All posts by Last Great Road Trip (LGRT)

land rover wilderness first aid tumbnails

I drove the legend that started it all… more on that in a minute, but first…

Picture yourself on an off-road adventure in the middle of nowhere, cell coverage is non-existent, the stars are beginning to poke through the night sky and your group is settling in for an evening around the camp fire when across the way you hear one of your mates crashing down the hill… then nothing.

Off-road adventures are a great and allow us to get away from it all by exploring the road much less traveled. But with that isolation comes the very real danger that someone may get seriously injured in a place where dialing 911 is not an option (don’t think it could happen to you than read “Trouble Off-road In Moab“) . So how do you prepare for minor scrapes, cuts, and broken bones as well as life threatening injuries?

Andy, a paramedic and member of the Northwest Overland Society put together a three day trip, centered around teaching CPR and wilderness first aid so we could be better prepared to help out in an emergency on the trail.

If you have taken CPR or first aid, you know this material is dry at best and down right mind numbing in the hands of a monotone instructor… but Andy managed to make it entertaining, keeping the group engaged and ensuring we all walked away with the skills necessary just in case he is the one who takes a fall on the trail. The training started out in Tacoma, on the campus of Pacific Lutheran University. And although this portion involves CPR manikins, they are just not as much fun as you might imagine. But despite the Ken Doll Dummies, we did manage to learn 30 and 2, Check, Call, Care and enough key points to all pass our CPR test.

Along the way Andy slipped in some of the major issues we may have to deal with in the wilderness. He also discussed how to get comfortable in the role as leaders out on the trail. Leadership in a crisis is hard to prepare for and any time you can practice, the time is well spent.

After we said goodbye to the CPR dummies, some in the group having more trouble letting go than others, it was onto Blue Lake for the wilderness first aid portion of the training.

The drive to Eastern Washington took us over the Snoqualmie Pass and into the Yakima Valley. Even from the highway the view is amazing and foreshadowed what was to come on the trail. We made our last stop in Yakima to gas up and collect stranglers before heading to the trail.

This is the first run I’ve had the opportunity to take with the NW Overland Society. The crew included: Craig (leader of the NW Overland Society), Andy (our trip leader), Todd & Scott up from PDX, Dan, the other Scott, Dave, Joe & Daria as well as Isaac visiting from New York. Blue Lake is near the Rim Rock area, a high mountain desert around 6,700 ft. above sea-level where the days are hot, dry and windy followed by nights in which the mercury plummets, even in August.

Because of… lets just call it a lot of friendship renewal time, our start on the trail was a bit late. But that meant we had the opportunity to do a little nighttime driving which is one of my favorite activities. Even before the sunset, visibility was at a minimum from all the rigs kicking up a thick layer of fine Eastern Washington dust into the air. The trail in was easy enough even in the dark and before you knew it we were at the lake pitching camp.

By the time I tossed out my sleeping bag and bivy sack, many in the crew were putting the finishing touches on their roof top Shangri-Las. Plush, easy to pitch and high on cool factor, roof top tents represent the ultimate roughing it easy of over-landing. I got to look into getting me one.

Cold nights mean one thing to friends on the trail… fire side BS. Although I’d never run with this crew before, they have to be some of the best guys around… welcoming me into the group as if I’d been running with them for years. We were all up until way past late laughing, telling stories and having a great time by the fire trying to stay warm.

Of course the morning came crashing in hard as the sun hit my bivy sack… I guess those roof top tents come with blackout curtains since they didn’t pile out for another couple of hours. That day Andy showed us the proper techniques for dealing with cuts, bruises, dehydration, broken bones and bleeders. But more importantly Andy worked with us to understand the choices we would be making as leaders in these situations.

No one wants to stop a trip halfway because of an injury, have a person ride out the rest of the trip in pain or sit by their friend and hold his hand as they pass but accidents happen. As the group leader we may have to make the hard decisions. And while you can never be fully prepared, Andy provided us with the tools we may need to hopefully make the right choice when the time comes.

Discussing blood and guts all day can be a stop sign to a good time, but with the sun going down and another fireside session the crew was back to laughing until all the wood in camp was gone. This is definitely the way to remind yourself why you take the risks of going out to the middle of nowhere. The last day found the crew packing up after breakfast which came sometime around noon… did I mention those roof top tents fold up as fast as they pitch.

