3,500 miles from the Upper Peninsula to Overland Expo

[upcruiser]

We rolled out of the Expo and pointed it towards Utah. Over the course of the Expo we met some folks who wanted to tag along and we had a small convoy. We had Walt with his Jeep JK, Scott with his sweet 4x4 Chinook, and Thomas with a well built Taco.

We made camp in Valley of the Gods

Nice view of Monument Valley on the horizon from Valley of the Gods

The Sporsmobile crew from Expo camped across the way from us.

We rolled out the following morning and climbed Moki Dugway and took in some views before heading to Mulie Point (thanks for the tip KC!)

Tom taking in the view of the Goosenecks from Mulie Point

Our plan was to cross into Canyonlands by way of the Dark Canyon Primitive area. After climbing up to Bears Ear's we were thwarted by deep snow that was 3-4 feet deep. The route was hopeless and we back tracked to take the more traditional pavement route into Needles.

Newspaper Rock.

We made camp that night down Lockhart Basin rd next to the waterfall. We played around on the rocks a bit before sunset. Tom snapped more shots and showed Walt some tricks with taking waterfall shots.

 

[upcruiser]

Thomas is enroute to Panama on this trip via Baja. Cool stuff, he was battling some shakedown issues with his Taco.

The next morning we crossed into Needles and did Elephant Hill. It was a fun challenge after most of the tamer driving we had done on this trip. The trail doesn't waste any time and gets you right into the action right out of the parking lot.

The squeeze

Walt working the squeeze

Driving through an otherwordly landscape.

After completing the loop we buzzed up to Moab via highway for the last part of the trip. Here is the video from Amado to Needles.. some cool footage thanks to VIO's POV camera and other handiwork used by Tom.

http://vimeo.com/11223785

 

[taco2go]

:Wow1:
Great pictures,Krisitian and Tom - you guys really made a TRIP

I would love to drive down for next year's ExPo, if anyone knows of a pediatric conference in Arizona around that time, please let me know.

I'm just happy I get a weekend off...
Jealous big time.

 

[computeruser]

I would love to drive down for next year's ExPo, if anyone knows of a pediatric conference in Arizona around that time, please let me know.

That's the spirit!

On a related note, I recently tried to get my legal aid program to pay for me to attend a training in Antigua, but they didn't bite.

 

[mountainsoul]

Nice trip. I hope to do something similar for next years ExPo.

 

[suntinez]

Ya'll were some of the best folks in the hood! :victory:

Amazing vids and pics, thanks for doing that - really enjoyed it. I cracked up when you slowed it down for the snowplow, classic ... and great tunes

 

[adventureduo]

So jealous... we had to do a turn and burn for the Expo.. you guys rocked it the way i wish i could do. Thanks for Posting!

 

[upcruiser]

We said our goodbyes from the parking area of Elephant Hill though we all seemed to be heading the same direction, up to Moab. This would be our last night before having to burn some miles back to Evergreen followed by a flight back to MI for Tom.

We arrived in Moab and immediately ran into Walt again while refueling. The plan was to make camp up on one of my favorite spots overlooking Castle Valley on top of the Porcupine Rim. We were treated to some mixed weather blowing through including occasional showers and periods of breaking sun. This changing weather made for some great photo ops....

My first time seeing a rainbow and looking at eye level at the top of it!

passing T storm

Tom, myself, and Walt hanging loose and enjoying the show mother nature was putting on for us.

Walt giving me some vertigo!

Tom showing no fear but.....

...Walt out does us all in regards to sketchy shot award!

The weather kept changing constantly but the sun would keep poking back through making ever more stunning vistas

We retired early that night as the winds started to really crank and thunderstorms kept rolling through. I read for awhile in the roof top tent as strong gusts absolutely pummled the tent. It proved to be a great test of the Camping Lab's RTT stength as sheets of rain, turning to sleet then snow did their best to penetrate the structure. I am happy to report that despite the increasing winds and precipitation, the tent came through as the winner keeping us dry, warm, and comfy inside.

It was a poor night's sleep at best. The wind gust were so strong and loud that it was almost impossible to sleep through some of them. The sounds of water droplets pattering into the side of the tent changed to the crackling sound of frozen particulates peppering the walls. As the snow came in in sheets the sky was illuminated occasional with streaks of lightning. Yep, thunder snow storm! Very cool.

We awoke to a brisk morning to put it lightly. The tent was caked in ice making it a cold challenge stowing it.

As we descended down Sand Flat's Road past Slick Rock, and into the town of Moab we passed from winter, through spring, and into summer. Town was warm, sunny and green. People walked around in t shirts and shorts. They turned and watched in interest as our still snow covered Discovery rambled through town. We looked quite out of place!

Tom and I posing with the truck, complete with little snow man on the hood, at the Moab Diner looking very overdressed. After a very needed warm, filling breakfast we once again said farewell to our buddy Walt and made time back to Evergreen.

It was a fantastic trip. We covered 3,400+ miles, 9 different states, thousands of images and hours upon hours of video, made alot of new friends, caught up with old friends, saw too many spectacular vistas to count, and best of all, got to see a nice cross slice of America complete with it's beauty and occasional bruise marks. We are already planning out our return trip to Overland Expo 2011 and making more time for some off the beaten path adventures on the way there as well.

I need to say a big thanks to our sponsors who provided both funds and equipment to help us make this trip possible and allow us to share it with you.

9zero6
VIO-POV
Company B Graphics
Alger County Chamber of Commerce
UP Auto Tech

We have one more video to share, should be online this evening, stay tuned....

 

[upcruiser]

Ya'll were some of the best folks in the hood! :victory:

Amazing vids and pics, thanks for doing that - really enjoyed it. I cracked up when you slowed it down for the snowplow, classic ... and great tunes

Thanks, it was great sharing the hood with you too. We'll have to coordinate the camping local again for next year.:sombrero:

 

[upcruiser]

So jealous... we had to do a turn and burn for the Expo.. you guys rocked it the way i wish i could do. Thanks for Posting!

Yeah, quick trip for you guys, better spend the whole weekend next year!

 

[upcruiser]

Nice trip. I hope to do something similar for next years ExPo.

Thanks and I see you are from Evergreen, nice!

 

[upcruiser]

That looks like a great trip!

My Father-in-law recently purchased some property up in the UP. I plan on hanging out there as much as work will allow. I hope to meet up with the UP EXPO crowd for some of your summer trips.

Awesome, let me know when you get up in the area. I'll be in the UP from early June till August. Would love to show you around a bit.

 

[Pskhaat]

Have you sold your place in Ev? We'll be back up like 8 June, we should do an ExPo happy hour at the Whip? Fittingly, we will then traverse the country to very near the UP for a few weeks

 

[upcruiser]

We took it off the market actually, decided to hold on to it a bit longer. The 8th huh? We are planning on rolling out the 6th or 7th to drive to the UP. There is a chance we might be around for another day or so, if that happens we should definately plan on that!

 

[ChuckB]

Awesome, let me know when you get up in the area. I'll be in the UP from early June till August. Would love to show you around a bit.

I'll definitely take you up on that offer at some point, thanks!