Tag: Tacoma

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Overland Expo West 2023

We are now 14 years into this Overland Expo thing, and based on the 2023 edition of Overland Expo West, enthusiasm for the event is as strong as ever. The original Overland Expo continues to be a gathering of community where folks from all over the world and all walks of life spend the weekend catching up, checking out the latest gear and vehicles, and attending classes on everything from Drones to Driving techniques.

As is tradition, I logged 10’s of thousands of steps walking around the vendor booths, moseying through the campgrounds, dropping in on classes in both the classrooms and driving area to try and capture a sampling of everything that is Overland Expo. In no particular order, here is a selection of cool stuff from Overland Expo West 2023.

Black Rhino / Axial – Booth engagement is a thing – how do you draw folks walking down the aisle into your booth? I think the Black Rhino crew figured this one out by partnering up with Axial RC to make a RC crawling course where the fastest time won a set of wheels. Scale RC cars are pretty neat, and this sixth scale Axial rig had my attention.

TRED – TRED Outdoors had a some properly burly screw-in stakes and their new line of vehicle leveling products on display. Hit their website for all of the details on their new leveling products which look well made and well thought out.

ARB – The folks at ARB have been busy working on everything from the new 2024 Tacoma to a host of other products for other platforms. The new summit bull bar pictured for the 3rd gen. Tacoma looks brilliant, as do the new Ford Bronco bits like the compressor mount and JACK mount. ARB is expanding their rack offerings with new platform and bed rack options.

74 Weld – Speaking of impressive Toyota parts, 74 Weld had their portal axle kit on display, which makes stuffing 37’s on a 3rd gen taco an easy thing. The kit uses OEM geometry, and provides the gear reduction to maintain factory ratios. Plus, you get disk brakes on all four corners.

LEXUS – It’s always interesting to see which OEMs are going to show up at Overland Expo on a given year, and 2023 marks Lexus’ first appearance at the show. GX / LX Overland builds are verymuch a thing, so it’s always good to see an OEM recognize what their customers are doing.

GMC – AT4X all of the things! GMC is applying the AT4X treatment to all of their truck platforms from the Canyon up to new new Silverado HD. In partnership with AEV, these rigs are turn key with fancy shocks, lockers, and real armor so you can just load them up and go have fun. A detail I appreciate is the ability to remove the steps from the rock rails shown on the Canyon AT4X.

EQUIPT – The Paul May isn’t scared of a little electronics work in the rain, and I happened to catch Paul in the middle of installing a new control board in a National Luna fridge. This retrofit control board adds Bluetooth control to most all National Luna fridges (check with Equipt for your specific model), so NL owners do not have to shell out for a new fridge to take advantage of the company’s latest wares. Equipt also had Eezi-Awns new sword hard shell root tent on display.

AT Overland – The Aterra Truck Topper and Aterra XL Camper we’ve had the opportunity to check out at Desert Rendezvous made it’s official debut at Overland Expo. The Aterra Topper is a particularly appealing option for anyone who is interested in a slide in camper.

GOOSE GEAR – The new Park Series from Goose Gear is a DIY interior system for Subarus and Toyota Rav4s – and it looks just as awesome as any other Goose Gear system. Goose Gear also had their new interior for the Scout Tuktut on display as well.

Dometic – Dometic is continuing to press headlong into the Overland-o-sphere with a new roof top tent and inflatable shelter system. The TRT 140 roof top tent uses air poles instead of aluminum to save a little weight up high on your vehicle and the HUB 2 is the inflatable version of an EZ-UP. Color me interested to see how these new products work.

Overland Kitted – The folks who have been the US importer for MAXTRAX have launched mounting systems for MAXTRAX recovery boards, and other externally mounted accessories (rotopax shown for example). They’ve also got the lastest from InDeFlate – a digital two hose unit.

Kakadu – New to the US market, this established Aussie brand has some great kit on display like their 1P and 2P sleep systems. They were also showing off a very interesting shower system and based on the specs and initial impressions it all looks very good.

Surefire – Piece of the sun in your pocket maker Surefire had a couple of their new Turbo EDC lights on display at Overland Expo. The EDC2 and EDC1 lights are specifically designed to project light to extreme distances and can be powered by 123s or rechargeable 18650 cells.

