Innholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2024 i Overland Journal

IN SHOCK I am taken aback by the Summer 2024 cover shot. No vehicle tracks on the beach (a ton of footprints), nor any visible tire tracks. It looks like a photoshopped in vehicle. Am I missing something? Monika Wescott Turtle V FROM ASHLEY GIORDANO The composition of the cover photograph doesn’t include a well-trodden two-track leading from the clearing surrounding the vehicle, which you see in the image below, to the main road nearby. FUEL THE FLAME I’ve read (and own 97 percent of) all OJ issues from 2007 till now and trust your extensive equipment tests. [But] I’d like to submit a correction to “Keepers Of The Flame” (Gear Guide 2024). When reviewing the Primus Tupike stove, Stephan Edwards states that the Tupike only uses isobutane canisters as…

One of the challenges when overlanding is having a reliable source of sustainable electricity on tap to power lights, charge an array of electronics from cellphones to computers to drones, and run convenience items such as 12-volt fridges, 110-volt grills, and cooktops. Most off-road camper trailers are covered with a deep-cycle house battery. But those who utilize a ground or rooftop tent or vehicle setup may not have that luxury. That’s why portable battery packs containing lithium batteries are becoming more popular among eco-friendly adventurers needing an auxiliary power supply. The DJI Power 1000, which made its North American debut earlier this year, is the newest entry in the battery pack category. DJI is world-renowned for its drones and lithium battery technology, and this 28-pound battery pack of LiFePO4 (lithium…

I have more fingers and toes than there are fuses in my classic Land Rover. The engine has no electrical components save for the alternator and the glow plugs. Even the fuel delivery is mechanical. So, I take cues from my trusty Defender and try to keep my auxiliary electrical systems as simple as possible. On the supply side, I have a 100 amp-hour AGM house battery connected to an old-school, solenoid-style isolator and a couple of solar panel inputs—one for the permanently mounted 100-watt module on the roof and a second wired in parallel for a 100-watt portable panel. On the output side, I run a SnoMaster 12-volt fridge, a water pump, an air pump, and a handful of house lights. The system works well, but both the battery…

NRS EXPEDITION DRIDUFFEL, 70L Northwest River Supplies (NRS) is a renowned provider of gear for outdoor activities, including camping, fishing, kayaking, and rafting. NRS’s new 2024 model of the Expedition DriDuffel represents an improved PVC-free, dual-coated, TPU nylon fabric and new color options (four). However, the pre-production sample I received didn’t have the final features of the 2024 model, and my time with it was limited, so it was excluded from the main Best of Breed. Available in 12-, 35-, 70-, and 105-liter sizes, the 70-liter Expedition DriDuffel is remarkably lightweight for its size and 40 percent lighter than the outgoing model. The wide-mouth opening makes it ideal for overlanders who want to pack everything without being weighed down, and compression straps and external guide loops stabilize gear. The TruZip…

THERE ARE NOT MANY PLACES in the world like Southwest Colorado. Near the southern terminus of the Rockies, the San Juan Mountains reach high into the sky with 14 of the state’s 14,000ers. What’s most unique is that this jagged range dissolves into an expansive maze of mesas and canyons known as the Colorado Plateau. Sediments deposited from intermittent inland seas nearly half a billion years ago created the expansive red sandstone landscape. From my camp at 10,000 feet on the Last Dollar Road, I could envision those 1,000-year-old seas coming in and out like waves. I saw millions of years of wind and water erosion creating the canyons, towers, and arches that we know today, as if the master plan by some mythical sculptor was complete. Cracking a beer…

Our first camp on the Idaho BDR was paradise—off the road, on a ridge, and in the trees with a back side that opened to the stars. My riding partner Steve and I slept well after a long day and some fireside toasts, waking to a fine morning on our ridge top. Fueled by Steve’s strong AeroPress coffee, we set off for the Middle Fork of the Boise River. Infinite mountain views competed for our attention with the narrow, rutted road. We looked forward to having such problems every day. Real trouble met us at the river—Steve’s phone had gone missing. His handlebar mount let it go somewhere in the last 12 miles. After scorching the forest with creative language, he turned back to search for it. In the meantime,…

Water defines this off-pavement traverse of the Ozarks, dictating both the pace of travel and the route, introducing delight and difficulty in a landscape sculpted by the region’s countless streams. And it’s no wonder—the trail touches 5 of the 10 Arkansas waterways designated “wild and scenic” within the nation’s Wild and Scenic Rivers system. Beginning with a crossing of the Buffalo River, which may or may not be fordable at any particular time, and ending 2,260 feet above sea level at the peak of White Rock Mountain, the trip offers a roller-coaster ride across the Boston Mountains, the most rugged range of the Ozark Highlands of northern Arkansas. Our route took three days with creeks and rivers at moderate depth, but after more rainfall, it could be slowed by reroutes…