Ok, all first aid and no wheeling makes Jack a cranky boy. This crew was made up of folks of all different wheeling levels so we talked a little about the trails choices that would allow everyone to challenge themselves a bit without over doing it for anyone. We took a couple of 4×4 trails out to some amazing vistas.

The trail provided good practice helping some learn about their rig’s capability and the proper line choice as well as giving others the chance to choose the more difficult lines. At the top we were rewarded with panoramic views of the cascades and rim rock in all their glory. Up there… if you couldn’t hear God talking to you… you weren’t listening. Dan’s rig is the Land Rover Defender 90 series, outfitted for going just about anywhere.

Handing me the keys and letting drive was a chance of a life time. This is the rig that the English explored the world from, or as close as you’re going to get these days and driving it was everything you’d expect. It is British… Utilitarian and full of personality… Sure there are quirks about Land Rovers you need to accept, but if you want to experience the ultimate exploring rig, just climbing behind the wheel and driving the dusty fire roads will put you in the right state of mind… Many of us explore the remote trails looking to find places visited by only a few and to share a camaraderie with those who make the journey with us.

Although this adventure was primarily for training, I hope the bonds of friendship that were formed can remain in place until I have the chance to meet up with this crew again on the next run. One of the books Andy recommended that everyone carry is the “Mountaineering First Aid: A Guide to Accident Response and First Aid Care “. You may want to pick up a copy before your next adventure.

Bonus Pictures from the run on flicker… there are a lot… just click through to see them all in a slide show on our off-road adventure flickr account.

Overland & Trails

An Off-Road Adventure Down Memory Lane

August 5, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT) 2 Comments

Growing up in Portland OR, my formative high school days as well as my heavy drinking college years were spent chasing one thing… Ok maybe two things but the one I’ll write about was the chance to go out, explore off-road, getting lost on the logging roads above Estacada OR.

I would drive my old Baja bug, held together with spit and bailing wire, looking for out of the way places to fish and camp. In those days, and we won’t do the math to figure out just how long ago that was, the creeks were filled with little 6″ native Cut Throat trout and the gravel roads shook under the traffic of the big logging truck.

Recently I had the chance to chase those elusive logging roads to their end once again. This time however the FJ Cruiser gave me much more off-road confidence to go beyond the gravel and venture onto the two tracks… sometimes down the no tracks… just the hint of a trail that lead to views seen by only a few others and maybe not seen for years.

I was off the map… I was exploring what was around the bend, over the hill and what just might be next… Driving those old roads (now mostly abandoned by the logging companies) provided a sense of peace and solitude for Hula Betty and I, that seems to be more and more difficult to achieve in a life connected by email, cell phones and text messages 24×7.

The years change things… not for good or bad, just change. The rustic state camp grounds I knew now take reservations and the scarred mountain sides were once again green with the promise of a new crop of lumber. The logging trucks don’t thunder down the mountain and the mills have closed leaving ghost towns in their wake. But the mountains still stand tall in all their majesty as the sun sets on them.

The saying is “you can never go home”… and you really don’t want too… but every once in a while it is good to take a look and see the changes. Who knows, you might find a little bit of your past and a lot of your future out there on an off-road adventure down memory lane.

And if you have the chance, drive up the Clackamas River, past Ripple Brooke Ranger Station and turn left off into the woods.

In the News

And The Winner Is…

July 26, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT) 2 Comments

First of all I would like to thank the academy, my parents, my friends, all the readers, the guy who cuts my hair, the kid down the street who mows the lawn, our mailman, my favorite sister-in-law, Hula Betty and all the people who work so hard behind the scenes to make this web site possible….

Ok, so we are not curing cancer here and until someone does end bigotry and hatred in the world this might not be all that news worthy… But over at Trip Base they picked the top blogs and sure enough Last Great Road Trip was a finalist… here is the inside scope. Here is the write up:

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The award is a mark of prestige which is only afforded to the blogs that score highly when our judges review them for selection. The award is a sign that a blog succeeds greatly at what it does and surpasses all expectations, thereby indicating it as a veritable bastion of quality and information.

