The Trans America Trail in a 2019 Ford Ranger

billiebob

Well-known member
No. Ranchers must respect our rights to travel public roads. The ranchers are the nuisance.
well with that attitude, expect bigger gates because you are wrong. Those rural 2 tracks you like only exist for the rancher raising food for you. If you need to get from AtoB there are paved public roads for you to use.

You must respect their rights. You have none on roads you never paid for.
 

Jim Oaks

Observer
By the way? If Tim McGraw and Michael Keaton had a baby, the baby would look like you.

I don't know exactly how to take that, but it's funny as hell.

last thing - Do you have traction boards? Have you used them? I love 'em.

I haven't used them, but it made it a little easier getting this truck in the sand for the first time knowing I had them if I needed them.

well with that attitude, expect bigger gates because you are wrong. Those rural 2 tracks you like only exist for the rancher raising food for you. If you need to get from AtoB there are paved public roads for you to use.

You must respect their rights. You have none on roads you never paid for.

I think it has to be a mutual respect when we're talking about public roads. I respect that they're trying to keep their cattle within a certain area. I close a gate if I have to open one. I watch for cattle and make sure I don't blast past them throwing dirt and rocks, and slow down when I go past homesteads so I don't dust the rancher, and his family. But I think the rancher has to respect my legal right to use a public road.

There are ranchers and timber companies with leases on federal lands that think those land leases give them the right to close of public roads. On the last day of my trip, you'll see that I crossed a mountain on a public road only to get stopped by a huge locked metal gate where that public road intersected with another public road. That's bullcrap.
 

DetroitDarin

Scratching a 10 year Itch
I don't know exactly how to take that, but it's funny as hell.

I just see things, brother. :) Then I say things. ha! :)

I haven't used them, but it made it a little easier getting this truck in the sand for the first time knowing I had them if I needed them.

Cool. Really liked your trip report, btw. I'm stuck in europe where there isn't much in the way of 'overlanding'. Road trips are the best I can hope for - so i appreciate getting to live vicariously through well-written and well-photographed reports.
 
Idaho.png

Where exactly is this pick taken? Beautiful country and I would definitely like to explore. I had a big trip planned over the 4th for the middle fork of the boise and then to come down to featherville and take 227 over to eastern Idaho and found out last minute that I couldnt make it through. Sounds like its been out for 5 years really wish they would fix it.
 

NoDak

Well-known member
well with that attitude, expect bigger gates because you are wrong. Those rural 2 tracks you like only exist for the rancher raising food for you. If you need to get from AtoB there are paved public roads for you to use.

You must respect their rights. You have none on roads you never paid for.

That attitude may apply in Canada but not here in the US. Ranchers can not block or lock public access roads. In my state they get fined for doing it. I carry a bolt cutter for such instances.
 

Jim Oaks

Observer
View attachment 529283

Where exactly is this pick taken? Beautiful country and I would definitely like to explore. I had a big trip planned over the 4th for the middle fork of the boise and then to come down to featherville and take 227 over to eastern Idaho and found out last minute that I couldnt make it through. Sounds like its been out for 5 years really wish they would fix it.

Going up Trail Creek Road from US 93 (Chilly) to Route 75 (Ketchum)

This link should take you to a starting point:

 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
My family ran open range cattle for three generations. My dad was the last generation to fully be part of that and left it after college.
I was exposed to it as s kid given my dad was still pulled into it when bodies were needed.

Cattle ranchers on a big scale run so much land they honestly don’t care whose crossing through just leave the cattle alone and no big deal. Where things started getting closed off and contentious was with environmentalist stuff targeting specific ranchers. Today add the lost GPS rental car idiot looking for short cuts leaving stock gates open and there is another level of rancher anger. I don’t condone locked access to public lands or roads. Thats just BS. Even other ranchers hate that. They need access also.

There are plenty of isolationist types that pull this locked gate game. Those folks have a whole other set of issues and yes they might run cattle too. LOL
 
Going up Trail Creek Road from US 93 (Chilly) to Route 75 (Ketchum)

This link should take you to a starting point:


Thanks that was part of my route I had planned to take as well. Bummer I will have to reroute and make another attempt to get up there.
 

Jim Oaks

Observer
Thanks for sharing! Do you mind sharing your thoughts on the new Ranger? They look pretty sweet.

