Power Wagon maiden voyage or Unofficial Nevada Trophy 2012 redux.

Monterorider

Adventurer
After participating twice before in Nevada Trophy, 2009 and 2011 I was quite disappointed to say the least when it was canceled this year. What is Nevada Trophy? As organizers put it: "NVTR was born in 1995, and after a season of work, the first event was run in December of 1996 in Fernley, Nevada. That year seven teams, of two cars each, participated in this special event, an event that combines GPS Navigation, the searching for Waypoints and off-road driving. NVTR is a combination of Camel Trophy, the Warn Challenge, and Geocaching, which we pre-date by some years. Everyone is welcome!"

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Unfortunately somehow sometime even great things don't get enough traction in the fourwheeling community. Some people feel they should be paying for playing. Some find excuses. Some simply can't make it. Regardless when you don't get enough attendees rally is not going to happen.

Not to be dismayed we've set out to organize small private even following tracks of Nevada Trophy circa 2009, 2011 with group of friends. We would attempt to find those waypoints we missed in events. Big thanks to Nevada Trophy orgs who supplied us with old log books to keep us on target.


Number of invites went out. 3 vehicles and 6 people showed up. So it happened drivers had prior NVTR experience all us being part of same team in 2011 , navigators were all anew to this type of entertainment. Well suited vehicles presented including my 2008 Dodge Power Wagon, 2008 Toyota Tundra, and 1996 Lexus LX450 (Land Cruiser).

Coincidentally or not we all sported same tires Goodyear Duratrac. Maybe we should have gotten some sponsorship. Why Duratracs? Land Cruiser sported them last year. Everyone like their performance then. They didn't disappoint now. I put a set of fresh 35 inch meats a day before setting off. We all wanna be prepared don't we. Although hwy ride gotten a little mushy compared to previous set of stock size Toyo ATs. Rough and gravel road ride was far more comfortable. Off-road they tackled everything with aplomb and ease.

We set out to meet Nov 1 in hotel in Fernley, NV. Day long drive across beautiful central-southern OR was as uneventful as beautiful. Stunning sunburned grassy mountains and plateaus under deep blue sky parched with low clouds kept us staring out the window in awe. We crossed into CA/NV in nearly darkness catching glimpses of Surprise Valley from crest of Fandango pass. Got to come back for some exploring some day.

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Next morning we headed out east for 2 days of adventure. Back in 2009 my team turned around about mid-way up Jobs Peak Canyon Road because of deep snow. This time we faced no such obstacle. Several steep, loose hill climbs put out trucks to moderate test. Power Wagon performed admirably but really every one made there way up unfazed. Along the way we were able to locate few deteriorating tags from 2009. We even made out scribblings on those after extensive forensics. Deep rumble from low flying, canyon skimming NAVY Seahawk with canon sticking off to side was just icing on the cake.

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After mountain top lunch at 7100 ft with commanding views of Dixie Valley we headed down narrow winding road. My initial worries that Power Wagon would prove too unwieldy for this kinds of pathways proved to be unfounded. It's big but not big enough.

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By this time everyone had such a blast that we decided to blast few things to pieces. Mandatory introductory lesson in fire-arm safety was followed by shooting practice. Multitudes of impromptu targets were destroyed in confines of canyon. We made a point to cleanup after ourselves. In reality it's hard to set a foot on the side of the road in NV without stepping on spent gun shell.

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We payed a homage to tight little canyon at the valley floor. Just like in 2009 well hidden geocache was still there.

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Being only one attending 2009 trophy rest of a crew was set for a little surprise. Back in 09 we located some hidden gems in a desert. What man doesn't feel like a boy when presented with some heavy military machinery? Still Nevada held another surprise up it's sleeve. With thundering sound of jet engines bouncing through valley US NAVY presented us best air show ever. Sit back, relax and observe real pilots playing real dog-fight from front lawn seats.

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Days in fall wind down quickly we had to find a place for camp that night. My eyes were set on one particular canyon that could possibly afford us early exit north next day. In approaching darkness we setup our camp near stream under old cottonwood tree. Out came the tents and sleeping bags, pots and pans. Out came the chatter and jokes. We consumed copious amounts of canned chili and soup and some hot and cold drinks. Camaraderie was setting in. Night wasn't nearly as cold as forecast would have it I was sweating in my sleeping bag in early morning.

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Next day we set off up that canyon. Eventually we came to halt facing seriously steep dry waterfall. While not insurmountable it would present a considerable challenge, require some rock stacking and almost surely winching. From tire marks and scrapes on the rock I could tell people driving through here but what lies beyond. While preparing for our little trip studying maps and satellite imagery I knew there was a road descending into canyon from above. Now trekking half a mile or so up the stream bed I could see there were few additional more or less challenging obstacles, tread marks and more scrapes on rocks, and finally as expected less traveled road on the other side.