Kelty – It’s always interesting to see how established outdoor brands approach the overland industry, and Kelty had an appealing selection of gear on display. Their Backroad and Sideroad awnings are great options for affordable, packable shade that work with SUVs, trucks, or vans, and their multi-seat chairs are always a win.

Rollercam – The company that reinvented the cam strap now has a solution for anyone who can’t remember a trucker’s knot, or anyone who likes an easy to use solution for tying stuff down. The Roperoller works just like the Rollercam, and is a game changer for anyone who has struggled to guy something off.

Zero Breeze – A/C for Overlanding is officially a thing. It will be interesting to see how this segment of the market fares in the coming years.

Tembo Tusk – The company known for the Skottle actually started off as a fridge slide company, and their latest product is a tilting fridge slide. As always, the Tembo Tusk crew were throwing down on their Skottles all weekend serving up all sorts of food.

Total Chaos – If you’ve heard about how some older Toyotas had issues with their lower ball joints suffering a rapid unscheduled disassembly – here’s your fix.

Arctic Trucks – The legendary Icelandic manufacture of vehicles that have driven to both poles of the planet is now established in the United States. Having watched videos of these trucks in action for so many years, it was a treat to see one in person and nerd out with the folks from Arctic Trucks USA.

RUX – Bags are a dime a dozen – everyone makes them, so how do you stand out? You make bags like Rux. This Canadian manufacture uses RF welding to build some extremely well thought out bags that are absolutely worth checking out if you like well made, highly functional, durable gear.

Polaris – UTVs are officially overland vehicles. Polaris’ new line of Side-by-Side / UTVs have all the farkles, enclosed cabs, heat, A/C, and a price tag that makes some mid-sized trucks look like a deal.

Step 22 Gear – Step 22 gets a crisp high five for making custom laser etched patch labels which work great on all of their awesome bags or any other place you need a label. Their bags and mounting panels like the Reef shown here continue to impress with their design and attention to detail.

Deep Cycle Systems – Another example of more awesome from Aussieland are DCS batteries. Featuring shapes and sizes that can fit in the voids left in many vehicles and high charge / discharge ratings, these batteries look awesome.

2024 Tacoma – Toyota pulled the cover off of the all new 4th generation Tacoma at Overland Expo. Two models were on display – a PreRunner which initially had a gigantic snow plow of an air dam that mysteriously disappeared shortly after the launch, and the Trailhunter which is directly targeted at the overland crowd. Let us know in the comments what you think about the new Taco!

Classes – Overland Expo has classes on everything: From the expected offerings like driving, spotting, and recovery, to more wildcat offerings, there hundreds of hours of courses availible so the challenge becomes picking the courses that interest you the most.

Cool Rigs – It’s always a treat to get to take a walk through the campgrounds at Overland Expo. Here you’ll find a spectrum of setups as unique as the people that use them. To a person, everyone I chatted up about their camping setup was more than happy to talk to me and generally stoked to be out actually using their gear. It just goes to show – it doesn’t matter what you drive or where you sleep, but that you’re out there actually doing the the thing.

THE BIG PICTURE – Early in 2023, Lodestone Events announced that they had been acquired by Emerald Expositions – the company that puts on industry trade shows like Outdoor Retailer. Yet from a boots on the ground perspective, not much has changed. Overland Expo continues to be run by the same small crew of passionate folks, and many of the familiar faces can been seen making the event run. Time will tell how this new owner changes the heading of their latest acquisition. Despite some classic Flagstaff spring weather (it rained hard on Friday), the show saw plenty of attendees, and the venue seemed to be mostly full of vendors.

Speaking of vendors, most all of the familiar brands were there, and while there is a trend of new names continuing to sell the same Chineseium with their stickers on it (recovery gear and roof top tent cloners I’m looking at you.) there continues to be cool and new things coming market – you just have to seek out the quality kit. One thing that hasn’t changed is that there is no shortage of cool stuff on display. If you attended OXW 2023, let us know about your experience in the comments!

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Utah Winter Adventure – Part II of III

It was a seriously cold morning when we woke up, the dog water bowls had frozen overnight and I found a surprise ice bowl sitting on my stove thanks to Andy. At some point, Brett’s kids had found a few random skeletons of long deceased animals and had relocated them next to their tent as a joke. Jacki seemed to find it particularly disturbing amusing. We had some laughs and enjoyed a nice leisurely morning, packing up and getting Brian settled in and updated on the trip.

