This video “a story for tomorrow” was written and produced while traveling through Chile & Patagonia with my girlfriend. We spent 5 weeks exploring this amazing country, and this is how we chose to document it. Thanks so much for checking it out.
Special Thanks to:
LensProToGo, for helping us out with cameras and lenses. They are an awesome company, and the perfect place to rent DSLR’s and lenses.
…Castulo Guerra for helping out with the voice over. He is an extremely talented man, who was great to work with…and I am so grateful he decided to take on this project…thank you very much Castulo.
…and also, to my girlfriend Nina for putting up with my nerdy ways, and for making this such an awesome trip…you’re the best.
Equipment used: Canon 1D mark IV + full Canon lens package – 17 tilt shift, 24, 50, 70-200, polarizer, gradient filter, monopod, tripod.
******* TAP NOTE: This was the video that was the original inspiration for The Adventure Portal. Ask yourself “Are you enjoying your story?” – Thanks Gnarly Bay for the kick up the ass we needed!
I won’t lie to you, living full time in a van is not without its challenges. Areas being closed due to Covid restrictions has added a new element to navigate around for many van lifers. However quarantine in a van allows you more freedom than quarantine at home and there are still lots of things you can see and do to enjoy a socially distanced road trip!
We recently took a road trip South from North Dakota to Nebraska and found some great places to stop along the way. We came into North Dakota from the East, Google maps will want to have you on the fastest route, but like many travellers we find joy in the journey as much as the destination. Pin smaller towns along your route to trick your map app into taking you along the smaller highways. We did US Highway 2 (rather than Interstate 94) where there was plenty to see and some great camp spots along the road.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Our first stop was Theodore Roosevelt National Park North Entrance in North Dakota. This is a beautiful park and home to many Buffalo, if you enjoy hiking there are plenty of trails to explore, for those with a more relaxed approach you can take in some incredible views along the parks in and out drive. The park facilities are closed for Covid, however you can still enter the park for the day, bring cash to pay your entry using an envelope provided.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Along with facilities being closed, the park is not offering access to its usual campgrounds, closures can add difficulties to your socially distanced road trip. Not to worry, there is a campground just a few miles south of the park entrance, which is open and is $6 a night. Look for CCC campground on google maps. Overall we found the park to be almost empty of visitors, so if you have a rig with everything you need on board, now is a great time to be getting the most out of parks like this one.
Camp site at CCC campground
The Enchanted Highway
Heading south we were in search of a section of road known as The Enchanted Highway. The Enchanted Highway runs for 32 miles between Gladstone, ND, and Regent, ND. The Highway is home to 7 large sculptures commissioned by different artists, each has a pull off with ample parking for larger rigs, you can get up close to the art and get some great shots of your rig all while safely enjoying your socially distanced road trip.
Sculptures along the Enchanted Highway making even Bruce Banner look small
Sturgis
This brings us into South Dakota and a town called Sturgis. Any motorcycle rider will tell you that Sturgis is home to one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world which has been running annually since 1938. The Rally runs in early August so be prepared for a lot of people if you pass by this area then. If you stop in at any other time of year the town is relatively quiet, you can visit the heart of the rally and admire the metal sculptures of biker legends like Indian Larry and grab a drink at the saloon.
Indian Larry meets Sprinter Levi
Mt Rushmore
Is any American Road trip complete without a visit to Mt Rushmore? Our visit to Mt Rushmore was a quick stop, again we found it to be pretty quiet at this time. We parked and were able to walk up to the viewing area. We also stopped into the Crazy Horse monument. Access to this under construction mountainside sculpture is a little more difficult, it requires you to park at the base and take a bus ride up to view – everything is open and running but you won’t be able to keep your distance at this site.
Mt Rushmore
Carhenge
Reaching the South most point of our trip, we entered Nebraska in search of Carhenge. Carhenge is, as the name suggests, a replica of England’s Stonehenge made from cars. It was built by Jim Reinders in 1987 and car lovers will find there’s some classic gems amongst the building blocks. The site has since had more artworks made from cars added to its grounds and is a great stop off where you can get up close to the art in the open air.
Carhenge
Socially distanced road trip tips!
Make sure you have what you need on board, snacks, drinks and of course the loo – our TouRig has the Dometic portable toilet
Bring your mask – Many states require you to wear a mask.
Have cash available in small notes – Campgrounds and parks are leaving it up to the honour box system so make sure you have cash ready to leave your payment.
Our friends over at Planetary Design sent us their new Brutrek Ovrlndr French Press last week, so it was a great excuse to get away from our desks and sneak out for a one night mid week, camp out in the mountains to test it.
Brewing a pot of coffee on a cold morning camping, is a ritual we take very seriously here at TAP. Like most things, there’s so many variations on the theme, but for us we’ve been using the French Press method for a while now.
