Offroading Home

Broken Link Update - Strawberry Offroad Riding Area Map

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Wed, 07 Mar 2018 00:16:00 +0000

I took another run at troubleshooting the black hole that Dropbox has put me in, with its draconian changes to its programming and no prior notification or technical assistance, and I accomplished a couple things I'll tell you about:

working links (I think) to a few older maps and a new map covering a new riding area.

Broken Links/Broken Maps

As I've explained, Dropbox made massive changes several months ago without telling folks like me which not only broke my website but also clobbered up nearly all of the maps themselves which relied on assets contained in Dropbox.

As near as I can tell, the changes were basically to cut down on their bandwidth usage although they will tell you it was solely "because of security." I'm certain it is more secure… for them at least.

Basically they rendered every link they had ever given us to any and all of our assets defunct. And they did it in a way that did NOT allow users of Dropbox to make bulk corrections to our sites.

I tell you this so you will understand why I haven't been able to get ALL of the formerly available maps back "on line" yet; because what it means is that I must visit each and every post, each and every link, over 12 years of posting and type in a completely new link at least three times as long containing only randomly generated characters—not a map title in sight.

That, of course, is only after I visit each and every asset I had stored on their site and jump through all the hoops to generate the public link… one map at a time.

BOTTOM LINE: Over the past month I have been able to at least "resurrect" links to all of the major maps in all the states; so, you should be able to navigate through the offroadinghome website and obtain the major resource maps. (I have NOT been able to do the same for any of the hundreds of single trail rides I have posted).

Unfortunately, nor have I been able to go through every one of those maps and correct all their links to resources they need. So, when you obtain the maps they won't be complete. THE TRAILS ARE THERE and correct, but the popups, descriptions, photos, icons and headers may not be pretty or work at all.

I hope you can sense how sorry and upset I am over this loss.

Strawberry Offroad Riding Area

Second, I needed to start taking a stab at just how, should I decided to do it, I can make maps in the future and/or what it will take to re-do every map into what it once was with all the descriptions, photos, icons and what-not.

So, I selected a map I've had of a riding area and began digitizing it into a different format which didn't rely on any outside resources from anybody. That, of course, will make the map-file larger and may require that I either split files, limit what content I include or just not include all the map.

None-the-less, it took most hours of the day over an 8 day vacation but the Offroading Home map for the Strawberry Offroad Riding Area is now ready for your perusal: Strawberry OHV Riding Area.

The Strawberry OHV Trail System is largely Forest Service land all around the Strawberry Reservoir 33 miles southeast of Heber City, Utah.

Most of the roads/trails are 4by4 accessible. Only a few are either ATV and motorcycle only and only a few are motorcycle only having to do with trail width.

Most of the roads/trails are considered either "easy" or "moderately difficult"; however, there are a couple that are "most difficult"—namely "black diamond" type.

There are several campgrounds including Strawberry Bay, Currant Creek, Soldier Creek, Aspen Grove, and Renegade.

You can also connect to the Strawberry Trail System from Hobble Creek Canyon and Spanish Fork Canyon.

Dropbox Screwup - Destroyed Every Link On Site - UPDATE

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 22:50:00 +0000

Just a short update note. I can see that there still are tons of you deriving benefit from all the posts about these trails even though Dropbox has totally screwed up the maps.

I'm still as annoyed as you are about the issue. I took 9 hours yesterday and thought that I'd just look at what needed to be done and selected the first map that came up - one in Nevada. Absolutely everything I did to correct their issues, broke something else that needed fixing. The sun was going down before I had just one page (Nevada) on the download site that didn't screw up and wasn't broken!

For now, that's all that I can get out of Dropbox. I have built all new "links" from dropbox and updated all the URLs to the maps to those new links. I have no control what Dropbox does from there. Sometimes you get some fool page about "files not being able to be previewed." An idiot thing to say seeing's you just pressed a link to DOWNLOAD the silly thing!

I (being the author) even get a different page and messages than you get and I have to take the huge effort to log out of their system every time I make an upload so I can test if the new link will even work for non-authors. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't.

So, that's what I've got so far. The Nevada files should work for download; but, I can't attest to it. Sorry, I just don't have the heart (or time) to go through all that crap for every section of maps. I've just got to find another solution that doesn't involve dropbox!

Dropbox Screwup - Destroyed Every Link On Site

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Mon, 22 May 2017 19:30:00 +0000

Sorry Guys....

I have been advised by several readers that none of the links to map assets work any more on the entire site. I eventually found out that it is due to Dropbox. The company decided that it would change the way they do business without prior notification and alter every single URL link to every map I've created.

They claim it had to do with "security" but they've also decided that us little guys are just not worth their effort to create any workarounds or even talk to us about doing it ourselves. What that means is that I must now go back over ten years worth of blog posts and edit every single page and every single link on those pages.

I just don't know if I have either the time or heart to go backwards and do it all over again.... or, if I did, that I would choose to continue with Dropbox who has now shown its true colors and attitude.

You will notice that there are a few files that do link to the correct file - which were those that I was experimenting with while trying to troubleshoot the problem. For now, I'm just trying to work through this in the midst of everything else that I've got to do. If I can figure it out and work through it I'll be back up. Until then... sorry.

US County Borders

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 19:00:00 +0000

I must be nuts - or OCD - (probably the latter) because I just don't seem to be able to leave these border files unfinished. The last file I published was the US States file. Now, I've got the US Counties file ready for download and it was even less of a small feat than the state file was less of a small feat. [Translate: when I called the state fall "no small feat" I really had absolutely no idea just how difficult the USGS could make it to extract their data into a KML file. None at all. Now I do!] [A free Google Earth file of this route is available at: US County Borders.]

All of the CONUS counties are included as well as Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in one Google Earth KML file. Well, let's say, that all the links to each of the state counties are included in one file - believe me, this data is massive! Poor old Google Earth will choke on the entire bunch at once so the map opens and you need to select the check box next to the state that you'd like to see.

It will then download all that state's data and make it visible. You can have multiple states open at once but as you do GE get's slower and slower to respond. Strictly for convenience sake I've rearranged all the states into the major/accepted state areas - like pacific, mountain, new England etc.

If you'd like to save a particular county, state or area you can right-click on the file portion and select "save-as." If you'd like to alter the color or transparency, right-click and select "properties".

Hope this is useful to someone... besides me!

US State Borders and Information - Google Earth KML File

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Wed, 23 Mar 2016 03:10:00 +0000

While looking for another host for this blog where I can move the several hundred posts, I'm still posting the occasional Google Earth Map. This time it is a resource map of all the US state borders from the USGS shape files.

No small effort to produce, it now can be downloaded from US State Borders and Info.

It tries to help solve a problem with Google Earth where the insipid thing tantalizes you with state and county borders but just when you want to see them most they, along with their labels, disappear just as you zoom in close enough to read them.

Opening this file, quickly displays the states in a color-coded fashion which then completely clears as you hover over it with your pointer and a readable label appears. By right-clicking and selecting "properties" on any state, you are able to alter color and transparency.

Those of you making your own maps can right-click on any particular state and "save as" - which will save a complete state file to your computer of that particular state.

Iditarod Dogsled Race Maps For Google Earth

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 01:40:00 +0000

Apologies, but this sorry Google BlogSpot blogging program is so slow that I'll only mention that I've just completed yet another massive Google Earth map in time for this years Iditarod race and that the full Google Earth map is now available - read on.

This new map comes on the heels of another massive USGS Features database map file that I've nearly completed for Alaska. I mean it's so massive I've had to cut it up into segments -- They've got names for everything up there!

It contains the Google Earth KML file of the Iditarod trail for both versions of the yearly run -- of course free!

The Alaska Iditarod Dogsled Race

You did know that the Iditarod uses two different routes every other year didn't you? The northern trail is used for the even years and the southern route in the odd numbered years. This year they're taking the "green" route, it being an even year and all.

Ostensibly the swap is to "lessen the impact on the environment"; but, probably more to point, it spreads the wealth of tourist $$'s (lots of 'em) to isolated towns in need of a boost.

Alaskan's have always been "men of hearty nature" and highly self-sufficient. The Iditarod race commemorates a heroic incident back during the big war when a dogsled team traversed the backcountry to take the newly invented "Salk Polio Vaccine" to families in the north who were being ravaged by Polio.

As "city folk," of skill sets other than subsistence-survival [i.e. marketing agents] began moving into the state, the yearly commemorative event began to take on a new "spin." It became "1049 miles" -- because 1000 sounded better and because old "Seward's Folly" was the 49th state. Even today when the true distance is known, the marketing people claim that it's 1049 miles long.

You'll notice that the race starts in downtown Anchorage -- purely for hype value -- which means that after the chaotic start, all the dog teams must be loaded into airplanes and flown to the other side of the bay. To the location the committee has decided that they're REALLY going to start the race this year!

Next, we've already mentioned the split directions for the race right smack in the middle of the trail -- for whatever the real reasons are. The BLM claims that they've canonized the REAL Iditarod trail and you'll notice that it goes right up the middle and doesn't split off to either the north or the south; although, I'm not really sure that the BLM has got it absolutely accurate either.

It seems like over half of each years route is common to both years so, unless the BLM or someone has got a hunk of area smack in the middle roped off, they don't seem too worried environmentally about most of the trail. It doesn't make much "never mind" to us these days I suppose. The race had a great start for a magnificent reason no matter what the bureaucrats and marketing spin doctors have done to it.

And it puts millions of dollars each year into some pretty depressed areas, not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of prize money into a largely forgotten about sport for most of the year.

Iditarod Google Earth Map

The GPS coordinates for the checkpoints of both race trails are in this map. The yellow track (from Anchorage to Ophir and from Kaltag to Nome) is common to both odd and even years. The Green track from Ophir through Ruby to Kaltag is for the even years, the blue track from Ophir through Anvik to Kaltag is used in the odd years. The red track(s) are the BLMs official Iditarod NHT; which doesn't go anywhere near Anchorage.

In addition, I've added all the locations of the BLM "Safety Cabins" which they've built for emergency use at any time (not just for this race). And I've thrown in a huge statistics display for names and distances between the various points.

Other oddities that you may notice in the map are that the trail completely disappears between the Anchorage airport and Willow -- that's because the dogs are in airplanes! Additionally, the trail going straight as an arrow from Norton Bay to Koyuk across "open water" doesn't mean that the dogs are learning to swim -- the ocean is still frozen in March and they're making good time on the ice!