Americas Awards Category
The Americas (both North and South) are physically large places and so too is the blogosphere that the best America blogs inhabit, so our judges had their work cut out for them in selecting the winners in this category. These blogs have been chosen for the overall combination of style and substance that interact in such a way so as to each create a unique blog that readers will want to return to time and time again. Judges looked for content that was both interesting and informative, but also noted if the blogger could back up written content with visual media such as maps of the Americas or of their respective travel routes and destinations, as well as videos and pictures to accompany their travel stories or information.
Award Recipients 2009

1st http://someone else
2nd http://someone else not us
3rd http://someone else not lastgreatroadtrip.com
4th http://other people’s blog not ours
some more stuff that is not us and than
Finalist http://www.lastgreatroadtrip.com/

Sure we didn’t win… but just being nominated is what is important right? Just like taking your sister to the prom or kissing your grandma good night… it’s just not the same as winner… We’ll be working on our competitiveness issues in therapy next week.

my life

Michelangelo Never Painted In The Rain

July 20, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT) Leave a comment

Art is amazing… It inspires, confuses, questions and touches people is ways they can’t explain. Some seek out their art in churches, others in museums and galleries and some in private collections. On my road trips and off-road adventures, I look for it outside, on the road and away from the crowds. Whether it is Buddhist sand art, sand castles on the beach or back alley tags, out door art speaks to me. And one of my favorite forms is building murals. The older the building, the older the mural… the better.

I don’t know what it is about the art on the side of buildings but it seems to be alive. Maybe it’s the quest since usually you need to hunt for it in back parking lots, alleys or off the beaten path.

But building murals are not often shiny and new. Rather after years of ware and fading, the textures seem to tell the story of life. The brilliant colors that once adorn the building become tired under the grind of daily life until its spirit begins to peal and crack. However when you look closer, you see it is the aging tears in the paint against the texture of the building that gives the work its depth and sense of maturity. You realize the art has stood against the elements and won. The art is not fading, it is wearing its battle scares as a badge of honor and what looks like blistering and cracks are really welts taken in defense of its place in the sun.

Sure that is a lot to read into a an old building mural, but isn’t that better than thinking you really should smoke camels.

Art is everywhere and the next time you’re out on the road looking at a building mural, snap a picture and send it to us at off-road adventures on Facebook. We can’t get enough.

white 2010 toyota trail teams fj cruiser

gear review

Toyota ’10 Model Year FJ Cruiser

July 19, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT) 2 Comments

There appears to be an encore year for Toyota’s flagship off-road truck, the FJ Cruiser. Rumors of its death may have been premature as Toyota releases it’s “What’s New ’10 Model Year” lineup notes. And would you believe it… the FJ Cruiser is in the line up.

With more horse power, little better gas mileage and a Trail Team Special Edition the 2010 FJ Cruiser looks to continue the rugged off road capabilities that made the legendary Land Cruiser lineup one of Toyota’s best.

But the news is not all daisies and love. The iconic Voodoo Blue color scheme is being retired. And while the Voodoo Blue color makes the rig look like Papa Smurf, it has always been one my favorites, always stands out in a crowd. It will be replaced with Army Green for ’10.

And although we have to say bye bye voodoo, we are pleased that the Toyota FJ Cruiser appears to hold favor with off road enthusiasts, SUV consumers and Toyota alike. Who knows we could learn to like Army Green!

You can read more on the FJ Cruiser and a few other Toyota rigs in the Toyota ’10 Model Year Lineup notes. W can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the Toyota lineup notes for this model year… however we can confirm that 2014 is slated as the last model year for the iconic FJ Cruiser.

how to maintenance

Big Breath, Hold It… Hold It…

July 16, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT) 1 Comment

Ok, Let it out… and breath. How to change your Toyota FJ Cruiser’s engine and cabin air filter.

Here are the filters needed:

When your FJ Cruiser can’t draw in the fresh air it needs, your engine runs less efficiently, gas mileage plummets and horse power evaporates.

The easiest way keep your engine running at peak performance is to regularly check the air filter and change it when it becomes filled with dirt and debris.

Depending on where you live, how you drive and where you take your rig off-road, your maintenance schedule including the engine’s air filter can change. At a minimum, the air filter should be checked with every oil change and replaced (or cleaned if its a reusable filter) every 8000 miles.

The lessor known and often over looked cabin filter should also be replaced. A dirty cabin filter can contribute to the pollution circulating inside the rig and place an unneeded stress on the air condition unit which may work over time trying to cool the interior.

