overland bound : American Adventurist

Nestled in the heart of the San Bernardino National Forest is Camp Tahquitz, home of the American Adventurist Mountain Rendezvous. Here in a small hollow surrounded by towering pines, our community gathers each September for a long weekend of camping, community, and enjoying spending time outside in the mountains. Starting on Thursday, members are free to arrive when they want and be as active or relaxed over the next few days as they feel like. That’s the beauty of our community events – we’ve got stuff on the schedule, but what you participate in is up to you. Thursday afternoon saw a rain shower that cooled us off and left the forest damp, which would set the stage for a weekend of near perfect weather. By the time the stars were out on Thursday night, folks were busy enjoying each other’s company at various campsites, and you could tell from the animated conversations that all were having a good time.

Many attendees are still showing up late into Friday, and so the day has a more relaxed schedule. Kids are issued lists for the scavenger hunt, and they set off in search of all kinds of items. This year’s shopping list had some items on it that couldn’t be found in camp, and the staff was impressed with the resourcefulness of the kids who put the work in to go find everything on the list. After closing registration for the day, the staff got together with the crew from Tembo Tusk to cook up burgers and hotdogs for the evening’s BBQ Social. A serious thank you goes out to Tembo Tusk for hosting this BBQ and feeding all these hungry Adventurists!

Saturday is when things really get going at Mountain Rendezvous – from trail runs to classes, and the world-class cooking competition, there’s something going on for everyone. Michelle from Leitner Designs, offered to lead a trail run up gold mountain, and a number of rigs lined up to get in on the action. By mid-morning, our first class of the day was kicking off with Drew at Falken Tire putting on a very informative class on tire tech. He did an outstanding job talking about the intricacies of tire design and how they affect performance, which impacts the age-old question of “what’s the best tire for me?” The class concluded with a very important, yet most often overlooked exercise on how to use your vehicle’s weight to determine the correct tire pressure you should be running. Overall, he did a great job turning complex tire-geekery into fun information that benefited everyone. Thanks Drew, and Falken Tire for your support!

Our next class was on Improvised Medicine taught by Dr. Jo Feldman and her research fellow Tiffany. This class was an awesome experience that taught attendees how to work with the things you have on hand to improvise all sorts of splints and other interventions to stabilize and manage injuries in a wilderness setting. The course was very hands-on as Dr. Jo and Tiffany would instruct on how to treat a given issue, and then they would have the class work with the gear provided to manage injuries. It was awesome to see kids working on their parents and vice-versa, and highlights a great point in that if you get hurt, does your family know how to help you out? Dr. Jo and Tiffany did a great job teaching, and we really appreciate them coming out to share their knowledge with us!

With the courses concluded for the day, folks headed back to their respective camps to work on their entries for a Rendezvous tradition – the Camp Cooking Competition. Members who attend our Rendezvous events know how to make some very good food in camp, and I’m continually impressed by the creativeness and quality of what folks can do in the forest. Our cooking competitors could shame any Iron Chef TV show, both in quality and originality. This year they created all kinds of dishes from scratch right in camp, from Reuben sandwiches, to chili verde. By the time everything was lined up for judging, our entrants had covered several picnic tables with their awesome cooking. This allowed everyone to pile their plates high and sample everything prior to casting their votes for their favorite dishes. LT Wright Knives sponsored the cooking competition at this year’s Mountain Rendezvous, providing awesome prizes to the top three dishes by community vote. With the competition concluded, folks gather around our giant fire ring to enjoy a campfire, good company, and another great evening in the billion-star hotel.

Sunday is the last day of the event, and the big order of the day is to give away a literal mountain of gear provided by the awesome sponsors and partners that support American Adventurist and our Rendezvous events. American Adventurist as a community is very fortunate to have the support of so many awesome companies – and we’re really thankful for that support over the last nine years. Attendees get a raffle ticket at check in, and an extra ticket for participating in events like the Camp Cooking Competition, so the odds are very good for actually winning something. With the raffle concluded, folks pack up their campsites and depart for home or other adventures.

