| Planning a trip is always full of surprises,
both good and bad. An adventurous spirit is a necessity to attend a
long distance off-road trip, but if you are involved in the planning you
need to either be crazy or have the patience of a Saint... or maybe both.
From over booked to under booked in the blink of an eye, real life
caught up with several who had signed up and took the numbers down.
From broken vehicles, covering positions for laid-off coworkers, and
international assignments- we lost about half the pre-registered attendees
to life's circumstances, all of whom were returning from last years Great
Maine Expedition. But still, we adapt and move on...
Nominated to navigate and generate the itinerary for this year, Kevin
Willey from LRM also had to bail out last minute. Were things going
to fall apart? I was planning to ride shotgun with Kevin since I had
just purchased my Discovery to replace the totalled one that I used on the
previous Great Maine Expedition and didn't feel it was ready. That,
combined with the fact that if I drove I had to take myself off all my
prescription medications for my back injury- very much against the urging
of my doctors. But still, we adapt and
move on...
Richard and Deb stepped up to take over navigation duty and I pulled
several all-nighters to get my truck assembled and ready to go. Fred
from D.C. who is entirely new to the whole Land Rover thing sent his newly
purchased bone stock Defender up to me in Vermont to have kitted- it was a
mad dash to get everything ready but we managed. Richard did a
pre-run to check out the cabin we reserved from Libby
Camps and reports back that the access is a little rough, exactly as
we hoped.
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The Author's Discovery and Fred's newly acquired Defender 90
making last preparation at DAP's shop in Springfield VT.
Two days before, the Discovery had a new transfer case and 04 style CDL
installed along with Big Blue springs and ProComp shocks. TJM front bumper
and TMax 11,000 winch fitted with Winchsafe rope was installed the week
before. Roof tent from Autohome is along for the ride just in case-
VisionX and ProComp HID off road lamps for those dark Maine nights.
Fred fitted a Bearmach front bumper and sliders with a TMax winch with
Winchsafe rope, among many other things.
Navigation for both vehicles is based on Garmin charplotters. In
mine, a 376C provides near real-time weather radar overlay and a 172C
provides detailed topo maps. Fred sports a Garmin 182. |
| Something that drove me nuts as a kid was when my parents
wanted to look at antiques. I always wondered why anyone would want
anything old- but I admit that I can't pass up a nice antique store
now. My dad would be so proud...
The fire engine pedal car in the picture caught my eye, but was in bad
shape for the money they wanted. After we left, I decided we'll pick
it up on the way back anyway. |
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| We press on from Springfield to Greeneville,
Maine. Only 360 miles, but the funny part about New England is that
East to West travel is slow- the roads are narrow and often in poor
shape. Getting caught behind farm vehicles adds to delays so 360
miles is a long day. Still working bugs out of both vehicles, we
stopped a couple times at hardware stores and a Radio Shack to pick up a
couple things.
We roll into Greenville to the hotel. A 'no frills' kind of
place, but that's ok. We're just looking for a place to sleep with a
heater at this point. They gave us the key to someone else's room
who apparently had already bed down for the night... they weren't too
impressed with my trying to get into their room. Back to the office
where they informed us they were overbooked even though there were maybe
five cars in the parking lot. The desk dude figured something out
and we got our room. I really didn't want to sleep in the roof tent
that night and things worked out.
After we unpack we go in search of something to do. I drag
Fred to the nearest bar where the Defender is met with about forty
suspicious eyes as we pull into the parking lot. Although a little
chilly that night, we join the live band outside and put away a few drinks
while listening to "White Trash" run through their repertoire of
Blues while the local girls steal glances trying to figure out who the
"new guys" are.
The next morning, we pack up all our gear as Richard and Deb show
up. At this point it's very apparent that I over-pack. I just
hate when I need something and don't have it though. Maybe I need a
bigger truck? Should I have brought my 109 Wagon?
A short drive from Greenville is the wreckage of a B52 on Elephant
Mountain. We went there last year and it's a sobering place... it
serves as a reminder how our military risks their lives, even outside
of combat missions. |
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This is the tail gunner portion of the B52 at Elephant
Mountain.
The largest portion of the fuselage to survive the crash, it still contains the shredded
flight vest of the tail gunner- although someone had moved it outside the
shell and it has deteriorated significantly since last year.
Visible in this photo are the rails on the Right side where the seat
assembly for the tail gunner was originally attached. |
| Last stop before we're completely on our own, this is Kokajo-
population: not many.
From here on out, there is no pavement. The main roads are well
traveled by the logging companies, the lesser traveled roads vary greatly
in condition- some abruptly end where beaver dams flood them or large
sinkholes make the ground just fall away. |
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The road to the cabin- the last mile was pretty rough.
Large rocks, tight brush and several fallen trees.
We had to saw off some limbs and help a fallen tree collapse low enough
for us to get over it. |
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We arrive at the cabin, which is actually TWO cabins and
begin to relax and unload our gear.
Each vehicle brought at least three 5 gallon cans of fuel, there aren't
any gas stations out here.
One of the best features of these cabins is that they sit on a private
lake! Can anyone think of anything better than this? I didn't
think so... |
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Sunset like this- PRICELESS. |
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| As we explore the area the next day, we come across many
beaver dams like this one. Sometimes they flood the road, sometimes
they work in our favor. |
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Here, a beaver dam helps us out by keeping the water level
down as we have to go around a bridge that is in disrepair.
All of the Rovers in the group are capable of fairly deep water
crossings, especially short distances, but it's best not to tempt fate this
far from anything. |
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Fred gets his "water wings" at a simple water
crossing. There was a bridge here once, but it is long gone
now. A steep off-camber climb out the other side served as a
training aide, so we spent some time teaching proper climbing technique. |
| Fred twists up his suspension, clawing for traction on the
wet off-camber climb.
This is the kind of obstacle that can turn bad very quickly if a
mistake is made. This is a great example why you shouldn't fit
overly stiff springs on Land Rovers- let them flex and stay planted. |
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| This picture will show the angle a little better. A
little 'pucker factor' kicks in as one wheel comes off the ground.
Steep descents are dangerous as it is, but throw in some off-camber and
deep holes and it becomes a very technical piece of driving.
Other than constantly ignoring corrections and wrapping his thumbs
around the steering wheel, newbie Fred did a great job. |
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Another obstacle as we explore the North Woods of Maine- a
loose sandy climb.
We spent some time in this area for more training. The high
resolution version of this picture shows that Fred is once again wrapping
his thumbs around the wheel. |
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Second day of exploration we came across this. I was
out front and from the driver seat, this only appeared to be a small hole-
something easily driven through.
Once I got out to double check, it turns out that the water below is
about fifteen feet down!
When in doubt, check it out. The grass and fallen tree obscured
this hole and I almost just kept going... that was a close call.
We marked the hole with red ribbon tape to hopefully keep someone else
from having the same problem.
While exploring this day, we happened across local bear hunters who
were quite concerned that we might be hunting in "their"
area. We assured them we weren't and they watched us drive by-
obviously a little confused where these strange vehicles came from. |
| A common view as we pack it in for the day and head back to
the cabins.
Deep water, big rocks, tight tree lined trails.
At this point I think we had reattached Fred's antenna three
times. Turns out that the flexible wire antenna is more forgiving
than the stiff Firestick type. |
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| We settle in for the day and Richard sets up his shower
apparatus. Clever design hooks to his roof rack, then we lined the
ground with porous rubber matting. Add the Zodi shower for hot water
and it's all the luxury of home... we're not animals, you know. |
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