Archives for posts with tag: Discovery

cameltrophy6

Here’s the story of a Camel Trophy barn (or field, rather) find in Colorado. According to the story, surviving the 1993 Malaysian Camel Trophy was just the start of its rough-and-tumble odyssey.

The post has some nice detail shots of what an old Camel Trophy truck looks like.

Link:
Expo, Camel Trophy Land Rover

risk_15

There was a great post by Sinuhe Xavier on Expedition Portal last month called Risk and Reward in the Utah Backcountry. The short story is Sinuhe and his buddy go scouting through Utah’s Canyonlands National Park and the place flash floods on account of heavy rain.

The even shorter story: the photos are amazing. Check it out.

Link: Risk and Reward in the Utah Backcountry

South African off-roader, Andrew St. Pierre White, takes a stock Land Rover Discovery on what he states is Southern Africa’s most difficult road, Baboons Pass in Lesotho.

He does the trip with friends in two well-prepared Defender 110s. By the looks of it, it’s not for the faint of heart. Will his stock Discovery make it through without a scratch?

Read more, to see Part 2, below. Read the rest of this entry »

IMG_5501

Read the whole post here.

Of the many trucks for sale in the Expedition Portal forum, here are three stand outs: a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara, professionally converted into a 2-door truck; a nicely built 2004 Discovery with RoverTym mods; and a 1976 Chevy 1-ton, long-bed truck with a massive 513 c.i.d. Cadillac big-block V8. Read the rest of this entry »


Photo: Gregory McDonald

Shortly after getting on the road for our second day on the California Backcountry Discovery Trail, a tiny CRV carrying a long, thin, rip-stop-nylon-clad load on its roof, came clamoring up the rocky trail behind us. In front of us a Toyota Tacoma made its way up the mountain, similarly equipped. We were way out in the forest in traffic.

Soon we figured out what all of the congestion was about. Besides the opening of deer season, people were heading up to Hull Mountain for a hang glider “fly in.” Read the rest of this entry »


Photo: Gregory McDonald

I first spotted the California Backcountry Discovery Trail a couple of years ago as a yellow highlighted route on my Mendocino National Forest map. The idea for the CBDT started in the 1960s when 4-wheel-drive enthusiasts had the dream of creating a jeep trail that would traverse the length of the state from Mexico to Oregon.

Today over 600 miles of trails are designated as part of that system. Try to find information on it though and you won’t come up with much. I called the Ranger’s Station in Upper Lake and they faxed me some mid-90s-era brochures. They listed “Discovery Points” along the route, mostly things like campsites, trail heads, and, interestingly, a hang glider port.

Wanting to see what this grand 4×4 trail system was all about, we planned a week-long trip up the CBDT starting at the southern end of the Mendocino National Forest and snaking through the Six Rivers National Forest. Our 235-mile route would end on a 35-mile-long, 5,000-foot-high ridge called Southfork Mountain. We would traverse some of the least visited wilderness in the state, an area more known for its bigfoot sightings than anything else.

This past September Natalie, Greg, and I set off to see what the CBDT had to offer.

Update: I posted a map at the bottom of the post. Read the rest of this entry »

.
Expedition Portal just covered this video by a group called Backcountry Discovery Routes. Their goal is to preserve off-highway routes for dual-sport motorcycle travel. This video is about their trip through Colorado, though other routes are in development.

We just completed our own trip down the California Backcountry Discovery Trail (so named by the Forest Service), which I’ll be writing about in the coming weeks.

Link Trail: Expo > YouTube > BDR