Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

I do travel through Leesburg at times, anytime you guys want too go camping let me know!

 

I am unfortunately down until next year. Getting a new frame, and need to go back to stock for it.

 

For real? Including suspension? I guess that makes sense though..

But that sucks

 

Yep. And bumpers and the sliders that I just welded on. Tent and rack are coming off this week

 

What was the third day for Dan, Mike and I was actually the day we'd meet Zane and Monte for the official start of the trip. We were up early with a lot of miles to cover - and some great stops along the way - before we'd arrive in Cooke City at our designated meeting time of 5pm.

The question on all of our minds - when would Monte show up?

Read all of day 3 and check out the photos:
The Re-Tour Day 3: Monte's "Right On Time"​

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The Re-Tour Day 3: Monte's "Right On Time"​

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[day 1] [day 2] [day 3]
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...The wet and cold continued all night - or rather, the wet continued and the cold got colder! We awoke, just after 8:00am to a dusting of snow spread across camp and our trucks, and several inches on the surrounding mountains.

"Welcome to Montana guys!" Monte said as he climbed out of his tent...

Read the story and lots of pics: The Re-Tour Day 4: It Always Snows at Goose Lake

The Re-Tour Day 4: It Always Snows at Goose Lake


--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4]​

 

...Now mid-afternoon, we continued up Big Pryor mountain, through gates and across grassy hillsides. We reveled in the beauty and the took in the views as we climbed, the white clouds and blue skies contrasting so nicely with the golden-green of the landscape. This truly was what we were hoping for on the Re-Tour.

Read the story and lots of pics: The Re-Tour Day 5: We Follow the Sun into the Pryors

The Re-Tour Day 5: We Follow the Sun into the Pryors


--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5]


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Getting glampy:

Water pump



12V power in the bed.



VVV #MakeMoabPopsiclesGreatAgain VVV

 

I'm gonna seal up those holes in the bed pockets which should help, but I've heard similar reports.

I've seen your pictures though, I'm pretty sure you are on the far right for the extreme use bell curve.

 

Sung to the tune of "Sentimental Journey":

Gonna take an Arizona journey
Gonna leave the snow at home
Gonna find some peaceful open desert
Gonna make new memories

Packed my truck, don't need no reservations
Gonna have a good ol' time
Glad to be making preparations
Long to get out on the road

I changed the oil, have solar and a genny
The old rig is ready to roam
Gotta take that Arizona journey
Have to get away from home

And of course, JJ Cale to get into a traveling mood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8uk7vlk0sE

 

Could try keeping the pump unmounted with tubing, power it from a jump pack, done that before.

 

I've looked at those, but having 3 water jerries already this seemed like a better solution. We'll see how long it last and reevaluate from there. I've lasted this long without one, I'm sure I can survive if it breaks.

 

I was thinking for use with more water capacity, say 15g or more, if you're carrying 5g water containers for extended stays, 12v pump is useful.

As always, there's about 4000 different ways to get out and about. We have a 45g water bladder, https://www.campingworld.com/portable-rv-fresh-water-tank-45-gallon, that's a handy devil for extended stays in the boonies.

 

...Our stomachs satisfied for the moment, we continued down the mountain - only a single planned overlook between us and the bottom, our road spitting us out near the confluence of the Bighorn and Devil's Canyons which we could already see in the distance... it was at this overlook that tragedy struck. (Tragedy is perhaps a bit strong a word to use in this case, but what unfolded was definitely a bummer...)

Fnd out what happened, and photos from this amazing day: The Re-Tour Day 6: Into the Abyss

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The Re-Tour Day 6: Into the Abyss​

--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5] [day 6] ​

 

Sometimes we just get lucky - and this morning was apparently one of those times for me. I mean sure, I situated my truck for success the night before, and I'd brought the camera into the tent thinking there might be an opportunity to capture a bit of early orange hue, but I never thought I'd get the display that I did, while still warm under my comforter.

It started as it so often does - just a hint of brightness along the horizon and deep purple highlights on the clouds in the sky. This is the moment, I thought to myself...

It really was the start of an amazing day.

Read the whole story: The Re-Tour Day 7: Uphill Both Ways to Copman's Tomb​

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The Re-Tour Day 7: Uphill Both Ways to Copman's Tomb​

--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5] [day 6] [day 7]


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I have to say the best all-around campers/glampers I've owned are VW poptops. I'm sitting right now in a VW poptop on BLM ground at 31*F running the builtin furnace, running the laptop off of the builtin aux battery. Will be sleeping on a comfortable foldout double bed, will have fresh water via the 12g fresh tank and water pump at sunrise, will have a 2-burner stove. All done running the thing at 65-85 mph for 11 hours to the tune of 18mpg and weighing ~5800lbs. I love Toyotas, but this thing is a ripper.

 

...The truth was, this was a day we'd all been looking forward to - but perhaps no one more than me. This was the day that we'd return to what was <em>the trail</em> that pushed me the hardest the year before; the trail on which, I confided to Mike - "This is right on the edge for me." It was also the trail where Frank had called it quits - nearly twice - and where we'd banded together to get out in one piece. It was Boulder Basin.

Read and see what happened this year: The Re-Tour Day 8: Boulder Basin, My Favorite Trail

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The Re-Tour Day 8: Boulder Basin, My Favorite Trail​

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[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5] [day 6] [day 7] [day 8]​

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...we set about making breakfast - a feast really, one that would hold us over until late in the afternoon. Dan got to work on some hash browns, Mike on scrambled eggs and salsa, and I fired up the griddle for bacon and sausage. In no time, we'd gotten everything cooked...

Sounds good, right? Check it out with the rest of the story at: The Re-Tour Day 9: Our Trucks are Too Heavy

The Re-Tour Day 9: Our Trucks are Too Heavy

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--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5] [day 6] [day 7] [day 8] [day 9]​

 

...just after the next water crossing we all pulled to the side of the road making a clear path for the UTVs to just keep driving on the road.

But no. These were UTVs. And when you drive a UTV, rule #1 is "Be a Dick." So they crossed the river, and then proceeded off-trail to skirt around us. And not just by a couple feet - we're talking 30- or 40-feet off of the road.

Nice, guys. Way to be stand-up humans.

To relax our nerves, we turned back to enjoy the views around us. Despite the UTVs, life was good.

Full story and lots of pics: The Re-Tour Day 10: We Finally Explore Sunlight Basin

Sad Jeep wonders, "Can I join?"
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The Re-Tour Day 10: We Finally Explore Sunlight Basin​

--- catch up on the whole story so far ---
[day 1] [day 2] [day 3] [day 4] [day 5] [day 6] [day 7] [day 8] [day 9] [day 10]​

 

There's knuckleheads everywhere. I have a problem with the crowd that breaks bottles here there and everywhere.