Influencer II
I'm thinking with a group this big we may need to split up.. But perhaps not
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Mojave Road trip - March 2017
- Thread starter VCeXpedition
- Start date
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Off-Road Ranger I
Off-Road Ranger I
I think a conversation with the Rangers will give us some good ideas how to do this.
I think without a doubt that we will not be the only ones on that trail that weekend!
Enthusiast III
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Might I add?...
-Planned bail out/meet up points (critical)
-Checking in/out of your group
= No one left behind
Key to maintaining safety and situational awareness for each other.
Just some insight...
Our group (17 rigs) went a few months ago/used weatherman on Baofeng hh's and were able to reach about 3-4 miles. You can pick one up from Amazon for about $30-$60.
I will also say that as fun as it was having that many rigs in convoy (made for sweet videos), there were downsides that tip the scales in favor of smaller groups. Just food for thought.
Permits...What they don't tell you:
Groups of 7 rigs max.
Groups must be separated by a 30 min out of chute time (if the ranger is on standby).
We never ran into rangers but they do have helicopters out at times that will be the eyes of blm. Tread lightly is the motto and large groups bombing through the desert are frowned upon due to "expedition businesses" popping up who truly don't know what they are doing.
A private group of 7 of us are going again in January (brrr!) as well. Looking forward to meeting everyone in March for this OB trip!
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I'm planning to attend so sign me up please. I'm friends with Raul B.
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Influencer II
That's a much newer version than I have. I am lucky enough to own a first edition book which was passed down to me through my grandparents. My grandfather was one of the pioneers of "Overlanding". He did so in a 1984 s10 with a truck bed carpet kit that transformed into a bed for him to sleep on. He is the reason for my wanderlust, and honestly my reason for wanting to knock this trip off my bucket list. This trip is for my grandpa.
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I just finished a trip to the Mojave over New Year's with the Northern California Land Rover Club and the Arizona Land Rover Owners. We had 9 in our group. We did have to have a permit (with a permit the max was 12 trucks) but we weren't required to have group insurance. In some cases you may be required to have it, but all they required of us was our automobile insurance. They will let you know when they issue the permit what you will need. Without a permit you are limited to 6 trucks per group. Anyway, it was one of the best trips I've been on, so if you have the opportunity to go, I recommend it.
Off-Road Ranger I
That's not a bad idea, I have been thinking about how to gracefully and effectively handle this large a group.
I'm open to ideas.
@gneargarder & @hallry I've got you down.
Working on that Trip Document, should be ready before the end of January, sorry to be late but the holidays... well basically just lazy!
Dan.
Well...I am IN. I want to meet a bunch of Overlanders from near and far. Plus want to learn more about Overlanding and I'm sure there will be some great folks on this trip. I'm a rookie for sure, but not worried about the 4R handling it as she is built up.
As for breaking it up into teams...what about by area? Team NorCal, Team SoCal, Team Mtn Region, Team PNW? Problem is trying to get everyone to link up at certain times.
As for breaking it up into teams...what about by area? Team NorCal, Team SoCal, Team Mtn Region, Team PNW? Problem is trying to get everyone to link up at certain times.
Influencer I
I am simultaneously liking this idea of splitting the teams up into regions because it helps get people who live near each other connected, but at the same time it does limit the amount of people who you wouldn't otherwise get to see very often.
On the note of groups, I am just thinking out loud, but each group would probably want to be assigned either before even leaving for the trip, or when we first meet at the casino, and except for some exceptions, should probably not be changed during the trip in order to help alleviate a bit of the headache of making sure that everyone is accounted for.
Would we want to have the groups meet up all together each night at camp? that way there is still a good amount of mingling and getting to see all the rigs.
For the potluck idea of dinner, each group could have their own family style dinners, that way the cooking isn't daunting in comparison to cooking for the whole group, I am not sure about this but it might be an option.
The groups should be made so that each group contains a diverse skill set, AKA. The groups would contain some less experienced drivers paired with more experienced drivers who could help them out, show them the ropes per say, people who have driven the road already could be in each group to help out with prior knowledge of the specifics, stock rigs and highly modified beasts should be paired in order to keep a roughly consistent speed among the groups.
For communications, while I personally plan on attempting to get a HAM licence before the trip, I know quite a few don't have it, so a rig who can talk on ham, and relay it back to CB and FRS/GRMS could be useful. (Also, could MURS channels be used? HAM range without the licence requirement, (Technically not supposed to be above 2W, but ehh))
Should there be a recovery requirement? AKA just a simple thing stating all rigs should have recovery points (I assume 99% will already have them, but just in case)
could it be benificial for each group to have a pre-designated lead and tail, so that all the groups leads and tails can get on the same page regarding the nitty gritty specifics of anything shared with the whole group ?
Sorry for the long post, just letting some ideas out
Off-Road Ranger I
Hey Michael, my apologies, I've added you to the list!
The Form you filled out is a Google docs and it's not really connected well to this post yet.
That's my fault, I haven't had a lot of experience with those and haven't accessed that doc yet to cross-check.
By the way, if any others that want to go, or are thinking of going, post up here and I'll check against Post#1 to see if you're listed.
Thanks, Dan.
I've led some large groups on various trips... Last weekend was a small group on the Mojave Road.
Some things come to mind:
Camping - Getting more than 10 vehicles camped will be a challenge on the MR if you plan to be together.
Comms - Relay comms are terrible. Pick a system and insist on it. Ham Radio is the best and folks have time to get licensed.
Timing - 3 days is quick for the whole road with a group of this size... not a lot of time to explore. Plan 30 miles per day.
Organization and planning - this is key to insure folks are advised and aware of the general plans. I provide a contact sheet listing every participants info:
Forum Handle
Real name
Co-Pilot
Vehicle (Color/Model)
HAM Call Sign
CellPhone
Email
Home Locale
I keep a Good to Know List on each participant:
First Responder Training
PLB / SPOT / InReach
SAT Phone
APRS
Winch
Recovery Straps Etc
Good Full Size Spare
Port-a-potty
Aux Fuel
Trailer
I also create a day by day schedule of waypoints, approx. mileage and some times when we might make those.
Waypoints - make sure everyone has a consistent / uniform waypoint library so rendezvous and other coordination is clear. I used the Mojave Road Guide waypoints as the uniform WPs.
Some things come to mind:
Camping - Getting more than 10 vehicles camped will be a challenge on the MR if you plan to be together.
Comms - Relay comms are terrible. Pick a system and insist on it. Ham Radio is the best and folks have time to get licensed.
Timing - 3 days is quick for the whole road with a group of this size... not a lot of time to explore. Plan 30 miles per day.
Organization and planning - this is key to insure folks are advised and aware of the general plans. I provide a contact sheet listing every participants info:
Forum Handle
Real name
Co-Pilot
Vehicle (Color/Model)
HAM Call Sign
CellPhone
Home Locale
I keep a Good to Know List on each participant:
First Responder Training
PLB / SPOT / InReach
SAT Phone
APRS
Winch
Recovery Straps Etc
Good Full Size Spare
Port-a-potty
Aux Fuel
Trailer
I also create a day by day schedule of waypoints, approx. mileage and some times when we might make those.
Waypoints - make sure everyone has a consistent / uniform waypoint library so rendezvous and other coordination is clear. I used the Mojave Road Guide waypoints as the uniform WPs.
@fj80toyman im in for sure on this trip. If you need a group leader i can be one or a tailgunner i have ran the trail before.
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