sure was nice to finally be in the dirt in the new truck. I fixed a simple meal and went to bed.......

Day 1 Pavement Miles: 335 Dirt Miles: 12

 

[Curtis in Texas]

I'm in

 

[yabanja]

Day 2: Flagstaff!!!

May 14, Day 2:

CABOOM!!! Whooosshhhhhh...........
I woke from a very sound sleep to the sound of thunder and pouring rain. Open my eyes-still dark......
Grab phone and look at the clock-5:00 am.
Close eyes.
Start thinking about all those impassable when wet signs I passed on the way down 12 miles of dirt road last night and the fact that I am still a long way from flagstaff where Sakshi arrives by plane at 1:00.
Get up, Pack sleeping bag......
Rain stops.
Wait a few minutes.....no more rain....
Pull out sleeping bag and go back to sleep.
Wake up 1/2 hour later to sound of light rain.....

I got up slowly this time and cooked breakfast. It is always nice when you drive down a dark road and make camp in the dark only to wake up to something like this:



The ground wasn't too saturated and the rain had stopped again so I packed up slowly and headed for a little exploration further down the road. 100 feet from my camp spot was a guy sleeping in the drivers seat of his pickup.... Been there/Done that.

I headed a few miles down the road and saw some lovely views. With the moisture the wildflowers were really partying.



I decided I had better hit the road if I was going to make it to Flagstaff in time so I turned around(should have kept going - I didn't realize it was a through road!). A couple miles up the road there were crazy tracks in the mud-I hadn't even noticed it was slippery- and a minivan was stuck. Everyone was smiling and they were going to wait for it to dry out- an hour or two in the desert.

I looked longingly at the Buckskin trailhead as I drove by. It is a slot canyon tributary to the Paria which I am told is unparalleled. I once got stranded in the Paria during a flash flood with my friend Mike and 4 college girls for 3 extra days on a week long hike. We did a line dance for the helicopter to let them know we were ok. But that is another story.......

A few more miles up the road I turned a corner at 10 miles per hour and it was the weirdest sight..... There was a prius stuck in the middle of the road and an elderly gentleman with his pants around his ankles standing a few feet off to the side of the road. Now I don't know if you have ever heard a Mitsubishi Fuso driving down the road before but........ It ain't stealthy. Maybe he had his hearing aid off. Anyways, he look startled and pulled up his britches quick. Then I noticed an older woman walking up the road. I pulled along side her and was about to ask if they needed anything when I noticed the look on her face.... Few times in my life have I ever seen someone so angry. I can only put the pieces together in my head. Wife:"It looks rainy-should we head down that road in our Prius on it's high mileage slick tires?" Husband"Oh don't worry it will be fine.".............. I chose not to get into the middle of it and meandered on up the hill-it was drying out rapidly anyways.

I stopped where the road met the paved highway to have a snack and air up the tires. A few minutes later this guy pulls off the highway in a minivan and gets out to come say hi and admire my camper. I give him the rundown: yes it's a 4x4, yes the top goes up and down, yes I built it myself, why thank you I like it too...etc.... Then he finally asks me how the road is. I tell him there is a minivan just like his stuck a few miles down. He asks if I think it will dry out. I say yes in a couple of hours if it doesn't rain again. We both look up at the stormy sky. He looks back at his car and I notice his wife in the passenger seat and child in the back.... He looks down the road longingly.... I tell him about the angry wife in the Prius. He looks back at his wife and frowns..... I tell him I am sure he can make it down the hill it's just the getting back up that is the problem and I smile. He says thank you, gets back into his car and heads back to the highway. Amusing.

 

[r_vdb]

Looking forward to more. Btw we took the marshaling class at the same time As you two at the expo gotta love the mud...

 

[yabanja]

Looking forward to more. Btw we took the marshaling class at the same time As you two at the expo gotta love the mud...

That class was fun! We became very very well acquainted with the mud before this trip was over.

Allan

 

[yabanja]

Day 2: Arrival!!

I hit the road running and made it to Flagstaff with a couple of hours to spare. A fellow Fuso owner and expo member Pugslyyy was staying at the KOA the night before so I swung by to see if he had left yet. He wasn't there. (I missed him for the whole expo. Maybe next time.) I decided to pass the hour before Sakshi's flight checking the truck over and making sure nothing had rattled loose on the super bumpy stretch of highway 89 between Page and Flagstaff. Everything was in order. Sakshi's flight was right on time. The Flagstaff airport is pretty laid back.....just like the town I guess.