Free Google Earth Map of the Iditarod Race

It's now ready for download: Iditarod Dogsled Race Map Click on the link and, if you've got Google Earth installed on your computer, all you need to do is select "run file" and it'll take you right to it.

Addendum: I've also just added all the USGS Features to the file which line the Iditarod Trail. You can click on the square next to the link in this file to turn them on; or, if you've already loaded the USGS Features file for Alaska you can turn that on instead. The master Alaska features file was just so big that I've created a subset to accompany this map.

BLM Closures - 2015 Version for Mesquite-Gold Butte

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 01:26:00 +0000

The BLM is at it again in 2015 and (surprise, surprise) using the same tactics of obfuscation and deception they've used in years previous – despite the rhetoric about "transparency."

Yesterday (Friday) I received a copy of the CD containing 2,000 pages of new BLM land use planning given out in the Mesquite City Council meeting the day before.
[A free Google Earth file of this route is available at: BLM Closures 2015.]

From the person who sent it to me, it appears that the city council was completely blind-sided by the BLM (amazing) and demanded a face-to-face explanation with the intent of begging them for a magnanimous extension on the deadline (Mar 9th) for responses.

Amazingly, he described that the members seemed completely unaware of how the actions of the previous councils were seen by the BLM and how they have fed into all the problems being inflicted on the community currently.

Be that as it may, they begged for an extension and (of course) Ms. Marr-Smith would be able to claim that "it isn't my call" so only gave a statement that she would basically "talk to the boss."

Even if granted, highly doubtful, the info on the CD was the same kind of obfuscation that was contained in that given out 4 years ago before they hired all the college kids to barricade all the trails on the Butte.

The CD is in proprietary format (.pdf) and they've deliberately turned off all the capabilities for people to freely examine, copy and forward. In order to change it to a different format the BLM apparently wants the public to pay a fee to Adobe and register with a paid service (why the government is in kahoots with a private enterprise who can tell.)

The CD contains no specific answers to people's questions about what the intent to close off this year. The only files on the disk merely contain high-level maps of general areas and don't give specifics. Additionally, the "off highway vehicles" map is full of cross-references to other parts of the plan that you have to wade through. For example it references the "turtle plan" which has a section of its own (if you can find it).

At any rate, the file I made contains overlays of the map content of the so-called plan. It was hand made through screen-shots, copy and pasting and registered to Google Earth coordinates the best I could by hand.

Each "alternative" has its own map overlay. You can turn each one on or off by clicking the box on the left. Green are the only areas considered "open" (less than 1%) all the rest have restricted access and travel.

Currently, they claim, 52% of the area is accessible via designated routes, trails and dry washes – the DARK BLUE. Thirty-two percent via designated routes only – LIGHT BLUE and 10% closed – red.

The first thing to go - option 2 - is the accessibility through dry washes! Everywhere! [No mention that that one step prohibits access to many other available trails or makes connections so onerous that they are closed for all intents and purposes.] This one non-negotiable change closes completely 14% of the area and renders over 86% with restricted accessibility.

You will also immediately notice that the so-called "alternatives" 3 and 4 are identical maps! a) either a complete screwup by the BLM distributed all around the state as the only option people have to understand the they intend to do; OR, the "true" differences are hidden in some aspect which does not show up on the map that they've give us.

Bottom Line From What We See

1- It is obvious that the BLM really doesn't intend "transparency" in any of their public dealings. No publicly accessible data has been given this go-round either even though specific complaints and issues were raised with their methodology last time and excused as "unintentional." From the way they've treated the Mesquite Government officials it is obvious that they've been singled out for exclusionary tactics.

2- Apparently, at least on paper, Gold Butte currently contains allowances for ORVs to ride on designated trails plus washes and drainages BUT that will totally go away everywhere under every so-called "option."

3- Additional differences obvious in the maps relate to expansion of wilderness areas and oblique references to closing all use of trails therein to the sole use of the "Sierra Club" type hikers.

Damage At Devil's Fire on Gold Butte

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:43:00 +0000

Devil's Fire by Jim Dunaway

I've been in communication (via email) with a rider, GH, who wanted directions to Devil's Fire on Gold Butte for an upcoming trip. At my request, his visit to the area with his son, taken after a major storm, was reported back to me and contained some distressing news. I'll include his words:

The good news: With the good instructions you gave me, I had no trouble getting to Little Finland (he really means Devil's Fire). The road was nicely marked and we found some petroglyphs I had forgotten about on the way in (Mud Wash Petroglyphs).

Now the bad news: I have always been afraid that some day I would find someone had destroyed such a fragile and beautiful formation which must have taken hundreds of years to form. The storms last year, nature did the job. There were huge boulders broken off the cliffs. I estimate about a third of the ridge is now gone. There is still lots of beauty to make the trip worthwhile. There is so much silt laid down on top, it might be a long while before the petroglyphs appear on the flat area above again.

Obviously, distressing news. I couldn't tell where the damage was from his message so I asked if he had photos.

…no good shoots of the cliffs. I can say most damage seemed to be close to the point or high spot we normally park on. That would be on the north west where the open gate is. Sorry I didn't document better.

Not having been to the site personally for a couple of years, I still can't envision where he reports the damage has been done. If anyone has any recent photos or can describe the damage more fully, please let us know so we can share the news.

"Scott Expedition": Coming Home

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 00:35:00 +0000

The boys in the Antarctic, Ben and Tarka, have been there and got the South Pole "T" shirt and are now high-tailin' it home.

In this case "high-tailin'" means over another month of beatin' it back to McMurdo Base in order to take the series of flights necessary to get them reunited for a belated Christmas and some well-needed heart-to-heart's with their families, friends and sponsors in Great Britain.

They've been on their way back for a couple of weeks (and believe me the turn around was NOT uneventful - see below) and we've substantially updated the Offroading Home Google Earth Antarctica Resource File. [Offroading Home has developed an extensive Google Earth Resource File which brings all the meaningful resources together all in one place and it's available free: Antarctica Resource File]

First, the new file enhancements:

File Housekeeping

As is best practice on a trail this long, we've split the GPS track into two portions now: "There, and" and "Back Again" containing the trail to the pole and back from the pole, respectively. The first portion has been moved into the permanent file inside the "Trails - Historical Expeditions" folder along-side Scott's, Amundsen's and Shackleton's trails. After all, a couple months from now and this will be "historical" too.

Additionally, this way the entire thing doesn't need to be RE-uploaded every 30 minutes when the link is updated. All the waypoints have been treated similarly and placed in their own folder. That way as all the camp sites start to overlap you can merely uncheck the box and turn the old ones off – something I wish the Scott Team would get around to doing with their own file.

And speaking of getting confusing, we've had to kloodge up some of the styling in order to prevent the old trail on the official site (which has NOT been split or re-colored) from completely over-powering the new trail and campsites.

New Cache Waypoints

Many have asked where they have been leaving cache's of food and supplies along the way. Their refusal to give out anything more than "in due time" (right out of "Yes Minister") upset some readers. Well now Ben has "let slip" the location (sort of) of two caches before he reached them.

In celebration of this new "openness" we have created NEW CACHE ICONS. Ben said they had marked their mid-plateau cache with an extra ski stuck in the ground having a streamer attached. Well so did we. The new icon is actually a tiny photograph of their actual ski stuck in the ground (with a photoshopped streamer attached.)

Look for them.

A Little Closer Tracking

Right under the "Current Trail" link you'll see a new folder: "Track Timings." That's an interesting collection of points (time consuming to generate but interesting) which merely add visibility to all the hourly track-points the expedition publishes.

They are not visible by default, but if you want to see them check the box to the left of their name. Once on, you'll see tiny diamonds along the trail which are hoverable with your cursor. Doing so will pop-up the time and date that the track-point was added. What can you do with it?

As they should all be an hour apart, you can get an overview of the variable distances they've traveled in that hour - perhaps due to troublesome terrain. You can see when they stop for the night because the hourly "pings" all begin bunching up.

You can tell what time they started moving during the day and when they stopped for the night. I've also been able to see that on occasion the GPS "pings" skip a beat and miss an hour. At the pole, the duo had left their "high-powered" tracker behind at a cache and were using a mobile device which was extremely intermittent, possibly (as we have not yet been told) due to battery issues.

The MODIS Ice Overlay

This is a satellite imaging overlay which was added earlier BUT which has become very useful as they have traveled over the plateau. Having it turned on and watching their GPS "dot" move along is highly entertaining. Even though the satellite is thousands of miles away, you can see enough detail to watch them walk around "dark spots" - I assume lower and higher areas or possibly colder/warmer.

It's not going to be too useful while they are going down the Beardmore Glacier, because there it's all dark, but it'll be interesting to watch again when they reach the Ross Ice Sheet.

Enhanced Feature Labels

As Ben and others have mentioned place names in their posts, I've set waypoints for them. Not so much that I'll ever use them in my travels, but so that they can have a dot and a label on Google Earth!

Additionally, I got weary of manually zooming in and zooming back out again so I set up some clickable "look at" waypoints to do it automatically. They are the tiny camera icons you see along-side the trail. The purple ones take you in and tilt your point of view and the red ones reset you back out again.

The South Poles (all of 'em)

There are many South Poles and they keep moving all the time. In this new folder you'll find points for the Geologic South Pole, the Magnetic South Pole and the Geomagnetic South Pole. AND, as far as they are known, the many measurements over the years of each of them to see how they've moved around.

You can see that even Scott made an original measurement of the magnetic south pole back during his expeditions.

Auroral Activity

We haven't had occasion to use this much to date - because it's summer and the flippin' sun never goes down! I didn't realize it when I took the trouble to add this to the resource file, but apparently even the aurora can't be seen when the sun is out.

Turning on this overlay will bring up a very interesting (and almost real-time) display of the current ionization situation. The deeper red the ring gets, the exponentially more ionization there is in the atmosphere - hence greater aurora sightings.

The one thing that I did notice was that while they were running up to touch the pole (and keep from letting their tongue get stuck) the upper atmosphere was going wild with sun-induced electromagnetic activity. If they could have seen it, I bet it would have been grand!

Amundson-Scott South Pole Base

I began working on a "map" (of sorts) to include in the resource file which displayed all the many buildings and areas that exist now at the pole. They've replaced the old main building with a bran-spankin' new one on stilts - to allow the near constant wind to blow snow under it instead of piling on top of it.

There are telescopes and gamma-ray detectors and airport terminals and research antennas galore - in addition to all the support buildings like machine shops, cafeterias, "summer camps" for visitors and recreation halls.

