Complete Beginners Guide to Overlanding: Part 1
part 1: Route Planning - Locations - Groundwork
In part 1 we are focusing on developing the overall route which includes how to formulate a plan, choose a destination, Intel, and laying the groundwork for the rest of our adventures.
tools needed/tools used:
GPS Tracks File - Created in video
Gaia GPS/All Trails/Google Search
Finding Locations:
One of the very first things that helps me understand what type of trip we will be taking is: Time Available and Finances for Travel. Let’s start with the PDF. I'm going to choose a random location to “pretend” I live, and then create an adventure like you’ll be doing. This is to show you once you have this formula down creating an overland adventure can be done relatively easy no matter where you live.
The amount of time and finances directly relate to how far from home I’ll be able to travel. This is how I break it down into days/distances: Local 1 day (50mi radius), Regional 1-2 days (200mi radius), In State or Out of State 2-4 days (2-350mi radius), Multi-State 4+ days (400+mi radius). With so many options it really allows for flexibility and easily narrowing down your locations.
The next thing we need to understand is “what are we LOOKING for in this Adventure?” For this we need to choose one or all of these: Trail, Destination, or Activity Based. Once narrowed down, we can start looking at a direction of travel that suits those desires (within your allowed distance and time frame).
Other ways to choose a location when you have an extended amount of time: Social Media, Film or TV, Print/Blog/Magazine - you’ve seen it and now want to experience it. For us these tend to be on the long end of an Overland Expedition and may take considerable time planning and preparing.
Things to Consider when selecting locations: vehicle capability and driver ability… if you’re going several levels above your skill level its best to go with someone who is competent at those skills and who will coach you through it. Being stuck with no service and not enough knowledge/skills/abilities can be life threatening (that’s no joke).
food for thought:
Some locations offer more of a “stay and play” environment where others encompass “the journey is the destination” vibe. Look at these previous videos “The Pony Express Overland Route” vs. “Hidden Lakes of Northern California”. The PEOR is a trail through the mountains and desert spanning several states, we had 3.5 days and choose to start the trail approximately 350mi from our doorstep and then headed back toward our home state. The HLNC is an out and back trail within 50 miles of our door with a specific destination where we intended to stay several days. Comparing them they are nearly opposite but they both offer unique and special experiences and are both considered “overlanding”.
side note:
Hotel/Campsite/Boondocking: This may not be so obvious, but at any point you feel overwhelmed by the adventure its ok to take a break, stay in a hotel, have a night out, hot shower, and a comfy bed. While on extended adventures we generally spend 1 day/night of the week off the trail. Either in a hotel or a campsite w/ laundry & RV hookup. This allows us to catch up on laundry, maintenance issues, grocery shop, or be ridiculously lazy while eating ice cream in bed.
selecting locations:
By now we’ve answered: time available, finances, distance, and adventure style. Now it’s time to find Locations.
First let’s open our Road Atlas and scan in a xxx mile radius from your current location… we are looking for anything that peaks your interest. Write those down. I like to look for lakes, NP, SP, Monuments, and things of that nature.
Next, let’s use All Trails or something similar and search the area within the distance from your current location to the locations that interest you. Write down the trail names that interest you.
Third, google the top 3-5 things you’ve found (Locations, Trails, Interests).
By doing all this research we are narrowing down our list even further clarifying the choices. By now you should be looking at 1 or 2 top things which you want to experience per day (locations, trails, destinations). Any more than 1 – 2 major events per day and I’ve found things can start to get out of control or increase stress.
Fourth, I take those top places and look deeper into them to answer these questions:
How difficult is the trail to get there? Google Search the exact thing you’re looking at; can you find a video, trail guide, blog post, etc?
Do I have the skill? After looking at the trail do you have the skills to complete the most difficult section? If not, whose coming that could help?
Will my vehicle handle it? Choosing the right line is gold here but I still wouldn’t take a stock vehicle on the Rubicon Trail…
Lastly, I commit to moving forward once all options point to yes.
intel:
It’s time to gather as much intel as possible, this means we need to look at several factors to understand the totality of our Overland Adventure and obstacles we may face.
Terrain:
Most importantly, what’s the max difficulty we’ll be facing which we should have answered when investigating the trails we found. I always look at the area through Gaia GPS or Google Maps using SATELLITE IMAGRY. It is often easier to see a trail, where it leads, how travelled is it, and large obstacles through satellite imagery. If I’m still satisfied with it, I’ll download the entire travel route with my Gaia GPS app so I always have map details on hand even if I don’t have cell service. Depending on where, I may even bring a paper topographical map to pair with my digital copies (but paper map reading is a class in itself and they are being replaced by apps like Gaia, Hema, On X, Garmin, etc.).
Distances to Resources:
Where can I get fuel or groceries along the route and if I’m at the furthest location from resources how long would it take help to arrive.
Expected Weather:
Only trying to avoid severe weather storms or abnormally hazardous situations (flash floods, tornados, etc.).
Cell Service:
Kind of obvious but somethings just need to be said… it feels good to have no service, but in an emergency making a call is really easy (if you have service or know where to find it). This is one of the reasons why I love my Gaia GPS, it offers a “layer system” and allows me to see cell strength with my carrier along the route or exact location. From my experience its very accurate.
General Hazards:
Knowing General Hazards We May Encounter Like: Volcanic Activity, Earthquakes, Tornados, Abandoned Mines, Wild Animals, Burnt Trees, Shelf Road, Exposure, Avalanche, Flood Risk, Other People… it’s good to have a contingency plan just in case things go south.
Finally:
All this intel isn’t meant to steer me away from an adventure, it’s really used to maximize the amount of fun while reducing any potential risks.
conclusion:
We’ve clearly defined who, what, when, where, and how long while clearly vetting potential risks, and knowing what we are getting into. Now we’ll use this information to help build the remaining pieces of our Overland Adventure. Join me next time as we uncover Part 2 (BASIC GEAR & PACKING LIST GUIDE) of the Complete Beginners Guide to Overlanding.