Like all American Adventurist events, Mountain Rendezvous gives back to the community, and this year we raised over $2K for the Scouts at Camp Tahquitz. Our events are a great use of a weekend – whether you want to take advantage of everything that’s offered from trail runs to classes, or just kick back and enjoy a relaxing weekend with good people, you can make your Rendezvous weekend anything you want it to be and that’s what’s awesome. By showing up, you’re supporting the local community, and you’ll have the opportunity to take some awesome classes, eat some excellent food, and enjoy good people around a campfire and have a real chance at winning some great gear from some of the best companies in the overland industry. Keep an eye on the forums for information on our events for 2020. Rumor has it that we’ll be moving our Desert Rendezvous to a new, remote location, and we’re excited to share more information about that in the coming months!

A BIG thank you to all of the people and companies who make Mountain Rendezvous possible. To Tembo Tusk, our BBQ social sponsor. To Drew from Falken and Dr. Jo and Tiffany, our instructors for our classes. To LT Wright Knives for sponsoring the cooking competition. To Leitner Designs for leading a trail run, and to all of the awesome companies that supported our event. And of course, many thanks to Camp Tahquitz and the Long Beach Council for letting use their outstanding location again. Special thanks to Greg Richardson for all of the awesome event photos!

Please support the following companies that support you and TREAD LIGHTLY! out there – see you on the trail!

Promethus Design Works

As the Overland enthusiast ranks have grown over the last decade, the number of facepalm worthy incidents on public lands, and on social media, is at an all time high.

In recent years, Death Valley in particular has seen a rash of theft and vandalism. Evidently, some people think it’s cool to drive illegally on the salt pan at Badwater Basin and the Racetrack Playa, or to steal fossilized footprints left by prehistoric animals as well as Native American artifacts. Some have even taken to tagging graffiti on rocks. Real cool bro. Real cool.

I’ve led several groups throughout the furthest reaches of Death Valley, and it boggles the mind that anyone would defile such a magical place.

The latest insult came in late October 2017 when unknown vandals scratched graffiti into the mud bottom of Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley National Park, an area considered sacred to the native Timbisha Shoshone people. And if you’ve been there, you know it’s a bit of a hike down into the crater (and back) where you are in full view of anyone else visiting. This area took more than just a few minutes to despoil, and yet it happened right in plain sight of anyone above who may have been at the viewing area.

To erase this man-made blight on the landscape, the National Park Service had to lay over 600 feet of hose down into the crater so that water could be sprayed over the dried mud floor. The graffiti disappeared and the natural color and patterns of the crater returned once the water dried up. This method was used instead of raking, which would have been faster, but would have further disturbed the area and encouraged invasion by nonnative weeds. All this because of a few misguided individuals.

And that’s just ONE Park. There are others, with similar misdeeds regularly plaguing the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service. And us.

But we have to wonder, is it because people are really that bad and really don’t care? Or is it because they don’t know any better? I’d like to think that it’s because they don’t know any better.

The future of Overlanding aka off-road recreation is in doubt if we allow ourselves to lose access to public lands by not policing and educating our own.

Entities like the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service and the National Park Service have limited capacity to deal with bad actors in the backcountry. Sometimes it’s just easier to throw up a gate than deal with hordes of unruly people. And while we may disagree, what choice do they have when faced with mobs of jerks?

And while I’m sure that we can all agree that closure isn’t the answer, we all know that’s where this stuff leads. More people crowded into fewer and fewer areas.

Meanwhile, SEMA was full of Overland builds again this year.

More and more entities continue to jump on the Overland bandwagon. New Facebook groups, websites, events and blogs spring up daily. Amazingly, what was once a minor subset of the off-road culture is now mainstream. An army of hungry “Mainstream Overlanders” sprang up somewhere along the way, gobbling up anything with the word Overland in the title. This has been an awesome evolution to witness, but we’ve also witnessed this army of new folks attract some negative attention, and some predatory types.

