A funny thing happened on the way home from Sema

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
So there we were, sitting outside the Overland house in Vegas, it was a sunny and cool Saturday morning, the excitement of Sema was just wearing down, and there were some very cool expedition vehicles sitting next to the curb.

We had a choice:
We could jump in the trucks, put the hammer down, and be back in Prescott by lunchtime, or
We could toss some camping gear in the back of these vehicles and spend a night in the desert on the way back.

The downside? Snow. Lots of snow forecast between where we were and where we were going, and silly us, we didn't pack a bunch of snow gear for a week in Las Vegas.

Luckily a bunch of the guys knew the area really well (not me, I still have no idea where we were, although I recall a very large ditch on Sunday morning, more on that later), so they mapped out a route that should be fun, and not too snowy.

Cast of Characters included Mario from AT, Mucki (Pronounced Mooki) from Action Camper, Paul from Equipt, Jess from Eezi-Awn, and yours truly, Ray from Expedition Portal and Overland Journal.

So without further ado, here are the pics of our foray into the wilderness.
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
So, as we were hurtling down the highway (well, as fast as a bunch of trucks on mud tires and loaded down with roof racks filled with wiffle-ball bats can hurtle), I called Mario on the VHF and asked him to pull off so I could shoot the trucks with some mountains in the back-ground.PB052948.jpgPB052940.jpgPB052970.jpg

He indulged me, although he mentioned there would be better backgrounds later in the trip. He wasn't lying either.
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
Soon, it was time to pull off the highway, top off the fuel, and hit the dirt.

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We topped off the external fuel tanks on the back of the Jeeps, but in the end we didn't need to, the big Hemi engines in the Jeeps are surprisingly frugal, returning an average of 13-14mpg over the weekend, even in the dirt and in 4WD.

After a while cruising up the dirt track (Mario et all, feel free to chime in here and mention where we actually were) we came across some patches of fresh snow. Not deep, but a nice dusting that was still clinging to the trees.

So of course, we had to stop to take some more pictures.

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We really lucked-out with the weather, mostly sunny and some fantastic clouds.
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
After a couple of miles, the road dropped a few hundred feet and we were out of the snow and into spectacular ranch-land.

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Even though the sun was out the temperatures stayed cool, around 2 or 3 C (I think around 35-38 F).

Mario was of course taking as many pictures as me...

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Being from South Africa, Jess doesn't spend a lot of time in the snow. He looked a little cold.

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tdesanto

Expedition Leader
Looks like you guys had a great time. Glad to see everyone stopping for photographs...there should always be time for that.
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
Following the same road we came across a cool old schoolhouse. It turns out that the original schoolhouse burned down, and this is a replica. It was amazingly well done, and very impressive to walk around.


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elcoyote

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0004
The road back to Prescott from SEMA took us via the circuitous route to Toroweep in the Arizona Strip. While it is not a technical trip, it is a lot of miles in some of the most beautiful scenery that the US has to offer.

There had been a lot of rain before we hit the dirt so we added lots of weight to the vehicles in the form of mud.

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When we stopped at the old schoolhouse, Ray could not resist the temptation to make some light with the old science project donated by a former student of this remote school on the plains of the AZ Strip. Shall we simply say that Ray is cranky :)

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Paul was in a zone...blasting the washboard, getting just the right speed combination to make the ride comfortable creating a frequency vibration that eventually blew out the rear window of his LC 100!

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Say....is that an ActionCamper hiding in the grass?

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elcoyote

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0004
Here's a view of inside the sweet little school house

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We had a sweet camp out of the wind.Fortunately for us, given the 30F overnight temps, the wind was calm and the night was dead quiet except for us putting away 7 bundles of firewod and a bottle of tequila.

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haven

Expedition Leader
From the BLM page about the Mt Trumbull Schoolhouse
http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/cultural/schoolhouse.html

Location
The site is 60 miles southeast of St. George, Utah.
*
Access
From St. George, take River Road to the Arizona Stateline. Follow BLM Route 1069 up Quail Hill where the route turns into County Road 5. The schoolhouse will be easily seen on County Route 5 after about 2 hours of driving from St George.
*
 

Tucson T4R

Expedition Leader
Looks like you picked the right route back home. :victory:

Did you drive all the way down to Toroweap point? Pam and I just camped there with the Glamper on 10/26. I really enjoyed that area and the amazing views of the GC.
 

Tucson T4R

Expedition Leader
Good man. I want to go back there in July/August next summer to see if I can catch some Monsoon storms rolling through those views. :elkgrin:
 

Ray Hyland

Expedition Leader
So, after the schoolhouse we continued down this seemingly endless but very pretty little road, stopping every once in a while to take a pic or two when the sun peeked out of the clouds.

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And of course, a few of the trucks.

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But then, the sun started getting a little low, and it was time to high-tail it to the campsite.

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