Day 05: Coffee in Kanab and Breaking Down

The group decided to hit the town of Kanab again for some breakfast and coffee and get some tips from the local coffee shop/supply store: Willow Canyon Outdoor. It’s a pretty cool shop considering they had your essentials outdoor gear and also had a coffee shop with some very knowledgeable staff. We asked for their recommendation on potential routes and campsites on our route and they gave us a nice road in which we should hit on our way up to Capitol Reef NP.

(If you’re just catching up, part I of III can be found HERE )

After our short visit, we decided to run some last-minute stops before we hit the road. We hit Highway 89 eastbound and hunkered down for the haul to our offshoot to Cottonwood Canyon Road. We were on the highway with Cris at point and myself as tailgunner. Next thing I know every vehicle swerved to avoid something on the road, with Cris on comms stating he’s lost power steering. The convoy pulled off the road and Cris mentioning he had probably lost his power steering belt. Dodge problems. Being tail-gunner, I reversed to retrieve the belt but doing so, I didn’t notice the roadside reflector markers. One of them took out my passenger side mirror as I reversed but I was able to retrieve the belt successfully. The group gathered around Cris’s wounded Power Wagon as we began to troubleshoot the problem. After some pointing and grunting, we all agreed he needed a new truck idler pulley.

We were a little skeptical in terms of finding a part way out here but we did find an auto parts store in Kanab. It was just a matter of if they had it in stock or not. So Brian jumped in his Taco and jammed over to the store to find the part Cris needed to get his rig up and running again. In the meantime, the group made lunch and awaited Brian’s return. While waiting, I utilized some of Andy’s engineering tape to get my mirror back onto the Xterra. It was done in a very expedient and professional manner. About an hour later, Brian returned with the pulley in hand, and in a matter of minutes, we had the part installed and the Power Wagon roared back to life. We were back on the road.

We hit Cottonwood Canyon Road, which turns out is an entrance to the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. It is a nicely graded road with some turnoffs that branch off into other fireroads into the canyon. It winds itself along the Paria River, and then transitions to wind along Cottonwood Creek.

 

It was along Cottonwood Creek in which we found a perfect campsite: lots of tree cover, lots of flat clear ground, and right next to a creek. We arrived in the afternoon, with enough time to setup and relax before the sun began to set. We relaxed the remainder of the day until night fell and we hit the sack.

Day 06

Making Time To Make The Ferry

The next morning as we’re packing up and getting ready to roll out, we get an early morning buzz by two F-35’s slicing through the canyon at low altitude. Quite the sight and a deafening roar as they screamed by.

Today’s route involved continuing up Cottonwood Canyon Road northbound all the way to Cannonville. The road was well-maintained, quite scenic, and a blast to drive on. We did stop at a turnout to regroup as the convoy began to separate over the long distance of fireroads. There we snapped some photos, Jaxx found a leg of a deer to chew on, we got some stretching in, and then hit the road to Cannonville, where we’d air-up and hit the pavement. Once aired up, the group pointed east and took Highway 12 all the way north to Capitol Reef NP.

Highway 12 is quite the scenic drive, with gains and drops in elevation, but mostly, the views do not disappoint even though we were on pavement the entire time. As we traveled along, we hit Escalante and decided to do a logistics and lunch stop. We filled up our gas tanks, restocked our fridges and coolers, made some lunch and then decided what our route would be taking from there.

Our dilemma was that we had a specific time to be at the ferry crossing from Bullfrog to Halls Crossing and we needed to figure out a route that would get us to that location. We opted for additional travel and exploration, so we picked a route that shot us straight up to Capitol Reef NP on hardball, and then shoot south on the Norton Bullfrog Basin Road, camp somewhere along the road, and then the following morning continue the rest of the way down to Bullfrog to catch our ferry.

After a few quick stops to take in the beautiful scenery along the road, we barreled down on Capitol Reef NP and we decided to check out Goosenecks Overlook where the Sulphur Creek zig-zags along the canyon. It was nearing sunset as we took in this awesome point. The way the sun hit the canyon walls, displaying dynamic shadows really made for a stunning sight. A few of the group had split off to the Visitor Center just down the road to snag some patches and swag. We regrouped on Highway 24 and continued on to Norton Bullfrog Basin Road.