Luckily for FJC owners, the factory engine and cabin air filters on the FJ Cruiser are one of the easiest maintenance items to perform. Each takes only a couple of minutes and with a little on-line shopping, an FJ Cruiser engine air filter can cost less than $15.

Starting with the engine’s air filter the steps are:

Lift the hood, locating the air filter housing and the two clips that hold it in place.
Flip the two clips open releasing the air filter housing and allowing you to pull it away from the engine and exposing the air filter inside.
The filter, although fitting snugly inside the housing, lifts directly out.
After pulling out the old dirty filter, simply drop in the new clean one into the housing.
slide the housing back into place and re-secure the clips holding the air filter housing to the engine.

That’s it. Your done. Really… Two minutes tops and your engine will thank you, it can now pull in all the air it needs to achieve the most effective air fuel mixture creating the combustion that will power the rig at peak performance.

Now that you mastered the engine air filer and are on a roll it is time to move to the interior.

The FJ Cruiser cabin air filter is hidden behind the glove box. Remove the glove box by unclipping the hinge pin and than pressing in on the sides of the glove box as it lowers down past the stoppers.
The cabin air filter is inside the fan housing that is now exposed. By pressing the two clips on the face of the fan housing will you can remove the filter tray.
Remove the old filter from the tray and replace it with the new one. The filter is flexible and will slide under the retaining clips on the tray.
Place the filter tray back into the fan housing
Replace the glove box.

That is all there is too changing the cabin air filter. And depending on how dirty the filter was, you should notice an improvement in the air flow the next time its hot and you need turn on the AC.

You can also save money by making your own cabin air filter.

Celebrate Our Differences and Diversity

What’s In A Word

June 18, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT) 1 Comment

Sometimes we cling to words like a drowning man to a straw… Some people find comfort in their familiarity, some use them to comfort others and help. However, some use words to feel superior while others wield words like a knife to cut down anything different.

This point was driven home to me the other day… just a bunch of simple comments posted on the forums. Comments mocking the website’s use of the term “beadlocker” rather than beadlock wheel and implying the whole “How To Mount Tires on Beadlocker Wheels” story was of no value since the author was not versed in the vernacular they use.

These beadlocker comments are of course nothing and not the point… But it highlights the fact that some people are assaulted by words for being seen as different. Some people constantly take an onslaught of slanders so others can feel good about themselves at the expense of others.

This post will not change anyone’s life but hopefully it will encourage readers to at least think about standing up for another who is under a verbal assault. And I mean a real assault with verbal daggers about race, religion, age, gender or sexual preference.

To fully understand the affects of words and how to stand up for others, read one of the best perspectives on the subject, “Speak UP!” put out by Teaching Tolerance.

By the way: google beadlockers we’re not along…

fj cruiser walker evens beadlock wheels dirt road

How To Modification Info

The Wheels On The Rig Go Round And Round

June 16, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT) 6 Comments

Yup, I’m talking beadlock wheels. IHRA Pro Stock cars, CORR trophy trucks and vertical wall scaling rock crawlers all use them. But how exactly do they work and what does it take to install them.

When an IHRA Pro Stock car travels down the quarter-mile in under eight seconds or an off-road truck airs down real low certain physics take over causing a tire to loose its grip on the wheel often resulting in the tire falling right off the rim. Beadlocks over come this physics problem with a separate ring bolted to the wheel, holding the tire tightly in place. Air pressure is replaced by bolt torque to hold the wheel on tight… in less than ideal conditions.

When it comes to beadlock wheels you’ll need to choose a manufactured wheel or cut up a steel wheel and build your own. For our rig we decided to go with Walker Evens 17″ beadlock wheels. Born out of desert racing, with 30 years of off-road racing experience, and more than 140 off-road racing victories we figured Walker Evens knows a thing or two about wheels. The Walker Evens beadlocks are cut from cast aluminum rated at 3,800 lbs with grade 8 bolts and holes for valve stems that have been set back out of harms way. Walker Evens beadlock wheels are cut to order and available with custom back spacing. We opted for a 3.75″ back spacing.