Out of the box you notice the build quality of the french press. It’s feels solid and durable in the hand and not like just another promo piece out of China. I particularly like the removable (unscrew-able) bottom for easy clean. This has always been a bugbear of mine, as the coffee granules always gets wedged in at the bottom, due to the pressure created from the press. It’s double walled and insulated stainless steel, so it kept our coffee warm as required. It also has a spill proof locking lid for easy access to the liquid gold inside.
Pros: Quality build and easy clean design.
Cons: For us coffee hounds, we’d like to see a bigger capacity version than the 24oz provided.
Here at TAP, we spend a significant amount of nights under the stars, in a variety of weather conditions across all seasons. Over the last decade, we’ve used off road trailers, ground tents, soft roof top tents, pop up truck bed campers and even slept in our rigs on a blow-up mattress. However, the past two years we’ve been using an Autohome Maggiolina Extreme hard shell RTT on each of our rigs. This model was originally designed and built for pre running the grueling Paris Dakar Rally so since we typically camp in all conditions, this model seemed a no brainer.
Roof top tents (RTT’s) have always been a staple of core overlanding and off-road adventure travel, however for years have been fairly unknown with mainstream campers. With the exponential growth of Vehicle Supported Adventure in the past few years, this is changing rapidly and we’ve seen a major growth of RTT brands on the market. Autohome is one of the originals: designed and built in Italy and remains one of the leaders.
MAGGIOLINA EXTREME SPECIFICATIONS:
Size: Small
Color: White/Light Grey (also comes in White/Carbon or Black Storm)
Exterior: 51”x83”x13”
Height: 34” mattress to ceiling.
Mattress: 48”x72”x3.2”
Weight: 143 lbs
Price: $3299
AESTHETICS, SIZE AND WEIGHT:
We chose the Small version of the Maggiolina Extreme as it fits perfectly on the Jeeps AEV roof rack and doesn’t hang out the rack and overwhelm the vehicle. It also proportions the size and weight across the whole rack, which helps with off road stability.
The Small is quoted as a two-person tent, but in our opinion, it fits one person very comfortably, but two people is somewhat of a squeeze. If you truly want/need a two person, we’d recommend moving up to the Medium version.
The overall shape is well thought out and is relatively aerodynamic. That being said, be prepared that putting any roof rack and RTT system on your roof, will create wind noise and lower your MPG’s. It also raises your center of gravity, lowering stability, so be cognizant of this when driving off road.
Regarding weight, the Small is 143 lbs (standard for most hard shell RTT’s) and at that weight, it’s likely to stay on your roof full time.
On the advice of the guys at Autohome, we went with the white shell with the grey fabric version. Their rational, which made perfect sense, was that with the amount of desert camping we do, we’d be significantly cooler with the sun reflecting white version. Personally, from a purely aesthetic point of view, I still prefer the darker stealthier grey or black shell colors. Not really a big deal, but when you’re paying over $3k, aesthetics definitely count in the decision process.
SET UP/TAKE DOWN:
This is where hard shell RTT’s really shine and the Maggiolina Extreme can be set up within a minute. After a long day on the trail, this is a true luxury and creates a certain smugness as you sip your first beer watching others deploy their ground tents or other energy sapping camp choices.
The Extreme uses a hand crank that raises the tent structure vertically by employing two sturdy scissor arms in the front and back. It’s definitely slower than the simple push up gas struts featured on many competitors, however there’s a real sense of rigidity and lack of potential sag. In our two years of use and hundreds of deployments, we’ve never had an issue.
The hand crank mechanism also helps significantly when stowing the tent. We find that stopping stowing with about 6 inches to go, allows us to easily tuck in all fabric that otherwise would become caught between the shells top and bottom.
We’ve never lost a crank, however have certainly driven off with it still located in the side of the shell (much to our horror!) Losing the crank would disable the ability to use the tent and because of this, we always carry a spare. A lost crank on a multi-day trip would be unthinkable!
STORAGE – INSIDE AND OUT:
Storage within the Maggiolina Extreme is excellent. It comes with hanging mesh side pockets each side, that have ample room for storing keys, flashlight, pee bottle, ear plugs and everything else you may need. (I permanently leave ear plugs in them, guaranteeing a peaceful night when camping with fellow campers)
In addition to the side pockets comes a roof net that is perfect for larger items like shoes or camp sandals.
When closed and traveling on the trail the Maggiolina Extreme has room for a sleeping bag, under blanket, pillow and RTT ladder. As we travel in Jeeps with their compromised storage space, this has been an important feature. It also means that we never forget bedding (something that we’ve actually done in the past)
The Extreme’s roof is reinforced and the heavy duty scissor supports, allow the use of an integrated roof rack. When we got the RTT’S we thought this was a great idea, but honestly we’ve never used them. Probably because we’re on 35’s with 4.5” lifts, so maybe if we were on a lower vehicle they’d be more relevant.
