Nomad Overland Rally 2024

Nomad Overland Rally Highlights: Week One

June 12, 2024 – USA: The 2024 edition of the Nomad Overland Virtual Adventure Rally began with a burst of activity as some Teams were hot out of the gate and were already out exploring in California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Kentucky, Utah, Virginia and Oregon during the first week of the event.

Team 117 Lucas racked up over 1,000 points while starting their first few Overland Stages in Arizona. Lisa and Jeff Lucas set out for the cooler climate of the Northern part of the state on the very first day of the Rally, hitting the Cinder Hills OHV area, Sunset Crater and Wupatki National National Monuments as well as the Four Corners Tribal Monument in the Navajo Nation. From there they continued on into Utah and Colorado where they made a stop at Mesa Verde National Park before looping back to the Mormon Lake area near Flagstaff, Arizona. They had some fun finding a water crossing and some mud and were able to check off a number of activities during the week. They even had time to do an impromptu trail cleanup for their first Stewardship points of the 2024 rally. The Team finished out the week in first place on the Leaderboard

Team 130 McClellan also had a massive week, hitting a number of National Parks and Monuments on her first Overland Stages travelling across the southwest. Cara McClellan started her Rally in the middle of a larger cross-country trip she was making around the region. On Day One she was in Utah visiting Bryce Canyon National Park before setting up camp at Natural Bridges National Monument campground. From there her journey continued to include Hovenweep National Monument and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado before pausing in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. She did a bit of exploring in the backcountry in between, and was able to scout some campsites and forest roads in an area she plans to revisit later on. McClellan also made the most of her time in the southwest to pick up as many of the unique wildlife PhotoQuests as she could find. She finished the Week in Second Place on the Leaderboard.  

Team 114 Dolbow began strategically going after some of the harder-to-find Photo Quests while knocking off multiple activities in Texas. Her decision to go to the Aransas Pass National Wildlife Refuge paid off, as she was able to get the alligator and a number of other animals and wetlands terrain specific PhotoQuests. Then Dolbow and Team 122 Seeger connected for a coastal stage that included some beach camping and kayaking — a great plan for dealing with the brutal heat of  south Texas in the summertime. Dolbow finished out the Week in Third Place on the Leaderboard.

Team 118 Macy got off to a very strong start as the first team to complete the Falken Tire Precision Challenge, which is worth up to 250 points! Audrey Macy also focused on finding some of the wildlife. On the very first day of the Rally she headed to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge where she picked up two PhotoQuest items right away when there was a Bison Jam (ten points for the “bison” and three more for “animal blocking the trail”)! Macy got a bunch more of the wildlife points while she was out there including the Owl.

Team 129 Astor NC Old Man Overland took some time to work on their route planning, did some exploring around Kentucky’s Red River Gorge and participated in some training events, all before setting off for their big trip out to Colorado. Max and Rhonda Astor completed all three of the Group Event Activities this week, starting with the Overland Adventure Summit, which is a new event in Stanton, Kentucky. They got some training time in with Mike Morrison, I4WDTA, of Morrison Adventures and learned some trail repair techniques while reviewing basic recovery scenarios. The Team also completed a First-Aid refresher course with TNT Overland before heading further west.

And by the end of the week, several other Nomad Teams were starting out on their Overland Stages. Week One also saw two impromptu trail cleanups (good work Team 117 Lucas and Team 121 Rojas DOGRNR) Check out the Leaderboard to see how everyone ranked at the end of Week 1.

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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 2024 edition of the Nomad Overland Virtual Adventure Rally.

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