We fueled up in town and headed for Mormon Lake. My Mom and Pop had come up early from Prescott to grab a prime camp spot at the Double Springs campground. After tenting it out in the field at last year's expo I couldn't blame them. The ground is full of craters and goats heads guarantee flat thermarests. We caught up with them at their camp spot and introduced them to FIDO. Mom was jealous and Pops thought it was too big. They are seasoned campers and have a nice 4-Runner and tons of camping gear. They certainly didn't complain later in the trip when we could host them in out of the rain!!! I was eager to get over to the expo and concerned the sign in might be time consuming so we parted ways with them promising to come by later in the evening.

As it turned out, sign in was a breeze! 5 minutes in and out. Kudos to the organizers. We got back in the truck and headed to the camping area to stake out a small area for our fellow Fuso campers. (apparently I have a keen sense for low ground as it turned out to be a particularly muddy corner of the camp area in the days to come.)

We set up camp and then went for a little walk to get a feel for the layout of the place. I bumped into fellow forum Members Backstopper and Czechsix and let them know where we were camped. It was also nice to see Howard, Michelle, and Lance over at the Earthcruiser paddock. I took a couple of photos of my favorite vehicles. This forward control Land Rover from South Africa was particularly interesting:



We hunkered down and called it a night...

Day 2 miles Paved: 187 Dirt:17

 

[Buckstopper]

Hey Allan - great trip report! Subscribed!

Buckstopper

 

[yabanja]

Day 3: Overland Expo Begins!!!

Day 3 May 15:

We woke to rain.... I slept great! Sakshi not so much. As it turns out the bed support slats on one side were broken. We switched it up the next night and Sakshi slept great! Me not so much. From then on it was separate beds. Need to get that addressed stat.

It was around 6 am and we had fond memories of the showers from last year so we headed over. We were the first customers. We went into our separate tents and both tried it out. The "new experimental" shower system only heated the water 30 degrees above ambient..... aka COOOLD! What a way to wake up. I lost my wedding ring down the grate and had to dissasemble the shower tent to find it. Our host Matt was so friendly about the whole thing.

We were booked for classes all day. I had to run to my Video class and the plan was to meet later at the Overland course for our couples marshaling course. After a quick lesson on how to lower the top and pack the truck I headed out to my course.

The "Tell your story with Video-the missing link" course by Andrew St Pierre White was very inspiring(as you shall see later in the trip report).

It rained.

And rained.

When my class was over I ran over to the Marshaling class at the Overland track. This was the only class Sakshi and I had taken together. When we registered we sequestered ourselves in different rooms and chose our classes separately. This worked out perfectly as we divided and conquered and ended up with a lot more information than we would have had we stuck together.

The Marshaling course for couples was designed to get partners to work together using hand signals to guide each other over off road obstacles. (they said experiences like this often lead to divorce.) We are still married, but certainly need more practice. It was great to have that pointed out with an audience. They started the course by walking down the row of vehicles and pointing out different weaknesses on each vehicle to be aware of as the spotter like differential pumpkin position, departure angles, etc.... As they went down the row they finally got to FIDO and were giving it the once over. The instructor said "I would hate to take this at a side angle of more than 30 degrees". (I think he may have been clairvoyant). We were chosen to go first and I decided I would guide while Sakshi drove. She hasn't had much opportunity to drive extreme off road conditions, nor was she familiar with FIDO- a manual transmission diesel. We decided to just put it in first gear 4 Low and idle over everything. She zoomed through the whole course with only one backup!(due to poor direction from me).

About this time we noticed that our parents had shown up to cheer us on from the top of a small mound nearby.

I should add a note here. When I woke up the day before in the rain I discovered that in the rush to get packed I had forgotten my rain gear. As soon as I had cell signal I texted Sakshi who was about to catch her flight to have her bring it for me. It turns out she decided to take the train from home to the airport to avoid parking fees and had left a half hour earlier. Also without her rain gear! This is especially amusing considering our experience in Canyonlands the year before on the way to the Expo when we had torrential downpours. Here was our Jeep in the aftermath of Beef Basin:



So I then called Mom and she hadn't left home yet and was able to bring us both spare gear! 42 years old and she is still saving my A**!! Thanks Mom.

