expedition travel

[rejeep]

just throwing it out there.
I am looking into a few day expedition style trip.. I know NY is a difficult place to even plan such a thing, but Canada and Vermont are right next door.

Anybody have any insight to offer?
I know there are several clubs that venture out like this.. It might be a change of pace for most if not all of us.

Spring or fall \'11 is the goal... hate camping in extreme Heat/Cold...

[MrMindless]

I\'ve been wanting to do something Ultimate Adventure style for a while.  Self sufficient, wheel - transit - wheel - transit - wheel, no trailers no whining just like they do.

I\'m sure we could pick some good destinations for perhaps a loop around Lake Ontario?  That could be a nice run...

[smichaelR22]

i might be interested if the new rig project plans pan out...  but buggy not so good on the street.

[CoraC143]

sounds like fun!! We\'ll have to make a cool trailer to pack our gear.

[ollllllo]

Sounds like a great idea, Lets do it!

[MrMindless]

international boarder crossings in trail rigs may be interesting.  I wonder if Pewe and crew have ever hit a Canadian destination?

[ollllllo]

I remember reading articles in one of the 4 wheel drive magazines years ago detailing an arctic expidetion. The guys had to keep 2 vehicles running at all times so they could use the hot/ warm exhaust to deice the other vehicles. The editor was sleeping in a specically built MJ with an insulated cap and it was open to the cab.
Ill never forget the story because it was one of the biggest influences in my love of offroading and quest for adventure.

Is vermont and new hampshire as tough on closing trails and public land access as NY?

[JCJ]

I\'m in for sure..  This is actually my main interest in wheeling..

[carchameleon]

sounds fun and interesting

[etk300ex]

I\'d love to do something like that but I dont think the toyota will ever touch the road again :)

[ollllllo]

We all have tons of work to do for a trip like this.
So let\'s get wrenching!

[jimsh]

This sounds really cool, By next year the jeep should be in a state of readiness for something like this. The issue is planning vacation time for me and the wife so we would be able to make it but i am interested.

[rejeep]

well go figure I would love to do it in the Land rover..

I have somebody looking into Canada for me as we speak..  There is really some vast wilderness there with little access but fire roads and logging trails.. Issue is finding them and planning a trip.


Here is blurb from the trip that sparked this a year ago..  He is the guy who is responsible for me getting a rover..
Its cut and paste bc its in the members only section of the JonFund BB..

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Just thought I would fill alll and sundry in on a little expedition some of us in the Land Rover community are doing over the coming weekend.

There are 12 trucks meeting up in Haliburton Ontario, about 100 miles Northeast of Toronto on Thursday evening for cocktails and dinner, after which on Friday morning we will commence a 4 day expedition along a @ 300 mile \"trail\" strung together from logging trails and a WWII era military road that has not been run end to end for at least 10 years as far as is known. No settlements along the way so it\'s self-sufficiency all the way. Hoping two jerry cans of fuel will be enough!

There is a videographer from Discovery coming along, so there should be some good footage after the trip.

Headed to upstate NY tomorrow night, then the next 7 hours on Friday. Hopefully good pics and vids by next week (if the black flies don\'t consume me whole).

Cheers,

Richard


Sorry for the late reply. Arrived back safe and sound on Tuesday the 5th. Sorry I missed the offer of a round of golf in Rochester! Drove to Syracuse on the way up Wednesday night and made it to Haliburton Ontario mid-day on Thursday to torrential rain. The locals told us that the ice had only melted on the lakes a week before, and things were not looking good.

We hit the trail on Friday with 10 vehicles. Nine Land Rovers: a 101 Forward Control, 2 Discovery Series 1, a Discovery Series 2, a Defender 90, my Series III, a military air portable (aka Lightweight) a long wheelbase Series II, and a Short wheelbase Series II. One Jeep CJ7. The rain continued as we hit the trailhead in Minden Ontario and headed into the bush.

We immediately faced a water crossing that was going to be a challenge for mos of the vehicles. I had water running across the floorboards in the Tonka (almost 3 feet high). For a few of the vehicles, we simply switched them off and winched them across making sure to keep the air intake clear of water and in a few cases, unscrewing the ECUs and putting them up on the dash. Despite our precautions, we subsequently discovered a faulty seal in the D90\'s transmission and that night towed it into camp where we cycled as much of the water and gudge out of the valve body and torque converter as possible, ran 8 quarts of motor oil through it to clean it out, and then filled it up with ATF and Power Steering Fluid. It ran flawlessly the res of the trip with \"remarkably firm shifts\" according to the owner. It\'s toast after running 10W40 through it, but it worked well throughout the trip.

A second obstacle produced extensive head scratching and a smattering of stuck vehicles. We had to cross a beaver pond with two inlets, an island in between, lots of deep water and VERY soft silty mud. I thought I had the right line and by taking a tricky ledge over the island, minimized the crossing on the other side of the island to about a 6 foot crossing of what seemed after much prodding to be a reasonably solid bottom. Grinning ear to ear as I looked back at the 101 on 38\" tires burried to it\'s door bottoms, I launched into the stream and promptly bellied out. Again, with water running in the driver\'s side door and out the other side, and some fairly complicated winching, I got through and after a few more challengeswent on ahead to set up camp while they got the other vehicles through. With a substantial amount of firewood collected, the tarp set up, and a glass of rather nice Olorosso sherry in hand, I saw two vehicles come in under tow. The D90 whose tranmission issues have already been addressed, and the lightweight sporting a GM 2.8 V6 conversion. The latter had apparently suffered from substantial over-revving (think 8000 rpm  ) and as a result was at serious risk of punching a con-rod through the block. We would pend considerable time the following day trying to get it out to a point where reaching a navigable road was possible.

It rained briefly during the night, and in the morning dropped a few snowflakes on us. That however was the end of precipitation (if not cold) for the trip. Recognizing that this thread is useless without pictures, I will holf off until they become avilable. We had a professional vedeographer along for the trip and he is apparently working up the edit as we speak, so I will post again when that is ready. There should be some nice shots of us winching up a sheer rockface on Day 4 that will raise the hairs on you neck!

BTW, although the \"trail\" is allegedly some 300 km (not miles, Canada) long, our 4 day expedition, which was well led, well organized, and made up of very experienced participants, covered about 50km! When the pictures and video are avilable, you will see why...

[MrMindless]

Not the first time I\'ve heard of the abandoned Canadian wartime routes - nor of the severe, exciting. tantalizing disrepair into which they\'ve fallen :)

First time I\'ve been reminded of that in a few years though.  That sounds.... if not perfect, at least pretty close.

[smichaelR22]

i am boycotting canada due to border laws, i refuse to get a passport or pay for an enhanced liscence.