COMFORT:
With the 3.5” memory foam mattress I generally find the Maggiolina Extreme very comfortable. It’s a relatively firm mattress which I like, even though I am a side sleeper. Others may want to add another layer of padding which honestly is common to all RTT’s that I’ve slept in.
I am 5’10” tall and I find that the scissor arms and track are fairly close to my head and toes. This isn’t a problem personally, but if you’re 6ft and above it’s worth checking out, especially if you sleep on your back.
Ventilation in a tent is essential in either warm or cold weather. The large roll up doors either side and windows each end, provide solid ventilation and I’ve never felt a lack of air flow. (It should be noted that other RTT designs do provide larger roll up and zip off mesh panels for potentially greater ventilation).
Condensation can be an issue with sleeping in any tent, however the combination of Dralon fabric and window vents seems to keep this at bay. In the two years of use, we’ve never had an issue.
Each door is equipped with a draft flap that tucks under the mattress to keep the wind out. This is something I didn’t appreciate until my first night in a storm and is a considerable improvement over many standard entrances.
Weather resistance has proved fantastic. We’ve camped in extremely high winds and driving rain and have yet to experience any ingress of moisture.
CONCLUSION:
Roof top tents are not inexpensive and without question a true investment into the Vehicle Supported Adventure lifestyle. At prices between $2500 and $4500 it’s important to understand what you’re paying for.
Our Autohome Maggiolina Extreme’s have truly been TAP TRAIL TESTED and have probably 5 years of heavy use all rolled into 1. To date, the tents shows no major wear in their fabric, shells or mechanism’s. A true testament to their build quality and design. No design or product is perfect, but we can genuinely recommend the Maggiolina Extreme (although I still wish we’d bought the Grey or Black versions).
What to look for when buying a Roof Top Tent, CHECK HERE
Easy to moderate (stream crossings likely moderate after seasonal runoff)
Required Vehicle
Stock 4×4 with high clearance.
Time
2-3 hours
Length
16.2 miles
Trailhead-Wyman Canyon
Directions: To get to the Wyman Canyon Trail take the White Mountain road, and the off-road trailhead is 3 miles past the Schulman Grove visitor center. Turn right (east) for Wyman Canyon Trail or left (west) for Silver Canyon Trail.
Mellow switchbacks
Site Location and Description: The overland worthy Wyman Canyon trailhead is at 10,500 ft with magnificent views west to the eastern Sierra. It is clearly marked and leaves the graded and easy White Mountain Road. The trail takes you winding down through gentle switchbacks into Wyman Canyon. In dry conditions, 4×4 is unnecessary for the first 7 miles. After this point, the trail starts to criss-cross the canyon’s stream multiple times. In summer, crossings are shallow and very mellow, however it should be noted that they could alter considerably in different seasons or after storms. After several miles of following the canyon and stream, the off road trail exits into an open boulder strewn high desert environment. At 16 miles, the trail ends and connects to the I-168.
Mid-point
History of Wyman Canyon : This road follows Wyman Creek, an old mining and pole line road. On the East end of Wyman Canyon is White Mountain City. In the 1860’s, this was a silver processing town. Only some stone walls and smelter stacks remain.
TAP note: We drove this in August when the stream crossings were very mellow. There were, however, a couple of areas where we could see that the crossing would become significantly more challenging with increased stream flow. TAP always recommends that you take all safety precautions when crossing any body of water and respect the tread lightly principle of crossing slowly in order to disturb the natural ecosystem as little as possible.
Sagebrush desert in the canyon on Wyman Trail
Click here for more CA off-road, Overlanding trails…..and TAP into Adventure!
San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside Counties, California, USA
Nearest City
Borrego Springs and Julian
Coordinates
33°15′33″N 116°23′57″
Area
585,930 acres
Established
1933
Governing Body
CA Department of Parks and Recreation
U.S. National
National Landmark
Designated
1974
Phone
760-767-5311
Park Hours
Dawn until dusk in the day use areas of the developed campgrounds
Location and site information: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is located on the eastern side of San Diego County, with portions extending east into Imperial County and north into Riverside County. It is about a two-hour drive from San Diego, Riverside, and Palm Springs. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California encompassing over 600,000 acres. It contains 12 wilderness areas with many miles of hiking trails and some great high-clearance roads for the 4×4 enthusiast. The park is named for the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish word borrego, or sheep for the bighorn sheep that inhabit the park. This beautiful state park features washes, wildflowers, palm groves, cacti and sweeping vistas. You may also catch a glimpse of roadrunners, golden eagles, kit foxes, jack rabbits, mule deer and bighorn sheep as well as iguanas, chuckwallas and the red diamond rattlesnake.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park-Thunder cloud
Anza-Borrego -Jack Rabbit
Some other sites in this area include over 130 world famous, full size metal sculptures of a vast array of creatures, pictographs; rock paintings drawn by the Kumeyaay Native Americans who lived in the Anza-Borrego Desert thousands of years ago, wind caves; formations created out of sandstone, a Kumeyaay Native American “village” of boulders (the Morteros Trail) with grinding bowls or morteros, slot canyons, an abandoned homestead on Ghost Mountain, a palm tree oasis (Borrego Palm Canyon Trail), a 20 foot waterfall (Maidenhair Falls in Hellhole Canyon), the site of an old calcite mine, and more. This is truly a family friendly destination. NOTE: Fire arms and fireworks are not allowed in the park.
