A Real Overland Route in Oregon Day 1 of the Bend to Alvord Desert

[@jeffhildreth9244]

Life long devotee of high and dry. That began when I lived in Winnemucca as a kid. Sagebrush, juniper, Pinion Pine, Mountain Mahogany, cottonwoods, Indian Paintbrush....see for a hundred miles, wild horses, antelope, native trout, clean....dramatic weather any time of the year...Humboldt Trail and all the other "trails".. historical reverence for the people who came West and made it what it is, drama at ever bend. Excellent video, anxious to see more.

[@TriceeAle]

Hi Jason it's been awhile since I've seen you! I forgot about how much I appreciate and admire you!! I'm so happy to be back! Stay Safe!! Stay Lifted!! Stay Strong!! And Keep Marching Forward!! 💪💯👍

[@samatkinsphotography]

2am here in the UK...Can’t sleep so this video has dropped just at the right time 😊 Stay safe

[@richardburguillos3118]

Never get tired of these amazing adventures… thanks for taking us along.

[@nickhanlin8614]

Alright - that chainsaw mount could not be more badass.

[@alexanderweaver7066]

I've been living the "non-4X4" van life going into my third month and living in San Diego. I wish I was able to do this years ago. The freedom to move about is amazing, changing my backyard on a whim. My plan is to travel to New Mexico and take advantage of the state parks' program; for 225 bucks a calendar year I can live in any of the 30 or so parks for 14 days then go to another one. I watch you, Edward, Donald, Brad, Catherine and several others to acquire ideas and information on gear, destinations and camp recipes. I love to cook and eating outdoors has a huge impact on food flavor. At 74 I chose this van life versus rock climbing, mudding but I would like to traverse some of the less difficult forest roads as my van is not 4X4 equipped. Awesome channels!

[@corinabizzell6299]

Your videos are a balm toy soul. Thank you and the others who give those of these amazing glimpses of places that some of us can never visit. Love from North Carolina

[@christodeklerk2708]

This is living! Probably the best overlanding video I have watched. Shoutout from South Africa, keep up the excellent content!

[@0HARE]

If you have not already, you should really check out Itchy Boots’ three month solo motorcycling, overlanding tour of South Africa on KZbin. The gal is truly amazing.

[@backyardbraaapn1017]

@@0HARE I just watched that earlier today 👍

[@slam9mm]

Thank you so much for sharing these adventures, I want you to know that it really means a lot to me and in a way that I can’t really explain they give me hope and comfort knowing that this type of lifestyle is attainable. Please keep it up!

[@guylindsay181]

You are the best story teller. It almost makes me feel like I was riding along with you and Edward.

[@thomcheney]

I did this trip in September after watching the trip with Donald. Great to relive it watching this new trip! That stretch along the fence line was brutal. We were there right after the rain in September and the mud holes were intense! We made camp about 20 miles short of the Dunes, as indicated in your trip route. Glad we did because there were still trees! One of the only nights we camped in trees.

[@COGirl444]

Always fun to have a friend to adventure with!

[@travislucas7483]

Jason I think you should start a business guiding people thru their van builds. You have a wealth of knowledge and there are just to many $150k sprinters out there. We need your guidance.

[@prepperjonpnw6482]

Here’s an idea for you instead of guiding each person through their build which could quickly become all consuming time wise. Maybe you could make a series of videos on the basics that for a fee people could download onto their laptops or tablets and that way you only have to do it once. Of course you have to copy right them so some yay hoo doesn’t just upload your videos to KZbin and waste all your hard work. Or maybe make them available only to your patrons of a certain donation level. You get the idea. I’m just saying that Travis Lucas is on to something that you should consider. Having another revenue stream never hurts lol

[@miguelgallardo4504]

I love your stuff. Video and production quality is truly the best in the space. The pace of your videos are perfect with the right amount of narration and cinematic scenes. I love relaxing with your videos and drinking a glass of whiskey!

[@rubensilva_]

The high deserts of the Western states aren't everybody's cup of tea with endless stretches of sage brush, barren mountains with a few stands of Juniper trees and very little rivers, lakes or streams. But I have grown to really prefer this type of landscape over almost all others. I also love the higher mountains ranges with the raging rivers, alpine lakes and all the beautiful pine trees, but you can get lost in all the trees and not see the forest--if that makes any sense.

[@backyardbraaapn1017]

I totally agree. Sometimes you cant see the forest through the trees. I prefer the wide open spaces much more.

