ITTOG's Overlanding Trips

[ITTOG]

By overlanding I primarily mean off road trips by foot or motorized vehicle but will also follow Wikipedia's definition of overlanding: Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, but not exclusively, it is accomplished with mechanized off-road capable transport where the principal form of lodging is camping, often lasting for extended lengths of time and spanning international boundaries. Hopefully you don't take exception to my hiking updates.

Table of Contents
Beavers Bend State Park - Broken Bow, OK
Hiking Multnomah Falls - Near Portland, OR
Summiting Mount Saint Helens - Near Portland, OR
Hiking Around Monaco
Lake Louise and Johnston Canyon - Near Banff, Canada
Hoover Dam, Lake Havasu, and Red Rock Canyon
Grand Teton National Park - Near Jackson, WY
ATV Overlanding - Private
Spring Break in Montana - Bozeman and Big Sky
Spring Break in Colorado - Breckenridge
Camping and ATV Trails - Private
OU at BYU - Provo, UT and Surrounding Area



Beavers Bend State Park, OK - Jan 27 to 30, 2019

Below pictures are from the Beavers Bend State Park. First a view from the camp site.

I did a lot of hiking while there and followed one of the rivers downstream of the lake in the park. Of course more waterfalls. Some were just creeks but I still like them.

Nothing like staring into a fire while contemplating life.

The breakfast of champions. Okay not really, but beer and bacon is always good.

 

[ITTOG]

Very nice sunset across the water.

While at the state park I had to rescue this guy. Not sure how he got in there but looks like he had been in some battles.

This is the view from the boondocking spot on the north end of the lake and outside the state park. It was way above the lake and had fantastic views.

 

[ITTOG]

San Bois Mountains, OK - Jan 31 to Feb 3 2019

This is a trip I take at least twice a year. First for the families annual deer hunt and second for a boys weekend of riding ATV's, UTV's, and our 4x4 trucks. We do the trucks every year because it is required to get into camp but rarely take them on any of the trails anymore.

It is about six miles of off-roading to get to our site and it is definitely primitive. Anyway, the camping spot.

The following is brought to you from the four wheeler but provided by the Good Lord.

I absolutely love waterfalls. I try to see this one every time I am in the area.

This was a good spot for a bath. But it was cold given the water was just a little above freezing.

I will have to load more pics in future reports and try to make it more of a story. I am new to this and not a very "wordy" person.

 

[billiebob]

very cool but......

Heres from my the heart. Overlanding for me is not a physical thing. It is an emotional, cultural, social growth thing. Yes, maybe you need build something to make that emotional, cultural, social growth thing easier. But ultimately the adventure is not about the equipment, it is about personal challenge with foreign cultures. Many which exist within our own country. If you can say "I don't want to go there because they live there" you are not an overlander. Overlanding is about accepting the challenge to work with and accept cultures you don't understand. It is about going out to discover those people. It is not about building a vehicle to cross continental divides.

There will always be spectacular scenic views but that is just a side benefit of overlanding.

And not to marginalize these fabulous photos, overlanding needs to involve culture.

Fabulous pictures. I love to fall asleep in places like this.

 

[GHI]

San Bois Mountains, OK - Jan 31 to Feb 3 2019

This is a trip I take at least twice a year. First for the families annual deer hunt and second for a boys weekend of riding ATV's, UTV's, and our 4x4 trucks. We do the trucks every year because it is required to get into camp but rarely take them on any of the trails anymore.

It is about six miles of off-roading to get to our site and it is definitely primitive. Anyway, the camping spot.

The following is brought to you from the four wheeler but provided by the Good Lord.

I absolutely love waterfalls. I try to see this one every time I am in the area.

This was a good spot for a bath. But it was cold given the water was just a little above freezing.

I will have to load more pics in future reports and try to make it more of a story. I am new to this and not a very "wordy" person.

None of the pictures in this thread are showing up. Is it just me?

 

[ITTOG]

None of the pictures in this thread are showing up. Is it just me?

Others have indicated they have been able to see them. Not sure what the problem may be on your end. Sorry for the late response.

 

[ITTOG]

Hiking Near Portland, OR – Jun 10, 2019

I have always loved hiking but never made it a priority until this year. Maybe a priority isn’t the right way to describe it but definitely taking advantage of opportunities is. So on a trip to Washington I decided to do a quick hike in Oregon and then Summit Mount St Helens.

I have been to Multnomah Falls four or five times and never took the time to hike the trail any further than going to the top of the falls. But this time was different and I was able to take the trail for several miles. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do a lot of it because I had a friend with me and we got a late start. But what we did see was beautiful.

As you can see, we didn’t go far. This map only shows the return trip in the hike.


The top of Multnomah from the parking lot.


After a short walk you are at the base of the falls and can see top to bottom, but it is too tall to get in one picture. The falls drops in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet (165 m) and a lower falls of 69 feet (21 m), with a gradual 9 foot (3 m) drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet (189 m). The two drops are due to a zone of more easily eroded basalt at the base of the upper falls (Wikipedia).




This is from the bridge looking at just the top part of the falls.


After ascending to the top of the falls I went to an observaction deck and took a picture straight down and some of the Columbia River in the distance.



Along the trail there are other waterfalls and landscapes to enjoy.

 

[ITTOG]

This part of the walkway was neat with the land easily covering the walkway.


One more water fall.

 

[GHI]

Others have indicated they have been able to see them. Not sure what the problem may be on your end. Sorry for the late response.

Well they’re all showing up now. Glad I checked back in here. Nice scenery.