I even had help from a fellow who spent a long time working at the pole and had maps! BUT, and it's a BIG BUT, Google Earth (as we all know) goes completely WILD at the poles - both of them. It has MAJOR bugs and issues; which, to date, Google hasn't felt any need to devote much time solving.

I thought I could force waypoints and lines, despite all the bugs, by hand-drawing them; but, it took over 40 hours of frustrating tinkering to even begin to get things to look right.

I did get some of the major buildings in relatively the right places, along with all the restricted areas and Ski-way. And you can see Ben and Tarka's route through the base (as dummied-down as hourly trackpoints makes it). Unfortunately, it wasn't in time for their actual visit.

If you'd like to see what their trail looks like now, click and open the "SP Base" folder to turn it on and see the various labels. Double-click the Area, Base or Station View icons to zoom visually into the various levels.

Those are the new additions to the Offroading Home Antarctica Resource Map. Hope you find them useful.

Now, the continued saga:

The Penultimate Reality-show

We're so used to the continual fake whining and hype in television programs these days about how "dangerous this is," "one step and they could die," "this could kill them," "they could be maimed for life" yadda, yadda, yadda! It gets so bad that the whining is beyond tolerance and I freely use my TIVO "skip forward" button many times in one show.

The problem is, that this little adventure in Antarctica really DID nearly kill them! It's a story that needs some "ponderin'" before it's ready for the telling; but, as far as I've been able to put it all together, sufficeth it to say for now that a bit of hubris seemed to have gotten caloric needs under-calculated, abilities over-estimated and food over cached; macho-ism kept them stoic and silent about it; worry (panic?) and near-starvation made them try to over-reach the too-far-distant cache site; and lack of openness kept it out of the blog (and even possibly from their command and control back in Great Britain).

It's doubtful that those of us who "don't need to know" ever will know the full story but followers of the blog one moment read the all-too-often claimed: "they're fine and taking an administrative day" blog post from their team... right before we saw a photo of the "rescue plane" and an apology that they had needed an emergency food drop! First Ben and then a couple of days later Tarka.

Apparently, it took many days of short rations to reach their debilitated state and by then weren't thinking to clearly. Ben wrote that he diagnosed himself with hypo-thermia and barely (or didn't) even remember Tarka seeing to it that he got into his bag and had a hot drink! A couple days later, Ben needed to help Tarka with early stages of hypothermia, malnutrition and exhaustion as well.

We're still left to fill in for ourselves many major blank areas about how it all came down, but: somehow they realized and admitted to themselves they couldn't make it to the cache, Andy (the expedition manager) got involved, a ski-plane landed with several days of extra food, they "rested" at the same camp for an extra day and now are underway "home."

Frankly, if this doesn't fit the term "Offroading Home" I don't know what else does! They are now nearing the second homeward cache of food (which they've told us about) and are almost poised for the descent down the Beardmore Glacier and onto the Ross Ice Sheet.

Let's hope the rest of the journey is less eventful, safe and more transparent. We wish them a speedy and safe conclusion to their expedition. We'll continue to follow and intend to keep this resource available on the web for others to use as an Antarctic resource.

[Available free: Antarctica Resource File]

GEO-tography: Shillouettes

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Sun, 29 Dec 2013 17:33:00 +0000

It's time once again for a jealous look at what can be done with a camera on the off-road, IF the operator just has a tiny bit of skill and knowledge.

I've taken a fair number of these kinds of photographs, I must confess, not all of them intentional - well, very few of them intentional - ok, almost none of them intentional.

What I enjoyed about putting together this group of GEO-tography was realizing that for once, I already knew the technique of HOW to do it; IF only I had the eye to make it look good in the end. [I must confess, Photoshop helps me a lot.]

Shillouettes

Take a look at what the "pros" do when they're out in the field. Perhaps one day we can do it too - let me know about it, if you do.

Simon Bray

Bird Eye

Mzagor

Steve Berardi

NeilsPhotography

Lady Dragonfly

DavHaruk

Fincher69

Illusive Photography

Johannes_wl

Foxrosser

Mike Baird

Steve Berardi

Jeffreyw

Kara Allyson

Yogendra174

arrrgghh

Craiglea123

DarinBerry

(Torsten)

Steve Beradi

opusfotos

Roy Costello

Dawn Huczek

Thomas Clavierole

The Zion View

Ben_from_dk

Chefranden

PinkStockphotos

Mister-e

Sergiu Bacioiu

Crystalline Radical

Scott Expedition: South Pole By Boxing Day

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 03:50:00 +0000

The intrepid "explorers" Ben and Tarka are nearing the South Pole which marks the half-way point of their expedition. Let me tell you, from reading their almost daily blogs, it's been no small ordeal. [Offroading Home has developed an extensive Google Earth Resource File which brings all the meaningful resources together in one place and it's available free: Scott Expedition: Antarctica]

The two decided to follow in the footsteps of the ill-fated Scott Expedition and try for an unsupported, self-propelled trip from McMurdo Bay to the South Pole and return. Unsupported, in this case, means that nobody runs out and gives them hot chocolate as they lumber by pulling their sledges full of camping gear and satellite electronics.

That doesn't mean that they don't have a support team, because they do, they just aren't on the same continent.

And it doesn't mean that they don't have "rescuers" waiting in the wings because there are hundreds of 'em all over the continent - scientists, researchers and supply and maintenance people manning telescopes, research stations and all kinds of transport systems. This is the SUMMER after all!

Hundreds of followers dog Ben Saunders' daily journal entries – you can tell by all the comments left by readers each day. Many, if not most, from the same people each day ranging from "patrons" to commercial vendors to explorer "been-there-done-that" and "wannabes" to concerned citizens and the odd parent, relative and girlfriend.

After nearly nine hours of tugging against their harnesses over heavy snow each day they pitch camp, melt snow, cook meals, attend to their "twa-lett", publish web posts and make the odd satellite telephone call to "civilization" – to whom, we only get a glimpse. Their posts have indicated a couple of staff members, a couple of patrons, a parent and my guess is a couple of girlfriends. All I know is: they haven't called me – and, alas, they probably won't.

The Ultimate Reality-show

I have to say, after following quite a few of these types of "adventures" in the blog-o-sphere, this group is keeping their communications pretty much in the realm of a "reality show," which has disappointed several followers who were expecting a much more transparent scientific bent to their posts.

Ben's posts have been highly descriptive of their daily plight and surroundings, full of literary references and philosophy and lately wrenchingly self-examining. All the things a good "reality show" or "docu-drama" should have.

Unfortunately, what I've also noticed is that any commenter who raises a question about something specific that they think might not be going quite right gets "shouted down" and maligned by all the defenders and apologists who frequent the blog's comment section taking things very personal. And they are sometimes told basically "we know what we are doing" from an occasional staff comment.

As you can imagine, that has shut off much of the science-related or intellectual comments. However, there are still plenty of the standard "doing a great job," "we're with you all the way," and "hang in there buddy" types of comments as heavily-bonded readers anxiously await each morning's posting.

Christmas At The Pole

There has been much encouragement from commenters over the past couple of weeks about wanting them to spend Christmas at the South Pole. I'm not sure where that goal came from, it certainly was clear out in left field based upon their daily averages for months, but that was the trouble – nobody official has said anything about it (or much of anything specific) in print.

The past couple of days, Ben posted that they had a "change of heart" and dropped one of their sledges, their 8-pound satellite transmitter dish, their last cache of food and were now going to add an additional hour of sledge pulling each day. That skyrocketed their daily distances upwards to about 21 miles per day! Still, however, NOT enough for a Christmas at the pole "fireside chat" with followers (not that we ever knew such a thing was planned.)

Today, Ben did write that they were planning to reach the pole on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas in Great Britain). Finally, a statement not in the realms of magic or wishful-thinking! Their daily totals do support a Boxing Day evening campsite at the pole, if they count pulling through the 25th. And, Offroading Home has enhanced our tracking map with a "surprise" Christmas gift for the weary travelers: Christmas trees (on the map) placed conveniently within view of their tent flap for each night's campsite. [The view on Boxing Day is extra special - click on the tree icon to see the view.]

Heading Error?

One thing I did write to their Expedition Manager, Andy, about a few weeks ago was a question concerning the track they were following – especially after I was able to find the government MODIS satellite overlay and add it to the resource map that we made.

If you followed along each day's trail they were sending back (a new ping every hour), and had the MODIS image turned on, you could actually follow them navigating around "dark" and "lighter" areas, which are presumably related to the topography.

What I noticed was that the two always seemed to choose the path to their right (west) and didn't ever seem to "re-correct" back to the left and their original track line. I had seen people ask in the comments about how they were choosing to navigate, i.e. the coordinates they were following, and waited for them to possibly answer. When they hadn't answered by the time the two were approaching the Beardmore Glacier, and their track was quite a bit off their original "straight-line" approach, I wrote Andy privately.

I wasn't given an answer about coordinates but was assured that Ben and Tarka had spoken to previous explorers and were also taking courses to avoid crevasses etcetera. Even though the crevasse assertion wasn't corroborated by the MODIS image, I figured it must be something I wasn't understanding and let it go.

Their track took a turn back to the left the very morning that I received my reply from Andy and, for the most part, it stayed a direct line to The Gateway.

The unfortunate thing about it (from my perspective based on satellite images) was that their deviation from a straight course took them a full day's journey sideways - based on the daily pull back when they were on the Ross Ice Sheet. AND the impact of that deviation must be quadrupled because they needed to travel not only back to the base-line BUT it was committing them to do the same deviation on the way back in order to pick up the food cache's they were leaving.

I wouldn't bring it up again now except the track over the past two and a half days is doing it again! From leaving the Beardmore Glacier on day 47 through day 57 they followed a bee-line course toward the pole and passed 88 degrees.

Mid-day on the 58th day of travel they began veering to the right again and ended up a mile to the west of base-line. Their post the next morning did describe running through a "white out" in the afternoon part of the day and the MODIS image showed them camping in a "darker" (depression) area instead of traveling along a lighter ridge.

The next day, their track didn't correct back to baseline but went straight parallel to it for the first half of the day. Then they again diverted substantially to the "right" of a "lighter area," across some more variable terrain, which took them to a maximum 1.7 miles deviation. A slight re-correction to the left of a "dark spot" still left them a mile-and-a-half out of their way at their campsite.

