[madison38]

ADVENTURE 001 - ALABAMA HILLS, CA

My wife and I decided to get our Passport with the intent of using it to motivate our desire to get out in the wilderness more and to take it's adventuring spirit to heart. Our first adventure started with less than 1000 miles on the odometer as we headed out to Alabama Hills to get a taste of taking our new SUV off-road. Thanks to @stevenD for the suggestion and for posting the video that inspired my confidence in the Passport's abilities.

The Passport is step one towards our plan for an adventure rig that can get us into camp sites that don't have numbered signs and marked parking spaces. We've been infrequent tent campers over the years and I'm finding that the ideas behind overland camping better suit our goals. Shortly after taking delivery of our Passport, I discovered Outdoorsy.com and realized that we could test out our overland ideas by renting a variety of rigs to see what we actually liked before we jump into owning our own trailer. We started out with a 2016 AT Overland Chaser rooftop tent style trailer built by GTFOverland in Glendale, CA.

This is a complete turnkey trailer rental that included everything needed for a weekend adventure minus the marshmallows and hotdogs. Curt, the owner and builder really put a ton of thought and years of experience into designing this trailer and it was truly a pleasure to use. Over a long weekend we setup and struck camp a few times to get a feel for it and to try out the rig in a few different scenarios.

The three hour drive from Burbank to Lone Pine was easy and comfortable. The Passport handled its towing duties flawlessly. There was more than enough power to make it easy to forget that the trailer was even there. I would estimate the trailer to weigh about a thousand pounds as loaded including water and extra fuel. The Passport was averaging 16.5 mpg on the 5000 ft. ascent and it gave us about 23 mpg on the descent as we headed home.

The Passport proved itself to be much more capable off-road than I was. Everything I dared to throw at it was handled with ease and with a sense of stability that gave me confidence to push slightly past my comfort zone. As we progress further and once I feel I have a better understanding of the vehicle's (and more importantly, my own) capabilities, I'm confident that the Passport can take anything I'll need to throw at it.

Here's a quick video I threw together of a bit of our adventure...



... and a 360 tour of one of our camps.

 

[madison38]

Sweet/I just returned from a mini adventure myself and the PP is really good and I’m a happy camper ?

I'd love to hear more about your experience if you're willing to share!

 

[madison38]

Not sure if you already have a skid plate, but it's my understanding that this one fits on the Passport:
https://jsportusa.com/product/honda-ridgeline-pilot-skid-plate/

I'm planning to install this exact plate before our next outing. I was very aware of the lack of a skid plate while adventuring in Alabama Hills and was very careful not to take on any questionable obstacles.

If you're considering buying a roof top tent, you might want to consider this guy's perspective on them: https://www.outsideonline.com/2071176/we-designed-best-rooftop-tent-ever-sort

Thanks for this great article, it really hit home as we experienced most of the challenges that the article mentions (trouble in high winds and leveling were the big lessons learned) and because of these, we are likely to continue to rent the RTT and will likely purchase something that is more along a teardrop design. Right now, the Hiker Trailer has my attention.

 

[madison38]

ADVENTURE 002 - ANZA BORREGO, CA

Continuing with our desire to try out as many camper trailers as possible, we went back to Outdoorsy.com and reserved a pop-up style camper since this trip involved more friends and we wanted to have sleeping space.

This was also to be a bit of a working trip, so we needed to have enough room for 4 adults and a full complement of video production gear. The extra size of the Passport over our old CRV was really made evident on this trip. We have a Yakima roof box that took care of all of the camping gear so the back of the Passport could be reserved for the camera stuff.

We decided to boon-dock at the entrance to the Sandstone Canyon in an attempt to shelter from the winds that we'd been warned about. As it turned out, there was very little wind over the 3 days but we enjoyed the coziness of camping under the cliff walls.

The setup for the pop up trailer took about an hour and convinced me that although the extra room is nice, the setup time isn't going to be worth it for my short excursion schedule. I'm leaning toward an off road tear-drop style trailer where I have the least amount of setup time. I'm hoping to find a very low friction version of camping where it takes the least amount of effort to get out into wild places.

