Land Rover Expedition America

[umbertob]

Report from one of the journalists and participants of a section of the expedition, with some interesting comments. This was posted on ExPo, so some of the content was in direct response to queries on that site about how modified the trucks that participated to this trip really were... Lots of skeptics on that forum. Re-posted without permission, hopefully Ray won't mind...

Wading into this thread a little late, but here goes.

I was on the trip from Nevada through to the Pacific. These were completely stock trucks, as you would get off the dealer floor.

LRNA actually had fifty 19" Goodyear MTRs in their warehouse, but they decided to go with the completely stock tires, just to be completely honest when they said the trucks were stock. I appreciate that they did, because it gives us an honest assessment of where the trucks' short-comings are, and the tires were the only issue.

There were actually 4 trucks in total on the trip.
Two trucks did the entire TAT, (as much as possible - we missed a dozen miles in Oregon due to forest fires).
The 3rd truck carried a camera crew. They did most of the trail but hopped off every once in awhile so they could upload images or film some side attractions along the route.
The 4th truck was just used as a shuttle to collect journalists from local airports and ferry them to the main two trucks that were doing the full TAT route.

None of the trucks had any breakdowns, and they didn't bring any spare parts along either. Tom had a basic tool kit along, and an extensive tire-repair kit. Yes there were multiple flat tires. Probably half due to driver error, and half due to the tires themselves.

It's interesting to talk about the tires. Every engineering solution is a series of compromises, and the reality is 99% of people who buy these cars want something quiet, comfortable and yet able to deal with a slippery driveway, a sudden storm, a trip up the ski-hill, and the like. For those conditions the stock tire is appropriate.

For those of us who use these vehicles more aggressively, the stock tire is not appropriate. LRNA knew that when they set off on the trip. And yet they decided to be honest about it and send it on the stock tires anyways. Even with journalists in the vehicles.

My take on the whole trip is that traveling on dirt roads across the USA is an amazing experience.

Is the TAT a hard-core, technical trail? For the most part, no. But then again, the sections of the Silk Web that I've driven haven't been very technical either. Neither is the Dempster highway up into the Arctic. Or most of the Pan-american highway.

The fact that the TAT even exists, as a cross-continent overland route, is fantastic. The fact that Land Rover has demonstrated that we (and our friends and families) can do the entire route in a good stock 4x4, is also fantastic. I'd love to see dozens of families hear about this trip, and set off next summer in a combination of Jeeps, Rovers, Suburbans, and whatever else they have. Hopefully with LR doing a good job of PR, more people in the US will realize this is possible.

ExPo member jessejman did it last year with his wife and 3 little kids in a 1994 Land Cruiser (http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...-US-(and-back)) Maybe they didn't do the exact route, but the spirit was the same.

So, what did we learn from the Land Rover expedition?

There are lots of sharp rocks, so get good tires, know how to fix a flat, be precious of your sidewalls, and bring a couple of Jerry cans of fuel (yes we did actually need to use the Jerry cans, there are a couple of long stages).

Other than that, get out there and enjoy one of the world's last great overland routes while you can, because more of it is getting paved every single year.

*********
Ray Hyland
Explorers Club MI'12
COO - Overland International
www.expeditionportal.com
www.overlandjournal.com

 

[umbertob]

LAND ROVER EXPEDITION AMERICA – THE FINALE
August 28, 2013

Working at Land Rover, we often get the opportunity to travel to some amazing places. Recently, I had the opportunity to be a part of the Land Rover Expedition America. It was an honor to join Land Rover and Camel Trophy legend Tom Collins on such an epic undertaking, writes Wayne Kung, National Product Communications Manager, Jaguar Land Rover North America.

We are a relatively small company at Jaguar Land Rover North America so word travels quickly and Tom’s adventures have been legendary around the office over the years and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to become a part of this story.

Crossing America, to some, is a rite of passage, and in ensuing years, it has become a challenge of speed. It has gone from months by trails, to weeks by road, to days by interstate, and now a few hours by jet. In our modern era, we routinely cross America by plane, without the slightest idea of all there is between Terminal A and Terminal B.

Because of this, we asked ourselves, why not try the inverse? So we took 27 days to drive across the USA avoiding pavement along an incredible route called the Trans-America Trail. This trail was mapped through years of work by off-road motorcyclist Sam Correro.

 

[umbertob]

It’s amazing what can happen when you throw several random people together into three vehicles on an epic journey. I’ve crossed America countless times, but never like this.

As the final days of the Expedition came to a close, I was reminded that the trails and roads across America aren’t just there to connect places on a map; they’re there to bring people together. Land Rover Expedition America was not just about the sights and obstacles along the trail, it was also about the friends we travelled with, and the welcoming people we met along the way. The interesting characters and long days created some great stories we’ll reserve for campfire gatherings in the future.

