overland

***New Member Introductions***

HoodRiverPear

Trail Grom
Joined
Jan 27, 2023
Messages
1
Hello,
Craig & Natalie from Hood River, OR here. Found the Overland Trail Guides site and giving it a try. We are on Adventure bikes or in our 2007 FJ and explore the west and all things remote. Leaving in two days for the Mojave and found this site digging for fun things to see.
 

Big Zip

Trail Grom
Joined
Feb 4, 2023
Messages
1
Just joining the OTG community? Tell us a bit more about yourself including:

  • Your location of residence
  • Your vehicle(s)
  • Some of your favorite trails/routes/areas to explore
  • Any planned trips
  • Anything else you want to share!
Hi All. My name Is Vaughn. My wife, Sue, and I live in Chico Ca. We have two vehicles in the "Family" stable. A 2000 Durango It has a 3 link 44 front with cromo axels and ARB. Leaf sprung 60, ARB rear on 37's, 12K winch and is fully armored. Typically captained by my son Nick. A 2016 3/4 ton 177" hi top sprinter. Agile springs, Falcon shocks, sway disconnect. plates and sliders on 32's. Yeh it's a land yacht but super comfortable. We have been "overlanding" since the 70's, in pick ups and suburbans mostly, and we just called it wheeling. My son pushed us into more buggy building/ rock crawling activiites in the 2000's. Now in our 60's we like glamping and have no real desire to rock crawl. We are familiar with the areas identified in OTG routes as El dorado discovery, Lost Sierra, Steelhead Adventure, Shasta Trinity, Mendo Circuit, Joshua trees, Plumas Backcountry, Lassen Back country, Six rivers ,Death valley lava beds Modoc, Lost coast. I cant wait to see what OTG routes have identified in these areas because I'm sure you have found things I haven't!. We've done trips in Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming as well. We had a trip to white rim planned (Canyonlands NP) in Oct 22 . We scored a" walk in permit" at the ranger station. We spent two days do runs like Gemini Bridges and Shafer trail waiting for our site to open. Then day of we got snowed out. If we had had a companion vehicle we may have gone for it, but being solo we were kinda outta luck. Gonna have to try that one again! .My main objective here is to find like minded people who have time and want "Overland". . Our interests now are hiking, paddle boarding and generally being outdoors.
 

OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Messages
469
Location
NorCal
Hi All. My name Is Vaughn. My wife, Sue, and I live in Chico Ca. We have two vehicles in the "Family" stable. A 2000 Durango It has a 3 link 44 front with cromo axels and ARB. Leaf sprung 60, ARB rear on 37's, 12K winch and is fully armored. Typically captained by my son Nick. A 2016 3/4 ton 177" hi top sprinter. Agile springs, Falcon shocks, sway disconnect. plates and sliders on 32's. Yeh it's a land yacht but super comfortable. We have been "overlanding" since the 70's, in pick ups and suburbans mostly, and we just called it wheeling. My son pushed us into more buggy building/ rock crawling activiites in the 2000's. Now in our 60's we like glamping and have no real desire to rock crawl. We are familiar with the areas identified in OTG routes as El dorado discovery, Lost Sierra, Steelhead Adventure, Shasta Trinity, Mendo Circuit, Joshua trees, Plumas Backcountry, Lassen Back country, Six rivers ,Death valley lava beds Modoc, Lost coast. I cant wait to see what OTG routes have identified in these areas because I'm sure you have found things I haven't!. We've done trips in Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming as well. We had a trip to white rim planned (Canyonlands NP) in Oct 22 . We scored a" walk in permit" at the ranger station. We spent two days do runs like Gemini Bridges and Shafer trail waiting for our site to open. Then day of we got snowed out. If we had had a companion vehicle we may have gone for it, but being solo we were kinda outta luck. Gonna have to try that one again! .My main objective here is to find like minded people who have time and want "Overland". . Our interests now are hiking, paddle boarding and generally being outdoors.

Welcome! As you probably noticed, we've got a lot of members in NorCal! Keep an eye out for a couple of sprinter friendly adventures coming your way. The 2k+ miles American Outback Trail should be released next month that snakes through the Modoc Plateau, eastern OR, southern ID, and northern Nevada. Not all... but A LOT of it will be drivable in a sprinter. Also, we have a Redwood Coast route coming at some point over summer. Definitely sprinter friendly and will take you through the redwoods along with dirt backroads of mendocino, humboldt, and trinity counties-- which is incredibly beautiful, especially in the springtime or fall when the sun illuminates the golden brown hills. This one will be 100% sprinter van friendly.
 

stevencalm

Trail Grom
Joined
Jan 4, 2022
Messages
1
Howdy, Steve Mendivil living in Aptos Hills (between Santa Cruz and Watsonville). Im
Semi retired so I have free time away from my small farm for adventures. I have a 2020 Storyteller sprinter van and have been on a few sprinter organized trips and a few Slot Canyon trips on my one. I find your trail guides perfect for figuring out Overlanding options in the west. Looking forward to any meet ups. Steve
 

OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Messages
469
Location
NorCal
Howdy, Steve Mendivil living in Aptos Hills (between Santa Cruz and Watsonville). Im
Semi retired so I have free time away from my small farm for adventures. I have a 2020 Storyteller sprinter van and have been on a few sprinter organized trips and a few Slot Canyon trips on my one. I find your trail guides perfect for figuring out Overlanding options in the west. Looking forward to any meet ups. Steve

We are hosting a campout/basecamp style event up in Mendocino NF in mid-April. There's a few tix left, so get them before they're gone!
 