We completed our lap of the Marshaling course and then Joined Mom and Pops on the mound to see what they were up to. They had the best amusement of the weekend. The off road course was about to be shut down. They built this course to be extremely challenging in the dry. It had been pouring rain for six hours and the mud was so slippery it was hard to walk, let alone drive over hill and dale. The course was carnage. There were people taking free test drives in Land Rovers all over the place-none of them going where the wheels were pointed. To their credit, the Land Rovers were pretty impressive considering the fitment of street oriented tires. We watched the carnage for a few minutes and then decided to get out of the rain and fix lunch back at camp.

It was about this time that we really started to appreciate Fido. 4 people around the table out of the rain for lunch. This is living! We also were enjoying the commanding view that being that high up affords. Already "the weak" had started to depart the campground, and it was fun seeing them slip and slide trying to drive out. I am originally from the Northwest where rain is the norm and sunshine is a special treat. We hunkered down, had some wine, and waited for improvement.

We were very pleased to meet the Legendary Ted Simon and see his slide show on Jupiters Travels-travelling the world on a triumph motorcycle in the 1960's. A very interesting fellow indeed, and proof that anyone can go and do it, all it takes is stepping out of the front door.

Sakshi was scheduled for the Land Rover guided instruction for Girls on the overland course that afternoon and it was all she had been talking about for months. They had closed the track but she went anyways to see if she could get on later. Sakshi is the most upbeat person I know but missing this seriously bummed her out! Nothing a couple glasses of wine would not fix! We grabbed our free drink tickets and headed for happy hour. It was fun to bump into people from the classes earlier in the day and huddle next to the heaters. After a while we accepted an invitation from Buckstopper to join he and his wife in his rig for a continuation of the festivities. He has a nice homebuilt Fuso and it was cool to hang out. Oh, and he had working heat which was nice considering it had started sleeting. Unfortunately we were bad guests as we spilled a glass of wine all over everything. They did invite us back later so I guess it wasn't too bad. Hopefully they will think of us fondly when they see the stains in the future.

It began snowing huge flakes as we snuggled into bed for the night....


Day 3 miles: Paved: 0 Mud: 1

 

[yabanja]

Day 4: Snowverland Expo

May 16th Day 4:

We awoke to snow! It was so beautiful. And even better, it was no longer precipitating.(short lived)



The mud by this point had reached epic proportions. We had our sacrificial clothes that we would wear whenever we went out and change as soon as we got back to the camp. It became sort of a fun routine...

It was really becoming a circus out in the unstructured camping area. People were stuck left and right. Even many 4x4 rigs wouldn't move and anything with a trailer was screwed. Sakshi headed to her morning class but mine was outdoors and I was feeling lazy so I decided to hang out in FIDO and watch the show. There was a military 6x6 that was pulling everyone out. It was awesome to watch. He would hook up and gas it and the thing would just dig in and giant clouds of smoke would come pouring out and off he went. The people behind were going with whether they had their wheels pointed straight or not. In the middle of all this here comes a two wheel drive motorhome rocking through the whole thing unaided. It was awesome. Just proves it's not what you drive, it's how you drive it.

I finally had to use the can so I made the long trek and took some pictures on the way:



It was about time for my Land Rover how to right an overturned vehicle class and I had had my fourth cup of coffee so I decided to rally! This was an awesome course. They taught us how to set up a block and tackle system every bit as strong as a winch, they showed us how to gently roll a vehicle onto it's side, and then pull it back onto it's wheels. The best part is they nominated me as the winch operator. Unfortunately the person hadling the block and tackle didn't leave enough slack when we were pulling the vehicle back upright and the roof was damaged. Hopefully they got it straightened back up with the help of a high lift jack.

We once again went to the happy hour and enjoyed the company. There was a feeling of camaraderie from surviving this long and everyone was hopeful the weather would let up next day. We then went over and said hi at the earth cruiser compound where they had a nice shelter and great conversation. I went and checked out the Equipt party which was rocking-they know how to throw a shindig.

We wobbled back to FIDO for a good nights rest.

Day 4 miles Paved:0 Dirt:0

 

[yabanja]

DAY 5: Sunshine!!

Sunday May 17th: Day 5

We awoke to sunshine. Three quarters of the people had gone and we were left with the hearty stock. It was a lovely morning made all the more so by the previous trifecta of rainy days. We heard that there was a vendor breakfast event and we saw people heading that way with plates in hand so we thought we would jump on the bandwagon. We got our gear and took our hungry tummies to the vendor area. The first place we noticed was at Sportsmobile where they were serving up some yummy looking breakfast burritos to a line of hungry looking folks. I joined the line and everyone looked askance at me. They said the food was just for their people. BLUSH. Boy, did I feel like a homeless beggar. I mentioned that there was this event going on and they said they knew nothing about it. We ambled on down the row. The previous weather seemed to be putting a damper on things but GrubHub came through with yummy eggs fruit etc.....

