Summer 2014 Heart of the West Adventure Route

[Ocho77]

We (Me, wife, 5 year old daughter, and 10 year old golden retreiver) are in the final planning stages for our family summer overlanding trip. We'll be leaving the D.C. area the middle of June and heading out west. Once out there, we will be attempting to complete the entire 2800 mile Heart of the West adventure route, which consists of 95% off pavement driving/camping through CO, UT, NV, ID, MT, and WY. We'll be back country camping out of the 80.

This past weekend, we did our first test run with the new RTT from CVT. Below is what I have done so far:

Gobi Roof Rack
CVT RTT and annex
CVT Canopy
Rear cargo drawers/storage
USB Outlets in center console
12V outlets in cargo area
ARB Fridge

The truck has had all PM done, including head gasket within the last 20k miles, and am in the process of the final "go-through" and fluid changes.

We'll be on the route from late June through late July. If anyone else will be in the area (or along the route) and is interested in meeting up, let me know.

This is our first overlanding experience as a family, so while a bit nervous, we are very excited. Feel free to offer any tips/advice from your experience!

Pictures are from our test trip last weekend (albeit a KOA campground).

 

[SIZZLE]

Sounds like a blast! Looks like you got a great set up. Keep us posted with your progress. Good luck!

 

[Fast Eddy]

Charge the AC and bring extra water. Plan for extended periods of 100f+.

 

[Ocho77]

Well, we finally returned from our 7 week overlanding trip. I'll spare a lot of details, but will show mostly pictures.

We had as top in MI along the way, as I had drill weekend for the Air National Guard. Spent some time visiting family before heading out:

From MI, we drove quickly and took the interstate towards Denver, stopping along the way in Sioux City to stay with family.


From there, we made it through Denver and stayed one last night in Winter Park before hitting the trail. Temps were in the 70's. Though it looks like rain, it stayed dry and was absolutely beautiful! Even Molly, the dog, enjoyed the fresh mountain air.

We hit the trail northwest of Winter Park, after stopping for one last meal in Oak Creek, CO


Once on the trail, we headed west through CO, into UT. We followed the Heart of the West Adventure Route, if you're familiar. I'll just post pictures since that is what most want to see, anyway.

 

[Ocho77]

As we continued on, we headed west through CO, into UT. Some pics camping, swimming holes we found, and other great scenery.

 

[Skillet]

Cool trip. How did that big old dirtbike do flopping around back there?

 

[Ocho77]

Cool trip. How did that big old dirtbike do flopping around back there?

Thanks, the trip was awesome. The dirt bike did better than I had anticipated. It's only a 300, so the weight of the bike and ramp were about 200 pounds. Didn't really know it was back there.

 

[Ocho77]

This may be easier, rather than posting a ton of pictures here. We had a blog for family/friends to follow along our trip. We took over 1,000 pictures, so only posted some of our favorites.

www.trotterstravels.net

 

[fireball]

Awesome trip, thanks for sharing! Sorry to hear about the engine troubles but sounds like you got some awesome help and made the best of it.

Do you have a more detailed file of the route?

 

[collk22]

@Ocho77

Any chance you'd share more information about this trip? I'm thinking about doing part of the HoTW route in September and would love to hear a little more about your experience on the trail - terrain, logistics, how much ground were you able to cover each day, etc.

I've read through your blog and enjoyed the pictures. Thank you (in advance) for whatever other detail you're willing to share.

 

[Ocho77]

@collk22

Not a problem, I'm more than happy to discuss in more detail. Feel free to shoot me a PM on here, or you can email me at jtrotter77@hotmail.com

It was an awesome trip, and we miss the camping terribly, already.

Cheers,
Jonathan