Tag: Warn

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Desert Rendezvous 2018

American Adventurist began at a campfire near Anza Borrego.  There’s just something inherently right about spending time around a campfire with good people, and we wanted to do more of it.  Fast forward eight years to a long weekend running trails with barbecues, gear raffles, potlucks and classes on everything from astrophotography to advanced vehicle recovery techniques, these times spent around the campfire are some of our best memories.  In the end it’s all about the people, and for the last eight years we’ve been teaching people how to have fun in the desert while leaving Anza-Borrego better than we found it.  This is the 8th Annual Desert Rendezvous hosted by American Adventurist.

For 2018, we came up with too many activities to pack into three days, so we added an extra day to all of our events.  This year the event started on Thursday and people came from across California, Nevada, Arizona, and as far away as Texas to join in on everything that is Desert Rendezvous.

Unlike most outdoor enthusiasts, the average American Adventurist is completely self sufficient in the backcountry.  Most vehicles have been tastefully modified and are properly equipped for unsupported, vehicle dependent travel.  There are no toilets here, no running water, no fuel or stores for many miles.  Fuel, water, provisions and toileting arrangements are all carefully planned for in advance so that they are always prepared, and once they leave a campsite there is no trace.  Just tire tracks in the sand.

One of the great things about the desert is that it allows people to spread out a little rather than being crowded in like a trade show.  People took advantage of this by arriving on Thursday, making camp at a leisurely pace and mingling.  Renowned 4WD guru Bill Burke of Bill Burke’s 4 Wheeling America and his sidekick Henry even showed up to say hi and donate to the raffle.

Friday morning started the way all mornings should – watching the sunrise while coffee percolates.  After breakfast, a number of folks lined up their rigs for the trail runs while other folks took time to relax in camp and hang out or even attend classes.  That’s one of our founding “rules” at a Rendezvous event – do as much or as little as you like. There’s an event schedule, but you’re really on your own program.

Trail runs departed and soon classes were underway in camp.  Joey Pitts, an I4WDTA Certified Trainer and owner of Pitt’s 4×4 Company, came all the way from Texas to instruct classes on off-road skills focused on safely utilizing commonly seen recovery gear to resolve a variety of “stuck vehicle” scenarios and other mobility challenges typically encountered during off-pavement desert trips.

As the sun sets, everyone is back in camp as the American Adventurist Staff fires up grills and skottles to cook up a mountain of burgers and hot dogs for the barbecue social hosted by sponsor Pelfreybilt Off-Road.  No one ever goes hungry at a Rendezvous event and the shenanigans were soon underway again as night falls.

After dinner, a number of folks met up to learn about astrophotography while others congregated around the campfire.  Thanks to our friends at Goal Zero, we were able to bring along a computer monitor to show students what the instructors were doing with their cameras, and provide free solar charging for the entire event.  Nighttime photography in the desert is a special treat and we can’t wait to see what our members can do with these newfound skills.

Saturday’s schedule is packed with classes again with offerings in camp for kids and adults alike.  A number of rigs lined up once more for trail runs while others gathered to attend the classes.  The scavenger hunt was a big hit this year as kids raced around camp putting new compass skills to use while seeking out random items and staff members.  As always, sun and wind are a factor in the desert and this weekend did not disappoint with beautiful weather and mild temperatures.  There’s a reason we call this time of year “desert season”.

Pitts 4×4 Company was joined by Deadman Off-Road and Step 22 Gear to put on another great course on vehicle recovery in the desert.  Deadman has a revolutionary land anchor that’s capable of anchoring to just about anything – earth, trees, rocks, you name it.  The demo provided was both informative and entertaining, and we were VERY impressed by the results.  A very BIG thanks to all of these experts for coming out and teaching at Desert Rendezvous!

Just as this class was winding down, folks were drawn to the excellent smells of the Dutch Oven cooking class – a perfect appetizer for the evening’s Potluck and Dutch Oven Competition hosted by Front Runner Outfitters.  If you’ve never tried Dutch Oven (aka Potjie Pot) cooking while camping you’re missing out – everything from fresh bread to jambalaya to peach cobbler or even triple chocolate cake can be made completely off-grid.  Fire one up (or just mooch off your buddy) and you’ll be a believer – the only limit is your imagination.