I really like it. I own a 1996 Ford Ranger, and I've have owned new F-150's and a F350 Superduty. The Ranger is a nice in-between size. I rides nice, has plenty of power, and the 4-doors make it nice for traveling with family, or just the dog in the back. It has more room than the old Ranger, but with new modern comforts. It's big enough to carry more gear and people comfortably, but still small enough to navigate the smaller tighter trails I encountered on the TAT. I had actually taken a 22-day trip back in 2017 in my F-350, and there were a few small roads / trails that I wasn't comfortable trying to travel in a fullsize truck. I really wish I would have had the Ranger then.

Some of the other things I like are:

The fact that I can set the cruise for the maximum speed I want to travel, and the truck will slow down if it gets in traffic, and speed back up when the road clears up.

I can use the trail control to set the speed of the truck as slow as I want when traversing a winding dirt / gravel road down a mountain so I don't have to ride the brake, and it's quiet. It's not loud and obnoxious like the setup in the Toyota Tacoma (driven one).

I like that I can use the Ford Pass app on my phone to start the truck, see how much gas is in it, what the tire pressures are, and unlock / lock the truck from the comfort of my home. This is nice when you don't remember how much gas you have, and if you need to leave early to get some. Or when it's 100 degrees outside, and you just want to cool the truck down before you get in it (it will cool the truck if it's hot, and warm it if it's cold).

The 110 outlet on the back of the console is nice for running my laptop when I travel.

Some people don't like the look of them. I think they look better in person. I think this truck looks way better in person than it does in photos.
 

Jim Oaks

Observer
I finally finished the TAT from Oklahoma to Tellico Plains TN. I chose to end there since that's where Sam originally started it. I'll have to post up some pics.

I'm currently in PA. When I finished the Trail in TN, I headed to Roanoke VA to visit a friend, and then on to PA to visit a buddy for a while that lives north of Scranton.
 

jeepers29

Active member
Great trip. This is the first thing I want to do when the wife retires. Did you use Sam's maps or did you find another form of navigation?
 

SnowedIn

Observer
Re: the traction boards;

I also drive a midsize pickup without a winch, and the sort of snow you've encountered was always the bane of my existence with AT tires, even with Maxtrax.

What I found as a solution for us was mud terrains with a passable amount of siping (the Coopers should be fine) in conjunction with at least 4 traction boards stored in such a way that they're accessible immediately. For example, on a bed rack, just inside the tailgate, on a roof rack, etc. If they're easy to get to, they're easy to use, and it becomes more reasonable to take a risk on half melted snowpack.

2 will get you out of most things with enough effort, but 4 or more will get you out of almost anything. In addition to getting unstuck, they're also useful for keeping you from sliding sideways. You may make it a few boards at a time, but you'll make it.

Carrying a hi-lift, you also have the option of bringing along the required kit to use it horizontally as a winch. The downside to this is that it's dicey - not as dangerous as lifting the vehicle, but you have to be careful if you're out alone and not hurry. A synthetic winch extension line can also help. I've never needed to use mine to winch, but I bring it along if the terrain and remoteness warrant concerns about flopping the truck on its side or hanging a wheel off the side of the trail. A downside to this technique is that both the jack and the chains needed are heavy.
 

Jim Oaks

Observer
Trans America Trail - Oklahoma - Tennessee

August 13th, 2019:


I started the unfinished part of the Trans America Trail (TAT) today. I did the sections from Oklahoma to Port Orford Oregon in June. Now I'm doing the sections from Oklahoma to Tennessee where the TAT starts.

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This stream crossing was my first obstacle. There was actually concrete under the water. I decided to throw on my rubber boots and walk past it a little way just to make sure the road was passable before I continued. The water wasn't deep, but it was slippery in the middle.

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Check out this bridge. The deck is covered in mud, and there's logs on top of the bridge's structure. Makes me wonder just how high the water actually got!

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Just another old bridge...

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There were no shortage of water crossings today.

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30260


I stopped and talked to two TAT riders that were riding across country on the Trans America Trail. These guys actually loaded their bikes up in a rental truck, hauled them to North Carolina, and started heading west from the Atlantic Ocean. At the point where they were right here, they still had 14-15 days of riding ahead of them. It's hard to get Ford Ranger guys to show up in Ohio just for a weekend trail ride. LOL :icon_twisted:

I saw some open range cattle today, and a field with more horses than I could possibly count. I really wish I would have stopped and taken a photo.

Miles:

Today I drove 368 miles. 192 of those miles were off pavement.

Video:

 

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