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After deliberating over state of affairs: 3 large trucks, one winch, lots of rock stacking, and maneuvering in tight spaces. It is doable but it's going to take considerable time. Most particularly we've had our eyes set on specific destination, camping spot maybe some 100 miles north. Sadly we've had to turn around. Will save something for future.
 
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Monterorider

Adventurer
Tracking north, crossing Humboldt Range Range via steep, rocky, and loose Fencemaker Pass we made to small town of Lovelock, NV for resupply before our second and last night in Nevada desert. No expense was spared for steak, pork-chops and other important condiments of last supper. It was already getting late. Decision to avoid tackling Cottonwood Canyon looked more and more justified.

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On the last day of Nevada Trophy 2011 one of the latest waypoints we located presented us amazing hideout artfully built from thicket and wood poles by somebody named Cledus Jeffries. Situated at 6500 ft, equipped with homemade stove, some seating, and even a table, with commanding view of valley there could not be a better place to spend a night under star strewn Nevada sky. We pledged to return to this place. Behold, a little over year later we we gunning to just that spot. Sun was setting down. It lighten up mountains in amazing fireworks of color. Granite Springs Ridge trail felt rather challenging a year ago didn't seem bother us this time. We made it. Grab that camera, jump out of the car and ... light was gone. We were late by few long seconds. Our inner photographers were kicking and screaming in disappointment. Still overlander spirit takes over. Setup camp, get the fire going and spirits up. Nothing heals better than great steak, cold drink in company of good friends under spectacular Milky Way display.

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Next morning we've had mandatory sunrise photography session, a breakfast with yummy artery clogging eggs and bacon. Then packing. So long Nevada time passes by way too quickly. Yet Nevada played one last trick on us. Our leading truck at goes a little too fast, at a little wrong angle through particularly large gully. I roll up to them stopped by side of the road. Oil is gushing out from underneath. Ouch. Looks like we are not going to be back in Portland by nightfall. Strut end is bent all the way down to lower a-arm. Shock is punctured. All of oil is gone. Sunday afternoon. We are some 550+ miles from home, 50+ miles from nearest town with auto parts store. Toyota can limp, but where do we limp to Don't travel alone rule worked perfectly here. Strut is quickly removed. After assessing situation best course of action is to get replacement. Worst case we would have to go all the way to Reno 90 or so miles away. They sure would have something. Luck would have it only store with part we need was NAPA in Reno.

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Team California volunteered to be parts runner. Three of us stayed behind. We were into few hours of wait. Supposedly it was 60 degrees that day. Didn't feel that way at all. Only comfortable place away from scorching sun we could find was some shade by the side of the truck.

As hours went by eerie quietness of Nevada desert was interrupted only by low hum of high tension power lines half a mile away. We went on to explore nearby playa. Figured to stay away from large mining claim marked with stakes. Went on to explore small sand dunes nearby. They weren't that small up close and provided fun playground for testing Power Wagon's capabilities in sand. I didn't try anything too adventurous as breaking down or even being stuck would not be very smart at this particular juncture.

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Finally as sun was setting down we saw vehicle pulled up beside parked Tundra. Were they road vulchers? No, our teammates are back! As we pull up beside them they are already charging ahead with spring compressor mounted on strut and wrenches at hand working on removing that pesky spring. I felt some despair when new strut came out of the box. Nothing else inside, no bushings, no washers, no nuts are present. None of those those thing that you usually find supplied with new shocks. It quickly turned from bad to worse. Replacement strut end is SAE not metric like OEM. Quick look around tool boxes and our metric trucks didn't find suitable donor. We can work those OEM washers with the file to make them fit but without nut it's not going to do much good. I took couple couple wing nuts from my highlift jack mount. 1/2 threads it's not the best but should work, should make it home. Suddenly I noticed nice shiny grade 8 locking nut holding together my PulPal anchor Would it be? Bingo, we are back in business. From then on team works like like well oiled machine. Taking turns at wrenches, cooking some quick chow for everyone, get that teapot boiling. Tundra didn't give up easy asking for some grinding on lower A-arm as strut end would not fit. In the end as darkness fell Toyota was back on its feet.

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Some hugs and hand shakes we part our way. Cruiser on it's way back to California. We have even longer trek back to Portland. Trading steering wheel with Vlad we made it to Bend, OR where he set on his way home. Rolled into my driveway at 4:30 in the morning. Tired, sleepy but as happy as it can be. It was fantastic adventure. It was great to see old friend and make new ones. Power Wagon performed perfectly. Even mileage was as horrid as expected rounding up to 14.7 mpg for entire 1400 miles trip.


I will be back. Cottonwood canyon is quietly waiting deep in West Humboldt Range.


Better yet I hope history will repeat itself and fresh on 2 year cycle Nevada Trophy will come back in 2013.

