Nomad Overland Rally 2023

Nomad Overland Rally Highlights: Week Three

June 26, 2023 – USA: The 2023 Nomad Teams really began hitting their stride this week, with a few Teams coming back from multi-leg Overland Stages where they racked up points in a big way. Other Teams continued to chip away at points across the Activities, PhotoQuest and Weekly Challenges building up their scores more slowly. It will all begin to equal out as everyone completes more of their Stages.

By the end of Week Three Nomad Teams were busy exploring in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Washington, Utah, Texas, Virginia, and North Carolina.

Team 116 Tembruell of Michigan shot to the top of the Leaderboard after logging nine Overland Stages plus a Bonus Mission. Amber and Dave Tembruell just returned from their a multi-day adventure exploring in a loop that began and ended in Michigan, with Stages in Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota. Their first stop was in the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest and camp at Beaver Lake, where they found a ton of bugs but no beaver. While on the trails they found a “roundabout” in the forest–it was the first time they have ever come across a roundabout in a forest and they had a little extra trail fun playing on it, before continuing their journey. Heading westbound the Tembruells paused to tackle their Bonus Mission in Wisconsin, then it was on to Minnesota where they camped near Fool Lake, which they discovered was heart-shaped when they saw it in satellite view on their OnX Offroad app.

By the end of Stage Three they had made it to North Dakota and the Sheyenne National Grasslands. That’s where they found the “world’s largest buffalo” and also checked out the North Dakota Badlands trail in the Little Missouri National Grassland. The Tembruells declared this to be their favorite, stating, “Little Missouri National Grasslands, largest grasslands in the nation and completely and utterly underrated. Better than Theodore Rosevelt National Park, hands down, no competition! The Little Missouri is one gigantic vast panoramic shot.”

Team 132 Kienlen completed three Overland Stages, a Bonus Mission, Activities and quite a few PhotoQuests in Washington state. Jenn Kienlen started her Overland Stages en route to the NorthWest Overland Rally event, and set up camp in Plain, Washington. Her trails for the day took her up to a high elevation in an area that had burned a few years ago where she appreciated the beauty of gnarled skeleton trees and boulders. Kienlen spent Stage Two exploring within the Wenatchee National Forest and driving up to the peak of Chumstick Mountain. It was a long and dusty trail day, but she found a survey marker at the top of the mountain as an unexpected bonus. Kienlen says, “I love getting up to these high elevations where you feel like you’re in the clouds.”

Kienlen was able to complete a number of Activities at the NorthWest Overland Rally, checking off the Sponsored Event and a Group Trail Run Favorite. She also enjoyed some of the education options at the event. Getting her first aid kit reviewed by the onsite Medic and attending a Rebelle U class taught by Rebelle Rally founder, Emily Miller.

Team 102 Thomas continued along solidly exploring on the east coast in Virgina and North Carolina.  Faith Thomas drove from the Virginia Beach area down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina where she spent some time checking out the 4×4 routes along Carova beach on Currituck Banks. Because the area is only accessible by boat or 4 wheel drive vehicle, it is less crowded than some other areas, and Thomas was able to get some great photos of the wild horses on the beach. She was also able to check off several other PhotoQuest items, while enjoying the combination of trail and beach time out on the beautiful barrier islands.

Team 136 Smigiel continued exploring in NorCal and added an impromptu Stewardship Project before heading off for their Bonus Mission in Nevada. While out on a group trail run in the Big Rattlesnake OHV area of the Stanislaus National Forest, Darius and Aga Smigiel helped clear fallen trees that were blocking the trail. The Smigiels and their friends from the Santa Cruz Jeep club were heading to Lake Moran when they encountered the large tree trunks laying across the trail and they got to work quickly cutting and winching to open a passageway for their group and others. Team 136 also ran into a lot of water crossings due to melting snow in that part of Northern California. As they completed multiple Stages in that area, they also took some time to check off some of the Backcountry Activities. Aga tried her luck at fishing, and though she didn’t catch anything, someone else in their group did and they were able to enjoy fresh fish for dinner one night. 

Team 123 Roderick set off on the start of a multi-leg set of Overland Stages heading from Arizona to Texas this week. Raelynn Roderick and her adventure dog Archie were making their way to join Team 128 Dolbow at the Big Bend National Park to do their Bonus Mission together. And Roderick was able to knock off a few of her Stages as she made her way to Texas, camping and checking out some trails as she went.

Roderick took some time to explore in the Prescott National Forest, checking out a live oak cabin and looking for some geocaches before stopping at a small stream to give Archie a chance to play in the water. Stage Three took them to the Kaibab National Forest and the Overland Road Historic Trail. The following day, for Stage Four, they had a lot of highway miles to get to Alpine Texas, but managed to take a “trail break” just outside of Peridot, where they hopped onto Rd 400, a dirt trail that wound around a small section of the San Carlos Indian Reservation.

As Week 3 came to a close Nomad Teams were busy working on their Stages from coast to coast. More Teams were working out the details of their Bonus Missions while others were in the middle of multi-day Overland Stages. There are some great adventures going on out there, and we are looking forward to seeing more great photos from the Nomad Teams as the Rally continues.

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Check out these updates, or go to the main news page for more articles and information about what is happening around the 2023 edition of the Nomad Overland Virtual Adventure Rally.

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