SPRING EPIC 2022

Hopefully you’ve already read: Day-5

DAY SIX: The Red Line Land Cruisers Spring Epic Overland Trip 2022

Photos & Story: Rodney Wills [Wednesday – March 23, 2022] Another chilly morning just outside of Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, but the sun is warming us up quick enough to have us springing out of the sleeping bags and get our coffee and breakfast on! Today will be a special treat as we will be checking out Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, roughly some 70-miles away as the “dirt crow” flies.

Gear-nerd alert:

The old REI Passage II has been one super reliable tent!!!

The sun is popping up and we are popping out of our tents! As the “photo guy” these Altra sneakers have been great for all the scrambling around while shooting. They are more for those crazy overland endurance runners, but I like them for there grip, airiness and zero-drop heels. Add in the contrast of my old Carhartt field jacket that I have had for YEARS! Makes for a great changing mat when in need.

Having good sleeping bag is top priority! With a great bag you can get a great nights sleep! Add in a good “ground barrier” with comfort and it will also aid in getting a great nights sleep! This sleeping bag is an old OLD Downtime from REI and the air mattress is a Big Agnes Ultra Air Core. This is my combo for this trip. Yes, I have a couple of combo’s for different “missions” dependent on vehicle, weather and weight. This kind of “outdoorism” just allows us to gear-nerd out even more with our Toyota Land Cruisers!

But the real question is, are you in the business of dispersing “white flowers?” You better not! Always follow “The Code!” The first time I heard the term “white flowers” was when I was making ready for my first Rubicon trip as a website complaining about all the “white flowers” along the trail due to the amount of traffic this world famous trail gets. Take s _ _ t serious yall’z! I’m from Alabama, so when I suggest to you to get educated on the matter that drops from your underside, please do-do it appropriately! Buy yourself this book from Colin Fletcher “The Complete Walker IV” and start reading!

This is a view of our super remote and very nice camp spot area! Morning fires are awesome!

As nice as the morning was, with the twist of the key in the ignition is where our twist of the day would begin.
Bryan’s XJ decided to pee on the ground so we had to take his XJ to town for potty training. We almost didn’t see the XJ leaking rad-fluid as we had packed camp, starting to warm up the vehicles, and was about to hop in and head off… But I saw in front of the 4Runner that the ground had a wet-spot but it was just in front of his rig. He had pulled in behind the XJ as it moved forward. Went over and looked in front of the XJ and it had already dribbled a new wet spot on the ground. This was literally all while I was about to get into the XJ and head out to Vermilion Cliffs. With visual inspections made, we must go to town…

Leaving our remote camp location we await cell signal for service to locate a water pump.

We drive into Fredonia, Arizona (nearest town) and find a car wash, but there is not a parts store in this town. Bryan cleans the XJ from the previous three days of wheeling as 4Runner-Jay drives up to Kanab, Utah, just seven miles up the road, to get a water pump that we called and sourced while on the road into town.

Bryan starts the tear-down process and I have cell signal for the first time in 3-days so I get caught up on some work and call the wifey! Vermilion Cliffs National Monument is nicked from todays itinerary list for this trip! Another day…

Meanwhile…

While we are all at the car wash working on the rigs, in rolls this hot beast of an 4×4 machine into the parking lot right up next to us! The owner painted it herself but was asking us if we could check her oil for her… Hey Bryan, “since-you-iz” working on your XJ, if you have a moment, this lady needs a little help…

With all mechanical matters sorted on the XJ, it’s time to reevaluate our trip plans. Executive level discussions and decisions are being made at the boardrooms sheetmetal table.