< more recent | 20-28 February 2023 | older >
28 February 2023: Today the group did some driving, but everyone’s attention moved towards maps, as they prepared to get more familiar with the navigational challenges specific to the Rebelle Rally…
27 February 2023: Today we took the group out into the dunes to get their first taste of the sea of sand and to work on some basic sand driving techniques. Sticking to the smaller dunes for most of the day, the focus was on getting comfortable in the soft stuff…
26 February 2023: Joined the crew from Barlow Adventures for the first day of a multi-day comprehensive desert, dunes and navigation training program. Trainees were put through the paces of basic offroad driving skills in a “normal” desert environment that included rocky trails, hill climbs, graded dirt roads and sandy washes. The goal of the day was to get everyone up to speed on the core skills before getting out into the dunes tomorrow…
24 February 2023: Taking a different route south through New Mexico this time, stopped at the Sevilleta NWR and learned about a nice dirt route alternative to the highway — the Quebradas Backcountry Byway. Had some extra time built into the travel plan, so took advantage of that to use it here and enjoyed a very pretty sojourn through a Chiuahuan desert landscape…
23 February 2023: Was very sad to learn that the vibrant little prairie dog town at the Witchita Mountains NWR was hit by plague a few months ago, and the whole population was pretty much wiped out. A few survivors have started a new town in another part of the refuge, and they were a bit camera shy and skittish — but we were glad to see them and really hope they will be able to thrive in their new location…
22 February 2023: Stormy weather and rain in the early part of the day as we crossed into Missouri. A Tornado warning came up on my onboard navigation screen at one point. Luckily we were just right at the edge of the effected area and were able to “race” out of the storm zone without incident. Eventually the sun actually came out halfway through the state, and we finished up tracing a few favorite Route 66 locations, then continued on into Oklahoma where we stopped for the night…
21 February 2023: Escaping the cold in search of the Sun. Left NY yesterday and spent the night in PA, before doing a marathon leg all the way to Illinois today. Not much time for exploring, just lots of highway driving for the moment…
THIS MONTH:
Roadtrip time again. Heading southwest and into the desert for some new exploration as well as a few of our favorite events. Lots of details still to be determined, but we’re on our way…
Joining the Barlow Adventures crew at the Imperial Sand Dunes in southern California to document the training process for a seven-day driving and navigation program focused on moving safely and effectively through the desert…
COMING UP SOON:
Trail Guiding for the California 4-Wheel Drive Association’s second annual Death Valley Experience fundraiser event running March 22-25, 2023. Each day will feature a choice of runs to some famous, some infamous and some secretive points of interest within Death Valley National Park. The runs will depart from Furnace Creek and from Stovepipe Wells. Some of the points of interest we will visit during Death Valley Experience 2023 include Zabriskie Point (famous) and Barker Ranch (infamous) as well as Dante’s View, 20 Mule Team Canyon, Artists’ Drive, Chloride Cliffs, Aguereberry Point, Skidoo and Darwin Falls. All of the trail runs are suitable for novice drivers and SUVs with high clearance and 4-wheel drive…
USnomads.org is very proud to be presenting the second edition of the Nomad Overland Virtual Adventure Rally in 2023. This is a new kind of rally experience — a ten week event that participants can do from anywhere within the continental U.S.A. Competitors design their own routes as part of the rally, then drive it in a points-based online competition that includes optional activity tasks, quests and weekly challenges. The 2023 rally will run from 5 June – 13 August and is open to any driver within the United States who has an off-road capable vehicle — stock or modified. Registration for 2023 is open now. For more information see the Rally website …
THE IMPERIAL SAND DUNES
The Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, located in the southeast corner of California near the border with Arizona and the Mexican state of Baja California, is the largest mass of sand dunes in the state. The dunes are located west of the Chocolate Mountains in Imperial County, and are crossed by Interstate 8 and State Route 78, which passes through the old train stop of Glamis at the eastern edge of the dune field. Formed by windblown sands of ancient Lake Cahuilla, the dune system extends for more than 40 miles in a band averaging 5 miles wide. Widely known as “Glamis” it is an off-road paradise, with an extensive open area for OHV use. The recreation area is part of the Algodones Dunes field which extends along a northwest-southeast line that correlates to the prevailing northerly and westerly wind directions. The name “Algodones Dunes” refers to the entire geographic feature, while the administrative designation for that portion managed by the Bureau of Land Management is the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area. The dunes are now separated at the southern end by agricultural land from the much more extensive Gran Desierto de Altar, to which they once were linked as an extreme peripheral “finger”. The only significant human-made structures in the area are the All-American Canal that cuts across the southern portion from east to west and the Coachella Canal on the western edge. There are several theories about the formation of these sand dunes, but the most popular theory holds that the Algodones Dunes were formed from windblown beach sands of Lake Cahuilla, which covered much of the Imperial, Coachella and Mexicali Valleys as late as 1450. Most of the dunes located north of State Route 78 are off-limits to vehicular traffic due to designation as the North Algodones Dunes Wilderness, while the area south of this road remains open for off-highway vehicle use…
WITCHITA MOUNTAINS NWR
The Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901 and is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service system. The Wichita Mountains are approximately 500 million years old, and the refuge covers a geologically unique area of undisturbed mixed grass prairie measuring about 59,020 acres. The refuge is home to several species of large native mammals including bison, elk, white-tailed deer and Texas longhorn cattle which are preserved here for their cultural and historic importance. Many smaller mammal species also live in the refuge, including the nine-banded armadillo, bassarisk, and the black-tailed prairie dog. The conservation of the bison has become an ongoing, diverse effort. and the refuge was important in saving the American buffalo from extinction. In 1907 the American Bison Society transported 15 bison, six bulls and nine cows, from the Bronx Zoo. On arrival, the Comanche leader Quanah Parker and a host of other Indians and whites turned out to welcome the bison. At that time, bison had been extinct on the southern Great Plains for 30 years. The bison herd now numbers about 650 on the refuge…
MORE NOTES FROM THE ROAD:
1-19 February – Woman and Machine
January – Woman and Machine
22-31 December – Holiday Roadtrip
16-21 December – Holiday Roadtrip
1-15 December – Long Island
November – Long Island
22-31 October – Roadtrip East
15-21 October – Moab LONCON
8-14 October – Moab LONCON
1-7 October – Roadtrip West
22-30 September – Roadtrip West
16-21 September – Roadtrip West
1-15 September – Long Island
August – Long Island
15-31 July – Serbia
1-14 July – NE Roadtrip
16-30 June – NE Roadtrip
1-15 June – Long Island
May – Nomad Rally Prep
16-30 April – Long Island
7-15 April – Heading Back to NY
1-6 April – Heading Back to NY
27-31 March – Death Valley- DVE
21-26 March – LON Skills Camp
15-20 March – Death Valley
8-14 March – Nevada
1-7 March – Glamis Training
Archive
SPECIAL REPORT
All about exploring ghost towns and abandoned places in the USA and beyond, with tips, and information on the many different types of sites to be found across the globe, including detailed guides for eight specific sites… [read]
REFLECTIONS
EGYPT: CAIRO REFLECTIONS
A quick overview of impressions from a stop in Cairo during our recent scouting mission in Egypt and Sudan … [read]
SPECIAL REPORT
A look into south-eastern Algeria on the border with Libya and Niger: overlanding with the Tuareg in one of the most remote corners of the Sahara … [read]
