Astro camping: 5 days of enduro riding and overlanding

[T.Low]

This crappy little 8 second video (sorry about the massive bouncing around ) sums it all up:

After a couple of us convoyed over one of the most beautiful mountain passes in North America (Hwy 20 through the North Cascades) to go enduro riding in the mountains, we were not certain where our other friends had already set up camp. After getting to the town of Wintrhop, we headed up the road along the Chewuch River knowing they were up there somewhere. We came to a fork in the road and there was Dan sitting in a camp chair patiently waiting for us next to his KTM 520, ready to guide us into Bellingham Dual Sport Riders Chewuch River Camp.

5 of us would be riding the mountain trails and forest service roads through the North Cascades from town to town, returning to base camp each night. Then, when all my riding friends would have to return home after three days, my buddy Brian (with his Sportsmoblie 4x4 E350 PSD) would meet me at camp to go overland exploring in the vans for the next two and a half days.

Lyrics: Dave Mathews

"I can't believe that we would lie in our graves wondering if we spent our living days well".

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83wuMzms7ec[/youtube]




GPS trax: You can see where camp was, in the intersection of all these loops. And that's just the riding portion of the trip. No trax for the overlanding vans portion.





























SMB navigates gumbo mud.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vio339cU-E0[/youtube]





More to come if I can find the time. Thanks.

[Wiley]

That looks like some awesome riding and camping....find the time for more pics!

[okie1]

That is super, great pictures, lucky you =D>

[mdmead]

Very cool Tom!

[arlon]

Now that looks like a fun time. Pretty country up there that's for sure..

[H2OJoe]

Awesome pics and video! Thanks for sharing. Would have liked to see video of the Astro going thru the same mud pit

Joe

[MountainManJoe]

I love that area. I remember the gumbo very well.

[Smiliesafari]

Too cool. The next time I get up there you'll have to show me some of those areas. "HI" to Jen and Lil "O".

[Vanjoe]

T Low, Great pics and video! Love what you did! The bike riding looks like a fab time! Only thing missing in my opinion, is fly fishing for trout in those waters you cross. Do you fish at all? How do you wheelers keep stuff from flying all over inside your vans??? My Astro is NOT an off road van and I hate how stuff comes loose on rough dirt roads!!

[T.Low]

Excellent question.

From another trip:

I do not want to hit the brakes hard and have something launch out of it's place and end up who knows where, or worse yet, survive a vehicle roll only to be killed by a flying object within the van.

[Vanjoe]

Cargo net..... #-o Great idea! I tend to fill bins when I go away for a holiday trip or to haul tools to help family out of town. I always strap then in! Been in enough accidents to know how everything flies forward! My 85 astro had just had 6 large containers of wet mulch put inside, with the 2 bench seats folded and pushed up to front seats when I hit a small car broadside at 40mph. My injuries were due to the weight of the mulch slamming the bench seats into the front seats. If, I were wearing a seatbelt, I would have been crushed between seat and steering wheel! In all my work vans and now my toy filled vans, I always build in something behind the driver's seat.
I also use a bunch of coat hooks to hang clothes and things in bags. Rough roads have everything swaying back and forth.

Hey, on your bike carrier, you have a receiver extension.... are you able to haul a trailer with the bike on? If yes, how heavy a trailer can you or do you haul? I have looked into that also but they can't be used with 5000 lbs. of camper.

[T.Low]

I welded an extra reciever ontop of the moto tray for the mountain bike tray to fit into. This way, i don't have to keep switching back and forth all the time, I can just add or subtract the mtn bike tray.

[snapple]

Awesome pics & video!!
Im envious of all the beautiful country you have to traverse up there in the NW!
Thanks for sharing T!

[T.Low]

Thanks, Snaps, and everyone for the kind words. I knew you guys would enjoy and appreciate some pics of the landscape of this part of the country.

[raSafari]

I welded an extra reciever ontop of the moto tray for the mountain bike tray to fit into. This way, i don't have to keep switching back and forth all the time, I can just add or subtract the mtn bike tray.

Hey Tom,

Just curious... with the bicycles and moto on the back, do you feel a lot of bounce when driving? Also, what shocks are you using in the back.... doesn't seem like you have much sag. I just bought a Kawasaki 250 and before I get a moto rack for the van I wanted to do some research. Now that I've seen you do it, it'd probably throw my mountain bikes on as well. =D> Advice before I start? Thanks!

-dp