Thanks. I'm glad you like it. I used a GoPro 11, which attaches a stream of GPS data to the video, and an app called "Telemetry Overlay" to create the gauges from the data stream.
Bob, these have been very interesting. I'm also interested in how you set your rig up. I have used my FJ Cruiser for short 3-4 day trips by removing the passenger seat and installing a makeshift platform for a bed, folding back the forward part for daytime. I put my 12 volt frig in the passenger footwell. I use Yokohama geolander 10 ply tires and put a 12 volt on board compressor under the hood, opposite the battery tray. I did not do the cat thing. I am planning a trip through the high desert of West Texas next spring. At 75, it will be my last great adventure, probably!
Hi, Chris! Good to hear from you. Maybe I should make a little video of how I outfitted my 4Runner and the "stuff". A lot of it seems like overkill, but when you're all by yourself in the middle of the desert and haven't seen a soul since that gas station the previous day, it's good to know you have basic gear. Just a few mods to the 4Runner: no lift, but I replaced the front bumper with one that accommodates a winch while not disturbing the radar screen. I removed the back seats and installed a Goose Gear drawer and sleeping shelf system that gives me a completely flat surface behind the front seats and lots of storage in the drawers and under the platform where the seats used to fold up. On the platform I have a cot, Thermarest pad, and sleeping bag, plus a duffel bag with my fishing gear, Bluetti portable power station. I didn't take a fridge, but used a cooler and restocked with ice every couple of days. In some of my videos you can hear the melting ice sloshing around. I use a portable Smittybilt compressor. It fits under the shelf, along with a chain saw, camp table, folding chair, portable toilet, privacy tent for the toilet, tool chest, tire repair tools, etc. I have molle panels over the rear-most windows on which I hang a machete and some recovery gear - kinetic rope, soft shackles, tree saver, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, shackles, snatch block, etc. I'm using BFG KO2 tires. I did not take traction boards but should have - I needed them once, along with a good shovel, when I got high-centered on a rock. On the western part of the trip I took a 25-lb bottle of oxygen and an aviator's supplemental oxygen system, which was helpful in the high Colorado passes. I have a Garmin InReach mini for emergency communication, and took 30 days of dehydrated meals. Have a good trip next spring - and have fun planning it!
@@rwpattonstl very cool setup, Bob. I did the ARB bumper on front which allows the winch to be self contained. I also have a smaller winch mounted to a receiver which I can use on the rear. Thanks for all the update. I'm sure various forums would love to see your "build". CJ
What a journey! Oregon is such an amazing, beautiful state with it's diversity of geology, terrain, and flora. Kind of makes me think of a younger version of North Carolina, on steroids. Thanks for your many hours of work putting these videos together. I felt like I got to see the land with you, but from the comfort of my couch. :-)
Thanks! Oregon is very interesting, but I saw a lot of fire damage and between the heavy overcast and the dark evergreens I was glad to get to the end.
Hi Bob, I am curious about your 4Runner. Do you have any modifications? What model do you have? I have a 2022 SR5 with just some AT tires and would like to do some of this trail with my children over the summer. Just looking to see if the trail is doable with a stock vehicle. Thanks for the great videos!!
Thanks, Scott. I'm glad the videos are helpful. I'll make another video to discuss the mods and gear that I used, but it's a 2020 TRD Off-Road Premium with BFG T/A KO2 265/70R17 tires (31.6" diameter). The suspension is stock (no lift), but I added a winch (didn't use it), a front bumper to accommodate the winch but not obstruct the radar, rock sliders, an awning, and a differential breather to the rear diff to help keep out water. Had it inspected after I finished the trip; there were a couple of small dents in the muffler but no damage requiring repair. In the interior I removed the rear seats and added a sleeping platform and drawer system so that I could sleep comfortably in the 4Runner.
Thanks, Chris. I used Go Pro 9 and 11 cameras, which attach a stream of GPS data along with the images. An app called Telemetry Overlay converts that data stream into a variety of information gauges that show location, speed, elevation, and rate of change of any of those, some of which I've displayed on the screen. I recorded almost every minute of the trip - hundreds of hours of enormous files - which I've condensed into what's posted here. I edited the final version with Adobe Premiere Pro.
Thank you for the tremendous amount of time and energy you put into making all these videos. I have watched hours of other different videos and your product is by far the most informative and instructional. It is very realistic and doesn't romanticize the journey. I'm 76 and was going to make this trip in September of 2024, solo in a Hummer H3T. I have rethought my goals, the day to day grind and the tenacity required from both man and machine. I've decided to split it up into 3 separate trips to better test my mental ability to travel at such slow speeds for such long periods of time. Your videos taught me a lot and made me search for the real reason for making such a trip. I can't thank you enough.
Thanks so much. I appreciate it, and think you got exactly what I wanted viewers to absorb. I turned 75 two days before I started the western portion of the trip, and I think you are wise to divide the journey into three parts. It is a fabulous trip (more so, now that it's over), but by the end of the trip my fatigue had begun to impair my judgment.
