overland

***New Member Introductions***

OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Messages
72
Location
NorCal
Just joining the OTG community? Tell us a bit more about yourself including:

  • Your location of residence
  • Your vehicle(s)
  • Some of your favorite trails/routes/areas to explore
  • Any planned trips
  • Anything else you want to share!
 

OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Messages
72
Location
NorCal
Hey everyone! I'm Ben, the founder of Overland Trail Guides based in Northern California (North Bay). I created OTG for a couple of reasons. Number one, when creating my own overland routes, I came to realize there wasn't a comprehensive directory of quality and verified overland routes/adventures. Second, I've had a long love affair with maps and exploring new places since my early teenage years, which began on a mountain bike, and then eventually spilled over to 4 wheel drive vehicles later in my life.

I love exploring all over, whether it's the desert or the dense and dark forests of the Pacific Northwest, but Northern California holds a special place in my heart-- especially the out of the way places that others tend to overlook. I'm most often accompanied by my 6yo son, Thomas, who's been going on multi-day adventures for several years now. Currently, the tool of choice is a 2009 Lexus LX570. If you see us out on the trail, be sure to wave us down and say "hi". We love meeting fellow OTGers out on the trail!

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The White Whale aka Big Tex (the Lexus from Texas).
 
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camtnbiker

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 26, 2021
Messages
2
Hello all, my name is Gerard Horan and I am getting back to spending time in the wilderness/camping. I am married and live in Redwood City, CA with my wife and 2 kids ( who are supposed to be in college but due to Covid are at home). I drive a 2016 4 Runner Limited and am in the process of upgrading various components. I have upgraded the Suspension with Fox 2.5 DSC and Old Man Emu Spring for the rear. I have added RCI armor for the gas tank, and RCI Sliders. I have also added Ironman 4x4 Recovery points to the front. I made the big decision this year to add an ICECO Fridge, with a Goal Zero 1500 and a Solar Panel. I also LOVE my Gazelle tent and my EXPED Mattress. Currently thinking about a winch and a front bumper. I am an avid photographer and my goal is to perfect the art of Light Painting with Star Pictures.
I love exploring the Sierra's especially off areas off of Highway 4. Hope to get up to Corral Hollow later this year!
 

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Dylan Pankow

Trail Grom
Joined
Apr 28, 2021
Messages
1
Hello everyone, I'm Dylan Pankow AKA Blue Beard Adventures. I love the outdoors and go out as often as I can. I drive a 2016 Outback, 2014 3/4 ton Duramax, Yamaha 2003 TTR230, and a 2003 WR250f. I am mostly found in the Mendo forest or at Indian Valley. I am a glamper for sure, I like to have a lot of the comforts of home, I tow a 6x10 box trailer when I out. I am a FAA part 107 drone pilot with all 3 DJI Mavic 2 drones. a Sony A7c, several action cameras, and DJI Ronin M and SC gimbals. I do go hunting (upland game mostly), target shooting, and riding our dirt bikes when I'm not working or exploring.

Right now residential construction is what pays my bills, but I want to move to flying drones for a living in the near future. Please feel free to reach out anytime, I try to make myself available. Explore, discover and repeat. Cheers!
 

brainwash

Trail Grom
Joined
Apr 29, 2021
Messages
4
Hi everyone. I’m Brian Rush and currently reside in Chico, CA with my wife, son, and two dogs. I’m a newbie when it comes to overlanding, but just got my adventure van and can’t wait to spend my early retirement exploring new areas and meeting fellow overlanders. I’ve taken it camping in the Mendocino NF a few times and look forward to the Lost Coast ride and many off grid adventures.
 

OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Messages
72
Location
NorCal
Hi everyone. I’m Brian Rush and currently reside in Chico, CA with my wife, son, and two dogs. I’m a newbie when it comes to overlanding, but just got my adventure van and can’t wait to spend my early retirement exploring new areas and meeting fellow overlanders. I’ve taken it camping in the Mendocino NF a few times and look forward to the Lost Coast ride and many off grid adventures.

