Overland Bound Off the Grid Rally!

Michael

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Michael
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Hey, everyone!

September 25th - 27th in Sequoia National Forest!


We're in full planning mode for this! :grinning:

Campsite: Fir Group Campground. Lots of shade. 13 Tables. Group Bar-B-Que. Toilets. Water. Large campfire circle. Straight shot to the trail head for Buck Rock. Plenty of space for us to spread out and set up basecamp.

Perks:

  • Camp sight Reservation
  • Exclusive Off the Grid Rally t-shirt and patch.
  • Saturday night dinner for the group cooked by "Friday Night Cooking"
  • Beer and beverages. (Working on some more perks and awesomeness for Off the Grid goers as I type!)
Rally FAQ!

Off the Grid Tickets!

Adventure: We'll roll in Friday afternoon, prepare camp and enjoy a kickoff meal, get up Saturday and head out to the trail at 9AM, spend the day rolling through Buck Rock (maybe stopping for mimosas...?), have lunch, shoot the proverbial sh*t, and roll on back Saturday late afternoon.

Fun: Lots of community. Lots of different rigs. Lots of different styles. One singular mission to get outside and explore!

To cover costs of the campground, perk package/swag bag, and the Saturday night catered meal, it will be $75/head for the entire weekend. We will need a small amount of volunteers to help us bring stuff in, set up, help us get organized, etc. and we'd comp volunteers in. There would also be an early registration discount.

Let me know what you think. We're getting creative and having fun over here. It's super inspiring to think of all of us standing together and raising a beverage in the air to toast the good life.

Corrie
 
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OB--I'm in buddy!!  Had to push the limits of the Overland Bound website shopping cart system but I'm all squared away!!  Thanks to Mrs OB for the assist.  This should be a spectacular trip.

I don't plan on bringing my trailer...but in the spirit of helping out...let me know if you'll need a canopy, corn hole, 6'foot table etc…those kinds of things will need to be transported in the trailer and the remainder of my usual "off the grid" goodies go on the rig.

I'll be departing the San Jose area FRI and can link up with you along the way if you want/need to.  I don't check the forum daily but feel free to call my cell (listed in my account).

Happy Trails!!
 
I wish I could make this. It's the wife's birthday weekend though. I don't think she'll want to be wined and dined in the forest...someday!
 
I am so bummed right now, i was making plans on driving all the way to the rally but an unexpected business trip came up on THAT exact weekend. @administrator. Next rally for sure.
 
The group just got bigger. My buddy is signing up with his Toyota and got a couple of friends coming with us in our jeep. So stoked to get more people involved in this activity and see why I'm always so excited when these trips come up.
 
It's going to be an awfully different landscape. The Rough Fire is headed toward Buck Rock it looks like. We'll see!
 
@hospitablerobert Indeed. I don't know if it got to the Buck Rock Jeep trail, but we will arrange a Plan B. I know it was very close, creeping up King's Canyon.

We'll report more soon.

M
 
I wish we could attend but it's a bit too far for such a fast approaching date. Hunting season's around the corner and the family is dragging me (kicking and screaming) to Florida's Tragic Kingdom the following week so I'll need all the energy I can save. :0)
 
Been holding off on submitting the online form. Any update on the shirt sizing.
 
Just got my email . To bad the fire is destroying everything. But plan B sounds like a good time!
 
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I think Plan B will be great. No change in schedule, just the location by about 20 minutes depending on where you are coming from. More info soon!
 
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Hi everyone -

We have a new venue for "Off the Grid". The location is just as epic, and driving time is nearly the same.

We have been watching the Rough Fire in SNP & SNF for about a month now, and while we were crossing our fingers for containment, our worst fears were confirmedon Friday: The fire is now at Buck Rock, and has moved into the Buck Rock Jeep Trail. See screenshot from Saturday attached.

Park Officials and the Forest Service have closed down this area of SNF and the Fir Group Campground until further notice. We will not be able to host the [HASHTAG]#offthegrid[/HASHTAG] rally at Buck Rock.

We are incredibly disappointed, but we're thankful for all the fire workers out there doing their best to get this fire under control.

THE GOOD NEWS... :)
After a few minutes of "WHY NOW??! WHY?!?", we moved on to creating a Plan B because we really, really want to meet you guys and share some time on the trail. (And we're solution oriented kinda people.)

Plan B: Bald Mountain & Shaver Lake
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We are booking a group site at Camp Edison on Shaver Lake, and will be rallying up to Bald Mountain Lookout! We explored this area in March of this year thanks to @cencalifoothills recommendation and we had a GREAT time.

The Camp Site
Camp Edison is located on Shaver Lake and is extremely family friendly. There are flush toilets, large group campsites, outdoor kitchen facilities for our Saturdaycookout, and campfires are allowed with a permit.

https://www.sce.com/campedison

Rally Time
Bald Mountain Trail according to trails.com:
"Bald Mountain OHV Route is a moderate trail that climbs to the fire lookout on Bald Mountain. It is a good trail for beginning off-road drivers to practice on before moving to harder trails. The route should be within the capabilities of most stock high-clearance 4WD vehicles."

Several of our guys are extremely familiar with this trail and have expressed a thumbs up for the ride.

Distances According to Google Maps
Driving time to Shaver Lake from Oakland, CA: 3.5 hours (1.5 hours less than SNF)
Driving time to Shaver Lake from Los Angeles, CA: 4.25 hours (approx. the same)

Distance from Camp Edison to Trail Head: Approx. 7 miles

What This Means for Attendees
We understand that this is a change to the original plans, and if you would like to cancel, no problem. We will refund your money, no questions asked!

That being said... We do hope you will still come with us off-road and off the grid. There will be community, conversation, connecting, and most importantly, overlanding. We plan on having an amazing time, and we are having a blast preparing!

And we hope to see you with us on the trail!

Please email corrie@overlandbound.com or call me directly at 925-989-2798 with your questions! I'm here to help.

Big thanks in advance. We appreciate all of you!

Best,
Corrie & Michael

Bald Mountain Trip Videos!

Part 1 - Arriving at night
Part 2 - Morning, trekking to the top, and exploring
 
1. Dying to go to Bald Mountain. We can't wait.
2. I'm actually very curious about the Rough Fire and the aftermath. Maybe after a season or two, I'd love to take a trip out there to watch the landscape recover and do its thing.
 
1. Dying to go to Bald Mountain. We can't wait.
2. I'm actually very curious about the Rough Fire and the aftermath. Maybe after a season or two, I'd love to take a trip out there to watch the landscape recover and do its thing.


Im thinking of the same thing. After watching The sequoia awesome video, it really was sad to see the destruction. However it will be something to see the forest rebuild
 
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Im thinking of the same thing. After watching The sequoia awesome video, it really was sad to see the destruction. However it will be something to see the forest rebuild

Maybe down the line we can set up a group to go check it out. I've seen some "reboots" in Ca and Co and it's interesting to see. All the erosion patterns change, vegetation changes...could be a cool trip.
 
If anyone is heading up to the Rally on Friday, 9/24 morning and wants to either caravan, or meet up somewhere along the way, chime in. I'm also thinking of leaving Thursday night and finding somewhere along the way to overnight.
Dan.
 
We're going up earlier on Friday if we can too. No other reason than I want to stretch the most out of my weekend as I can! We're coming from San Luis though, so I don't think we'd cross paths until Prather... I'll just look for ridiculously cool LC80's and know I'm in the right spot...