Congratulations! We had the same problem with fires in Western Oregon, ended up missing the very end of the TAT. Hopefully, our trip this year will be fire free.
Thanks for the question. As I mentioned on the opening screen, I was pressed for time so I skipped the Idaho TAT and drove directly from Tremonton to Farewell Bend. My plan is to return this year and do the Idaho portion.
That tight turn and the waterfalls spot at the 8:00 mark - one of my favorite parts of this section (and that entire section along the river and the pipeline). I stopped at Andrews and will pick back up there another time (to Tellico Plains). I'm enjoying getting a sneak peak of what that looks like (Andrews to Tellico Plains), and the 12:00 mark...interesting little stretch.
Yep. That waterfall is a pretty spot and is easily missed. It used to have a rope swing and would have been a good swimming hole. And yes, the stretch at 12:00 was "interesting". :-)
Bob, another great one, thanks taking us along on your journey. So about your "detour" at the 2:00 mark in your video - I initially took that left, but I encountered some jagged "boulders" going up that hill and kept "lugging" while I was climbing over them in my 3rd Gen 5-speed and felt like I was going to break something due to the angles they presented. I finally lost my confidence, turned tail, and then took the same route you did, and ended up on McFarland Rd. That route was just as enjoyable, but it took me way off course, and I'm still determined to going back to that spot and finish out that section. One thing I'll say about the TN section (at least from Tellico Plains) - it was very jagged, lots of sharp rocks poking out, whereas almost all of the NC sections I've completed have been very nicely maintained packed dirt roads.
Thanks ! Tennessee has several roads that look like they were paved - poorly - at one time but have not been maintained, so erosion has made them into messes. I thought the roads in east Tennessee were the worst of the entire trip.
Thanks for watching and for commenting! Yes, the area is incredibly desolate. I really felt it when I got into some of the off-road tracks between Baker and Wendover.
Thanks! Glad you liked it. I recorded the video with a GoPro 11, then processed it using an app called Telemetry Overlay to create the gauges using the GoPro's GPS data.
There are two routes: Poncha Creek Trail, which I used, is the one laid out in Sam's CO3 track. Marshall Pass Road (County Road 200), that I understand is a much better road that runs generally parallel, also goes to Marshall Pass. One thing to note is the absence of signs at the place I stopped. The main Marshall Pass signage is actually a little below me at the Pass. I'm sure most people - wiser people? - use the better road.
In most of the west I aired down from 40 to 25. In some areas with more pavement I did not air down because I disliked the mushy feeling on pavement more than I liked the softer ride on rocky roads. It was dry most of the time and I never felt that traction was an issue. The 4Runner has BFG KO2 tires.
Usually unless you're airing down below 20 more like 15 you don't get a much bigger footprint I never used to air down my first landcruser a1973 40 series it was stock with Dunlop safari tires would take on beach second truck a 1997 80 series landcruser with falken wild peaks no different.
Watched the first series and been following along on the second phase. What projects all the physical data at the bottom of the windshield? Is that provided by the Go Pro? I'm also interested in how you navigated the TAT since I am starting my trip on 9-12-24 in an old H3T Hummer
I recorded the video with a GoPro 11 camera, which also obtains and records GPS data. I use an app called "Telemetry Overlay" to extract that information from the GoPro files to create the gauges and overlay them into video files (very large mp4 files). Then I edit and process the resulting files using Adobe Premiere Pro to create what you see. The files are large and it's quite a time-consuming process. In respect to navigation, I use an app called Gaia GPS on an iPhone following routes originally created by a fellow named Sam Correro www.transamtrail.com/
Wouldn't want to do too many hours of Warloop Road, but you could have churned butter in your cooler. Pokey should be glad he was not on this leg. :) Beautiful sunset shot. There is a lot to be said for long drives with no radio or music.
Lots of red dirt during the past couple of days! You sounded like you were excited to cross into Arkansas and head home for a break. Thanks for these, it's a great reminder of how big and beautiful the US is.
Nope, not even close. The last time we were there it was so crowded we could barely get in the door. Ended up leaving with no pie. It’s really changed over the last 10 years.
I remember that drive you and Dad and I took, and sitting on the rocks next to the creek. We got some good pictures of each other that day. If I recall correctly, there may have been a rodent family adding to the ambiance in that primitive cabin when you and Setsuko stayed there? Those mountain woods can feel gloomy and dark in rain like you had at the end, there.
Beautiful drive, perfect time of year. This made me miss my classic old Cherokee Jeep and those dirt roads around Franklin, Andrews, and Snowbird. Thanks for sharing.
Might be possible but I wouldn't recommend it. I especially wouldn't try the mountain passes in Colorado with one. They might actually be prohibited on some trails in Colorado. The other thing to consider is durability. The TAT will beat the hell out of a trailer.