[@prepperjonpnw6482]

Makes perfect sense lol. I happen to live in the area known as southern Oregon and/or central Oregon. I’m kind of sandwiched in between the two lol. I roam the same general areas that Jason typically does just a bit south of his “home base” if you will. Casey of coyote works also roams these areas. I spend a lot of time outdoors even though I have a house and whatnot. Sometimes I’m deep in the forest for weeks at a time and other times I’m in the wide open spaces of places like Christmas valley which is almost completely devoid of trees or Silver-lake which has no water at all lol. I’ve come to love and appreciate both terrains for equal yet different reasons. There’s also quite a bit of difference just within the forests depending on the type of trees and availability of water. You’ll find giant Ponderosa pines, perfectly straight lodgepole pines, Douglas fir, Junipers, and several others. I have a favourite ridge that I like to get up top of and look out over a “carpet” made of trees for as far as the eye can see, sometimes for 60-70 miles in one direction nothing but green. Yet here and there you will see a patch of the unmistakable shimmer of Aspens where a natural spring brings water to the surface. I even know of a couple of those spots where beaver have set up home and flooded part of the forest. And for the life of me I have absolutely no idea how beaver have found there way deep into a forest where the nearest running water in the form of a stream or river is 50+ miles away. It’s almost as if they parachuted in and landed right where a spring is bubbling up out of the ground lol. It’s the equivalent of finding a seal in the middle of a desert lol. This entire area is bordered on the west by the cascade range and on the east by the desert known as eastern Oregon and is all volcanic. As the snow melts on the tops of the mountain peaks it filters down through the volcanic rocks and then bubbles up here and there in the form of artesian springs and is some of the purest and best tasting water I’ve ever had. I’d be hard pressed to choose one over the other and luckily I don’t have to lol. Almost all of it is public land of one sort or the other, national forest and BLM or Bureu of Land Management being the bulk of it and its full of just about every kind of wildlife there is. Huge elk, mule deer, antelope, bear, badgers, black tailed deer, bald eagles, falcons, hawks, crow and raven, song birds, duck, geese, pelicans, chipmunks and squirrels, and more and in 40 years I’ve never seen nor heard of not one single snake of any kind. I’ve either lived in or traveled through just about everywhere there is to see on this earth and I choose to live right here. We have just about everything you could want within a 4 hour drive in any direction. Sure Yosemite and Yellowstone have a few things we don’t but that’s mainly due to scale. Yellowstone has big geysers boiling hot pools that are pretty to look at but that’s all you can do, just look lol we have hotsprings that you can actually get into lol. Other than that we have everything they do only no hordes of people swarming all over the place. Some of the best fishing in the world is right here in my backyard. Monster salmon and trout in ice cold lakes and rivers the envy world round.

[@danasampson818]

Cool stuff. Oregon is a beautiful State. Every time I drive up Highway 97 between Klamath Falls and Bend I dream about taking a dirt side road to explore.

[@charliemartin5482]

Try going west off 97 to Miller Lake .

[@dixxebell]

I like that you think ahead about everything very organized..

[@timberdogz]

Love watching these high dessert trips. I've never spent much time there and find it to be a fascinating landscape...doesn't hurt you do a great job capturing it on film/video! Looking forward to the rest of this trip! Thanks again for your continued content!

[@softroadingthewest]

Dang, man. Always raising the bar on me. Amazing shots and edit.

[@Old_Dans_Travels]

Great video, Jason. I appreciate how you share the everyday tasks involved with overlanding I get a lot of ideas watching your videos. Thank you for sharing.

[@peterwilliams8596]

Great start for your 300 miler

[@KrokemOutdoors]

Thoroughly awesome trip, thanks for taking me along 🥃

[@solosaga5091]

Wonderful as always Jason. Looking forward to Ed's perspective and the section with Donald.

[@carolleimbach6407]

So excited to ride along with you and Edward on this route. Those look like the tires I almost bought.

[@marianfrances4959]

Congrats to Edward on his beautiful baby! Great vid...thanks! 👍🇨🇦😎📷

[@skookum696]

Oh yeah, like that hand and maul technique for splitting kindling at 11:32. That’s a great trick!

[@aMAYSingLife]

Great start to an amazing adventure…. Looking forward to day 2

[@sfoeric]

Thanks for sharing. You guys are modern day cowboys riding overland.

[@BirdPhish]

dang.... I need to wrap up the last couple upgrades to my trailer and get out there camping somewhere...

[@literarycollebernie]

Wonderful views!

[@mtnbound2764]

cant wait for the next one! love the new tires btw!

[@brandonsunadventure]

Another great adventure vid looking forward to watch the next episode 😀

[@kylesylvia8831]

I love following your channel and all of your adventures! Keep up the amazing work and stay healthy!

