Road to Panhandle Overland 2022

Precursor and preparation

A lot of preparation goes into an event like this. For ourselves, we begin packing a week in advance then ramp it up the closer we get to the date. We try to mitigate items we forgot by writing things down and building a checkoff list. Unfortunately, we still forget a thing or two. A lot of our gear is prepped and staged since we live in the suburbs and use the vehicle as a daily driver. The hassle of overloading our vehicle and the possibility of break ins is one we try to avoid. Things like power cells, refrigerators, cameras, etc. are last to be loaded.

General maintenance is a high priority whenever driving long distances. I like to check tires, air pressure, fluids, and adjust brakes whenever needed. I also spent time tightening bolts on both roof racks, the drawer system, hi-lift mount, and propane mount. The last thing you want is something coming loose on the highway or squeaking for hours on end.

Road trip

Our road trip began Thursday night around 5PM. We got the kids loaded, snacks packed, pillows positioned and began our journey. We fought our way through heavy traffic only to realize 45 minutes down the road our youngest daughter forgot her entire bag of clothes. Hence the “unfortunately, we still forget a thing or two.” This however happened to be something very important. With much debate we decided not to fight traffic a second, and possibly a third time, and instead we detoured to Walmart and bought her a new weekend wardrobe. Upsetting as it was, kids are kids and mistakes happen.

One pit-stop, refuel, and 7 hours later we reached our destination under a heavy fog and the darkness of the midnight evening. We were tired but still needed to setup our tent and sleeping arrangement.

Sleep over

We parked our truck in the yard at our friend’s house. He has a cabin in the woods above Sandpoint.

There we setup our roof top tent and annex and slept for the night.

Early Friday morning we woke to the foreign sound of a lone wolf, or alpha, howling loudly. Once the alpha ceased, a pack of wolves followed suit. It was a very exciting and unique moment. Don’t mistake this experience for “oh he just heard coyotes,” I grew up in the country, around coyotes daily. These were not coyotes. As soon as the sun began to rise the noises faded.

We got out of bed around 6:30, sparked the Mr. Buddy heater for the kids, got dressed and stepped out of the annex into a beautiful and wild Northern Idaho.

After a couple cups of coffee and a tour of our friend’s cabin we began packing up the tent and loaded up firewood.

Event opening

The event was held on Baldy Mountain. The drive from our friend’s cabin was roughly 30 minutes away.

We handed out Midland radios to the group, Lou in his Land Rover Discovery, and Ben in his Sahara edition Jeep. We then loaded up and headed out, convoy style.

I mentioned the radios because they are so much fun and great for communications. I highly recommend stepping your communications game up if you haven’t already. These radios are perfect for trail navigation, spotter communication, and even highway communication for obstacle avoidance or pit stop coordination.

We drove single file through Sandpoint and onto Baldy Mountain Road.

Once on site we drove around looking for the ideal spot to set up camp. The landscape was sloped so we walked the area a bit. Once content with a spot we parked and leveled our vehicles.

Friday was primarily a camp set up and mingle day. We walked around and said hello to old friends and the locals.

Backroad 4WD Training put on a small clinic later that evening. The clinic focused on independent front suspension strengths and weaknesses verses solid front axle strengths and weaknesses. Mike and Will went over “soft spots” on vehicles. Soft spots are vulnerable parts and assemblies that may become compromised on the trail. They spoke about driver awareness and understanding where vital parts of your vehicle are located in relation to where you are sitting as the driver. This is important when passing obstacles and ensuring you don’t unexpectedly hit or damage anything.

Following the clinic Mikes Custom Toys put on a free fajita feed and included free beer. Watching these guys cook was also a treat. They used the Tembotusk skottle to stir fry all the veggies and meat. They were also very friendly and inviting.

We finished out the night with a quick game of corn hole and a campfire under the stars.

Saturday

Friday night we laid out a game plan for the following day, so come Saturday morning we made a large breakfast then broke camp. We then loaded up in the Tacoma and the Land Rover leaving the Jeep to hold down the fort. The benefit to this was we didn’t need to bring everything along, we left things like the cooking station, annex tent, corn hole boards, etc.

Our plan was to explore the road network and trails surrounding the event. We were told On X maps charted all the trails and they had a free trail download if you found the crew and scanned a QR-code. Unfortunately, we never found the crew but set off anyways. Not that we needed the On X maps, the road network was a loop that circled the mountains above the camp and dropped back down nearby the main site hall.

After an extended drive and a couple brisk hikes pass the barrier tape the senior members in our group needed a break. Lou and I drove them back to the camp and dropped them off.

We then partook in a group convoy drive up and down the same route we had already taken. This was a bit more thrilling just being a part of a large group.

That night we cooked street tacos. Days in advance we cut New York steak into small slices, marinated it in Carne Asada seasoning and let it sit in Ziplock bags, in the field we dice onions, fry street taco corn shells and top everything with green Verde sauce, one of our favorite camping meals. Taco night is never complete without a couple margaritas and a cervasa. For dessert we had peach cobbler, curtesy of Ben. He spent the evening preparing the cobbler in his Dutch oven over a Snow Peak Takibi fire pit.

Later that night Panhandle Overland put on a raffle where vendors gave away products and prizes. I have to mention our children accompanied us to NorthWest Overland Rally in June. There they too raffled items after reading a raffle ticket. If the number was unclaimed the crowd would shout in unison “BURN IT!” By the end of each night the chanting became more frequent. Since NWOR our daughters have become quiet the fire cult when it comes to unclaimed raffle numbers. They are very competitive and kept shouting “BURN IT!” Humorous savages they became. We did our best to reel them in. Things you pick up at overland rallies.

Following the raffle Sam Leyde Band played live music in front of the site’s main hall building. Sam Leyde Band put on quiet the concert.

Shortly after we sacked out for the night. The following day was going to be a long one.

Sunday

Sunday we woke around 7am, cleaned up camp, began packing then walked down to the hall for the famous Sunday morning breakfast hosted by Panhandle Overland. There were loads of sausages, scrambled eggs, pancakes, fruit, and toast.

Following breakfast, we said our goodbyes to local friends and the Panhandle crew, then packed up the remaining gear and headed down the road.

Our trip home wasn’t as long as some, but it was still a solid 7 hours. Once home we spent the evening unpacking and cleaning. The work week was just hours away and it was back to reality until the next adventure.