Hey @brainwash welcome to the OTG community and excited to meet next month at the Lost Coast. What kind of adventure van did you pick up? My family and I rented a Winnebago Revel (Sprinter 4x4) last month, and all that luxury certainly had me envious of folks who have an adventure van as their full time overland rig! We even got her up on on 3 wheels on the climb out of Usal Beach, which was fun as well.
 

brainwash

Trail Grom
Joined
Apr 29, 2021
Messages
4
Thank, Ben, for the welcome and for setting this all up! Looking forward to more group ventures and this club will be great for this. After 7 long months, I picked up the Storyteller Overland Beast earlier this month. Originally had my eyes on a Winnebago, but the Volta system swayed me to the STO. There’s a great community on a fb group with a rally coming up in Sedona next month. I follow the Revel group as well as there are lots of great ideas applicable to both vehicles.. STO did fine in Mendo NF even with the fresh spring snow from last Sunday.
 

brainwash

Trail Grom
Joined
Apr 29, 2021
Messages
4
Hello all, my name is Gerard Horan and I am getting back to spending time in the wilderness/camping. I am married and live in Redwood City, CA with my wife and 2 kids ( who are supposed to be in college but due to Covid are at home). I drive a 2016 4 Runner Limited and am in the process of upgrading various components. I have upgraded the Suspension with Fox 2.5 DSC and Old Man Emu Spring for the rear. I have added RCI armor for the gas tank, and RCI Sliders. I have also added Ironman 4x4 Recovery points to the front. I made the big decision this year to add an ICECO Fridge, with a Goal Zero 1500 and a Solar Panel. I also LOVE my Gazelle tent and my EXPED Mattress. Currently thinking about a winch and a front bumper. I am an avid photographer and my goal is to perfect the art of Light Painting with Star Pictures.
I love exploring the Sierra's especially off areas off of Highway 4. Hope to get up to Corral Hollow later this year!
Hi Gerard @camtnbiker , we just moved from RWC to Chico about 3 years ago. Loved it there, but it was time for new pastures. Still get down there to visit.
 
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Vipprotector

Trail Grom
Joined
May 2, 2021
Messages
1
Hi All,
Martin here. 15 years of Overlanding off and on. Had 1997 LC supercharged and fully built for years. Sold and wine with a 2007 LC 100 series. Sold and now in a 2014 4Runner Trail fully built out For Overlanding. Had a break for a few years due to work tempo, but now on trails every months again. Also have a 2013 Tundra CM Rock Warrior that’s semi built out.
Currently in East Bay.
Looking forward to some good trips. Have a small group of friends I usually go with or we sign up for Cal4wheel, Pure4x4 runs etc as well on top of downloading routes here and other places I also research and built my own trips for us, usually as the lead driver with the maps.
Love this resource BTW.
 

godzillavsmountain

Trail Grom
Joined
May 3, 2021
Messages
5
athorsecreek.jpg athome.jpg

Hi all, My name is Keith Hampton. I live in Sonoma County, Ca. I'm pretty new to off-roading/overlanding. I have a 2006 Xterra that I bought with a few mods: 4 inch lift, 33" wheels, rear bumper w/tire mount and gobi ladder, etc. I recently ordered a roof rack from Roxterra that I'm hoping to have mounted before the Lost Coast trip! Have taken a few trips, mostly to Mendo where I camped on Horse Creek, and got stuck in the snow near the peak of Hull Mountain! They've been great trips and I'm planning another, solo, up there at the end of this week. Any tips on good dispersed camping spots North of Hull would be appreciated. So far have only camped on the South side. Looking forward to meeting you all later this month!
 

OTG Ben

OTG Principal Explorer
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Apr 24, 2021
Messages
72
Location
NorCal
Hey Keith @godzillavsmountain Welcome to the OTG community and nice rig! I haven't done much exploring in MNF since the big fire hit last year. One of my favorite locations is Skunk Rock off of m1 that is closer to Black Butte River Ranch. Skunk Rock has a great view overlooking round valley and the surrounding mountains. It's fantastic for sunsets and sunrises, and gets enough protection from the wind as well. There's also some great camping off of M61, but not sure how hard that area got hit with the fire.
 

godzillavsmountain

Trail Grom
Joined
May 3, 2021
Messages
5
Thanks Ben: burn pretty extensive everywhere I've been up there but not quite as bad on M61. I've camped a couple times on Horse Creek the last few weeks and once on Boardman Ridge (in the snow) when I could not get over Hull. I'll keep post here what it's like up there.
 

genesis712

Trail Grom
Joined
May 5, 2021
Messages
3
Hello Everyone! I am Karthik Natarajan. I live in Portland, Oregon with my wife and a polar bear dog. I am relatively new to off-roading but have been camping/backpacking for a while! I have a 2016 4runner which I have built over the past few years..now I need to equip myself to properly tackle various terrains!
Looking forward to the Lost Coast trail and making new friends in the off-road community!