Their 60th campsite gained them the 89th degree of longitude, and it was plain to see they had spent several back-and-forth's across more changeable terrain (on satellite image) than the baseline would have been, but now (tonight, the 23rd) they are camped a full 2.2 miles east of what they needed to be!

I'll still believe Andy, after all even though we both are stuck watching from thousands of miles away he's got the real-time data and is on the "inside." However, the obsessive-compulsive side of me sure wishes I had the information to understand why it continues to happen – especially since "keeping schedule" and "making good time" seem to be weighing so heavy on everyone's mind and my legs ache just thinking about FOUR-and-a-half MILES extra of pulling a sledge!

[If you're following on the resource map, or the map image above, the yellow line was drawn by me as an anticipated track based on the least variability in terrain (on the satellite). The purple line was drawn based on a coordinate given in a comment purportedly of Scott's trail. The dark red line is, of course, Ben and Tarka's published waypoints.]

Personally, if it were up to me, I'd settle for a snow-cat picking them up in the middle of the Ice Shelf if meant that they would do something "scientific" on their own part (and report about it to us) along the way. I have the distinct feeling that I'm in the minority on that however. It just seems a bit of a waste to me to go to all that effort for a mere duplication of trails that have already been taken. It doesn't do Scott or his memory, even metaphysically, any good; and it, so far, doesn't seem to be adding to the world's fund of knowledge – albeit, it is terrific entertainment and Ben is literarily quite superb.

What I will do for them, however, is promise to move the Christmas tree (icon on the map) so that they could see it from their tent flap wherever they are finally encamped the next few nights.

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Grand Junction - Winching

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 21:23:00 +0000

This is the fifth and final post in the series about the new map we've digitized from a book we've come across: Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, Vol. 2by Charles A. Wells.

You remember, the absolutely prolific offroading author who feels it a badge of honor to have never used any of "those new-fangled GPS gadgets." His books are a dichotomy of usefulness. On the one hand they bulge with useful "color" and information about every area he talks about; but, on the other, much of the time you can't find what he talks about on any map or globe.

None-the-less, I've (for reasons which escape me now) undertaken the task of hand-digitizing his descriptions into Google Earth map files - twice. And both of them are available for free (see below).

He divided the Colorado back roads into five general areas which we have already posted about: the Ft. Collins, Grand Lake, Winter Park and Steamboat Springs areas. Today it's the riding areas around Grand Junction and Battlement Mesa, the area's two basecamps.

If You're Going To Get The Book?

If you are planning on purchasing this book, I'd like to entreat you to do it via this link to Amazon: Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, Vol. 2. This way you will still pay the same price; but, Amazon will "donate" a small portion of its profits back to us which will go toward keeping Offroading Home "on the air." Thanks!

The combination of these FREE Google Earth maps along with the original descriptions from the book – well, that's simply the best of both worlds.

Backcountry Driving Techniques

The Wells book is great for the 10 pages that talk about backcountry driving techniques. Perhaps the list of the topics will whet your appetite: Basics, Low and Slow, Going Clutchless, Rocks and high points, "clunking sounds," crossing a log, crossing large rocks, getting high centered, looking in ALL directions even up, scouting ahead, anticipating, blind curves, driving up hill driving down hill, parking on a steep hill, driving side hills, crossing streams and water holes, mud, ruts, gullies and washouts, ravines, sand, snow and ice, Dust and washboard roads, thumbs up, airing down and winching.

At least one of those topics should nag at you for a better understanding. They did for me.

Wells calls these the The Big Three: tow points, skid plates and a winch. And he says "If you don't have one (a winch) - travel with someone who does. if you can't or won't buy a winch, at least travel with a high-lift jack or come-along.

Along with the winch you should have: Heavy-duty work gloves, A tree strap (shorter strap with loop on each end), A snatch block (A pulley that can be slipped over winch cable) and A clevis (U-shaped bolt with pin that screws across one end) to connect straps to things.

Using A Winch Safely

line cable straight with pulling vehicle. If impossible use the snatch block to a tree to form an angle.
If cable bunches up at one end of the spool, let it go and rewind it later.
Attach winch line to largest tree possible using tree strap and clevis. Or wrap several smaller trees as low as possible on the tree.
Keep engine running while winching for maximum electrical power.
Can help winch by driving stuck vehicle slowly in lowest gear. Don't allow slack or jerking.
If not enough power, attach snatch block to stuck vehicle and double winch cable back to starting point - this effectively doubles the pulling power.
Set emergency brake and block the wheels of the anchor vehicle. May need to anchor to another vehicle or tree.
Throw a blanket or heavy coat over the winch cable while pulling to slow it's end if it breaks and whips back at you.
Make sure there are at least 5 wraps of cable left on the spool.
Never hook the cable to itself. Use a tree strap and clevis. Never allow it to kink.
If tow points are not available on stuck vehicle, attach to frame and not the bumper.
Make sure that any stranger you are helping knows that you are not responsible for damage to his vehicle.
Never straddle or stand close to the cable while it is under stress.
If stuck alone with no place to attach to, bury your spare tire in the ground as an anchor point. Then, after you are free, replace your divot.
When finished, don't let the end of cable wind into the spool. Attach hook to some other part of your vehicle like a tow point.

Area Five: Grand Junction

Base Camps: Grand Junction and Battlement Mesa

Trails: Battlement Mesa (D), Grand Junction Desert (D), Rattlesnake Canyon (M), Bands Canyon (D), Long Slough Res. Road (D), and Kenney Creek Res. Road (M)

Free Google Earth File

The free Google Earth file for the Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4WD Trails - Volume 2 is available at: Offroading Home on the specialty map resource page. Click to arrive at the page and select the "Wells Colorado, V-2" map. It is a .kml file which is utilized by Google Earth. You can either save the map on your computer or click "open" to have it open directly inside Google Earth.

Are You Going To Get The Book?

Learn A Little More

I don't know where this guy was back when I was learning Biology - well, perhaps I can guess. He might have been lying on his parents floor, playing with his toes and cooing - but it sure would have been a whole lot easier for us if we had access to what he's created on his computer.

Drew Berry: Animations of unseeable biology

Scott Expedition: Resource Map Update

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 16:38:00 +0000

For those of you following along with us on the "Scott Expedition," Ben and Tarka are now on the Beardmore Glacier after 38 days slogging through the Antarctic weather on the Ross Ice Sheet.

Until now the only topography they've encountered has been what the sheet of frozen water has afforded them but now they've got the land mass to deal with. Fortunately for us, we've got Google Earth and the many modern-day resources available which allow us to join their endeavor from our cozy armchairs.

Offroading Home has developed an extensive Google Earth Resource File which brings all the meaningful resources together in one place and it's available free: Scott Expedition: Antarctica

Today we've updated it extensively and we should probably describe the new features:

NASA's MODIS satellite images is one of the overlays available merely by clicking the box next to the "MODIS Ice Overlay" link in the "places" legend on the left hand side of the screen. These extensive images are completely updated every three days to display the earth's resources – in this case, the earths ice coverage.

It does take some getting used to, and it's better for some places (like flat ice) than others (like mountainous areas) but they're so good you can follow as the explorers wind their way between the undulations in the ice caused by glacier flow.

One note though. As with most maps, sectors near the poles get "scrunched" so while a normal viewing screen at the beginning may contain only 4 or 8 sectors, a similar viewing screen at the poles could contain upwards of 50 or so. That translates into some increased downloading time for the images – just be patient, it's worth the wait for the added detail.

Webcams are maintained at both the McMurdo and South Pole stations (weather permitting) and the resource file contains pop-up links to both of them. The two cams as McMurdo seem to have been working for the duration of the trip. The two at the Pole Station, however, are dependent on satellite passes so come and go at regular schedules.

The Historic Expeditions of Scott, Amundsen and Shackelton have been added to the trails list. Click their boxes and you can see how this current expedition's route compares with what the earlier explorers did.

Grid Lines were added when the two isolated explorers seemed to need some intermediate goals in order to not let the daunting task overwhelm them. Commenters on their blog could then congratulate them each time they crossed one of the decimal degrees in latitude – and there have been six of them (coming up on the seventh).

View placemarks (tiny purple cameras) are new to this update and enable you to change your Google Earth views quickly in order to take advantage of the 3D topography.

We hope you are enjoying following along this "reality show" with us. It's not often we get a chance to do this without needing to trailer to a trailhead.

Learn A Little More

Also recommended reading is the book: South Pole: 900 Miles on Foot by Gareth Wood and Eric Jamieson. It recounts a similar journey to follow Scott's epic exploration by Roger Mear, Robert Swan and Canadian Gareth Wood.

Are You Going To Get The Books?

If you are planning on purchasing either of these books, I'd like to entreat you to do it via this link to Amazon: South Pole: 900 Miles on Foot or The Worst Journey In The World or In Shackleton's Footsteps: A Return to the Heart of the Antarctic a book by Henry Worsley. That way you'll still pay the same price but a portion of it will go toward keeping Offroading Home "on the air." Thanks!

Scott Expedition: The Worst Journey in the World

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 00:10:00 +0000

You understand that Offroading Home has been following the "Scott Expedition" currently underway at the South Pole. In fact, we've made an entire Google Earth file containing nearly every landmark and historic trail we can find, so you won't need to go looking for them yourselves.

Today we've pulled together an entire BBC docudrama video about the book "The Worst Journey In The World" based on Apsley Cherry-Garrard's memoir of the British Antarctic Expedition in 1910-1913.

Why do this? Well, one page seems like a good place to have ALL the video series. They're not all that easy to find in sequence. And, as far as the GE map is concerned, the way GE displays cartologic labels really doesn't work in the Antarctic.

Take a look at GE down where Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere are sleeping tonight and what do you see (besides my tent placemark)? White. That's it. A sparse map down there made even more sparse by GE itself. Google as you know has it's labels set to appear only at certain altitudes, usually so close to the ground that you completely loose your bearings from the grand scale of things.

When I set out to follow these guy's expedition I quickly got frustrated with labels turning on and off so began adding my own based upon the landmarks Ben and others were mentioning in all their correspondence; hence, the birth of the Scott Expedition Google Earth Resource Map. And, Offroading Home is proud to have received mention about it from the acclaimed Google Earth Blog.

The Worst Journey In The World

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, an English aristocrat and explorer, was a survivor of the original Scott Expedition and eventually became it's leading chronicler with the book The Worst Journey In The World.

Taken on the expedition as an assistant zoologist, the protégé of Dr. Edward Wilson - second in command after Scott, he was one who went in search of the delayed-in-returning South Pole Expedition and found his friends frozen in their tent only 11 miles from their next cache of food.