A quick note here: It is one thing to talk about the people attending the event being wimpy for leaving early, but my heart goes out to the vendors. They probably had very few people coming through the first two days and had to suffer through all this. I did hear a couple of the camper builders sold a surprising number of units though.

Sakshi had been going over to the Land Rover counter repeatedly throughout the weekend to see if she was going to get a chance to drive, but the course remained closed and impassable.

We decided to see the vendors since we hadn't had a chance earlier. Ended up getting a rocking deal on a 45 liter Engel Fridge. It was on our list of needed items but I didn't expect to get one so soon. Having camped with it for two weeks since I don't know how I lived without one.

Sakshi and I headed to class together- it was 15 years travelling the world with Anna Callau and Pablo Rey. I had read Pablo's book and really enjoyed their low budget, realistic, down to earth way of traveling. The class was very inspiring and I love their little Delica 4x4. It is understated, and capable of going anywhere-just like they are.

Sakshi had a class on GPS so I wandered over to the overland track. Buckstopper was just finishing his Marshalling course and decided to have a picnic. I thought I would bring FIDO over to join him as we had decided to move out of the mud to drier land for the Sunday night camp. We were talking about the overland course and how it was about time for the Big Rig class. The course hadn't been open since Friday but it looked like it might be drying out. We figured you must be present to win, so decided to stay parked right by the entrance. The cruising nomads truck was there as well. http://www.cruisingnomads.cz

We were hanging out in our lawn chairs enjoying the sunshine when one of the land rover guys came over and said"what are you doing in our area?" Buckstopper answered"Camping out" The Land Rover guy said "Wrong answer". We both answered "Hoping to drive on the track." The Land Rover guy got a big smile and said "WELL THEN LETS GO!" I was so psyched!!!

They brought the three of us together and told us we were going to get stuck and there was no way they could get us out. We all said: "No problem." I figured on camping there anyways. I aired down my tires to 25 psi and dug out my ARB 30k lb snatch strap and hooked it to the front of the truck and fished the other end into into the passenger door. I kept looking for Sakshi as I knew she would want to go along but she was nowhere in sight. They assigned an instructor to each of us and I asked mine if he would like to ride along? (the others were directing from outside) He smiled, hopped in, and off we went. I was the first person on course and we tentatively tried some of the smaller obstacles. FIDO RULES. No problem. We started taking more challenging obstacles when this happened:Wow1Thanks to Robin Burnham for the video) Keep an eye out in the 44th second:

[video=vimeo;129722894]https://vimeo.com/129722894[/video]

We started to slide sideways off an obstacle and Fido was going to go over! The instructor said "Steer into the slide and gas it!" which is what I did, and it saved it. If he hadn't been riding with me I think I would have gone over. The instructor was clearly distressed and I nearly **** my pants!

We proceeded to do the rest of the course with the exception of the big off camber sections. I was in the big dips along the driveway for the campground when we got a message over the radio that the other two were stuck. I asked the instructor if we should go rescue them he said yes. We headed back that way.

When we got back to the beginning we found the Nomads stuck in a mud hole:

And Backstopper stuck on a climb:

The nomads wanted to try and self extricate and were airing down their tires.( This takes a long time- those things are huge). They then tried again but were still stuck. I was going to go help them but the land rover instructors wanted to make some more campfire stories so they hooked up one of their trucks with a strap. He had like 7 feet of slack and gunned it! I don't think that is the way it is written in the manual! But it worked!

Meanwhile I watched Backstopper pull a big post out of the ground with his winch and remain stuck. Eventually they parked a Rover on the back side of a hill and used it as an anchor point. The winch gave out just as he had pulled himself out. Turns out it was a harbor freight 12k lb winch. One time usage I guess but it did work.

I just watched all this and took pictures. The instructor got back in and asked me what I wanted to do. I said we already did the course... I probably shouldn't push my luck! He agreed, so we took a few obstacles and exited the course....

I have to give credit here. I am very impressed with the new BFGoodrich All Terrain KO2 tires on the truck. When aired down they performed as well or better than anything else I saw, and mud is not supposed to be their strong point. They are quiet on the road, and have a snow rating. The ultimate tire??? I'll get back to you once I see how many miles I get out of them.

