< more recent | 1-15 May 2020 | older >
10 May 2020: Great opportunity to learn more from Kyle Buchter at Offroad Consulting about complex winching operations and how to use creative rigging to redistribute load weight when trying to pull a heavier vehicle or one that is badly mired down. Really cool to be able to actually see how much load weight we are really pulling versus our estimations …
9 May 2020: Masked and maintaining our social distances, we got back to the trails at Rausch Creek with Off Road Consulting for the first trail runs of the re-opening. It was just great fun to be out there again [see more: RE-OPENING OUR OUTDOORS] …
9 May 2020: After two whole months staying at home on lockdown there is some light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, with the beginning of “phased re-openings” in some parts of the country. New York is still mostly “closed” but one of our favorite off-road parks in Pennsylvania is opening up this weekend, so we are headed out to “test the waters.” GPS routed us straight through Manhattan early in the morning, which was completely surreal …
2 May 2020: Made another excursion this weekend to go do a favorite hike at one of the Long Island state parks despite the crowds. Using a map made it easy enough to avoid the masses by taking smaller less trafficked trails where as the majority of folks followed the herd on the main loop. Still ended up encountering groups here and there, but was able to find a quiet spot out on the beach for a welcome pause …
THIS MONTH:
Reopening the trails with the Off Road Consulting group on May 9th at Rausch Creek Off Road Park. The trails have been shutdown (like everything else) for roughly two months, and fall under the first phase of the PA re-opening plan …
COMING UP SOON:
All public events have been cancelled across the country including several of those that USnomads had been scheduled to participate in such as the Texas Rovers’ April SCARR event, the May Overland Expo West and the June Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival. The annual Jeep Safari in Moab is cancelled and all camping in the area is temporarily prohibited. International travel has been disrupted as well meaning our upcoming travel to Paris has been put on hold and even the summer Serbia trip to help with the plum harvest is in question…
The 5th Annual 2020 Ladies Offroad Challenge starts on May 4th. Ladies will participate in a series of challenge tasks that are built to educate and encourage stepping into some unknown territories. The Challenge goes on over ten weeks with participants striving to “Do the Best They Can” at each of the tasks. Ten Participants from the Challenge will be invited to the very special Top 10 Weekend hosted by Charlene Bower…
For the moment the August LON Convention remains on the schedule, as we are hopeful that the situation will be such that the event can go on. So as of now the plan remains heading to Michigan for the Ladies Offroad Convention, an action-packed, interactive 4-day weekend educating, motivating, and guiding for offroad ladies. The 4th Annual Convention will be held in Grand Blanc, Michigan from July 30th to August 2nd. Ladies will have many hands-on opportunities to gain all types of offroading skills, learn and engage with others as they share their stories with plenty of laughs along the way…
ABOUT OFF ROAD CONSULTING
The Off Road Consulting group is led by Kyle Buchter a certified International 4 Wheel Driver Trainer (I4WDTA), with over two decades of experience in guiding, teaching and recovery. Based in central Pennsylvania, Off Road Consulting provides training, guided rides, mapping, trail design and layout, obstacle course construction and consulting for a client base that includes the automotive industry, military, law enforcement, and utility companies in addition to recreational enthusiasts.
ABOUT RAUSCH CREEK:
Rausch Creek Off Road Park is devoted to providing a fun, legal place for off-road enthusiasts to go four-wheeling. The park consists of almost 3,000 acres of easy, intermediate, and difficult trails featuring rocks, bowls, hills, club friendly trails, and free, on-site camping. The park is located in Pine Grove, in Schuylkill County, the heart of the anthracite Coal Region of Eastern Pennsylvania. It can be reached by Interstate 81 (exit 107, south via Route 209) or Interstate 78 (exit 13, north via PA-501).
Nesconset | Paris | Tremont | Shamokin | Pine Grove | Howard
MORE NOTES FROM THE ROAD:
April – Lockdown NY
16-31 March – Lockdown NY
9-15 March – Roadtrip Home
1-8 March – Moab
23-29 February – Vegas to Anza Borrego
15-22 February – Southwest Roadtrip
8-14 February – Southwest Roadtrip
1-7 February – Glamis to Vegas
27-31 January – Yuma to Glamis
15-26 January – Nevada to Arizona
1-14 January – Starting the New Year
24-31 December – Holidays on the Road
16-23 December – Cross-Country Drive
9-15 December – New York
1-8 December – Paris
16-30 November – Paris & Rennes
1-15 November – New York
14-31 October – Arizona
8-13 October – LON TOP TEN
1-7 October – Girl Gang Garage
16-30 September – Women’s Wheeling
1-15 September – Long Island
9-31 August – Serbia
1-8 August – #LONCON2019
16-31 July – Roadtrip to Atlanta
1-15 July – Cape Cod
15-30 June – Eastern Long Island
1-14 June – Bantam Jeep Festival
May – PA Trail cleanup
Archive
REFLECTIONS
A quick overview of impressions from a stop in Cairo during our recent scouting mission in Egypt and Sudan … [read]
SPECIAL REPORT
A look into south-eastern Algeria on the border with Libya and Niger: overlanding with the Tuareg in one of the most remote corners of the Sahara … [read]