BTW photography by every member of our group. Used with permission.
 
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J

JWP58

Guest
Very nice post, loved the pics. How about some feedback on your rig? I've always loved the look of the power wagons.
 

1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Really great write up and the pics are amazing...
The story of friends traveling the backcountry are way better than if you had competed in the Trophy event.

And that final repair was epic.

thanks for taking us along for the adventure
 

Monterorider

Adventurer
Actually feel of real Nevada Trophy is very similar. Travel as group of truck (two of them) 4 people. You ride together, you eat together, you make decisions together, you seek waypoints together. Yet it also adds goals to achieve, destinations to get too, good injection of adrenaline rush. Still, you can pick your pace, find time to take pictures, even relax. Last year we took occasional break to relax, do some photography. Spent lot more time on foot too. We really came to have fun, fact that my team won was just icing on the cake.
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Monterorider

Adventurer
Orgs make serious effort to show beautiful side of north-west NV, cool places to visit not just thow waypoints under every nearby bush, good scense of humor to boot.
This is sort of tag we generally would be looking for at given coordinates.
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Otherwise 2 days in NV could be somewhat boring fruitless exploring.
 

Monterorider

Adventurer
Very nice post, loved the pics. How about some feedback on your rig? I've always loved the look of the power wagons.
Really nothing to complain. Love it. Gas miliage is relatively bad as expected but really not much worse if any than LC80 it replaced. Carries lots of stuff in back. It's big so really tight trails are off limits but overall it can handle most of "regular" roads. It's very comfortable off road though I haven't got a chance to test it to it's true limits. So far didn't use lockers once. Sway bar disconnect improves ride over big gullies. It's definitely no less capable than LC or Montero so long it fits. It's well built if not somewhat unrefined. But hey it's a truck. Long distance travel is comfortable. 35's on stock wheels rub a bit on control arms. There are few after-market options to solve that. Tundra performed very well aside of that break down. Gets noticeably better mileage (I don't know exact figure but I'm guessing 15% ) despite being lifted and riding on 33's. I prob don't need to go into LC
 

Monterorider

Adventurer
Very nice post, loved the pics. How about some feedback on your rig? I've always loved the look of the power wagons.
Really nothing to complain. Love it. Gas miliage is relatively bad as expected but really not much worse if any than LC80 it replaced. Carries lots of stuff in back. It's big so really tight trails are off limits but overall it can handle most of "regular" roads. It's very comfortable off road though I haven't got a chance to test it to it's true limits. So far didn't use lockers once. Sway bar disconnect improves ride over big gullies. It's definitely no less capable than LC or Montero so long it fits. It's well built if not somewhat unrefined. But hey it's a truck. Long distance travel is comfortable. 35's on stock wheels rub a bit on control arms. There are few after-market options to solve that. Tundra performed very well aside of that break down. Gets noticeably better mileage (I don't know exact figure but I'm guessing 15% ) despite being lifted and riding on 33's. I prob don't need to go into LC
 

skinzluch

Adventurer
Wow--thanks. I really enjoyed the photos and the story. Happy to read that you guys got the Tundra out in one piece.

So are there really old tanks just sitting around out in the Nevada desert or were you guys on a base somewhere?
 

VegasUnderworld

Adventurer
Beautiful pictures. Could you tell us a little more about the camera and any filters or settings used for the night photos? I don't think I've ever captured a starry night like that. A few of those could be magazine covers.
 

Monterorider

Adventurer
Wow--thanks. I really enjoyed the photos and the story. Happy to read that you guys got the Tundra out in one piece.

So are there really old tanks just sitting around out in the Nevada desert or were you guys on a base somewhere?
Thanks,

No but quite often you are not very far away from one either in NV. Curious thing though got to communicate with one of pilots who played that airshow for us. He didn't pay attention to us though.
 

Monterorider

Adventurer
Beautiful pictures. Could you tell us a little more about the camera and any filters or settings used for the night photos? I don't think I've ever captured a starry night like that. A few of those could be magazine covers.

Thanks.
We had verity of cameras. As usual DSLR is your best bet in general. We've had Canon Digital Rebel, Sony Alpha A55,Canon D5 Mark II, and Nicon D700. For night shots Full Frame digital is the best of course for long exposure/high ISO. D700 ISO 3200, F4, 30sec exposure
In a galaxy far far away
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Moon rise on planet Tatuine. Little red dot on left is there Jabba The Hut lives.
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Amasing how much light full moon gives. Glow is from Reno some 80 miles away I'm guessing
 

VegasUnderworld

Adventurer
Once again, beautiful! I think one of the issues I have in capturing night sky images is the lights of Las Vegas reach so far. I don't even know if my camera has a 30 second exposure, but I'll check. Thanks for the reply.
 

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