UTCO Vacation, 08.17
...Whenever I get to drive through southern Utah there are two must-dos along the way. The scenic highway 12 and Goblin Valley. As we made our way towards that direction from here in SoCal, we stopped along the way in Vegas for lunch and a walk-through of the Bellagio to stretch our legs before stopping at our destination for the day in St. George. We wandered the town a bit...
Trona Pinnacles Field Report, 03.17
This March, approximately 200 people gathered south of Searles Valley in southern California at a unique spot named as Trona Pinnacles for a weekend of camping, campfires, some off-road training and unofficial...
Catching Wildflowers, 03.17
Southern California deserts saw substantial rain this year and the wildflowers are exploding out there. I was keeping an eye on the wildflower reports and this Saturday...
Little Green Chuckbox, 12.16
Going from a truck to a SUV made me rework my camping gear, and that included making a smaller Chuckbox (camp kitchen). I had also changed stoves from a larger Coleman to a smaller Cook Partner steel stove, so my old Yellow Chuckbox was a bit big and...
Gargoyles in Finland, 11.16
Three hours (or so) outside of Las Vegas is a place with some real magic that’s known as Little Finland. Its a small spectacular landscape feature found on BLM land and accessed via...
Four Corners Roadtrip, 08.16
I began planning for a long vacation (two weeks) earlier in the year. It had been six years since taking that much time off. I began looking at a big route through the Four Corners Area (UT, CO, NM, AZ) back in the beginning of the year...
200 Series Destination Club - Ouray, CO, 08.16
Earlier this year I traded in my Tundra for a low-mileage 2014 200 Series Land Cruiser, which lead to a complete resorting of my camping equipment. Coinciding with a long vacation a group organized on iH8Mud.com was organizing their second annual 200 Series meet in Ouray, CO. The timing was perfect so...
Anza Borrego Surprise, 05.16
On a whim I decided to spend the weekend out exploring Anza-Borrego State Park. I’d never spent any time there so I really looked forward to exploring and taking some pics. I know my Great Grandparents spent time camping and rock hounding out there, so its been on my bucket list...
LandOps Savahia, 02.16
About a year ago a friend of mine (@aventuraseeker) mentioned an event called Land Ops (www.LandOps.com or www.meetup.com/LandOps/. In short, a Land Ops event is a group activity of four-wheeling and geocaching with HAM radios used for communications and control. After lurking on their site for a while I made it out to one of their mini-ops and was totally...
Little Finland, 01.16
I was catching up on some overland forum reading and saw mention of this place called Little Finland in Eastern Nevada. I had never heard of it and did some quick research and quickly put it on my proverbial to do list. Fortunately I was headed to...
Fall Color in Northern UT, 09.15
Some months ago I got pitched a free two-night stay by a very nice and successful sales woman from Hilton Grand Resorts. The catch: TIMESHARE PRESENTATION...
Little Red Rust Bucket, 2011
The Little Red Rust Bucket (LRRB for short) came into existence in the spring and summer of 2011 after doing research for months on small adventure / expedition trailers. They’re available for purchase but tend to be pretty pricey so I decided...
White Rim Road, 06.15
The White Rim Road (seen in the foreground) is an approximately 100 mile loop around the middle level of Canyonlands National Park. Spectacular views and a wholly surreal drive compared to a daily cross-town commute. Permits are required but relatively...
Cathedral Valley, 06.15
Knowing that I was going to be in Northern Utah for a work photoshoot I planned some vacation days after that shoot to hit a couple spots in Southern Utah. Namely Cathedral Valley and also secured permits for the White Rim Road. This was my third time through Cathedral, it is a great drive...