But these Mainstream Overlanders aren’t a problem.

Like all of us they’re just having fun, enjoying the benefits of a free market while following their chosen passion that this fad captures so well. An “overlanding” fad that started out simply as camping or trail riding.

In the beginning, this budding Overland culture represented the good guys. They were all about Tread Lightly, responsible recreation and the thrill that came with exploring remote, forgotten destinations. It didn’t matter what they wore or what they drove, or if they even took any pictures once they got there. But now over a decade later, this now mainstream community is becoming a target, and a potential liability, as they spread out across the land in search of the perfect campsite or photo op.

It’s up to us to teach new people the right way of doing things, because Social Media can and will be used against you in a Court of Law.

Today there are innumerable bad role models on social media promoting unsafe, illegal, and unethical use of vehicles, equipment, and public lands. Completely resistant to any suggestions, corrections, or cautions either through arrogance or ignorance. There are innumerable examples of these destructive behaviors on YouTube or Instagram.

No doubt the BLM and USFS enforcement roles are made easier when these individuals and groups self-incriminate on social media. But if left unchallenged, their dramatization and monetization of this community of interest has potential negative impacts for everyone.

If we support or condone the aforementioned behaviors, we should expect even more locked gates to go up on public land.

As bad practices are glamorized and subsequently emulated, new or less experienced adventurers will eat this up; they will likely mirror this behavior off-highway. And why not… they saw “Overland Hucksters” do it on YouTube, so it must be right.

These exploitative attitudes and actions may not matter to some reading this. As for me, I want no part of it. American Adventurist will not look the other way, and neither should you. We refuse to tolerate any individuals or groups perpetuating unacceptable and unsafe practices.

The challenge for all of us today is to set a positive example for new people. And what it takes is Leadership by Example. Acta non verba.

The future of the community of interest depends on adherence to Tread Lightly ethos and a common respect for one another and the environment. It depends on welcoming new people into our hobby and making sure that they learn how to do things right. And it depends on all of us doing the right thing, even if that means being the guy or gal to speak up on the trail when no one else will and say “Hey! Pick up your trash dude!”

How can you help? Be a good steward of the land, know and follow the rules where you are, demand that your buddies do the same, and use the T.R.E.A.D. principles:

Travel Responsibly
on land by staying on designated roads, trails and area. Go over, not around, obstacles to avoid widening the trails. Cross streams only at designated fords. when possible, avoid wet, muddy trails. On water, stay on designated waterways and launch your watercraft in designated areas.

Respect the Rights of Others
including private property owners, all recreational trail users, campers and others so they can enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed. Leave gates as you found them. Yield right of way to those passing you or going uphill. On water, respect anglers, swimmers, skiers, boaters, divers and those on or near shore.

Educate Yourself
prior to your trip by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies. Plan for your trip, take recreation skills classes and know how to operate your equipment safely.

Avoid Sensitive Areas
on land such as meadows, lake shores, wetlands and streams. Stay on designated routes. This protects wildlife habitats and sensitive soils from damage. Don’t disturb historical, archeological or paleontological sites. On water, avoid operating your watercraft in shallow waters or near shorelines at high speeds.

Do Your Part
by modeling appropriate behavior, leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species and repairing degraded areas.

Let’s make sure that future generations get to visit all these places we love, not just view them from afar, barred by the fences and locked gates that went up on our watch. Because there’s another army clamoring for closure and pursuing litigation to forever lock out the freedom loving folk. They are well organized and well funded, their cause reinforced by every bad example shared on social media.

Please consider supporting reputable groups like C.O.R.V.A. or Tread Lightly! as they fight the good fight to educate and maintain access for ALL of us whether we choose to go by boots, wheels or paddles. We’re all in this together.

Land use and abuse photos from Google. Racetrack Playa photo by Jeffery Aiello.

Tag: overland bound

2019 Mountain Rendezvous