Featured
Featured

The Run To The Sun: The nice thing about getting people with common interests together is that you don’t need to know them to know them….that isn’t a typo. The Adventure Portal’s inaugural Run to the Sun 2017 event brought together a group of  like-minded overlanders at Trona Pinnacles this last week-end. There was a wide variety of rigs, a wide range of ages, cultures and lifestyles, yet all of us came together and shared our love of gear, after market components, tales of adventures and mishaps and bucket-lists of gear to get and places to go.

New friendships were made and old friends met up.  Some of our event sponsors shared in the fun and a couple of people dropped in fresh off their Death Valley wanderings. The event was kid and dog friendly.  Trona is a natural playground and at any time of day, you could spot little people climbing around the pinnacles. TAP adheres to the principles of Tread Lightly! and discussed the importance of everyone staying on the designated trails and leaving their areas cleaner than when they arrived.

The Run To The Sun
Check-in area

TAP friend and in-field contributor Bob Wohlers of Off-Road Safety Academy offered free training clinics to all attendees. Bob put on a tire repair clinic, a communication device mini-clinic and a winching class.  All were well attended and included many hands-on exercises. The raffle was epic. The contributors, all of whom are listed below, donated generously to this event and we are very grateful to them.

The following is a photo journal of the event.  Enjoy, join this Gathering of the Tribe next year and TAP into Adventure!

We’ll start with a look at some of the rigs that rolled in….

The Run To The Sun
Clearly a Beast mobile. (where’s Waldo?)
The Run To The Sun
Bernard Leitner has a cool set up. The strong winds took his (and others) porta- potty down the first night.
The Run To The Sun
Owners Smokey and Nancy love their overlanding lifestyle.
The Run To The Sun
A Baja loving mobile.
The Run To The Sun
Rebel just slipped in without anyone noticing.
The Run To The Sun
Todd from Four Points Adventures joins the fun on his way to leading a Death Valley tour.
The Run To The Sun
Hello beautiful.
The Run To The Sun
Not sure where they slept.
The Run To The Sun
Some preferred getting away from the “maddening crowds”.
The Run To The Sun
Smiles, camping, wheeling…bliss.
The Run To The Sun
Capable and rugged.
The Run To The Sun
Early retirement…constant overlanding. Sounded sweet.

The Run To The Sun
The Tuff Stuff Crew in their wagon (read:rig) circle.
The Run To The Sun
Roof top tents were the rage.
The Run To The Sun
The terrain doesn’t get much weirder. That’s the beauty of Trona.
The Run To The Sun
The area on the way up to the “bowl”.
The Run To The Sun
Ready for a run around the Pinnacles.

The Run To The Sun
Staged? I had four parents beside me taking photos.
The Run To The Sun
EVERYONE signed “Hold Harmless” agreements.

Tire Repair Clinic by Bob Wohlers

The Run To The Sun
Replacing a torn valve stem.
The Run To The Sun
Plugging a puncture.

Communication Devices clinic, Bob Wohlers

The Run To The Sun
Bob discussed many communication devices and the “when, where, how and why” of using them.
The Run To The Sun
The shade was welcome.

Winching Clinic, Bob Wohlers

The Run To The Sun
Discussing winching equipment, straps, shackles etc.
The Run To The Sun
Dual point winching technique.

Once again,TAP would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to all the brands that supported this event by contributing prizes. Here are pictures of some of our winners and below is a full list of supporting brands.

icon_tap
Icon Alloys: A full set of wheels!
The Run To The Sun
Off The Grid Rentals: Two day free rental
The Run To The Sun
Bob Wohlers Training sessions

 The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun
The Run To The Sun

The Run To The SunThe Run To The SunThe Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

Image result for snowmaster logo

The Run To The Sun
Image result for tembo tusk logoImage result for restop logoImage result for sog logo

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The SunThe Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

The Run To The Sun

Article: Lori Palmer
Photos: David Griffith, Lori Palmer, Andy Palmer

Previous articleSnow Crawling Part Two
Next articleIn-Field Water Disinfection For Overlanders
New York born to SoCal via Puerto Rico and San Francisco, partner in crime and co-founder of The Adventure Portal, Lori has over 15 years experience in partaking of adventures in the American southwest, primitive camping, hiking and exploring in her Rubi. She welcomes new challenges and is always pushing the envelope of adventure in her Jeep.

7 COMMENTS

  1. Great event! Had fun, talk to a lot of people, had a great time!

    Thanks Lori and Andy for all the hard work to make Run to the Sun 2017 a reality! Well Done!!!

  2. Awesome weekend. Sincere thanks to Lori, Andy, Bob, the TAP behind the scenes crew and of course the badass sponsors. I hope this event continues and possibly blossoms into more adventures.

  3. A special thank you to Andy Lori and Bob for putting on a great event. The sessions with Bob Wohlers offered great value. Victoria and I had fun and are looking forward to the next event!

  4. Thanks for a great time! The trek from ID was unforgettable for my small sidekick and I. When is the next one!?

Comments are closed.