He had been with Scott on an earlier expedition to bring back Emperor Penguin eggs then helped set up the caches of food and supplies needed along the way to the pole; but, he was told by Scott that he wouldn't be in the final group slogging on to the finish. After waiting for Scott's return back in Cape Evans, it was Cherry-Garrard of the 'rescue team' whose lot it was to describe the frozen tent that contained the bodies of his three companions: Scott, Bowers and Wilson.

Here is the BBCs drama of Cherry-Garrard's book in five parts - found on You Tube, and provided here in one place.

The worst journey in the world - 1/5

The worst journey in the world - 2/5

The worst journey in the world - 3/5

The worst journey in the world - 4/5

The worst journey in the world - 5/5

Are You Going To Get The Books?

If you are planning on purchasing either of these books, I'd like to entreat you to do it via this link to Amazon: South Pole: 900 Miles on Foot or The Worst Journey In The World. That way you'll still pay the same price but a portion of it will go toward keeping Offroading Home "on the air." Thanks!

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Steamboat Springs

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 22:14:00 +0000

This is the fourth in the series of posts about the new map we've digitized from a book we've come across: Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, Vol. 2by Charles A. Wells.

Wells is a smart guy and very knowledgeable about the area just doesn't share most of our affinity for the precise coordinate system that we've had since the last century – or any coordinates. The forwards to his books claim that he's never had any problem finding any of this by merely using maps so we shouldn't either; but, in his later books he has relented and included "those funny little numbers" in deference to "the younger generation."

I've geocoded some of his other books and this one fits right in with other maps we've already made in Colorado. Anyone desiring to ride these trails would have a better experience if they had read the information in this book first – that's why I'm following his book series. Just don't forget to download the free map we've made and examine the trails in Google Earth first to get the lay of the land and trail (link below).

If You're Going To Get The Book?

If you are planning on purchasing this book, I'd like to entreat you to do it via this link to Amazon: Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, Vol. 2. That way you'll still pay the same price but a portion of it will go toward keeping Offroading Home "on the air." Thanks!

The combination of these FREE Google Earth maps along with the original descriptions from the book is the best of both worlds.

There are several items mentioned in the book which should be recognized by off-road riders in Colorado. They have to do with Colorado laws, Forest Service rules, Colorado camping guidelines and simple trail etiquette.

Colorado Laws

Most trails require the vehicle to be licensed and driven with someone who has a valid drivers license; some can also require the vehicle to be street legal.
Vehicles traveling uphill have the right of way. However, common sense tells you that if there's a close wide space available to you, you should pull over and let the other pass.
Don't drink and drive.
NO vehicles (even bikes) are allowed in Wilderness Areas.

Forest Service Rules

Travel only on roads with signs displaying a Forest Service number or otherwise marked.
No shortcuts at switchbacks, stay on trails at all times. Don't use other's tracks as an excuse to deepen an irresponsible track.
Do not enter a closed trail.
Forest Service roads often cross sections of private property. Do not enter if posted no trespassing. Leave gates the way you found them, closed if indicated.
Pack out trash always - except in fee areas where there is an empty, approved receptacle. Don't overflow full containers and don't throw trash in pit toilets.
Never drive across open meadows. Don't pick wildflowers, walk across delicate tundra or remove any artifacts – no kiddin' – drop them where you found them.
Camp within 300 feet of the road.
Don't park in tall grass due to fire danger.
Bury human waste at least 6 to 8 inches deep and AT LEAST 200 feet from any water source, campsite or trail.
Special land use regulations take precedence so check current FS maps.

Trail Etiquette

Drive slowly with caution always, especially around blind curves.
Be quiet. Don't play radios loudly, spin tires, gun engines. Use horn only in emergencies. Smile and be courteous to everyone to create a positive image for four-wheeling. There's a reason that trails get closed to everyone.
Always pull over to the side of the road when you are not moving. Pull over for hikers and bikers. Stop and shut off engine for horses and pack animals.
Avoid crossing streams if possible. Cross only at designated places.
Pull over and let other vehicles pass.
Control your pets at all times. Don't let them bark or chase wildlife.

Camping Guidelines

Use developed or existing campsites.
camp away from streams, lakes, hiking trails, and historical mining sites. Leave as much distance as possible between you and other campers. Respect privacy of others.
Use a gas stove if possible, try to avoid fires. Fires only when allowed and always within a rock fire ring. Bring own fire wood, don't cut branches or trees. Let burn itself out to ashes then spread so completely cold. If must, douse fire thoroughly and watch to make absolutely sure it's out. Pack out bottles or cans.
Avoid using soap around lakes or streams. Heat water to clean utensils. Don't bathe in or near a stream or lake especially with soap.
Prepack food in plastic bags or reusable containers and haul away all trash.
Inspect area thoroughly before leaving, leave NOTHING behind.

Area Four: Steamboat Springs

Area four has five trails and three basecamp towns and covers some truly magnificent Colorado areas. The designation in parentheses are the difficulty level.

Basecamp Towns: Steamboat Springs, Hahns Peak and Columbine (not the city, the tiny backwoods hamlet).
Trails: Ellis Jeep Trail (D), Hahns Peak (M), Farwell Mountain (M), Blowdown Area (E) and Buffalo Pass (E).

Free Google Earth File

Are You Going To Get The Book?

Learn A Little More

Ok, you science types. Whether you are old enough to have actually used a slide rule in high school or not, you've undoubtedly run across the use of "X" in an equation to represent some unknown quantity or thing. But why? Where did it come from? Here's the answer.

Why is X used in algebra?

Scott Expedition Resource File

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 19:21:00 +0000

The "un-official," but extensive Google Earth Map and Resource file for the Scott Expedition underway now in Antarctica has been extensively updated and is ready for download: Scott Expedition: Antarctica

It now includes "network links" to the team's current position so that a mere "refresh" to the map will load the new locations instead of needing to download the whole file again. Additionally, entire new folders have been added to include labels and locations of all Antarctic glaciers and mountain peaks as well as labels and links to trails and waypoints of previous expeditions on the continent.

Currently (Wed 10/24 AM) Ben and Tarka are sleeping after having arrived at McMurdo station on the Ross Ice Shelf in the wee hours of the morning. They are still about 32 kilometers from the Scott Hut, their "official" starting point on the expedition.

Recommended Reading: South Pole: 900 Miles on Foot by Gareth Wood and Eric Jamieson. It recounts a similar journey to follow Scott's epic exploration by Roger Mear, Robert Swan and Canadian Gareth Wood.

Are You Going To Get The Book?

If you are planning on purchasing this book, I'd like to entreat you to do it via this link to Amazon: South Pole: 900 Miles on Foot That way you'll still pay the same price but a portion of it will go toward keeping Offroading Home "on the air." Thanks!

New Map: Antarctic Glaciers and Ice Flows

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 19:05:00 +0000

The "Scott Expedition" – a retrace (and completion) of the ill fated Robert Scott Terra Nova expedition – is underway with the explorers finally "feet down" on the Antarctic Continent.

Extreme explorers Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere are re-tracing the 101-year-old, unfinished, route of Captain Scott completely "without support" – that is, beginning after they actually arrive at the abandoned hut on the Ross Ice Shelf. Before that, they have a lot of support and were required to book passage with a commercial Antarctic travel firm in order to get there.

You didn't know there were commercial travel flights in and out of the Antarctic Continent? Well there are, and the company builds a temporary "air terminal" on the Union Glacier where a Russian built Ilyushin Il-76 jet cargo aircraft routinely lands with cargo and "explorers."

At the Union Glacier "air terminal" passengers transfer to Twin Otter and Basler BT-67 ski planes on their way to ultimate destinations such as: The South Pole, Vinson Massif, Hercules Inlet and others just as cold and just as white.

The Scott Expedition 2013

The "Portal" to this cold weather adventure is from Punta Arenas, Chile where Ben and Tarka were last week awaiting a "weather window" onto the frozen continent now bathed in it's summer sun – well, as much as Antarctica can be.

Approximately 1600 flight miles later, the two landed on a "blue-ice" runway at the glacier to spend as much time as it takes in "double occupancy," un-heated sleeping tents to find another "weather window" which will allow them to continue on to the Ross Ice Shelf and the abandoned Scott Hut which will mark the OFFICIAL beginning of their trip.

Offroading Home is supporting their expedition with a newly created Google Earth map, Scott Expedition: Antarctica, containing not only the two's current location but several map overlays of geographic points of interest which will enable us "armchair explorers" to find some sort of dimension on the otherwise bleak and uniformly white map.

Map Overlays

We Are Here: Most important is the "we are here" waypoint which will change as we become aware of an update in their current GPS waypoint.

Scott Expedition Trail: Secondly, the above waypoints will be converted into a new trail to follow Ben and Tarka's current expedition.

Captain Scott's Trail: The "best guess" at the early explorers route (from meticulous study of the historic journals) is marked with a trail line.

Google Earth's Buildings: Graphic representations of buildings have been constructed and donated by users of Google Earth. They are included as waypoints in this file, and include all of Scott's and Shackleton's huts.

Worsley Explanation: A prior explorer on the continent has written a detailed description of Scott's route and we have GEOcoded all the waypoints he mentioned along with links to his written descriptions.

Antarctic Stations and Bases: Nobody is alone on the continent anymore. There are many, many research stations and actual year-round habitats on the continent which are included as waypoints and landmarks on this overlay.

Antarctic Mountain Peaks: Waypoints from all over the internet and government files were compiled into this GE overlay and include all known Antarctic peaks over 1500 meters high.

Antarctic Glaciers and Ice Flows: Again, waypoints from all over the internet and government files were compiled into an overlay of all named glaciers and ice flows on the continent.

MODIS Mosaic of Antarctica: The government has a link to MODIS images which can be overlaid on Google Earth. This link is provided here in this file as well.

1961-62 Antarctica: I found an extensive compilation of landmarks and site description from a research expedition undertaken in 1961 and have compiled all those in a GE overlay as well.

Shackleton crossing Antarctica: And, to complete the map, I've also included all know waypoints from journals and diaries of Earnest Shackleton's expedition across the Antarctic continent.

Both the Antarctic Mountain Peaks and Antarctic Glaciers are also available as stand-alone files: Antarctic Mountains; and Antarctic Glaciers.

New Map: Antarctic 1500 Meter Mountain Peaks

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:22:00 +0000

We've been updating you with occasional posts about the upcoming "Scott Expedition" being undertaken this winter (Southern Hemisphere) by explorers Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere across Antarctica.