Anza-Borrego Sculptures
Average temperatures: Average January temperatures are a maximum of 69.2 °F (20.7 °C) and a minimum of 44.0 °F (6.7 °C). Average July temperatures are a maximum of 107.3 °F (41.8 °C) and a minimum of 75.7 °F (24.3 °C).
The Visitor Center: The Visitor Center is located two miles west of downtown Borrego Springs (which is surrounded by the park) at the east end of Palm Canyon Road, just off County Road S-22. It has some very informative exhibits, plus the award-winning 15-minute film, A Year in the Desert. Hours of operation: October through May daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. During the summer the Visitor’s Center is only open on weekends and holidays.
Ranger Nature Tours: Ranger-guided tours, lectures and campfire events are scheduled on a daily basis throughout the winter and spring. Check at the Visitor Center for schedules and don’t miss the flowers spectacular spring bloom!
Anza Borrego-cactus blossom
Accessibility: Most of the park’s facilities are wheel-chair accessible, including the main Palm Canyon campground.
Camping: There are four developed campgrounds with 175 total sites, and eight primitive overland campgrounds with even more places to camp. Primitive campgrounds are free, and sites at developed campgrounds range from fifteen to thirty-five dollars per night (and $80 for a group site at Borrego Palm Canyon Campground). There are vault toilets at the primitive campgrounds (except at Yaqui Pass), but not picnic tables or other amenities. Fish Creek Campground is the most developed of the off-road primitive campgrounds. Its six sites all have their own fire rings, which are not included at other primitive campgrounds. Blair Valley Campground is a large undeveloped area situated at 2,500 feet above sea level, providing more moderate temperatures than the desert below. Culp Valley is the highest primitive campground at 3,350 feet and Fish Creek is the lowest at 280 feet.
Campsites: Developed and Primitive
Developed Campgrounds
Season
Elevation
Fee
Sites
Water
Firerings
Toilets
Reservations
Borrego Palm Canyon
Year round
775 ft
$25-$80
122
yes
yes
Flush/shower
yes
Tamarisk Grove Campground
Year round
1,400 ft
$25
27
Yes. Non-potable
yes
Flush/shower
yes
Vern Whitaker Horse Camp
Year round
960 ft
$30
10
Yes. Non-potable
yes
Flush/shower
yes
Bow Willow Campground
Year round
950 ft
$15
16
yes
yes
flush
no
Primitive Campgrounds
Blair Valley
Year round
2,500 ft
$0
no
no
Vault in one area
no
Sheep Canyon
Year round
1,500 ft
$0
no
no
vault
no
Culp Valley
Year round
3,350 ft
$0
no
no
vault
no
Aroyo Salado
Year round
880 ft
$0
no
no
vault
no
Yaqui Pass
Year round
1,730 ft
$0
no
no
vault
no
Yaqui Well
Year round
1,400 ft
$0
no
no
vault
no
Fish Creek
Year round
280 ft
$0
6
no
yes
vault
no
Mountain Palm
Year round
760 ft
$0
no
yes
vault
no
Reservations and fees (prices are subject to change so call to verify), call 800-444-7275.
Day Use: the fee for day-use is now collected ONLY at Borrego Palm Canyon, Tamarisk Grove and the Vern Whitaker Horse Camp.
Groups require 6-month advance reservations; 7-day limit.
Roadside Camping is allowed. The rules are:
Do not camp further than one car length from any dirt or paved road
Do not camp within 100 feet of any water source
There is no garbage collection outside developed campgrounds so pack-in pack-out.
*Ground fires are not permitted, and metal containers must be used for all campfires
*This last rule is the trickiest. Bring a metal container to keep your fire off the ground. Pack out all coals, and dispose of them as trash. Coals should not be buried or spread out on the soil.
Pets: Dogs are welcome on leashes within campgrounds, but dogs are not allowed on trails or in wilderness areas. Overall, the desert is not a good place for dogs. Burned paw pads, cactus quills, and snakebites pose a danger to dogs, and canines threaten desert biomes as well. A dog’s scent can scare other animals away from trail areas, shrinking the habitat they rely on to survive.