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godzillavsmountain

Trail Grom
Joined
May 3, 2021
Messages
5
Hey Keith @godzillavsmountain Welcome to the OTG community and nice rig! I haven't done much exploring in MNF since the big fire hit last year. One of my favorite locations is Skunk Rock off of m1 that is closer to Black Butte River Ranch. Skunk Rock has a great view overlooking round valley and the surrounding mountains. It's fantastic for sunsets and sunrises, and gets enough protection from the wind as well. There's also some great camping off of M61, but not sure how hard that area got hit with the fire.
Thanks Ben, is there a hiking trail to Skunk Rock? Where is the trail head? I found Skunk Rock on Gaia but I don't see a road or trail.
 

godzillavsmountain

Trail Grom
Joined
May 3, 2021
Messages
5
Hello Everyone! I am Karthik Natarajan. I live in Portland, Oregon with my wife and a polar bear dog. I am relatively new to off-roading but have been camping/backpacking for a while! I have a 2016 4runner which I have built over the past few years..now I need to equip myself to properly tackle various terrains!
Looking forward to the Lost Coast trail and making new friends in the off-road community!

View attachment 20View attachment 21
Hello Everyone! I am Karthik Natarajan. I live in Portland, Oregon with my wife and a polar bear dog. I am relatively new to off-roading but have been camping/backpacking for a while! I have a 2016 4runner which I have built over the past few years..now I need to equip myself to properly tackle various terrains!
Looking forward to the Lost Coast trail and making new friends in the off-road community!

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Hey Karthik, nice shades! (Nice rig too.) I don't know about 40 days, but we could use some rain!
 

redrockryder

Trail Grom
Joined
Jan 10, 2022
Messages
1
Location
Gold Canyon, AZ
Hey everyone, I’m Phil, my husband is Mike. We live in Gold Canyon, AZ. I drive a 2019 TRD Off Road 4x4 Tacoma, Mike drives a 2021 SR5 Premium 4x4 4Runner. We enjoy exploring the hundreds of miles of trails close to us in AZ. We also hit Death Valley at least every other year (I used to work as a geologist out there for USGS, so it’s always like a homecoming of sorts); Colorado around Cortez-Mancos-Durango (SO much yet to explore); and Utah mostly around Moab (again, SO much more to explore); and in a rented jeep in the Caribbean (Culebra and Puerto Rico).
I am putting together an overland trip to the San Rafael Swell in Utah for the Labor Day Weekend 2022, which promises to be a lot of fun. I spent time there in the mid 1990s while a geology graduate student at ASU, and I’ve always wanted to go back! And one of these days when we have enough time off, we’ll head south and explore some of Baja (the pics from there that many of you have taken and posted are pretty spectacular!).
Look forward to meeting many of you out there. Attached are pics of the Taco.
 

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TreatSmash

Trail Grom
Joined
Jan 13, 2022
Messages
1
Yoooo!

Hi. I just found your page here very cool. I just bought my future overland vehicle, a '06 LC and am so interested in diving into and learning everything about the vehicle, culture, and lifestyle. So I just wanted to say hi! I am planning a US wide tour next year when I retire from the Army. I would love to hook up with you guys while I am on the road.

I am already including some of the OTG trails in my planned route around the US. I don't have much off-roading or 4-wheeling experience now, but I plan to fix that by the end of the year.

I have a ton of miles though hiking and climbing, this last July I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and plan on including some good climbs out west when I get there.
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mtnbkr373

Trail Grom
Joined
Mar 22, 2022
Messages
1
Hello! I've been overlanding for many years, but I joined here because it seems like an awesome resource. I've got a 2001 Toyota 4Runner with a 3" Old Man Emu lift. I try to get out once a month and always take a 2 week trip in the summer. We went to Colorado last year and did a huge trek through the San Juan mountains and surrounding areas (Alpine Loop was epic!). Still couldn't see everything ... definitely going back. I've been a rock climber and backpacker all of my life so I always try to incorporate those activities into my trips. Getting ready for a Washington/Oregon trip this summer.
 

MajorPile

Trail Grom
Joined
May 23, 2022
Messages
1
Hi Everyone - My name is Aaren and I live in Fresno, CA. I've enjoyed camping and backpacking the last 10 years, and I recently bought a 2005 GMC Yukon to get into overlanding. I built a platform and storage for the back, put a small lift on it, and some Falken Wildpeak AT3s. I recently did a trial run up to Baldy Mountain just east of Fresno (pic below), and my first official overland trip will be the Lost Coast Adventure Route.

I really appreciate OTG, it takes all of the guesswork out of where to go, where to camp, etc. Makes it super easy to just pick a spot and go.


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