It looks like it's imminent. The two explorers are now in Punta Arenas putting together their stoves and other equipment shipped earlier to the tip of South America by freighter. They will now hop over to the Ross Ice Shelf near the hut Captain Robert Falcon Scott used in his 1911/12 Terra Nova expedition.

That's where Ben and Tarka will officially begin their expedition six days from now, (Oct 21st); although, it will be some weeks before they actually leave all the "confusion" of snow mobiles and scientists scurrying around the US Scientific Base on "the shelf."

Offroading Home has been compiling a resource map of the Antarctic Continent to support us "armchair" explorers as we follow along their GPS track near the pole. It is continually updated with their waypoints and links to diary entries and is available here: Scott Expedition: Antarctica.

In addition, we've now compiled a map of all the highest mountain peaks over 1500 feet on the continent. A bit tedious as the coordinate sources spanned several different agencies and languages. However, it's now available at: Antarctic Mountains.

Eventually this map will make its way into the official "Scott Expedition" master map, but for now this will enable you to begin seeing what kind of terrain Ben and Tarka are up against.

Scott Expedition: One Month To Blast-Off

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 19:38:00 +0000

I've written about this before when they were in their "shake-down" treck across the snowy wastes of Iceland; but, believe it or not Ben and Tarka are but a mere four weeks away from their "real" expedition in Antarctica.

Ben Saunders and Tarka L'Herpiniere (extreme cold expeditioners both) are, along with their team, undertaking to "finish" Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated foot-treck to the South Pole during this Antarctic winter.

The two will retrace Scott's original 1911-12 route from Scott's Hut on the north shore of the Cape Evans Ice Shelf to the South Pole and return – on foot, pulling sleds.

They intend to traverse the Ross Ice Shelf then climb 8000ft up the Beardmore Glacier (one of the world's tallest) to the Antarctic Plateau where it hopefully will be a straight shot to the pole – barring any traveler-eating crevasses along the way.

Returning the same route, only in reverse, will make it a 900 mile (1,450km) round trip pulling 440 pound (200kg) sledges, through -58 degree farenheit (-50 degree C) weather, for… well, who knows how long, they haven't said – probably a month or two, or more.

They expedition they take won't be any less distance than what Scott took; but, the scenery won't be quite the same. For example all across the Ross Ice Shelf there will be airplanes and snow-mobiles and radio towers and science huts – all the explorational and scientific results of Scott's and other's first efforts.

Once up on the plateau however the signs of man will spread out, although there is the extensive South Pole Station - an extensive research station populated the year round.

If you, as do I, want to follow along with Ben and Tarka on their journey, they will be packing at least some 21st century technology. Hopefully, they will be sending GPS coordinates back for geo-location purposes, and their team has indicated that at least Ben will be blogging! How much remains to be seen but he did a pretty good (albeit a bit cryptic for my tastes) job during his Iceland shake-down trip.

I've already spent many, many hours trying to locate the features that he has mentioned in his blog on Google Earth. It's not helped by Google's lack of labels at the higher levels mandated by the lack of geologic features. So, I've created a Google Earth map that I'll be updating with locations and waypoints which become necessary along the way.

You can obtain it free here: Scott Expedition: Antarctica. It should download and open in Google Earth automatically. You'll need to explore the various folders and click on waypoints to familiarize yourself with the Antarctic waypoints and various other items that I've found which give background and situational awareness.

Their official blog is presenting a six-part narrative by a previous explorer to the area, Henry Worsley, who is mentioning landmarks in his articles. I've been able to find all that he's mention and put them in the folder labeled "Worsley Explanation." Click it's box to turn it on and off.

There is also a network link to the government's MODIS satellite mosaic of images that will overlay Google Earth; as well as a folder with the locations of all the current research stations and bases on the continent. And, for good measure, a folder of the Shackelton Crossing of Antarctica.

Those of you following the trail posts for the Colorado Backroads, they are not yet completed but will be. It's no small task.

I've received a fairly extensive bundle of New Mexico scenic road tracks that I'm trying to figure out what to do with and how to present them.

And, of course, we'll be following the Scott Expedition as well.

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Winter Park

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 04:11:00 +0000

This post is the third one I've written to introduce the new map we've digitized from the book: Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, Vol. 2by Charles A. Wells.

It's a sequel to his first trail book about Colorado, called by the same name; except this one is volume 2 and covers the more northerly portion of the state. Wells has divided the trails in his book into five areas and this post is about area three – the area which includes Winter Park.

As we've mentioned, the book has absolutely NO reference to the geologic coordinates required of today's trail guides.

Also like his other books, this one contains a lot of what I call "color" to support riding off road in this area. So, using the book and loading up this free Google Earth map is the best of both worlds.

If You're Going To Get The Book?

Facts about Colorado

Colorado is a Rocky Mountain state so there are similarities with others in the area; however,

Colorado is a BIG place – especially by eastern standards.
Residents of New York can live their entire lives without owning a car (or even a parking place) BUT not out here! No way! There's too much empty space and almost no subways.

When planning with your map, be sure and check the scale because most things are farther away than you think. And definitely plan for extra time due to the change in terrain, size of the roads and the fact that roads out here need to wind around, climb over and even go through lots of hills, rocks and water.

Time changes everything
The off road season in Colorado largely depends on the elevation. At low elevations trails may open in late April. More open in late May and June and higher elevations don't open until the second week in July – or even later.

The best time of year for offroading is August and September – just in time for fall Aspen color – but October starts them closing down again for vehicles. And remember, there are people with guns in the mountains in October; That's when hunting season begins – and there's lots to hunt in the mountains of Colorado.

Trips should start as early in the day as possible, weather is usually clear in the mornings but "clogs up" with drizzle or thunderstorms in the afternoon. Smart riders (or those that have been bitten once) learn to plan sizable margins of daylight for the return trip. It is NOT a good thing to be driving in the mountain at night!

Wait-a-minute Weather
Rides in all the Rocky Mountains are more often, more pleasant than easterners or desert rats expect them to be. Summer temperatures are lower and humidity is lower. Except in obvious storms, sun shines most of the time in the winter keeping it warm; well, "warm" is relative. Flies and mosquitos are few, except around water – which seems like it's everywhere.

A downside is that there isn't a weatherman in the country which can predict accurately weather in this state. It is unpredictable and can be extreme – it can snow anytime, even in summer. Temperatures drop at night, especially with the frequent breezes so pack warm clothing EVERY trip no matter how hot it is when you leave the trailhead. The air is thinner so extra fluids are required to maintain hydration AND you even sunburn quicker so be sure to bring sunscreen.

Road Conditions Change
"Landslides, snow, unexpected ice, avalanches, fallen trees, deep water, washouts and leaping deers" – enough said. Oh, and that smooth, hard clay you're driving on; it turns instantly into a gooey mess with a few drops of water.

Lightening
It's almost like clockwork in the mountains, trees get watered in the afternoon. And, with the right conditions (no matter the season) thunder, hail and lightening happen. You are safer from lightening below the tree-line than above it, inside your vehicle than outside it and NOT touching metal than hanging on to the door.

"Acts of God"
Floods can become "flash" and fires can become "forest" easily in the mountains. In dry seasons the Forest Service will prohibit any fires – just plan on it. And obey it! If mature common sense doesn't convince you to do it; believe me, those of us who live here will turn you over to the police in a heartbeat.

If you are in a narrow canyon and it begins to rain (even miles up the stream) all your senses should go on alert. If you have any reason to believe a flash flood is imminent, leave the SUV and climb! The car won't out-run the flood and most flash flood deaths occur in vehicles.

Mountain Sickness
Climbers on Everest get it, people in the Rockies get it too. Altitude sickness occurs more frequently than anyone realizes – at least the symptoms of it – because our vehicles can easily change our altitude more rapidly than our bodies can adapt. Nausea, dizziness, headaches and weakness are all symptoms.

The "antidote" is to take your time in the first place, smell the roses, watch the turtles and the deer leaping over the road. It also helps not to get dehydrated so increase your fluid intake, decrease salt intake, avoid alcohol and caffeine, increase carbs (not chocolate) and keep exercise to a minimum. For significant symptoms turn around and go back down, especially if you've got heart or lung problems in the first place.

The Cold and Hypothermia
Hypothermia can happen easily in the mountains, even in the summer, if you get wet in a sudden afternoon shower. Locals always pack a poncho, or something that will protect them from the wet, folded up in their gear bag or pocket – you should too.

Body temperature can drop significantly under wet clothing in the wind and ruin your trip even if it doesn't do damage to your body.

Abandoned Stuff
Mines, shafts and buildings act like some kind of magnet to children (of all ages). "Things that go bump in the night" use them for shelter and dens all the time. They will not only fall down on your head, bite you on the leg (and other appendages) but they also harbinger rot, mold, bacteria and other viral fiendish thingy's that can send you to the ICU for merely touching or breathing.

Smart parents keep their kids (again of all ages) away from such things.

And lastly…

Don't Drink the Water.
Mountain water is NOT safe, no matter what your neighbor, or mother-in-law tells you. Perhaps it used to be in the past, but even the crystal clear looking ones have animal feces and Giardia in them – just up around the corner where you can't see. Even eating crisp, wild watercress growing in the cool flowing water can get you… for months… believe me I know.

Area Two: Winter Park

Area two has eleven trails and four basecamp towns and covers some of the most beautiful areas in Colorado. Notice that this list includes a trail difficulty designation following its name.

Basecamp Towns: Winter Park, Central City and Rollinsville.

Trails: Byers Peak (E), Rollins Peak East (E), Rollins Peak West (E), Jenny Creek Road (D), Apex Road (E), Jones Pass (M), Kingston Peak (M), Yankee Hill Road (M) and Bill Moore Lake (D).

Free Google Earth File

The free Google Earth file for the Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4WD Trails - Volume 2 is available at: Offroading Home on the specialty map resource page. Click to arrive at the page and select the "Wells Colorado, V-2" map. It is a .kml file which is utilized by Google Earth. You can either save the map on your computer or click "open" to have it open directly inside Google Earth.

Learn A Little More

So far we've learned how to tie our shoes and wipe our hands correctly. Now lets learn how to fly a kite. The pioneer of aerial kite photography shows us how it's done.

Kite Aerial Photography

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Grand Lake

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 04:08:00 +0000

This is the second in the series of posts about the new map we've digitized from a new book we've come across: Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, Vol. 2by Charles A. Wells. And by "we" I mean I.