RHYAN MCLAURY Rhyan McLaury is a ski mountaineer based amongst the volcanos and glaciated peaks of the Pacific Northwest. A passion for backpacking, skiing, and road-tripping led him into landscape photography in hopes of inspiring folks to experience the wild, rugged landscapes of the Western US. In the wintertime, Rhyan works as the snow reporter at Whitefish Mountain Resort in Northwestern Montana. The job is exactly what it sounds like; he is first out onto the mountain during storm days to shoot photos and report on snow conditions. Rhyan’s currently halfway done with climbing every Western state highpoint and will continue to share his mountaineering journey through his photography on his website or follow him on Instagram. rhyanmclaury.com MISTI TOKARSKY Misti Tokarsky is a passionate outdoor explorer and military veteran…

Kick-starting a journey through the wild terrains of the States demands more than two trusty bikes. As a fulltime rider couple, we require seamless contact, and that’s where the Cardo PackTalk Edge slots in. Installing the units and pairing them to our devices was straightforward, and the slim, rugged, and waterproof design has a stack of certifications for quality and reliability. Thanks to the user-friendly controls, reliable performance has ensued during our gloved rides. Connectivity is the lifeline of any rider, and the PackTalk has kept us connected within a 1-mile range for the 1,500-mile ride so far, even in the Smoky Mountains, deserts of Nevada, and Baja. The PackTalk can keep 15 riders in contact when in a convoy. Dynamic mesh communication technology ensures uninterrupted connections, removing the tedium…

Mozambique is rich in history, housing some of the earliest evidence of humans using pre-domesticated cereals anywhere in the world. Additional discoveries from the University of Calgary found stone tools in a limestone cave near Lake Niassa hundreds of millennia old, accompanied by evidence of wild sorghum, wine palm, false banana, pigeon peas, and more. The prolific Arabian historian and cartographer al-Mas‘ūdī documented Arabs trading and settling on the Mozambique coastline as early as 947 CE. It would not be another 500 years until Portugal’s Vasco de Gama would touch foot on the shores. Even the name Mozambique is a Portuguese adaptation of a sultan’s surname. The country has endured immense change and even some of the most horrific chapters of history with the slave trade and the unspeakable generational…

With the explosion of the popularity of overland travel globally, we are seeing more and more people choosing to take the plunge and choose the path in life that we love dearly. Choosing and preparing an overland vehicle is the first, and some would say, the most crucial step to getting out on the road less traveled. Unlike many we have featured in the past, this is not an ambitious, homemade project but a bespoke overland vehicle commissioned and crafted by some of Europe’s best vehicle builders. It is an example of a truck built not only to tackle the harshest terrain on the planet but to do so in style and with an eye firmly fixed on the future. Judith and Arthur’s (aka Yoda Travels) journey into the overlanding…

Being on the road full-time means I’m in a constant state of trip planning. The process has become so natural it runs on autopilot in the background, between fuel station visits, grocery shopping trips, and scrolling the Park4Night app for some creature comforts and facilities. I love gathering tidbits about everything overlandrelated—visas, temporary import permits, a stellar café, or a long desert track—all in an attempt to understand and eagerly anticipate what lies ahead. Most of the time, I don’t mind that the research process takes hours, while at other times, information overload is real. The Information Age means almost everything we want to know is at our fingertips, and sometimes, the best bet is just to shut it all down and go in without a clue. Perhaps you have…

SERVES 4 PREP TIME 15 minutes (depending on toppings) COOK TIME 15 minutes EQUIPMENT bowl, plate, fork, non-stick or cast-iron frying pan 4 slices of bread5 eggsSplash of milk or half-and-halfPinch of saltButter1 cup grated cheddar, gouda, or mozzarella cheeseBacon bits, sliced ham, or pepperoni (optional)Fried onion or peppers (optional)Herbs and spices to taste (no rules) Some of the best meals on the road use small quantities of leftover ingredients to make a hearty and tasty meal. French toast is a staple for us as we travel since we can repurpose stale or hard bread and finish those last few eggs that have been bouncing around looking for an excuse to cause a mess. We tried this French toast variation on an empty stomach, and it became an instant go-to…

Technology can be a blessing and a curse, striking a balance between being glued to our screens and Luddite dreams of a cabin in the woods with no electronics. The reality is that our always-on society has yielded a step function in efficiency, communication, and accessibility. However, it has also ushered in a new level of angst, obsession, and distraction. The average American smartphone user spends four hours and twenty-five minutes daily on their devices, and 56.9 percent admit they are addicted to their cell phone. For those who understand the mechanisms of addiction, the smartphone becomes a challenging habit to break, further exacerbated by the army of behavioral psychologists and machine-learning specialists who work for the app companies to keep us doomed to scrolling our lives away. Is there…