On Sunday morning everyone in camp mustered for the Annual Desert Rendezvous Cleanup.  This year, the Bureau of Land Management provided two gigantic dumpsters large enough to park a full-size truck inside – and by the time the group of volunteers had worked its way from camp to the dumpsters they were filled with of all sorts of garbage and oddities that you wouldn’t expect to see abandoned in the desert.  Over the years, we’ve found everything from TV’s and freezers to wigs and prosthetic limbs.

Sadly, it seems too many people have no idea what it means to Tread Lightly! in even the most basic sense – as a Community we’re doing our part to change that by putting Tread Lightly! concepts into practice in hopes of keeping this and other areas open for future recreation.  Next year, we need your help.

At final tally, this year’s Desert Rendezvous Cleanup picked up over FIVE TONS of trash.

To be precise, American Adventurist members collected 5.36 tons, or 10,720 pounds of trash from our public lands.  In one day.

Let that sink in for a minute.  If you see any of these fine Americans out there on the trail, please thank them for their efforts.

With the dumpsters full, it was time for the Rendezvous raffle.  Coolers, tires, recovery gear, gift certificates, blankets, lights, knives – there were tons of awesome prizes to give away again this year.  American Adventurist is able to have such great raffles because our members give back to the community everywhere we go, and our friends in the industry recognize and support these efforts year after year.  Please support the companies listed at the end of this article – without their generous support, these events would be much more difficult to organize.

Desert Rendezvous is just one of three national level events hosted by American Adventurist each year in California and North Carolina.  Each event is held in a unique environment and steeped in the region’s local flavor.  All of our community events have the same core values and focus on friends, family, and an active outdoor lifestyle.  At American Adventurist we are not “just for profit” and as such we have an enduring commitment to give back to the local community at every event we host.
To learn more about our other events, please visit our EVENTS PAGE.
To join the American Adventurist community, visit our Forums and REGISTER and be sure to stop by and see us at Overland Expo West in Arizona in May ~ we’re the Official Forum Sponsors for Overland Expo!

Grassroots events like the Rendezvous and the causes we support wouldn’t be possible without continued support from a large number of outstanding companies. Please consider them first when you need gear:

4X4 sPOD
ARB USA
Baja Designs
Colby Valve
Deadman Off-road
Equipt Expedition Outfitters
Factor 55
Falken Tire
Fold A Flame
Front Runner
FunTreks
Goose Gear
Goal Zero
JRs_Knives
LT Wright Knives
Mojoe Outfitters
Pelfreybilt
Pitts 4×4 Co
prAna
Princeton Tec
Prometheus Design Werx
Rancho Suspension
Restop
Slumberjack
Safe Jack
Step 22 Gear
Tembo Tusk
Trasharoo
Warn
Wilco OffRoad
Wits’End
Yeti

Many thanks to all the STAFF that make these events happen and to Richard SooHoo (@synikalsoysauce) and Justin Pitcairn (@pitcairnoverland) for use of their photos in this article!  See you at Overland Expo!

 

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Eastbound and Down

One fine summer day the wife came home and dropped an ultimatum on me – take some time off for the family or else.

Never one to be threatened by a good time I obediently put in for some time off and set to work planning a family road trip. Kind of. The truth is that I hate detailed planning of my time off, I’m much happier setting off in the general direction of my objective and finding random spontaneity along the way.

Luckily, we both agreed on the end point being a visit to see family over the 4th of July in New Jersey with the rest of the trip being up to me so with ten days to burn we loaded up the Torque Wagon on a Thursday afternoon and set out from the Midwest for the East Coast.

Leaving northern Illinois, the realities of the super slab quickly set in as we faced the debacle that is Chicago traffic head on. Moving south into Indiana we were hit with thundershowers and lightning as we made a bee-line for Ohio and our first night’s rest at Maumee Bay State Park. Arriving very late, our stay there was brief with a goal of maximizing sleep for the journey ahead and we drifted off to sleep listening to the monsoon rains beating on the roof of the Four Wheel Camper.

On the road early and bound for western Pennsylvania, we dropped the hammer through Ohio and headed to the heart of Oil Country and Titusville where we peeled off from the highways in search of the forested glens and hemlock hollers of our long time friends at Clan Haggis.

Mark and Michelle Collins are blessed to live deep in Penn’s Woods and their well known hospitality was in full effect as we dined on bear and other local victuals. We camped in a quiet, forested spot next to the creek on their property and were met yet again with torrential rains as the storms rolled over the Clanhold.