The book is a sequel of sorts to his initial "volume 1" which covered the more southern portion of the state and overlaps to a certain extent the trails already contained in our previous map: Colorado Trails. And fortunately a number of the trails we've already digitized are in the same area so connect to a certain extent.

There is a lot of "color" in the book for the trails in the area; unfortunately, the author seems to have a bias about "that newfangled GPS Stuff" and includes absolutely none of it in the book. So now we've got the best of both worlds.

Difficulty Ratings Used in the Book

Even though SUVs have become much more capable (and expensive), don't, for even a minute, think that because it is four-wheel-drive it can go anywhere. It can't, and most of us have seen evidence that it only takes one silly little rock placed in just the right place to high-center it, or capture it in a hole for eternity, or, worse of all, flip it over completely.

The author, Wells, says he uses the following trail difficulty scale guidelines in his book:

EASY: Suitable for all stock four-wheel drive sport utility vehicles with high ground clearance and low range. Some EASY trails can be driven in two-wheel drive without low range in dry weather. A few EASY trails, in completely ideal conditions, are suitable for passenger cars.

MODERATE: Suitable for most stock sport utility vehicles with high ground clearance and low range; however, factory skid plates, tow hooks, and all-terrain tires really should be added to the vehicle.

DIFFICULT: Suitable for some stock sport utility vehicles with very high ground clearance, excellent articulation, tow hooks and a full skid plate package. All-terrain tires at a minimum, mud terrains preferred. A winch and differential lockers may be needed. These trails really require a modified vehicle with higher ground clearance, oversized tires, and heavy duty accessories.

The problem with a rating system like this, as I see it, is that you never know when you'll need something (like a winch) until you need it. Then it's too late. And, it doesn't take into consideration anything about the experience or skill level of the operator.

Area Two: Grand Lake

Area two has eleven trails and four basecamp towns and covers some of the most beautiful areas in Colorado. Notice that this list includes a trail difficulty designation following its name.

Basecamp Towns: Boulder, Longmont, Nederland, Grand Lake

Trails: North Supply Creek (M), Kawuneeche Road (E), Middle St. Vrain Road (M), Coney Flats Road (D), Jamestown/Ward Rd. (M), Gillespie Gulch (D), Lefthand Canyon Area (D), Caribou Creek (M), Elderado Mountain (D), Sugarloaf Mountain (E) and Switzerland Trail (E).

Free Google Earth File

If You're Going To Get The Book?

Learn A Little More

Ok, last post we learned that for our entire life we've been tying our shoes wrong. NOW, we can watch Joe Smith tell us that we've also been needlessly wasting trees because… wait for it… we've been drying our hands all wrong as well.

Saving Paper Towels

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Fort Collins

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 03:49:00 +0000

I've been spending much of my summer free time trying to digitize a new offroad book (well at least new to me) which I've just gotten access to: Guide to Colorado Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, Vol. 2by Charles A. Wells.

You remember the guy. He wrote his "Volume 1" several years ago and, in frustration, I digitized it - much to the chagrin of my poor 'ol balding head. After the excruciatingly difficult experience I swore I'd not do another book with so little coordinate information to go on – well… here we are.

That's the issue after all isn't it? To supply better geo-coordinates for those who don't have it.

Wells seems to feel the fact that he refuses to come into even the 20th century and use GPS is a badge of honor of some kind. I certainly don't see it that way because none of the trails he lists in his book even have coordinates to the trailhead, let alone waypoints or tracks for the trails.

Additionally, and unfortunately, the trail descriptions that he DOES choose to use, are woefully inadequate for most offroaders as well. The names he uses for some roads don't appear on any of the maps that I've been using (or on Google Earth) making it difficult to even get to the trailheads, let alone navigate the trails.

Adding Coordinates to The Trails

In fairness to him, perhaps someone actually on the ground might fare better looking at landmarks and whatever signage has been erected; but, digitizing these has sure been a chore. Fortunately, I have digitized other Colorado trail books by other authors, some using the same trail names, which can serve better to navigate around the back roads of Colorado.

And, his books do provide a whole lot of "color" about the area including riding instructions too numerous and specific to include in these maps. Wells has divided his book in to five riding areas, each with at least one "base camp" where you can find lodging, gasoline and some services.

This is the first post of five which will describe the trails given in his "volume 2." I was able to digitize the map to all the trailheads and base camps and they are shown in the map with "metadata" such as description of the area, trail difficulty ratings, distance, time and some short ride descriptions.

Additionally, I have some small amount of personal experience with trails in Area 2 - so I was able to hand-draw all the trails in that area, so they are included. Of course, all of them need to be verified so please help if you ride any of them.

The first area is the description of the trails around Fort Collins.

Area One: Fort Collins

Area One has three basecamps and nine trails, all of which are listed below. The difficulty designation of each trail is also given: E = Easy; M = Moderate; and, D = Difficult. Although, there is no objective description of what those designations actually mean.

Basecamp Towns: Fort Collins, Loveland and Walden.

Location: Adjacent to the northern border of Colorado, around Fort Collins on the east and Walden on the west. From the Wyoming border on the north to state road 34 on the south.

Description: Riding in this area usually requires a visit through the Cache La Poudre River Valley on SR-14 which also supports hiking, biking, fishing, rafting and kayaking. Hard to believe but this unimposing little valley holds some world class rapids: The Narrows, as well as the toughest 4WD obstacle in the state: "The Chutes". There are desert sand dunes, mountain ledges and panoramic views. And, the Sierra Club lobby has been handed at least three wilderness areas largely for their exclusive use.

Trails: North Sand Hills (E), Sevenmile Rd. 225 (M), Kelly Flats (D), Green Ridge Road (D), Old Flowers Road (E), Ballard Road (M), Moody Hill (M), Crystal Mountain (D) and Storm Mountain (D).

Free Google Earth File

Are You Going To Get The Book?

Learn A Little More

One of the first "big boy or girl" things you learned in life was to tie your shoes. In this three minute TED talk by Terry Moore you may just find that you have been DOING IT WRONG ALL YOUR LIFE!

How To Tie Your Shoes

Offroad: Lower North Valley & Seeps ATV Trail

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Sun, 04 Aug 2013 06:04:00 +0000

To the south of Mesquite Nevada, in fact to the south of Bunkerville, is a large, flat, sandy bajada known as Bunkerville Flats. It is divided into east and west portions by the substantial Nickel Creek Ravine and is the unassuming portal to a "magical" valley – which is where we are going to ride today.

North Valley! Ahhh, dad and I have fond memories the first time we "explored" it – only about six years ago now. We were snowbirding "in the warm" (Mesquite that year) and had my ATVs with us. Simple, little, meek things that enabled us "old codgers" to get out from under-foot and see the world.

No Mesquite Area Maps Available

The problem, back then, was that we could find no accurate maps of the area. And when I looked on the internet there were only a couple references to anywhere near us, and they were in regards to some enigmatic petroglyphs without specific locations – except to say something like: "looky, looky what I found and am not going to tell you where."

Later I found that both of the web-sites actually falsified their locations in the deliberate attempt "to keep out the riff-raff." Oh, of course, it was under the guise of conservation rhetoric; but, obviously exclusionary none-the-less. One of the web-master/owner's got huffy when I pointed out that a more mature way to "protect" the site from looters, if that was his true goal, would be to NOT PUBLISH IT ON THE WEB in the first place!

He didn't like it when I challenged him that it was one thing to just not mention something and quite a different personality flaw to deliberately fill the internet with lies.

So, dad and I were faced with the challenge of "just going out and seeing where trails would take us." I quickly purchased our first GPS – a Magellan from Cabella's – Christmas present for dad. It, as it turned out, had substantial usability issues for dad and I was delegated as the navigator from then on out.

The thing was unusable for me too and quickly went back to the store, with no small amount of haggling I might add. I then bought a Lowrance XOG from Bass Pro and haven't looked back since. It is an easy use device with a large screen which fits in a shirt pocket and, with the myriad of criss-crossing trails, has saved our bacon more than once. [Too bad Lowrance no longer produces or supports it.]

Bunkerville Flats

Over the season, I began collecting our GPS tracks, then compiling them into maps, then sharing them with other riders, then writing about them on my snowbirding blog. Eventually so many people asked for them that the maps took over the whole thing. [A free Google Earth file of this route is available at: Offroading Home.]

An area we couldn't seem to get enough of was what Mesquitians (Mesquite locals) called "Southside Flats" and Bunkervillians (Bunkerville locals) called "Bunkerville Flats." We really started wanting to ride without needing to trailer so far AND to be able to find a trail that went east-west clear across the flats.

There was one, sort of, the Power Line Trail, that ran along riverside road on its north edge, but pretty much no others anywhere else that we knew of.

We had ridden a trail between the road and a true hidden canyon in the Bunkerville Ridge of mountains – later we found that it was called "The Seeps." But hadn't found anything that ran along in front of the mountain. SO, we set out to find one.

The Seeps

The ride from Riverside Road across the flats to the south is a great ride in itself. From the satellite you can see the ripples of hundreds of little alluvial fans pouring off the mountain and coalescing into the bajada. It's typical desert fare: sand, sage and cacti. But the small to medium sized gullies and ravines give it character and interest.

They provide a sanctuary of sorts for cacti and other plants to thrive and there are whole mini-valleys of very large Joshua Trees and Mojave Yucca.

At the mountain base the trail heads southeast into an opening crack with sheer cliffs looming on each side and winding just enough so you cannot see around the next corner. All at once, towering directly in front of you is the "back end." It is clearly a blind canyon and dead end; until, you get within ten or fifteen yards of it and see the "hidden" canyon sneaking abruptly back and west.

No sand here, clearly a rocky wash that is much more difficult to navigate over. It continues upward until the other side of the visible range where it opens up into a place we had been to before and knew as the "abandoned mine area." We also knew it as "south valley" which is a unique valley area running east-west inside the larger rumpled topography that is the Bunkerville Range.

An area inside the hidden canyon is frequently wet from drainage and is what is known as the Seeps. We just call the whole passageway through it: Hidden Canyon.

Lower North Valley

The South Valley and Mine Area weren't the object of the day so we back-tracked and decided to follow a tiny trail we had seen running eastward at the corral when we had entered the canyon.

It ran along the foot hills for not even a mile before it ended in a slight ravine with a cattle trail running north-south in both directions. A bit disappointed we followed the one into the mountains again and were more than rewarded for our efforts. The entrance through the mountain wasn't nearly as steep and it opened into a hidden valley, of sorts, nestled along another "crack" in the mountain range just like we knew South Valley was.

