Nomad Overland Rally 2025

Nomad Overland Rally Highlights: Week One

June 10, 2025 – USA: The 2025 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 Washington, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Virginia and North Carolina during the first week of the event.

Team 115 Newcomb, exploring in Utah, racked up 448 points, putting them in the lead for this first week of competition. Tom and Esther Newcomb started their Nomad adventure with a visit to Bryce Canyon National Park, where they hiked the Rim Trail to Inspiration Point. Along the way they got different views of the hoodoos that populate the Bryce Amphitheater — home to the greatest concentration of hoodoos on earth, according to the National Parks Service.

The otherworldly formations are the result of hundreds of years of weathering and erosion. “It really puts in perspective the millions of years before us that weather has played an enormous role on how we today in 2025 see the earth,” said Esther.

While at Bryce the Newcombs took in an evening stargazing event that was interrupted by a midnight hailstorm.

They picked up the next segment of their Utah exploration at Snow Canyon State Park in Ivins, where they checked out a narrow slot canyon, petrified sand dunes and went looking for Tortoises. While they didn’t find any tortoises, they were able to check off a lot of other PhotoQuests along the way.

Despite some vehicle trouble, Team 111 Potter was able to grab a bunch of points while out on the trails in Nebraska. Lisa Potter was exploring out in a remote area when a plastic fitting rubbed through an aluminum line on her Jeep. She had to limp it back to camp after a “rescue run” by her daughter and son-in-law who drove more than hour to bring the team 5 quarts of oil. Undaunted, Lisa made a few calls to find the parts and made a safety weld on steering so she could get back out there. She finished the week strong, with 379 points, landing in second place for Week 1.

In Washington, Team 132 Kienlen took advantage of a work trip to get their first Overland Stage done, camping at BBQ Flats in Wenas, Washington. Jennifer Kienlen was traveling with a co-worker and her young son on the Audubon Rd headed to Mud Flats Rd when they came upon a downed tree blocking the trail. They had to backtrack and return to camp, but that didn’t stop them from capturing a number of PhotoQuests. “My co-worker’s son was so excited to help me find Photo Quest items, and my co-worker was so determined to get a photo of a butterfly, she chased it for almost 15 minutes,” said Kienlen. They picked up 337 points, putting them in third place for Week 1.

Team 102 Thomas spent Week 1 focusing on some of the more difficult-to-find wildlife PhotoQuests while exploring in Virginia and North Carolina. At the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge Faith Thomas was able to capture some great images and check off a number of Quests. A really special surprise was getting a glimpse of a rare red wolf (and making a beautiful photo of it). The endangered re wolves have been re-introduced to the ecosystem at the refuge, but their numbers are still small, and sighting one is unusual.

Team 101 Mercer got off to a great start with the PhotoQuest, too, capturing the “elusive” beaver on Day One. This was a special pleasure, because last year the team struggled with that one until the very end of the rally. The beavers live in a pond not far from Tonya and Chris Mercer’s home, but last year they seemed to be in hiding. This year they were out and about, and Tonya made sure to grab the image quickly. They also got a double rainbow in Week One and a number of other great shots while exploring around Colorado.

And by the end of the week, several other Nomad Teams were starting out on their Overland Stages in Arizona, Virginia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Colorado. 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 2025 edition of the Nomad Overland Virtual Adventure Rally.

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