I parked the truck and relaxed for a bit and then Sakshi showed up. I was relating all of my adventures to her when one of the Land Rover booth people came over and said "Hey. Weren't you wanting to do the Land Rover Experience?" I guess her perseverance and positive attitude had paid off. She signed up and they found her an instructor and put her in a brand new Land Rover. What a treat!

Once she had completed the course she asked the instructor where to park and he said "let's get stuck" and directed her to a mud hole. It is amazing how people come out of the woodwork to rescue a cute girl stuck in the mud. (it turned out they were trying out a new sand ladder design-I met the inventor-it was much more effective than the maxtraxx I had seen in use all weekend although it seemed to be hard to remove from the mud afterwards)

We then found a place to park and headed for the evening BBQ. The cooks had a special story. They were with Mormon Lake Lodge mobile catering. Apparently they haul their camp kitchen around to disaster areas to cook for people who have been displaced from their homes. Kudos Guys.

After a nice meal and a glass of wine we returned to FIDO to call it a night.

The expo was over but our trip was just about to begin.

Day 5 Miles Paved: 0 Dirt: 2

 

[yabanja]

Day 6: The adventure begins!!

May 18th: Day 6

Woke up super early, packed and hit the road. I had lost my iPhone so we checked at lost and found to no avail.(It turned up in the camper later)

We decided that it was high time for a wash up and my Father has a condo in Sedona so we decided to head that way(Unfortunately they were out of town, but I had brought the key!). We always enjoy finding the dirt road route to any destination if possible. FIDO is perfect for this as he gets 30% better economy at low speed than high and is vastly more comfortable on dirt roads with the tires aired down than on pavement. With this in mind we took a look at our new Delorme Arizona map book to plan our day.(We had purchased new Arizona and Colorado books for half off the day before at the Delorme booth).

From the map we were surprised that we were only 40 miles from Sedona! We thought it would be nice to take the dirt FR 240 from Double Springs campground over to Munds Park and then zoom over to Schnebly Hill Road "Highway" and cruise into town. We knew we were in for some fun when we got to Schnebly hill road and there were tons of warning signs obout high clearance and 4x4 required. Our suspicions were confirmed when we started seeing a steady flow of pink jeeps a couple of miles down the road. Every single one of the tour guides had something to say about Fido. From "that is so cool" to "Never seen one of those before" with my response "now you have!" to "BFG Tires and Fox shocks huh?" My response being"No, Bilstein". The one that took the cake was the driver of a series one Humvee tour truck "Holy ****! That is cool! I'll trade you straight across even stevens!" to which I said"No thank you"with a smile before Sakshi could say "Hell No!". Here are some pics of the Schnebly Hill Road:

That last one was amusing-broken hub it looked like. I looked up pink jeep tours to see how much they are getting. $100 per person for a two hour tour. It looked like they could pile 9 or 10 people into one of those jeeps. I need to change lines of work.

Schnebly Hill highway huh? At this point we were starting to lose confidence in our new "map" book.

We got to Sedona, did laundry, and took a much needed shower. About this time Mom and Pops showed up so we put the clothes in the dryer and headed out for lunch.

We had decided that we were going to head north for the week to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon as Sakshi's flight out of Flagstaff wasn't until Sunday. After that she could catch a ride back with Mom and Pops and I would continue meandering back to Salt Lake solo from there.

It was getting to be early afternoon so we decided to meet up just north of Flagstaff at the Sunset Crater Volcano campground.

We parted ways and stopped in Flagstaff at the REI as we needed to get a new water storage container. I always carry at least ten gallons and one of my five gallon containers nozzles had broken. I only got 15 years out of it. When we stopped for gas we bumped into the Cruising Nomads folks again and exchanged emails. Nice people on an epic trip.

We finally made it to the campground and set up camp for the evening.

Day 6 Miles Paved:57 Dirt: 24

 

[r_vdb]

Right on enjoying the write up, we were just ahead of you on the trail with the pink jeep broken down, then we took lunch & you passed us... Small world...

 

[yabanja]

Right on enjoying the write up, we were just ahead of you on the trail with the pink jeep broken down, then we took lunch & you passed us... Small world...

That's right! I meant to mention the white Sportsmobile and the grey Nissan NV with the butch tires. Was that a 4x4 conversion as well? I'd imagine there was a lot of traffic over that road from Mormon lake over the weekend!

Allan