The thought occurred to me that "I can't wait to see this GPS track on Google Earth and tell where we are" but it was only fleeting because we turned a corner and ran into a whole mountainside full of Barrel cacti. We've since seen the Barrels in planting groups but this is massive.

The trail undulates through an old growth Joshua Tree forest and we could see in the distance that we were in a lower portion of the valley and we would need to climb to a higher level if there was a way.

There were a few grazing cattle that seemed very watchful of us and the trail we were following looked like it was very seldom used by anything with tires.

Gunsight Pass

Descending into a slight depression we were surprised by a vista which opened up through the mountains on the north. We could see down upon our flats and that day could see clear to Bunkerville.

This was clearly the drainage system for this area but there was no passable trail through it that we could see. Smack dab in the middle of this mountain pass was a spike of persistent rock dividing the sight in two.

This must be "Gunsight Pass" we thought. It could be nothing else. We were to find that a little higher up along the trail the appropriateness of the name was even more evident.

Aztec Rock and Upper North Valley

Continuing along the trail we came to the foot of the cliff blocking the way to the upper portion of the valley; and the trail continued right up it – but it was steep.

We stopped for a breather in the midst of Joshua Trees (Yucca Brevifolia) which were so tall they were over our heads and nearly so thick that they made a canopy over us.

We could clearly see Gunsight Pass behind us and were excited to find a large outcropping of the Aztec sandstone formation which is so prevalent in the Valley Of Fire State Park over by Moapa.

In the afternoon sun it shown a brilliant red and was capped by a small yellow band of the Chinle sandstone. This sight is unique in all this area. You've got to travel all the way down onto Gold Butte before you see any "color" like this, so we felt that we had discovered a real treat.

In all our discussions with local riders during the season not one of them had ever mentioned this North Valley before. And, the appearance of the trail made us feel like real explorers. That year, we continued on up to the upper valley and found that it went out another pass onto the east side of the flats.

So, we did find an east-west passage of sorts; just not one that could be easily used from the Bunkerville side.

But, that was then and today's ride was the last ride of our season before migrating back north out of the heat and taken just for nostalgias sake. The trail up the cliff has a lot more erosion on it these days and nearly bounced me over backwards before I turned around and came back down on my small two-wheel-drive.

Knife Blade Cliffs

We know that there's a lot more to be seen up on top, but for today this was enough and we didn't even feel cheated.

Turning around we saw a sight that we hadn't noticed like this before. The sun was producing shadows which highlighted the entire mountainside on the south in relief as if to cause them to shout out "see, this is why we're called Knife-Blade Cliffs."

I know that Peter Jackson claims that he's got Middle Earth down in his hemisphere but it could be only that he's never had the fortune to see these.

Our return was back the way we had come and was truly no hardship. It's always like a new ride because you see the back side of everything and with completely different shadows. We'll be back to discover it all over again.

Learn A Little More

Some time ago I found this video by "The Piano Guys" - I think out of St. George. They seem to run a music store and compose music. I resisted posting this because the video that I found was overpowering with their commercials to the point that it was terribly distracting.

Today I found this copy and think that it fits right in with this post - without all the commercials.

Desert Symphony - The Piano Guys

Interstate Exits: New Mexico KML File

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 06:24:00 +0000

This is the eleventh and final map in the series about Interstate Exits in the western U.S. – whew!

New Mexico is by no means the least of the western states, but it is one with the fewest submitted offroad trail maps. I've never had the pleasure to ride in the state, nor have we had many submitters from there. A trend we'd like to change.

This is one of the "four corner" western states with Colorado, Utah and Arizona. It's a state where humans are outnumbered by… well… pretty much EVERYTHING! With only 12 people per square mile it's hard not to be.

It has the lowest water to land ratio of any of the fifty states, yet: 25% of it is forested, it has the largest of all the states' national forests (Gila), seven national forests and it is where "Smokey the Bear" was found trapped in a tree after his forest home burned to the ground.

It has the "White Sands" national rocket testing facility which took us to the moon; the Los Alamos and Alamogordo facilities which won us the war with Germany and Japan; the single place in the world where a vein of silver was so pure that you merely needed to slice a piece off; and, the most well preserved Native American artifacts in the whole of the world! Not even to mention Carlsbad Caverns.

Its citizens have a fond place in their hearts for the yucca, pinion pine, black bear, roadrunner, cutthroat trout, chili/frijol and turquoise; because they have selected them as their state's flower, tree, animal, bird, fish, vegetable and gem.

New Mexico Interstates

What the "government roads" lack in number they make up for in mileage in this state. Two interstates completely bisect the state and another has its "headwaters" there.

I-25 transects the state from north to south from Colorado, near Trinidad, to Old Mexico, near Cuidad Juarez. I-40 does the same thing only in the other direction: east-west, between Texas, near Glenrio and Arizona, near Lupton.

I-10 speeds on its merry way westward from I-25 at Las Cruces into Arizona near San Simon.

Free Google Earth File

The free Google Earth file for New Mexico interstate exits is available at: Offroading Home on the specialty map resource page. Click to arrive at the page and select the New Mexico map. It is a .kml file that is utilized by Google Earth. You can either save the map on your computer or click "open" to have it open directly inside Google Earth.

Learn A Little More

Ok, I don't know who Bob Stromberg is, and you probably don't either, but he is fairly unique as comedians/shadow puppeteers go. A bit warped, but unique. I'll save another clip I found of him for a later date – this one, as you will see, will be quite enough for one showing.

Amazing Hand Shadow by Bob Stromberg featuring Ken Davis

Interstate Exits: California KML File

noreply@blogger.com (DJ) — Sun, 28 Jul 2013 04:41:00 +0000

It's finally here! I've been putting off doing the Google Earth (GE) KML for California interstate exits because of its size; but, I guess there's no stalling any longer. Somebody's gotta do it and I guess I'm the one.

This is the tenth such file I've created for the interstates in the west so you would think it would'a been easy, but it wasn't. Well, not so's ya'd know it much.

I've been sorta expecting someone to make these files for several years and putting up with the fact that GE doesn't have any labels for them; but, enough is enough.

I've mentioned before that by opening this file in the background of GE while I'm reading trail books, I can instantly see which exit they're sending us to in their directions.

California Interstates

I-5 is the longest interstate in California. It actually begins at the Canadian border but like a pinball drops into California from Oregon, flashes the lights at Sacramento, rings all the bells around Los Angeles then lands at the Tijuana flipper gate [Yea, sometimes I even amaze myself].

I-80 traverses across the state from Nevada near Reno, through Sacramento and into San Francisco where it is swallowed up before it actually smells the ocean air.

I-8 doesn't get to see the ocean either but it does smell it from where it begins at Sea World Parkway before running along the border to Arizona. I-10, now there's the lucky one, it begins at Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica and runs east to Palm Springs and Blythe into Arizona.

I-15 continues from Nevada to end on I-5 in San Diego. I-40, from Arizona, ends on I-15 too at Barstow.

Then there's all infrastructure needed to support the megalopolis that is Los Angeles: I-105, I-110, I-205, I-215, I-405, I-605, I-805, whew!

But, those around "San Fran" aren't just pocket change. I-205, I-238, I-280, I-380, I-505, I-580, I-680, I-780, I-880 and I-980. If I forgot anyone, raise your hand.

Free Google Earth File

The free Google Earth file for California interstate exits is available at: Offroading Home on the specialty map resource page. Click to arrive at the page and select the California map. It is a .kml file that is utilized by Google Earth. You can either save the map on your computer or click "open" to have it open directly inside Google Earth.

Learn A Little More

I figured that you couldn't do much better than include one of California's all time favorite son as an attached video. Here is an example of the diversity he had as an entertainer. Everyone wanted him to be on their show from Johnny Carson to Cher and Dean Martin's Man of the Hour.

Offroading Home

Broken Link Update - Strawberry Offroad Riding Area Map

Broken Links/Broken Maps

Strawberry Offroad Riding Area

Dropbox Screwup - Destroyed Every Link On Site - UPDATE

Dropbox Screwup - Destroyed Every Link On Site

US County Borders

US State Borders and Information - Google Earth KML File

Iditarod Dogsled Race Maps For Google Earth

The Alaska Iditarod Dogsled Race

Iditarod Google Earth Map

Free Google Earth Map of the Iditarod Race

BLM Closures - 2015 Version for Mesquite-Gold Butte

Bottom Line From What We See

Damage At Devil's Fire on Gold Butte

"Scott Expedition": Coming Home

File Housekeeping

New Cache Waypoints

A Little Closer Tracking

The MODIS Ice Overlay

Enhanced Feature Labels

The South Poles (all of 'em)

Auroral Activity

Amundson-Scott South Pole Base

The Penultimate Reality-show

GEO-tography: Shillouettes

Shillouettes

Further Reading

Learn A Little More

desalinating brine using bacteria - new mining industry

Scott Expedition: South Pole By Boxing Day

The Ultimate Reality-show

Christmas At The Pole

Heading Error?

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Grand Junction - Winching

If You're Going To Get The Book?

Backcountry Driving Techniques

Using A Winch Safely

Area Five: Grand Junction

Free Google Earth File

Are You Going To Get The Book?

Learn A Little More

Drew Berry: Animations of unseeable biology

Scott Expedition: Resource Map Update

Learn A Little More

Are You Going To Get The Books?

Scott Expedition: The Worst Journey in the World

The Worst Journey In The World

The worst journey in the world - 1/5

The worst journey in the world - 2/5

The worst journey in the world - 3/5

The worst journey in the world - 4/5

The worst journey in the world - 5/5

Are You Going To Get The Books?

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Steamboat Springs

If You're Going To Get The Book?

Colorado Laws

Forest Service Rules

Trail Etiquette

Camping Guidelines

Area Four: Steamboat Springs

Free Google Earth File

Are You Going To Get The Book?

Learn A Little More

Why is X used in algebra?

Scott Expedition Resource File

Are You Going To Get The Book?

New Map: Antarctic Glaciers and Ice Flows

The Scott Expedition 2013

Map Overlays

New Map: Antarctic 1500 Meter Mountain Peaks

Scott Expedition: One Month To Blast-Off

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Winter Park

If You're Going To Get The Book?

Facts about Colorado

Area Two: Winter Park

Free Google Earth File

Learn A Little More

Kite Aerial Photography

Colorado Backroads & 4WD Trails: Grand Lake