The Sandstone Canyon is an easy offroad trail that allows you to drive right through the middle of a 100 foot high slot canyon. There are a few obstacles that are beyond the capability of the Passport but it's easy to find alternative pathways.

We only went as deep as the trailhead for the Wind Caves Hike since we had a schedule to keep. I'm looking forward to going back and exploring the full length of the canyon.

Our filming took us to the Obsidian Butte on the Salton Sea, about an hour's drive from Anza Borrego. This landscape is unlike anything I've ever seen. Words and photo do not do it justice. It is a foreboding and harsh environment that has a very strange and horrific beauty. It made for some amazing imagery that I'll share once the client allows it.

This was an excellent weekend of work/camping and the Passport continues to impress me with its capability and comfort.

 

[madison38]

Looks like fun David, I found an article that may be of interest to you:

https://autonxt.net/tiny-trailers-across-america/

Great article, and it’s right where my head’s at!

 

[madison38]

ADVENTURE 003 - CHIMNEY CREEK, CA

This past weekend I decided to take a quick overnighter to try and find some trees. All of my adventures in the AdvPass up to now have been desert camping and I've been feeling the need for some hammock time and I needed an excuse to try out my new Fiskars Hatchet!

*full disclosure, my friend Dan did most of the chopping!​

There was only one place I could find in all of Southern California that wasn't forecast for rain Saturday night that also had trees... enter Chimney Creek Campground near Lake Isabella.

​

This is a quick 2.5 hour drive from Burbank and it was an absolute gem. Quiet, secluded, and just what I needed for a quick recharge. I had two friends and a dog along and we were able to fit all of our needs in the Passport and my roof box comfortably.

To get to Chimney Creek, you'll need to traverse about an hour of dirt mountain roads known as the Chimney Peak Byway. It's a very well maintained road and could easily be run in a 2wd sedan. The AdvPass soaked it up. I'll definitely be back.

 

[madison38]

So cool David ? My PP rear isn’t full with cool things like an Instant 360 Pro ?. Seriously good read and pics! ?

Thanks @Scooter Dude ! It's funny, the Insta 360 is the least cool thing in the car, but I'm not allowed to talk about the other stuff just yet!

 

[madison38]

I can finally post the video form our Anza Borrego/Salton Sea trip now that it's public. My wife was asked by Panasonic to shoot the first footage for a new camera they will be releasing later in the year, the S1H. The footage we shot at the Salton Sea makes up a good portion of the end result.



The Passport handled all of our gear, camera, lighting, and grip with ease and was a joy to work out of. We even used the stereo for music playback for our dancer to perform to.

 

[madison38]

ADVENTURE 004 - PILOT ROCK TRUCK TRAIL, CA

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to join up with @Jondz on a trail run on the Pilot Rock Truck Trail near Hesperia, CA. This is a very tame forest road that winds its way from Silverwood Lake to the Lake Arrowhead area. The trail itself is a very well groomed dirt road that any sedan could easily handle. It's the many optional off shoots where things get a bit more interesting.

Our group consisted of a variety of modified Subarus and Jon's heavily modified Passport along with my lightly mod'd AdvPass. All but one of us tried the offshoot and we all managed to make it through. This was by far the most technical and challenging road I've ever driven and it was a great confidence booster to see how easily the Passport managed the trail. Having experienced spotters and willing compatriots that could help out if there was any trouble made it much easier to push the boundaries of what I was comfortable with. Just looking at the entrance of the offshoot was enough to give me serious second thoughts.

A number of times we decided to walk the trail to plan our lines and make sure we would be able to complete each new obstacle. This was the most valuable learning experience of the trip. I've been keen to gain more real world experience with what I can and can't do in the Passport and taking on a trail like this with the relative safety net of a group let me really see that the Passport still has much more capability than I have confidence.

@Jondz was nice enough to cut together a video of the experience, it's well worth the watch!

 

[madison38]

This is my favorite thread in the forum!! David, I can't wait to see and hear more about your adventures! Great car porn too! The photos are super awesome!

In your original post, you mentioned using a 19" tire on a 18" wheel? Typo? Also, did you loft your HP?

Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words, I'll happily continue to journal our experiences and it's nice to know that the effort is appreciated.

You are correct that the 19" tire is a type-o.