7 Slot Nomads is a small group of Jeepers (different people at different times) who like the backcountry. It isn’t about thrashing equipment, pushing everything to the limit, and seeing what breaks, it’s about getting out. We drive our rigs to the hard trails, the far flung places, the backcountry and run overland to our destinations when we can. We carry our supplies with us and camp in the the lonely places with the best scenery.
Some of our trips are overlanding trips. These are trips that are always moving, not staying in one place, camping at a different site every night. These trips generally have a start and end point that are different. They may traverse more than one state. Whatever you need including food, water, camp equipment, and even spare fuel will be carried daily between stopping points. Visits to towns will be infrequent and based on material needs. We head into town for ice for the cooler, something interesting to eat we didn't cook, maybe do some laundry, and refill the gas tanks.
On the other hand, we do some backcountry travel trips that may have a basecamp or a couple of base camps. We generally carry what we need for the day or maybe a couple days. Fuel stops and restaurants are seen more often. Indoor sleeping options are easier to come by which is pretty nice in inclement weather. Packing a tent with snow on the ground or in a driving rain is much more romantic sounding in a story than it is in real life. Most of our backcountry excursions are out and back. We pick some trails to run, or a location to see and come back in at the end of the day. Occasionally we camp out part of the time and stay in part of the time.
Enjoy the site. More trips, pictures, and commentary coming soon.
Some of our trips are overlanding trips. These are trips that are always moving, not staying in one place, camping at a different site every night. These trips generally have a start and end point that are different. They may traverse more than one state. Whatever you need including food, water, camp equipment, and even spare fuel will be carried daily between stopping points. Visits to towns will be infrequent and based on material needs. We head into town for ice for the cooler, something interesting to eat we didn't cook, maybe do some laundry, and refill the gas tanks.
On the other hand, we do some backcountry travel trips that may have a basecamp or a couple of base camps. We generally carry what we need for the day or maybe a couple days. Fuel stops and restaurants are seen more often. Indoor sleeping options are easier to come by which is pretty nice in inclement weather. Packing a tent with snow on the ground or in a driving rain is much more romantic sounding in a story than it is in real life. Most of our backcountry excursions are out and back. We pick some trails to run, or a location to see and come back in at the end of the day. Occasionally we camp out part of the time and stay in part of the time.
Enjoy the site. More trips, pictures, and commentary coming soon.
Pros and Cons of Overland and Backcountry Travel
- Pros
- Cons
We will be traversing some awesome country. We will camp in some wild places, and see some incredible scenery that 99.9% of people never get to see or don’t want to do what it takes to get out there to see it. We will negotiate a variety of terrain from mountains to desert.
We will spend some time hiking into some really neat places. We will see stars at night that can’t be seen from the cities or towns where we live. We will travel together across the open spaces, through the canyons, across streams or rivers, over and around the mountains, as well as the state parks, national monuments, and national parks.
We make these overland and backcountry trips as a group by special invite only, running sound vehicles, with responsible people, so no one will ever get left behind. We only want good quality equipment and vehicles on the trails. Some of the trails will be graded dirt, and some may be quite challenging, but we will find a way through as part of the overland adventure.
One last thing…the overland and backcountry trips we make aren’t for everybody. Just because someone wants to go, doesn’t mean we will take them. We limit the group to a few vehicles and we want mature, prepared people in them.
We will spend some time hiking into some really neat places. We will see stars at night that can’t be seen from the cities or towns where we live. We will travel together across the open spaces, through the canyons, across streams or rivers, over and around the mountains, as well as the state parks, national monuments, and national parks.
We make these overland and backcountry trips as a group by special invite only, running sound vehicles, with responsible people, so no one will ever get left behind. We only want good quality equipment and vehicles on the trails. Some of the trails will be graded dirt, and some may be quite challenging, but we will find a way through as part of the overland adventure.
One last thing…the overland and backcountry trips we make aren’t for everybody. Just because someone wants to go, doesn’t mean we will take them. We limit the group to a few vehicles and we want mature, prepared people in them.
We will be spending time in remote areas without immediate assistance. We will need to be self-sufficient. This includes food, water, and fuel. We will have to watch out for each other and help each other wherever we are needed. Sharing of supplies, tools, gear, and even personal items will be expected if needed.
Potentially, we may have some hardships. Maybe a reroute pushes us into a long day or we wind up short of our planned destination. Not all trails can be guaranteed to be passable. Some of the places we go don’t get regular maintenance. We might need to reroute due to snowfall, high water, landslides, or trail closures of other kinds. Maybe we get rained out, snowed in, or stuck in town getting a vehicle worked on. We might not get as much sleep as we would like to, or maybe we have a really cold night, or even a very hot day. We may experience extreme weather and have to camp out in it.
Vehicle malfunctions could happen and have happened on previous overland and backcountry trips. We have done a variety of trail fixes and sometimes we limped to the next town for a more permanent fix.
There is inherent risk involved in backcountry travel, but it is generally safer than your daily commute to work.
Potentially, we may have some hardships. Maybe a reroute pushes us into a long day or we wind up short of our planned destination. Not all trails can be guaranteed to be passable. Some of the places we go don’t get regular maintenance. We might need to reroute due to snowfall, high water, landslides, or trail closures of other kinds. Maybe we get rained out, snowed in, or stuck in town getting a vehicle worked on. We might not get as much sleep as we would like to, or maybe we have a really cold night, or even a very hot day. We may experience extreme weather and have to camp out in it.
Vehicle malfunctions could happen and have happened on previous overland and backcountry trips. We have done a variety of trail fixes and sometimes we limped to the next town for a more permanent fix.
There is inherent risk involved in backcountry travel, but it is generally safer than your daily commute to work.
