Tag: explore

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Project Tundra

I’m watching an epic Arizona sunset from the bed of a truck parked on a volcano, and I can’t help but grin from ear to ear.  Stretched out before me is an endless expanse of Northern Arizona painted in the kinds of colors you find on Instagram when someone first discovers the saturation slider—but this isn’t an enhanced image.  This sunset, viewed from my current vantage point is the reason why we get outside: because outside is awesome.  The truck that got me here happens to be pretty awesome too, it’s a brand new 2017 Toyota Tundra.  And in it’s factory-stock form it happens to be a really capable vehicle, as evidenced by the fact that I’m not parked at the bottom of the volcano.

This Tundra is the platform that over the course of the next few months, with the help of some great companies, I’ll be building into a quiver-of-one adventure vehicle that will help me and my family do what we love: spend time outside.  To get an idea of where we’re going with this project Tundra, I need to give you an idea of what I’ve been doing with my current first-gen Tacoma.

Over the last ten years, I’ve taken my Tacoma all over the Western United States seeking out the ends of countless dirt roads, and dozens of awesome destinations.  I’ve cut first tracks and driven to the top of the San Juan Mountains only to pull out skis and venture further on when a snowbank blocks the road.  I’ve driven to the Eastern Rim of the Grand Canyon to learn from the locals about the many threats that face one of our Nation’s most iconic National Parks.  I’ve carried bikes, dirtbikes, skis, and all kinds of other gear on all kinds of adventures to explore our world.  While the Tundra will almost certainly never get to pass through a certain gate at the top of a certain iconic waterfall, it will be built to do everything that the Tacoma does, and more.  There are big plans in store for this project, but I’ve also been really enjoying my time with the stock truck.

Without changing a single part on the Tundra, I’ve had some great experiences with it.  I’ve gotten to spend time in the woods and on the Mogollon rim with my family, and everywhere else I’ve gone with the truck has helped me refine my plans of what attributes I want to enhance on the Tundra.  The objective is to build something where all of the changes and additions complement each other to bring the baseline performance of the truck up.  Rather than buy all of the things, we’re going to be adding and changing the things that make an impact and help us have a better experience outside.  With this approach in mind, the goals for the Tundra are:

  • Tackle terrain wherever I may roam. From the deserts of Utah to the high passes of the Rockies, the Tundra needs to inspire confidence in any terrain.
  • Carry gear for other sports: bikes, skis, SUPs, tow/haul dirtbikes, and other adventure gear.
  • Be a basecamp/support vehicle for adventure projects and remote, off-grid film projects (day job).
  • Carry the gear needed to safely travel into remote places and stay there for an extended period of time.
  • Be a reliable tool for my family and friends to explore and experience the world with.

The Tundra will wear many hats and fulfill many roles in the coming years.  It’s certainly a larger vehicle than my Tacoma, but that increase in size makes for some really exciting potential.  With two more doors and a backseat that someone bigger than a five year-old is stoked to sit in, the adventure and the experience can be shared with more people.  The 6.5 foot truck bed adds a few more inches of space that will allow the Tundra to swallow up bikes, skis, and other large pieces of gear with ease.  It’s also more than long enough for a couple of adults to sleep while fully stretched out, which is a great option when you’re going fast and light.  The power and towing increase over my Tacoma means that towing a trailer that’s ideally laden with motos or snowbikes or some other form of awesome is now a realistic idea.  The potential for the Tundra is great, and we’re just getting started.

Kicking off a build project is an exciting time—it’s really easy to get caught up in daydreaming about adventures to come and all of the great places to be explored.  Yet, I think that it’s also important to enjoy the moment and that simple fact that a stock vehicle can take you to some staggeringly-awesome places.  By getting the Tundra in the dirt from day one, I’ve now got a comprehensive understanding of where the baseline is for the truck, which means that I’ll be able to understand (and fully appreciate) how adding parts and making changes improves what can be done with the Tundra.  We will be documenting the process in a number of articles that you can find right here on American Adventurist, and I’ll be maintaining a build thread in the forums that will go into greater detail.  Here’s to new roads and new experience outdoors doing what we love.  Welcome to Project Tundra.

 

 

 

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A Big Bike, A Small Dog, and a Long Dusty Road

Adventure comes in all shapes and sizes.  Here in Arizona, it usually involves the search for a secluded waterway where one can attain a reprieve from the baking sun and wash off the dust from the trail.

When most folks think of the deserts in Arizona they imagine a parched landscape full of cacti and broken dreams.  They’re right, but there is also a thriving ecology closely packed around a surprising number of lakes and rivers.   And when you live at 7,000 feet above sea level in Arizona, it snows the night before you leave for a trip to the desert.

What else can you do, but layer up, press on, and keep a vigilant eye on the forecast?  As so many of us today are corralled into set schedules and pre-planned vacations, sometimes simply pushing on is all you can do.  Despite the snowflakes falling outside, my wife and I packed our Super Ténéré for a weekend’s adventure to take the back [read: two-lane, twisty-windy, dirt road, and generally awesome] way to Alamo Lake, AZ.  There’s a saying in Flagstaff that “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” And this once again proved true as we jumped on a break in the snowstorm and pointed our bike South toward warmer weather, sun, and miles of twisty-windy two lane goodness.

Our route would take us on two lane roads from Jerome, through Prescott, and toward Bagdad (AZ!), and on toward the middle of nowhere, which as it happens, is near Nothing, AZ.  We were so busy enjoying this wonderful ribbon of tarmac, we missed our turn, and were ‘lost’, round 1.  After consulting the GPS, we found an alternate route; a 33 mile dirt road that was supposed to be a well maintained, smooth cruise.  Not so much. We were lost again, round 2.

Pretty soon, the washouts, sand, and several additional wrong turns had us re-thinking ourselves.  “Keep going. There’s a darn lake at the end of this.  How far have we gone?  Only Three miles! This is going to be a long afternoon…”

Perseverance won the day however, and before too long, we were cooking along in 5th gear on a wide, well-graded dirt highway.  Sometimes, all you need to fix the roads is to cross a county line.

As the miles ticked by, we started to get into the groove again.  Things were looking up, and we had plenty of daylight, plenty of fuel, and we hadn’t lost our mascot, Tortellini the turtle.  (Editor’s note:  Tortellini is known to fly out from his perch on the authors Ténéré from time to time.  This most commonly happens on rough roads or at high speeds. –Chad)  Before we knew it, we were looking for a campsite and changing into our swimsuits.  We had made it to Alamo Lake.

After a quick dip in the lake, some warm food, and making a campfire, we were watching another world-class Arizona sunset and reflecting on the day.

It seems like the farther I can get away from civilization, and the closer I can get to undeveloped wilderness, the more content I am.  The trivialities of life fade into the background as I soak in my surroundings.  I’m dusty, I’m hot, I’m exhausted and I’m away from everything that makes home so comfortable, yet I feel more content and more joyful than I do almost anywhere else.  After all, I’ve got my wife, my dog, and my motorcycle – what more could I ask for?