WesternDirtRoads

Trail Grom
Joined
Feb 25, 2023
Messages
1
Location
Hayward
Hello fellow travelers! We have been all over California on pavement but we want to explore dirt roads. Only thing is, we are getting older and don't camp much. Besides, I'm really scared of bears. But my greatest fear is being out there alone. So my wife Debbie, my disabled brother, Andy, and I, are looking to go on some easy dirt roads with another vehicle. We live in the East Bay and work M-F.
You can catch up on some of our travels at http://www.WesternDirtRoads.com
 
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mattsventures71

Trail Grom
Joined
Mar 21, 2023
Messages
1
Hello,
I am Matt from "mattsventures71". My IG account will detail my comings and goings and doings. I am an Avid Overlander, Mt Biker, Hiker and ADV Motorcyclist. This year I will be doing (and have done) pieces of the MABDR and NEBDR. Headed to the KAT in May, and the NMBDR in June. On my way to New Mexico I plan to hit Bentonville for some Mt Biking. Next year I hope to Thru Hike the AT. See you out there!

Matt
 

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ascottla-6073

Trail Grom
Joined
Jan 27, 2023
Messages
1
Hey All,
My name is Scott, I am new to Overlanding and bought my 2018 4runner on impulse in 2021. My wife and I have always loved camping but getting into overlanding has been amazing! The truck had some mods when I purchased it: led lights including headlight & taillights, 3' lift, suspension / shocks, 35" tires, and some body armor. (not sure I have all the terms right) I have added a Cali Raised premium roof rack with light kit, Roam canopy/room, and roam roof case. We live in SoCal about 3 hours from Anza Borrego where we have done most of our adventuring. Blair valley, mud caves, sin nombre canyon. We have also done a tour in Joshua Tree . Looking forward to continuing to building our overlanding camping rig! We call her Betty White!






Betty white relaxin.jpeg Betty White Lites.jpegBetty Sin Nombre Canyon.jpg
 
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OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Messages
469
Location
NorCal
@ascottla-6073 Long live Betty White! You'll have to head into the mountains of AZ or NorCal once those desert temps start ticking up next month. We've got a lot of fun routes up north, and more to come ;)
 

Abid

Trail Grom
Joined
Apr 18, 2023
Messages
1
Hi this is Abid,
I am from the South Bay in Silicon Valley. My teenage boys and I are new to overlanding. We have W163 ML430 somewhat fitted for offroad travel. 3" lift, 33x11.5 M/T. Equipped with for ground/tailgate camping/boondocking for a few days. Looking at getting a roof tent for more space/versatility.

Also planning to do a couple of short trips (California( this spring and a longer trip (Western States) this summer with my two sons and a dog). Would like to get local knowledge and suggestions. Also would like to rendezvous with groups (especially families) if schedules allow.

thanks and looking forward.
 

DHarris

Trail Grom
Joined
Apr 4, 2023
Messages
2
Hi everyone,
This is Doug & Jackie from Irvine ca, we have a lifted 2022 Tacoma TRD Offroad 4x4 with a Alu-Cab Canopy. We are looking forward to the Lost Coast tour we signed up for in June and many more after that.
 

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fez

Trail Grom
Joined
Jan 16, 2023
Messages
1
Hey all, my name is Faizel, but most folks call me Fez. I live in Houston, Texas, so any opportunity to visit some elevation or terrain is always a plus! I got into ovderlanding/offroading earlier this year. After doing some road tripping/camping, I got the bug to try something more adventurous and started researching online and stumbled onto Overland Trail Guides. Since joining I've done three of the routes from OTG (Texas Hill Country, Colorado Flat Tops and The Lost Coast 4x4 Trail), sometimes solo and sometimes with my son/copilot/camp-cook, Kai.

I currently drive a Land Rover Defender. Other than the typical sliders and winch, I've only really done one major modification to fit a long range fuel tank. If schedule permits, I'm trying to do a solo trip sometime later this year (currently looking at the Sonoran Desert Traverse). I'm also hoping to participate in an organized group trip in 2024, so I'll definitely be looking out for any new tours on the site!

A big thank you to Ben and everyone on these forums--this has been a great resource for a newbie like me. Having curated route descriptions and GPX files gave me the confidence to start traveling to some of these off-the-beaten-path places and make some great memories with my son.

copilot-chef.jpg defender-open.jpg defender.jpg
 
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