The sun was almost set as we hit the dirt. I had stopped at Orientation Pullout at the intersection of the Norton Bullfrog Basin Road to snap a few shots. The group continued on as we’d be on that road for quite a while, but I had taken a few stops for photo ops as the sun set and became distanced from the group. I booked it down the well maintained and very wide dirt road to catch up. With all my LED lights on, it was easy blasting down the dark, chilly 25 degree road solo. It wasn’t until the main group had stopped to find a campsite that I finally caught up. At this point it was already dark and we needed to find camp as soon as possible. The group had decided to find a spot at an offshoot to Halls Overlook. It was a nice flat spot with 180 degree cover with small rocky hills. With the tents set up, fire going, dinner cooked and eaten, we then enjoyed the full moon and slight cloud covered night until we turned in for the night.

Day 07

Ferry to the Moki and Camping Among the Gods

Another beautiful sunrise greeted the rested convoy as we got coffee and breakfast rolling. I had gotten up a bit earlier to do my usual roaming and sniping around the campsite. The views and lighting from the rising sun with the slight cloud cover were amazing. With the group up and ready to roll, we convened to decide the days’ route and schedule since we had a ferry to catch. There was some time to spare and also some spectacular places to visit before we found out campsite for the night.

We hit the dirt yet again, but before we made the haul to the ferry, we stopped at Halls Creek Overlook to take in the sights. It was a very deep canyon in which a dried riverbed passes through, but held a dramatic view of what was literally right over the next ridgeline from where we camped the previous night. Saddling up, we hit the dirt again towards Highway 276 south to Bullfrog.

The convoy arrived at the Charles Hall Ferry crossing with some time to spare. We staged up at the slipway and awaited the ferry to arrive to pick us up. Once the ferry arrived, we loaded up and enjoyed the short ferry ride to Halls Crossing. It was a pretty cool experience since we literally had the ferry all to ourselves.

Once the ferry deposited us on the other side of the shore, we continued on Highway 276 to Highway 95 East. Stuart had brought up that he’d really like to drive the Moki Dugway, and being that I’ve never been on it, nor had others of the group had, we voted to take this route instead of remaining on pure highway. Our consensus of the night’s campsite was Valley of the Gods, so we hit Highway 261 South to the Moki. It was an overall basic highway drive until we hit the entrance of the dirt road.

 

The Moki Dugway was constructed in 1958 and “is a staggering, graded dirt switchback road carved into the face of the cliff edge of Cedar Mesa. It consists of 3 miles of steep unpaved, but well graded switchbacks at 11%, which wind 1,200ft from Cedar Mesa to the valley floor near Valley of the Gods… The state of Utah recommends that only vehicles less than 28ft in length and 10,000 pounds in weight attempt to negotiate this steep, narrow, and winding road… The term ‘mokee’ is derived from the Spanish word Moqui, which was a general term used by the 18th century Spanish explorers and settlers in this region to describe the Pueblo Indians they encountered, and the vanished culture that had left behind the numerous ruins they discovered during their travels… The dugway was constructed in the 50’s to provide a way to haul ore from the Happy Jack Mine on Cedar Mesa to the mill in Halchita, near Mexican Hat.” (www.dangerousroads.org). Checking weather on or before hitting the Dugway is highly recommended as conditions may be treacherous.

It was a beautiful day and had been so for the week, so we had no worries traversing the Dugway. The sheer cliff right along the roadside was quite intimidating but with the width of the road being a bit generous, and with light traffic in both directions, it was a breeze. We were worried about Cris’s Dodge Yacht Wagon but of course he showed us how to drive properly in such a large vehicle without dying.

The convoy rallied at the base of the Dugway, just at the entrance to the Valley of the Gods. The sun was beginning to set as we entered the Valley so we decided to find a place along the dirt road to call it for the day. We found a perfect site just off the main road with rock monuments entirely surrounding us. We were definitely in quite a spot and picked up quickly why this place has such a name. As usual, we setup quickly and hunkered down for the night.

 Continued in Part III HERE

 

 

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