[@arjundba]

Ultimate. Very nice 👍

[@raph11560]

Such a great trip to live your life, really enjoying your videos. You‘re such a great person, perfectly made to live the dream of the VanLife. Looking forward for your next videos and wishing you all the best, it‘s gonna be great! Cheers!

[@danhohman]

This looks like such an amazing trip! I’m looking forward to my chance to get to do it!

[@zacharywinters9413]

Definitely on the dream trip list for my Overland Excursion!

[@GratefulOverlander]

Im prepping to do this trail later this year. Cant wait

[@ishqdadabhai2920]

Desert storm u guts great work enjoying each frame of your film

[@richardthomas1743]

Hello Jason !

[@rottieshepcalibre9156]

new to the channel.. both rigs are amazing.... and finally its nice seeing someone use an axe properly without me having to turn away from my screen assuming the worst

[@excursionoverland7315]

My Excursion is 9K as well,. I understand the 40lbs. Makes for a much more comfortable ride as well saving unnecessary wear & tear on the tires and vehicle. I have yet needed to air down below 25lbs.

[@jclc4201]

This never gets boring...:)

[@chuckrf1502]

Can’t wait for day two!

[@LoneStarSwirl]

Looks like an amazing overland route. I would love to make it up to the Northwest United States someday soon!

[@gaklotz]

Love you adventures. Thanks for sharing

[@jessierobbins6308]

The more I watch your videos the more I want a van like that !

[@gregsutterfield2362]

Great video, looks like an awesome time.

[@almamdani6564]

I liked the shot where both of you were using chainsaws. Very unique. 👍🏼

[@ahmetozdilek1355]

Greetings from Turkey 🇹🇷 enjoy 😊

[@yoterryh_JTH]

Thanks for sharing another great adventure. Eager for the next days' videos!

[@duanerichardson5405]

Really like those tires Jason ,I'll be interested in how you like their performance.

[@osonharid]

Thanks man!

[@davec9244]

watched a long with you last year fantastic trip ,I like your speed nice and ease thank you stay safe

[@satajet883]

Awesome adventure

[@Sue.242]

New subscriber here. Been following a while and today subscribed as really enjoy your videos. I’m in Uk and in awe of your scenery.. thanks xx

[@erichughes9098]

Very nice thanks 😎👍

[@MeanOneMeanOne]

Great stuff my friend!

[@CavemanOutdoorsMissouri]

Can't wait for the next episode

[@wildhorses4x4]

Very interesting

[@itsourlife3996]

Great videos, keep up the good work.

[@tonyfourpaws4511]

Summer sausage, cheese, mustard and triscuits...are my main stay. Even though i now live in a cabin here in Sisters i still stay stocked up on it. also, If or when we meet in the wild i'd surely appreciate it if you showed me some of your wood cutting tricks..

[@CholulaDaddy]

So awesome

[@AdventuresWithDaniel]

Starting off as a great trip!

[@dedwin8930]

Looks like a great day of fun and food!!🇺🇸🍺

[@0HARE]

I really enjoyed this episode. The airing down segment, the wood gathering segment, and the cooking segment were very interesting. I would have liked to see a bit more of your friend’s rig and set-up. Really beautiful landscape you two are traveling through. Your B-roll and the aerial shots are excellent. Is your old pup with you on this trip? She’s a nice companion. Looking forward to the next episode. Happy Trails

[@robertfagan3234]

Brill vids so jealous you( people )guys have so much space to go and do it in the uk it’s packed like sardines I’ve dun Bc twice van island once unfortunately they where honeymoons so ’m English well that’s my bad luck no wild camping can’t wait for the next post 👍👍👍

[@jeffburke463]

As always, love your shows. Thanks man!

[@StepvanDan]

great video,thank you for sharing looks fun ,big hugs from MN

[@pawadventures5544]

Nice adventure so far. 👍🏻😎 I've been busy with a new job the last couple weeks, I've got some catching up to do. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.🦃

[@stevehicks9374]

Thank you brother beautiful

[@corey621]

Great Video!

[@tonyaharris7035]

Great adventure!

[@jasonotte6250]

GREAT vid Jay, keep sharing as always. Regards, Jason

[@henrikm4657]

I liked the battle of the chainsaws scene 🤪

[@JohnDoe-xm9ql]

Great video Jason..

[@danielpeterson2758]

It's really nice to see somebody wearing proper PPE while operating a chainsaw. So many other KZbinrs won't hesitate to run a saw in shorts and flip flops, so foolish

[@henrikm4657]

Totally agree. Most folks don’t even wear eye protection

[@nmelkhunter1]

Well said.