The items required to mount the tires onto our beadlocks and balance them isn’t a long list but requires a couple of inexpensive specialized tool:

Valve stem tool
Valve core tool
Torque wrench
1/2” Socket
19mm and 21mm Socket (lugs)
Ratchet strap
Air source
Rubber mallet
Valve Stems (.453 rim hole, 1 ¼” long)
8 ounces per tire of Dyna Beads in easy open bag (how to balance off-road tires with Dyna Beads)
Valve core w/ filter (keeps Dyna Beads out of the valve stem)
New lug nuts

This mod is about as hard as changing a tire on the difficult scale but it is time consuming. Plan for about one hour per tire, bring a stool.

In our case step one… get the tires off the old stock rims. You pull the valve stem core to empty the tire and use a hi-lift to push the tire off the wheel. We punked out and took them down to Les Schwab, paid the $4 per tire and called it good. After all this is how to mount tires on beadlocks, not how to take tires off a stock rim.
Grab one of the new valve stems and using the valve core tool, remove the core than insert the new core fitted with the filter. This step ensures the beads we will use to balance the tire don’t clump up in the valve stem. The core simply screws in and out.
Insert the valve stem through the wheel and using the valve stem tool, pull the valve stem through until it seats in the wheel.
Place your wheel flat on the ground and work the tire’s inner bead over the wheel. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it. This involves setting one side of the tire’s bead over the lip and than hurling yourself through the air and landing on the tire forcing the remainder of the tire over the wheel’s lip… This may take a couple of times… and it isn’t pretty.
Now that tire is on the wheel, open the bag of Dyna Beads and place the beads, bag and all, inside the tire… that is all there is too it.
Stop! Are you sure the valve stem is inserted? Are the Dyna Beads in side? You really don’t want to find you forgot to insert them after you’ve bolted up the ring… It could happen.
Take your rubber mallet and knock the outer tire bead onto the lip the wheel so it sits on the wheel snugly and the locker ring will fit on top.
Place the locker ring on the wheel and hand tighten all 24 the bolts. Use a crisscross pattern and ensure you don’t cross thread any of the bolts.
Grab your torque wrench and start tightening the bolts in a circular pattern. Walker Evens recommends first torquing the bolts to 10 ft/lbs than 15 ft/lbs and finally 18-20 ft/lbs. Get comfortable this is going to take awhile. My advice here is to really chase the bolts around at the 10 ft/lbs setting until they all are torqued… It will take going round and round and round… and around but the work here pays off on the next two setting which will torque up much more quickly. No matter how you do this, it is going to take time… I’ve had dates that took less time than it took to get all 24 bolts torqued up correctly.
Ever wonder how to re-inflate a tire if you roll a bead on the trail? Well here is your chance to practice. Take a ratchet strap, wrap it around the tire and tighten it down. You will have a large gap between the back of the wheel and the tire bead but the tire should be pressing down against the wheel. Using your air source begin to air up the tire normally. Caution! Unless you have a crush on a doctor or nurse at the emergency room and want a reason to visit them, keep your fingers out of that gap between the tire and wheel. As you inflate the tire, it will slide out closing the gap between the wheel and tire. You will get a loud pop when the tire bead finally seats itself on the wheel. When tire does seat itself, stop inflating, remove the ratchet strap and finish airing up to the tire manufactures recommended setting.
Rinse and repeat for the rest of the wheels.

When you select your wheels, check which type of lug nut is required. Our stock FJC wheels used a flat mag style lug nut and bushing. The Walker Evens require a cone style lug nut… of course. We opted for the titanium colored aluminum racing lug nuts from Gorilla Automotive. They are strong, super light and high on cool factor.

With the tires mounted and balances, it was simply a matter getting them onto the rig. Since you have the torque wrench out be sure to use it… According to the Toyota manual, lug nut should be torqued to 85 ft/lbs.

After care:

After 25 miles, re-torque all your lug nuts
Walker Evens says to re-torque the beadlock ring bolts every other week for the next six months. No one said cool was maintenance free.

With the extra back spacing and our 2″ long travel kit our rig’s front stance is now 82″ wide… great for stable speed, bomb down desert roads and play in the off camber stuff… not so much for squeezing through gate keeps. Every thing is a trade off…

How To Modification Info

Get The Lead Out (it is all about balance)

June 12, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT) 8 Comments

No more shakes and shimmies, better gas mileage and longer tire life what’s not to like…

Spinning tires wobble if they’re not perfectly balanced. To avoid having your off-road truck shimmy and shake while bombing down the back roads, usually means taping lead weights on the sides of the wheel until a bubble level reads top dead center. The trouble with lead weights is that they are difficult to place exactly right, they can fall off on an off-road adventure when wheels and rocks meet. Additionally as the tire wears the weights are no longer in the right spot. Heavy mud terrain tires require a lot of weight in order to achieve balance.

