Watery Roads

Expand your horizons beyond the trail. Paddle lakes, rivers, and open water outdoor adventure with pack rafting (aka packrafting) for overlanders.
Expand your horizons beyond the trail. Paddle lakes, rivers, and open water outdoor adventure with pack rafting (aka packrafting) for overlanders.
Explore overgrown fields, abandoned farms, and cemeteries along the rough dirt forest roads of Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area.
We cover rough terrain and for that, our truck camper is outfitted with all terrain tires. Here's why.
Rocky Mountains National Park’s Old Fall River Road traverses 11 scenic miles from the valley floor to alpine heights. Built back in 1920, this road was early visitors automobile introduction to Rock Mountain National Park. Since its creation, the paved Trail Ridge Road has become the parks main thoroughfare. Yet, Old Fall River Road remains a scenic back road through the park, bypassing much of the congestion and chaos of the popular paved alternative.
I'm sure we've all been there. It's been a busy build up before vacation. You have major responsibilities and small details to clear up at work and home before taking of for an extended trip. And so, when the day to depart arrives, it's a mad dash to fill suitcases, collect necessities, and get going. There is always something that gets forgotten. And the more there is to pack, the more there is to forget.
Yes, we went to Overland Expo East. No, we didn't camp or stay the whole week like we did two years ago. For people in the middle of a build, those tickets get expensive and the time is better spent plugging up leaks. Yet, for one day, we waded through shoe-engulfing mud, the likes of which I hadn't seen off the set of Deadwood to talk with fellow wanderers and vendors to inspire the next stages of our build.
Like all road trippers, we have a long, long list of places that we "meant to visit" but never quite made it in the past. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park was one of those places for us for several years. I have a feeling that the anticipation will not leave us underwhelmed.
We arrive at this the Culp Valley Primitive Campground late at night. The sun set hours ago and the only light comes from a few dispersed campers already in position and a faint glow from the city's light pollution across the mountains. As with many primitive camping sites, there isn't a lot of signage to indicate where to go. After a bit of fumbling about, though, we managed to back into a little nook and settle in for the night.
Overlanders are world travelers who glory in the road less traveled. They explore on motorcycles, jeeps, and trucks across gravel, dirt, and mud roads and even into regions barely reached by vehicle. They love the wilderness and bring their homes with them, be it a hammock, tent, or truck bed camper. And every year, there is a gathering for those wanderers who may have rolled into North Carolina to meet and learn at the Overland Expo East 2016.
We had heard tails of terror about visiting Obstruction Point. It was a perilous route, in story. In reality, this six mile road is the best groomed single lane dirt trail we have ever driven. Even small cars like a Honda Civic seems to travel the road with little issue. The perilous part is the immediate cliff that we travel along resulting in accelerated heartbreak and some of the best views in all of Olympic National Park.