[@RadicalPersonalFinance]

I think the worst possible tragedy on a trip like this would be a bad chainsaw accident 100 miles from help. The PPE is a must to mitigate this risk. I assume that he is also equipped with multiple tourniquets and a GPS rescue beacon to call a helicopter in case of emergency.

[@nmelkhunter1]

@@RadicalPersonalFinance Great points!

[@bwaer013]

I’ve been guilty as charged for sawing with flip flops and shorts. Safety first is my motto now.

[@timking2194]

Great video

[@Eleanor.Moseman]

Can’t decide if I want to drive it or cycle it. Thanks for sharing.

[@jcmining9450]

Good on ya Matt well done mate 👌

[@joeurban8523]

I always look forward to these epic posts because of love of OUR public lands and your amazing ability to piece road sections together to make a continuous ribbon of travel. Even though this journey is just now rolling out on video, I beg to ask whether you plan to once again provide the GPX track to download for those of us who lack your local knowledge and planning skills?

[@thepeach12345]

It looks windy! I hate when the wind blows because it makes putting up a fire a pain in the arse because of the flying ash.

[@nmelkhunter1]

Great video. It’s too bad there isn’t a way to smell the juniper trees being cut and the juniper camp fire. I really like the chain saw scabbard on the van steps. I’m glad your getting some moisture even though it can make for slick roads. Do you carry an extra spare tire? I apologize if you said you do and I missed it.

[@insaynbcr]

Jason, can you give input on whether my offroad trailer would be feasable to tow through that route or not? You can see it in 2019's Alvord trip with you and Edward, or on Edwards channel back in 2018, or 2019 I believe. My truck itself has been heavily updated since you saw it last, and the wife and I just spent 3 weeks this summer touring the SE Oregon desert ourselves. I'd love to tag along with you guys on a future trip along this Bend to Alvord route sometime.

[@ryanjohnson5315]

China Hat Rd is absolutely terrible now.. I live just down the road, never gets better driving up that!

[@tommatheson5855]

As always, I really enjoy your videos. Thank You! But I hold my breath when I ask .... Where's Daisy?

[@lt5050]

I saw another video and he said he left Daisy with his GF, as he thought the trip might be too much for her.

[@millerhoo]

I was like what is that notch in your pop up pit?? Then saw the cast iron. Nice.

[@garretlewis4103]

Sounds like a really cool adventure/trip. I guess you guys set up camp a little more spread out because you each have a KZbin channel. I would tighten camp up a little and not be quite as spread out.

[@sierramantrvlnus]

Yay!

[@nolangabel5997]

Is that washboard road named China Hat road? I was out elk hunting and used it quite a bit, unfortunately not elk though.

[@PrimalOutdoors]

Haha, it is China Hat that is some horrible wash board, its my least favorable part of the trip.

[@paulaustin29]

Jason I have to ask are you rocking the 7.3 diesel

[@arjundba]

Please provide what kind of security issues would come and how to handle them .. and problems with insects / animals and how to handle those …

[@bwaer013]

Great videos, man! Keep ‘em coming! I like the hooded poncho…where did you get that from?

[@tristanyoung453]

Great video, but I'm worried, where's Daisy?

[@yearofdragun17]

Another great one. Really well put together. Liked the little tweaks to intros and outros. Not sure if you touched on it before how you to like the iceco fridge? Not sure if it’s a dual zone. If it isn’t do you miss having one? Can’t wait for the next vid.

[@arthurplottier9783]

Very nice video, what happens with the old fridge? Was a SnoMaster wich are excellent?

[@randybirzer214]

I have taken a similar route in Eastern Oregon, my favorite part was the amazingly low population density out there, you can drive on BLM land for days and just see cows and wild horses, no other people!

[@skookum696]

Damn Primal, I know that juniper is some chain eatin wood but….. time to take the file to her so she can throw some chips!

[@Oregontrailblazin]

I want to do this !~!!

[@df446]

I find it strange when people say "I'll put it in 4WD if I need it." It's usually too late by then. If you're not on pavement, and there's a question, pull that lever. Why not? Are you afraid you're going to wear it out?

[@Steve-yu6pq]

On my landcruiser, I have to get out to lock the diffs...I just get lazy

[@PrimalOutdoors]

I am with Steve I have to get out and lock the hubs, so there is a level of laziness, but once I do get off my butt I will leave in 4 wheel drives as long as I am on dirt. Jason

[@highdesertforester]

As a retired forester, with several decades of experience and several thousands of miles on backroads, I say keep it in 2WD until you need 4WD. That keeps you out of trouble. Once you're in 4WD, if you get into trouble, your options are limited.