Here's another flashback from Overland Expo East last fall. The Camel Trophy guys built this improvised field bridge to cross this gulch and create a dramatic entrance to the Camel Trophy Expedition Skills Area.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
In honor of Overland Expo West, happening this weekend in Flagstaff, Arizona, here's a throwback to last year's Overland Expo East on the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina.
The Camel Trophy Expedition Skills Area is always a highlight of the Expo for me. It's where you learn to build bridges across dry river gulches and lift an engine out of a Land Rover with nothing more than a box of toothpicks and some bubble gum.
The Camel Trophy guys are the MacGyvers of the Outback and you get smarter just watching them. And then they put you to work and you realize how little you actually know!
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
This beaut Land Rover with the pop-up camper top was on display at Overland Expo. Something tells me this one wasn't a garage queen!
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
One of the standout highlights of Overland Expo at the Biltmore Estate is the Camel Trophy Expedition Skills Area. You can work with experts in the field to rig a system to fuel your vehicle directly from an oil drum or to build a bridge across a gully with logs and rope. The skills the Camel Trophy team teaches are about creative problem solving in the field. You may never need to build that bridge but it sure is empowering knowing you could if you were suddenly dropped into a Top Gear special episode!
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
An Aussie couple called this Land Rover home at Overland Expo. They were on a journey half-way across the globe, taking it to their native Australia. The kids loved visiting with them and their dogs. If you ask the kids, their favorite feature on this tremendous camper was the gearshift knob that held a redback spider, suspended inside a ball of resin.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
The sheer volume and quality of classic Land Rovers at Overland Expo alone make it worth the trip. Nothing captures the spirit of overlanding like a Series II Land Rover, straight from a trip across Africa. I'm not sure of the providence of this particular Landy but it was definitely a keeper.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
When it comes to overlanding, there simply isn't an obstacle the Camel Trophy team can't overcome. Case in point, this improvised bridge, capable of carrying a column of Land Rovers across a gully at Overland Expo East.
If you're a fan of the over-the-top Top Gear specials, you have these guys to thank... they were building impromptu bridges over rivers long before people tuned in to watch such feats on the television.
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.
Despite camping in the middle of Hurricane Matthew, we had a tremendous time at Overland Expo East this year. The new venue on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate could not be beat. As always, the overland vehicles on display were tremendous. It rained for half of the event and the winds really put the tents to the test but I think it made for some interesting photography opportunities... Like this grille detail of a Land Rover Series IIA. Stay tuned for many more photos from the event in the coming weeks!
This photograph was captured with a Sony a6300.