When Overland Journal medical columninst Ed Beggy spied a Butler Bag in the Gear 2008 issue, you might say he fell in love right then and there. He ordered one and took it on a trip, and was dismayed to have the blue flannel lining dye turn his skin … smurf blue! Jonathan Curtis of Butler Bags quickly replaced the bag - an example of great customer service. But when the problem persisted, you might have expected a lesser company to back away . . . instead, this week Jonathan Curtis yet again stepped up to the plate, and explained to Ed that they had problems with the original flannel and have spent considerable time this past year sourcing all new flannel from North Carolina, and succeeded in producing 1000 bags with no problems - and again replaced the bag. We thought this was a great example of the type of service and quality Overland Journal looks for in the products we test and review. Butlerbags.com
Overland Journal sponsored the 3rd annual Sedonafest which took place in (you guessed it) Sedona, Arizona from June 5th to June 7th and raised over $1,000 for the Arizona Spinal Cord Injury Association. Formerly an FJ Cruiser-oriented outing, this year was open to all makes and as a result, a nice variety of vehicles showed up including Land Rovers, Nissans, Jeeps, an Isuzu, and even a neat little Suzuki Samurai (complete with a misting system to keep the occupants cool in the topless 4×4.) The campground was situated on the banks of Oak Creek, generously shaded with healthy Cottonwood and Sycamore trees while the weather was more than kind to us with cool breezes and plenty of sunshine. Registrants signed up in advance for organized outings to explore local trails in the area and a dinner party was provided by Sierra Expeditions on Saturday night. The following day, teams were off to find waypoints for a GPS challenge held by Expeditioneers. Brian McVickers of Overland Journal brought his family out to join my wife and me in support of the event, and together we had a great time out on the trails and met a lot of new friends. Many thanks to Heidi Van Camp and Mike McCambridge for their fine work organizing and running the event.
Amy McVickers attempts a red rock ledge on the Greasy Spoon trail
Harry’s Nissan Xterra
A crowd gathers at the raffle
The GPS challenge champs received a Red Rock trophy from Expeditioneers and a DeLorme PN-20 GPS from Overland Journal and DeLorme
Cougars, or mountain lions, are elusive and so they are rarely seen in the wild. When biologists need to find out information about their lives - even how many there are in an area, and how they move around their territories, which are very large (as big as a hundred square miles) - in the past the only options were expensive and invasive (for the animal) radio tracking collars. But 20 years ago a group in southeast Arizona started testing out tracking on Fort Huachuca, by Sierra Vista, as a way to learn more about lions, as well as black bears. It has been a successful way for biologists and land managers to compile information about the animals, and an even better way for “citizen scientists” to become trackers and help out conservation efforts.
On Friday and Saturday Jonathan (executive editor of Overland Journal) and I were volunteer team leaders for the 20th Fort Huachuca Mountain Lion Track Count. We have been involved with this project for 14 years off and on. It is one of the longest-running wildlife tracking programs in the country, and this was the final count, according to founder Sheridan Stone, the fort biologist. Sky Island Alliance, a non-profit conservation organization in Tucson that works on wildlife linkages throughout the American Southwest and northern Mexico, coordinated the event. We have taught wildlife tracking skills for the organization since 2000.
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Our assigned transect for the weekend was only accessible by a difficult 4WD trail, so Sky Island Alliance asked us to ferry some of the trackers up the mountain. Our team of five piled into my Land Cruiser diesel and headed up at 6 am. Six teams in all spent the weekend surveying sections of trail for mountain lion and black bear tracks and sign; in all, 8 black bear track sets and 11 mountain lion track sets were logged. The data has helped the Fort get an understanding of wildlife numbers and movements over time. Here are some pictures:
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On our 1.5 mile-long transect, we found sign of one lion - a set of tracks heading downhill for about 200 meters. The tracks were hard to see because the wind had been high all night, scrubbing the dirt and disturbing the tracks. In the photo, the track is hard to see; it is between the two and four on the bottom ruler - it is about 2.5 x 2.5 inches, a smallish lion, probably a female. Below is a track from another field session; the large main pad and three lobes at the bottom identify it as cat, and the size as cougar.
Here is a fun video passed on to us by reader KC O’Connor in Wyoming. Thanks, KC - a fun one as we down here in the desert start thinking of traveling north to the high country. Though I’m not sure I’d like my Land Cruiser to go up against that bighorn . . .
On Saturday I finally got out on my first real, long (for me) adventure ride with friends Brian (goodtimes) and Bruce (DesertDouglas). What a great day!
We started out at our house southwest of Tucson, in the Sierrita Mountains, and headed south around Stevens Mountain, crossed Caballo Loco Road, and then hooked up with San Juan Ranch Road (or Ryan Ranch Road, depending on which map you use), which took us all the way to Arivaca Road through gorgeous ranch country. Brian and Bruce were nice enough to slow wayyyyy down for this newbie, who tends to do everything at one speed - slow and steady. At least I didn’t crash!