Moab has been the testing hub and playground of capable 4WDs for decades, equal to the Rubicon Trail for both range of difficulty and notoriety. The sandstone slickrock of the Colorado Plateau has also become a required milestone for manufacturers, with engineers and test mules descending on the region for validation and tuning programs. The early Hummer EV SUVs were overland tested in Moab, and now it was time for automotive journalists to see how the new SUV performed. The Hummer testing would not be a manicured test track or something easy like the Fins and Things Trail; we would drive all the hard lines of Jax Trax, meandering through the Cameo Cliffs. Described by onX as “Difficult,” there are steep climbs, ridges, valleys, tight brush, and beautiful views. Based…

When I trundled up to the Hans Flat Ranger Station in Canyonlands National Park’s Maze district in my 1992 Land Rover Defender, I fully admit to feeling nervous. I was, as Edward Abbey puts it in Desert Solitaire, going “under the rim” for the first time—alone and in a 30-year-old Land Rover. Choosing an adventure vehicle like mine means making more provisions than average for breakdowns, spare parts, and, perhaps most importantly, tools. However, the organization of my toolset has been a hodgepodge at best and haphazard at worst. I was looking forward to righting my ship of tools with the Decked x BoxoUSA, a well-executed kit specifically built for off-roaders. Decked’s drawer-based storage systems are highly modular, perfect for developing a wide range of accessories and add-ons. They’ve partnered…

It took more saliva than I could muster to wash the grit from my teeth. I casually fumbled for a water bottle in my over-turned motorcycle while gazing at the red sand sprawled in every direction. It was truly a Martian-esque landscape, full of dunes that shifted with time over unfathomable distances. I could only smile at the thought and our audacity in venturing into this place. Yet, I’d rather be nowhere else than here in the middle of the Arabian Desert with two days’ worth of water and my eager companion staring up at me with a smile to match my own. Out here, we need to own the outcomes of our decisions, and for right now, that means swallowing a sandy mouthful of water for daring to push…

In How to Camp Out, Civil War veteran and avid outdoorsman John Mead Gould cautioned against overpacking, being in a hurry to spend money on new inventions, and generally taking on too much stuff, too many miles, and too much weight. However, one item he deemed indispensable was the haversack—a small bag “furnished with shoulder straps, so that you can carry a lunch, writing materials, guide-book, and such other small articles as you constantly need.” The haversack was also beneficial because it traveled well by horse and wagon. After all, it was 1877, and the backpack as we know it hadn’t been invented yet. If overlanding requires a shift toward simplicity, donning a backpack takes this concept even further, demanding the mindful curation of essentials housed in a suitable vessel.…

I recently had the pleasure of sharing a glass of wine and a lively conversation with legendary lady overlander Patricia Upton, world traveler and matriarch of the overlanding world, at a campsite outside of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Patricia and I initially met at an Overland Expo event, and I was lucky enough to cross paths with her again at the Teton Overland Show several weeks later. Her exceptional storytelling skills had me completely mesmerized, and I asked if she would like to camp together for a night after the show. We met up along Birch Creek on land maintained by the Bureau of Land Management. Patty arrived a little after dusk, and we quickly set up a charcuterie-style dinner, after which she fetched a small blanket from her truck so…

Looking back on a decade of full-time, vehicle-based travel, my most beloved nights camping in the United States have taken place beneath a forest canopy. With limited exceptions, public forest land is open for overland exploration. National forests contain maintained trail networks, established campgrounds, and vast dispersed camping opportunities. Access to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land tends to be even more flexible. Though no amenities are provided in much of BLM territory, there is the freedom to choose your own adventure across remote, wild spaces. Prehistory hides early forest secrets, but here is what we know. In 1630, when European settlement began in earnest, forests covered 46 percent of what is now the United States. Trees were felled over the next 300 years to make way for agriculture, industry,…

A deep rumble resonates in my chest and stirs me from a peaceful sleep as a second sends a shiver up my spine and hitches my breath. It is close—so close I swear I can hear it breathe between bellows. Piercing the silence of the night, a majestic lion calls out into the darkness and is answered from the shadows. Snuggling deeper into the warmth of my sleeping bag, a smile fueled by the fires of excitement spreads across my face. Raw and untamed, this is what I yearned for; this is Africa. It took two full days of travel before we finally arrived. Stepping off the plane, the warm air embraced me like an old friend. It was a return to Africa for both of us, but with new…