 

[ITTOG]

Summiting Mount Saint Helens – Jun 12, 2019


With a trip to Washington scheduled in five weeks I began looking at hiking opportunities. I quickly set my eyes on climbing Mount Saint Helens. I had a lot to investigate and learn because I had never done any hikes in controlled areas like this. Luckily some of the personnel I would be visiting are avid outdoorsman and helped me a great deal. The first thing I needed was a permit. It is required to go to the top but unfortunately no permits were available when I would be there. But I was told to look every day to see if a permit may be returned so I began training and planning. Luckily I am a pretty fit person even though I hadn’t exercised in a couple months due to a lot of business travel. So the training and planning began in earnest.

The second weekend after this began I was at the lake boating with family. We decided to beach for a little while and wade in the water and have a few beers. I have done this at this lake 50 times every summer for the past 15 years but this had to be the time I stepped on a broken bottle and sliced the bottom of my foot. It didn’t hurt much but I knew I was cut so I decided to get out of the water to look at it. Unfortunately I discovered it was deep, about 1 ½ inches long, and bled like crazy. I tried to get it to quit bleeding but after about 30 minutes we decided it was time to go to the house to get it taken care of. I had to drive the boat with my foot hanging over the edge to keep the blood off of it. If it would’ve happened in the ocean, jaws may have followed us. Once home and thoroughly inspected I knew it needed stitches but was hesitant to go to the ER because of bad experiences in the past. In the end I decided to superglue and butterfly stitch it. My only concern was how this was going to set my training back.

A few days after this I was looking for a permit for the thousandth time and exactly one permit was available and it just happened to be on the day I preferred. So one way or another the hike was on. Due to the injury I ended up taking two weeks off from my training and then had one week left and rode my bike every day. This would have to do.

So it is now the week of the hike but I have four days of work to complete first. I had a coworker with me who had never been to the PNW area so I had to show him around the few areas I knew. The first was Multnomah Falls. I had been there several times and every time I am amazed at how beautiful it is just like I was the first time. We also decided to scout Mount Saint Helens so I could see it before the hike began and he could do a little hiking because he would not be summiting with me. Based on the scouting I decided I would start at the lowest bivouac to ensure I experience as much of the mountain as possible and I almost always choose the hardest route. These pictures are on the Ptarmigan trail which begins at the Climbers Bivouac.










Finally it is the night before the hike and I decided to have a large healthy dinner at Salty’s Waterfront Seafood Grill. Well, the beer wasn’t healthy but the sunset definitely was. (Please ignore the phalangeal eclipse coming from the top.)




After dinner I began getting all of my food, water, and other gear prepared. My plan is to leave Portland at 3:30 AM so I can be on the trail by 5 AM. This means about four hours of sleep after a very long four days of work. Looking back, this was not a very good decision. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The trail I am taking is the Worm Flows


On the drive to Marble Mountain Sno-Park I had a high calorie/energy bar for breakfast to ensure I had plenty of energy. Let’s get going…


Yes that is my hiking boots tied to my backpack. I decided to wear my tennis shoes on some of the trail that is pretty flat on the way up and on the way down. As you can see, no hiking boots required on this part.


to be continued...

 

[ITTOG]

very cool but......

Heres from my the heart. Overlanding for me is not a physical thing. It is an emotional, cultural, social growth thing. Yes, maybe you need build something to make that emotional, cultural, social growth thing easier. But ultimately the adventure is not about the equipment, it is about personal challenge with foreign cultures. Many which exist within our own country. If you can say "I don't want to go there because they live there" you are not an overlander. Overlanding is about accepting the challenge to work with and accept cultures you don't understand. It is about going out to discover those people. It is not about building a vehicle to cross continental divides.

There will always be spectacular scenic views but that is just a side benefit of overlanding.

And not to marginalize these fabulous photos, overlanding needs to involve culture.

Fabulous pictures. I love to fall asleep in places like this.

I was looking at something in this thread and re-read your post. Not sure why it didn't the first time but this time your post created a greater pause and thought. I like what you wrote. I have had a lot of opportunity to travel the world and feel my experiences in those cultures and talking with the people are invaluable and very educational. So I understand your comments. But, I have to ask, do you consider it overlanding if you do not see a different culture?

 

[billiebob]

Others have indicated they have been able to see them. Not sure what the problem may be on your end. Sorry for the late response.

very slow too load, maybe they are just too big

 

[ITTOG]

very slow too load, maybe they are just too big

Sorry about that. I do reduce the size a lot though. Do you access via a network or your mobile on cellular?

 

[ITTOG]

At this point it was clearly time to put the hiking boots on.



My first glimpse of Mount Hood to the south.


This wash is about 50’ deep with a waterfall at the northern end. A little further up the mountain it was closer to 75' deep.





You can’t see the top in this picture but that is the direction I’m headed. The trail took me to the left ridge with all the snow. The entire time I wished I went up the ridge on the right without the snow.


The rising sun…

 

[ITTOG]

The hike had beautiful scenery everywhere you looked.



Of course the higher you go the better you can see the other mountains. This is another shot of Mount Hood to the South (zoomed in of course).


After primarily hiking in gravel and up to basketball sized rocks I am now starting to hit the boulders. This part of the hike sucks. The boulders are larger than they look here so you are using your hands a lot and since they are very sharp you need to wear gloves. Up until this point the hike was pretty easy but enjoyable due to the scenery. Sometimes you are lucky and there is a trail between the boulders but trust me these trails are very short and you are not out of the boulders for long




Once you start getting into the snow, at least for this time of the year, the boulders are now behind you and you are now in gravel and rocky terrain again.


Another sunrise shot...