We had a break at San Juan Ranch, a beautiful historic but abandoned ranch house, though there is a huge mesquite corral, which still is home to a nice herd of ranch horses. The Marley Cattle Company still runs this region, and they use traditional roundup methods - horses. Our iron horses met up with some of the real deal - it was fun. We were met in Arivaca by Jonathan, on his beautifully restored Triumph Trophy . . . no dirt for him! A great lunch, then back home via Arivaca Road and Highway 286 (boy, I’m still not comfortable on pavement - I much prefer the dirt!). Bruce had his first flat in many miles - mystery puncture for sure, as they never did find what did it.
The three guys got it repaired in short order, especially thanks to Brian’s tools and expertise. A great first ride guys - thank you! Here’s a fun little video - I’m still sorting out where to put the Flip Mino, so the riding shot is mostly sky, but you can see Brian on his beautiful BMW 650 zooming off ahead - didn’t see him until Arivaca Road!
Once again, the New York Times trails Overland Journal in coverage of important events and news for overlanders. Today’s NYT edition has a story on the new Royal Enfield motorcycle:
In a world of powerful and fiercely complex KTMs and BMWs, we’re taking a different route with this one. The Royal Enfield, originally British but now manufactured in India, has long been the choice for low-budget but epic explorations on the sub-continent and adjacent Himalayan highlands (like, 16,000-foot highlands). Their new model combines one-cylinder simplicity with the efficiency of fuel injection, to address the environmental regulations in the developed world. We’re going to see how it does in north America. For a bit more, visit David Blasco’s Royal Enfield blog, which is always fascinating even if you’re not (yet) into obscure motorcycles:
We recently received the first of three (stay tuned) long-term test vehicles we’ll be adding to the Overland Journal fleet in the next month. This one would fit under the conservation vehicle sub-heading, since you’ll never visit a gas station while riding it:
It’s a Montague Paratrooper, a mountain bike that folds to half its normal size in about a minute, and stores where no normal bike will. It drops neatly into most hard-shell roof cases, for example.
Once assembled - fold over the frame and lock the quick-release, then insert the front wheel; done - it feels just like any normal mountain bike. I haven’t been able to induce any untoward flex, and it rides, shifts (via Sram components), brakes, and handles very well. We took it to the Overland Expo, where it served as daily cross-event transportation for me, Lois Pryce, and several other people. Everyone who rode it was impressed. There’ll be a full report in the magazine soon, but for now, if you’ve always wanted to have a bike along on trips but hated the awkwardness of transporting it on a hitch or roof carrier, take a look at the Montague line.
We received this news bit from Nick Taylor in Colorado, who is a fellow in the RGS:
Vehicle-dependent overland travel by Graham Spark, David Palmer, Mike Hingley, Sam Watson · Workshop (York)
· Saturday 23 May at 9.00
With the growth in interest in vehicle-dependent overland travel, a workshop will take place where desert guides, expedition navigators and medics and experienced overlanders will give talks on how an interested traveller can equip their vehicle and plan their own trip to a variety of locations, whether a run down to the Pyrenees or a drive to Cape Town.
There will be a small selection of trade stands, a display of example overland vehicles and a programme of lectures and demonstrations throughout the day.
Refreshments will be available including a specially commissioned
Overlander real ale for the non-drivers!
Venue: Terrington Hall School, York. Cost: £5 per vehicle. Contact: Sam Watson watsonsam@talk21.com
A few weekends ago I had the pleasure to attend some dual-sport motorcyle training courses taught by Tom Collins and Lois Pryce at the Overland Expo in Prescott Valley, AZ. I am very new to adventure motorcycling (and even motorcycling in general) having just purchased my very first bike less than a month ago: Suzuki DR200. It has been the perfect bike for me to learn on, and Lois even enjoyed borrowing it a few times when teaching her classes.
I was very inspired hearing presentations by Tom, Lois and others who shared their experiences of world travel. It was also wonderful receiving practical advice about real-world situations and being able to practice on the dirt in a closed-course.
We helped Lois to sell some of her books all weekend at the event: Lois on the Loose, and her most recent Red Tape and White Knuckles. Of course many people were asking her to sign their copies of her book. I asked her if she had ever signed a motorcycle, to which she answered, “no.” So I had her sign my bike with a black permanent marker!!
Now I will proudly ride the “Lois edition” DR200 as I head out on my own adventures. =)
Cougars, or mountain lions, are elusive and so they are rarely seen in the wild. When biologists need to find out information about their lives - even how many there are in an area, and how they move around their territories, which are very large (as big as a hundred square miles) - in the past the only options were expensive and invasive (for the animal) radio tracking collars. But 20 years ago a group in southeast Arizona started testing out tracking on Fort Huachuca, by Sierra Vista, as a way to learn more about lions, as well as black bears. It has been a successful way for biologists and land managers to compile information about the animals, and an even better way for “citizen scientists” to become trackers and help out conservation efforts.