Anyone with a sense for adventure can explore these incredible places in the expanse of America. From dense forests to desolate deserts, and snow-capped mountains, this country has some of the most varied and beautiful environs.

While this expedition is over, I still hope you’ll join us out there. There are many miles of America to explore both on-and-off road. I hear Tom’s got another epic journey he’s planning. He’s not telling where to, but I’m sure it’ll be the most indirect route possible.

****************************
To learn more the LREA Adventure, visit our Corporate Blog Page at - http://blog.interactivelandrover.com/blog.do?pag=1&p=home

Land Rover is a founding member and supporter of Tread Lightly!

For more information on Sam Correro and the Trans-America Trail visit, www.transamtrail.com.

Visit us at LandRoverUSA.com and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

[NASdiesel]

What was the elapsed time, three weeks?

 

[umbertob]

27 days.

 

[umbertob]

LAND ROVER EXPEDITION AMERICA - Trail Report by Expedition Leader Tom Collins
September 3, 2013

Did the Trans-America Trail meet my expectations? No, it exceeded them. The people that we met along our journey were a highlight; everywhere we stopped, people were interested in what we were doing. The Trans-America Trail is important to the livelihood of the small gas stations and cafes along the trail and they were very surprised that we were traveling along it in SUVs and not motorcycles. Many of the people living on the route have log books for the motorcyclist to sign and love talking to the riders, especially those from other countries. We were very surprised by the number of invitations to lunch we received at remote ranches.

The Land Rover LR4 truly exceeded my expectations. We were spoiled riding in air conditioned luxury. Other than a few inevitable flats along such a varied-terrain trail, the LR4 never gave us a problem. The off road systems worked as advertised, the fuel economy was better than expected, the cargo carrying capacity was exceptional and we were never beat up by the suspension. I was truly impressed by the navigation system that had the majority of the trails we traversed on its map. I was even more impressed with how the LR4 kept the cabin dust-free as Nevada has the most dust of any states I’ve ever driven through.

Traversing the United State on its most remote roads was the closest one can come to seeing what the pioneers saw as they headed west so many years ago. The changing vegetation and geography was truly noticed on the trail verses the interstate. We started in the Appalachian Mountains near Ashville, North Carolina with an elevation of 2,100 feet and descended to 151 feet at the Mississippi River. Heading west, we climbed steadily until we peaked out at California Pass near Silverton, Colorado at 12,930 feet. During that climb, the eastern forest thinned out in Oklahoma and abruptly changed at the 101st parallel to sage brush and cottonwood trees, western species. At the New Mexico line, agriculture just stopped and it became a wild plain full of cattle, deer and antelope. At this sight, you definitely know you’ve entered the west. The trail was practically a wild life program. We saw deer, elk, bear, mountain lions, bob cat, antelope, wild horses, eagles and a number of smaller animals; it was spectacular.

Throughout our journey, we got very lucky with the weather. We had no rain until Oklahoma and even that was just a drizzle. We missed three flash floods that flooded parts of Oklahoma, New Mexico and Utah. We had to work our way through deep water in Oklahoma, that two days earlier, would not have been passable. In New Mexico we saw twisted bridges and washed out roads that were devastated once again two days before we arrived and in Utah the motorcyclist, who became our trail mates, said we missed a flash flood near Lone Tree Crossing in the San Rafael Swell by two hours. Any of the floods could have ended our trip. In fact any rain could have destroyed our ambitious schedule. Our luck partially ran out in Oregon, where forest fires forced us to reroute for half a day, and then we doubled back to complete a section of the trail.

Would I do the journey again? Absolutely, in fact, when we reached our finish line, I wanted to turn around and head east at the Pacific Ocean. I had emerged myself in the rhythm of the trail and was not quite ready to return to reality yet.

I would like to thank Land Rover and everyone involved for making this expedition possible, but one man deserves the most credit, and that’s Sam Correro. He spent three decades putting the Trans-America Trail together and helped us tremendously throughout our journey. I was truly impressed by the accuracy of his maps and roll charts and could have never navigated our way across the country without his hard work.

 

[NASdiesel]

This has me very much wanting to do the TAT. Never realized it was vehicle accessible. I couldn't swing the 4 weeks needed, but could maybe break it down into 2-3 trips over 2 years.

 

[umbertob]

Cool 6:40 recap video posted today on the expedition, available at this link:

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=501874473237196

 

[costelj]

What a great video. Wow. I want to do this. I can't imagine being able to take 30 days off of work, though.

Barring that challenge, and the apparent inability to handle the trail (minor detail), what's the plan? In two years from now, everyone on the west coast drives east, everyone on the east coast drives west, and we meet in the middle?

 

[umbertob]

Sounds good to me, but you East Coasters will miss the better half...