With a break in the weather, and their local knowledge, we were able to explore several sites around Oil Creek and learned first hand about America’s first Oil Rush in Pennsylvania.

The rains continued to fall intermittently as they do in these parts and the Four Wheel camper once again provided an ideal shelter from the tempest outside. We awoke well rested in time for departure and bid farewell to the Clanhold as we made our way east to Washington D.C. for a windshield tour of our fair Capitol.

We had an immense stroke of good luck here as we rounded a corner on the National Mall and found the rarest of things in that City of Magnificent Intent, a parking spot. And one large enough for the Dodge Mahaul to boot. Ensuring the meter was paid, we dismounted and took in the sights of this national treasure.

We stayed the night in Stafford, Virginia as guests at the Bleau Estate. Tim’s well known hospitality and penchant for cooking was well received by all as we were fed copious portions of some of the best food in Occupied Northern Virginia. This came in the form of shrimp and carnitas tacos for dinner and we spent a restful evening here, staying up late visiting before calling it a night. In the morning, Tim was at it again as we awoke to the smell of a French Toast breakfast feast fit for the Marquis de Lafayette himself. We considered trying to finagle a couple more days of this eat/sleep/eat routine out of our fine host but we decided to get back on the road before we wore out our welcome.

Moving on, we set course for New Jersey and the Pinelands where family awaited our arrival. Contrary to what I was led to believe growing up out West, New Jersey has a lot to offer and is an amazingly beautiful state with some great food and culture as well. Our stay was amazing.

No visit here is complete without a visit to WaWa and some tongue in cheek humor courtesy of the South Jersey Deviler. If you know, you know.

Our brief respite from the road over the 4th of July came to an end as we faced the reality that we had no further plans, and several days left to burn. Looking over some maps I drew my finger south from New Jersey all the way down to the Carolinas. My mind wandered as I realized it had been awhile since I had real sweet tea, pork tenderloin and Cheerwine.

We decided to take a ferry from New Jersey to Delaware and drift as far south as possible over the next few days. With fresh territory to explore in front of us I was chomping at the bit to get rolling so we said our goodbyes again and headed south through the forested backroads toward the Cape May ferry and Delaware. The Pine Barrens are another hidden gem on the East Coast with many forested trails and it’s own unique lore.

PSA: If you camp alone here in the pines, keep an eye out for the Jersey Devil. See, that ‘ol Jersey Devil is a thing in these here parts, and if’n you ask any old Piney down here if he’s real or not they won’t answer. People are scared of something out in those Pine Barrens…

Leaving the Pine Barrens behind we reached the southern tip of the state and Delaware Bay. As I mentioned earlier, New Jersey really is a “Garden State” and we’ll definitely be back to explore more of it later.

Arriving at Cape May, the Cape May-Lewes Ferry was our first of several ferry rides as we made our way south and the ride proved to be a lot of fun. It was well worth the price to “cheat” the road and take advantage of this coastal shortcut.

Once the Torque Wagon was all tucked away inside the belly of the beast we hit the lounge upstairs to relax and take in the sights as we crossed Delaware Bay.

Arriving ashore in Delaware, we proceeded to the nearby Cape Henlopen State Park and Historical Area. For the record, I despise established campgrounds as much as the next guy and it chafes me to pay for camping. That said, options for “dispersed” camping on the eastern seaboard are quite rare and Cape Henlopen State Park was in the perfect location on our itinerary. This was how we discovered Fort Miles.

Fort Miles was a key piece of our nation’s coastal defense from World War II through the early 1970’s.  Its dispersed gun batteries and secret installations built within the massive sand dunes of Cape Henlopen were designed to defend against the German submarine threat.

With more than 2,500 soldiers stationed on high alert, the heavy guns, mine fields and searchlights of Fort Miles defended the route to the vital trade centers of Wilmington, Philadelphia, and beyond.

As America moved into the Cold War, the role of Fort Miles shifted to highly classified missions defending against the threat of Soviet submarine operations off our coastline. Eyes and ears were focused on the sea here as soldiers stood the watch in bunkers and atop fortified towers.

Several of these silent sentinels remain, towering above the coastal pine forest at Cape Henlopen. This one is located near the campground by the beach and is open to the public. A climb up it’s interior spiral staircase rewards visitors with sweeping views of the Atlantic coastline and Delaware Bay.

Continued in Eastbound and Further Down, Part II