We recently installed our Toyo Open Country M/T on new beadlock wheels and instead of the usual lead weights we decided on tiny high-density ceramic Dyna Beads from Innovative Balancing… So how can a few ounces of tiny ceramic beads balance a 75 lbs tire? Well for those of you who where eating pizza in Mr. Hand’s physics class when he covered centrifugal force, here is how the tiny beads dynamically balance a spinning tire:

beads are placed inside the tire (big space filled with air… not inside the rubber… just want to be clear) and sit at the bottom tire when the rig is at rest
as the rig begins to move the wheel starts to roll and centrifugal force distributes the beads all around
every time a heavy spot on the tire goes up on the rotation it pushes the beads down and away from the heavy portion of the tire
quickly the oscillation frequency reduces and the beads move less and less
when the wheel achieves perfect balance centrifugal force holds all the beads in place

These little beads will work on 18 wheelers, RVs, trucks, cars, motorcycles. If it has wheels, the laws of physics hold true… Ok that’s enough but this will be on the test.

Checking the charts, our 295/70R17 E rated tires required between 6 and 8 ounces of Dyna Beads for each tire. Innovative Balancing sells pre measured bags so we order up a bunch of 8 ounce bags. The beads themselves come in two sizes, standard and bigger… we went with the standard size since they offer a couple of installation options but you do need to install their filtered valve stem core.

Since we were mount tires onto new wheels, once the tire was on the wheel we place one 8 ounce EZ Open bag of beads inside the tire cavity and than set the tire and aired up… yeah that is it. The EZ Open Bag is designed to open and release the beads the first time the wheel starts to spin. Your other option is to remove the valve stem core and pore the beads in. A clear plastic break-bleed hose works well to guide the beads into the valve stem or you can buy Innovative Balance’s applicator (little bottle w/ clear plastic hose). Just keep tapping the hose and valve stem (or tape a pocket rocket to the valve stem) to keep the beads flowing.

Regardless of how the beads get in, you will want to install a new filtered valve stem core, unless you have a tire pressure monitoring system(TPMS), to keep the beads from clumping in the valve stem. If you do have a TPMS, Innovative Balance said the TPMS will block out the beads without a filtered valve stem core… but it also means you wont be poring the beads down the core… You win some you loose some.

One safety tip from the Dyna Bead guys… if you use tire bead soap avoid getting any inside the tire or on the Dyna Beads. We did not use any tire soap so no worries.

So the million dollar question is… do they work? We took the rig out on the highway to see if there was any wobble. We did not notice any wobble or shaking as we drove the back roads tooling along at 35 mph, starting out or stopping. And at 70 mph the ride was smooth as a Ken Doll. Not a jitter or shimmy from the steering wheel as we sailed down I5. Big heavy tires are notoriously difficult to keep in balance sending them into a death spiral – Tire out of balance leads to uneven wear which leads to the tire becoming more out of balance, leading to more wear… These beads dynamically balance the tire each and every time reducing wear, increasing mileage and ensuring a smooth ride.

So the next time Boy ask “when am I ever going to use physics in the real world”… I have the answer and a smooth ride.

Update: after tens of thousands of miles and a second set of tires using the Dyna Beads we can tell you that we are very pleased with performance and will continue to use them to balance tires for our off-road adventure truck.

Overland & Trails

Off-Road Trail Bonus

June 6, 2009 Last Great Road Trip (LGRT)

Remember the Lady’s Off-Road Adventure? I know you do… it was the previous post… While the women grabbed the spotlight, one of the moms got a surprise when she looked back and it was her son in the drivers seat of another 4WD rig coming up the trail. And Mother like son, he did a great job… but probably aged a little when the FJ Cruiser looked more like the space shuttle pointed to the moon than a truck driving on a off-road adventure.

And you can see how a good trail boss can walk you out of anything… Nice job Jacob sticking with it and working through a though off-road obstacle.

Overland Adventures and Off-Road