Day 4 was meant to be a day of scenic driving, but at the end of the day a lot of the Jeep drivers wished they would have kept their doors on.
Drivers woke up in camp refreshed and ready to tackle the last day of the Vermont Overland Trophy. After 3 long grueling days, teams were ready to hit the trail and finish strong. The first challenge course of the day didn’t cause to many issues, but a traffic jam was created due to the FJ 40’s alternator freezing.
The Excursion conquering the trails
The wandering Jew’s adding a few new pinstripes
The Safford Brothers also had an issue with their skid plates on one of the TJ’s but they were quickly able to repair it in the field.
Stopping for a quick field repair
The next section of trail we encountered was not a challenge trail, but many of the teams agreed that it should have been. What was originally a mild muddy hill climb turned quickly into a boot and vehicle swallowing mess. Although while many more capable trucks were forced to winch, the Marcel and the LR4 blew right through.
Team Mechanica breaking out the winch
The cowboys in the LR4
We manged to catch up with Team 4 and Team 21 and we rode with them to the last challenging section of the day.
The last obstacle of the day consisted of a nice deep mud hole, fortunately the water levels were low enough not to cause to many issues, and the bottom was solid so most of the vehicles made it though. It did get manage to get some water into a few of the Jeeps though and caused the Team 5 YJ to breakdown.
“Oh crap”
Team Alpaca Guitar hanging out on the roof
Troubleshooting the YJ
Finally when we all got back to camp we were able to enjoy an excellent dinner prepared by the wonderful Kim Vollers, and Peter went ahead and announced the awards.
Team Spirit Award – Team 20 won for their never ending supply of Land Rover parts to keep every other team up and running.
Best Camping Setup Award – Team 2 for their efficient and high speed camping setup.
Best Mustache Award – Lazz Mckenzie for his awesome purple mustache that he had to wear to work for a day.
I’m confident when I speak for everyone, that we can’t wait for next year. Congratulations to all of the teams that finished the event, and a big thank you to Vermont Overland for having us along for the ride.
I think my language was a bit saltier than “oh crap,” but you definitely captured the spirit of the moment! Your entire writeup of the event is an exemplary showcase of your passion for this lifestyle and the community VOT is helping to build!
Thanks for the support James, we had to keep it PG-13, but I’m sure we have some audio somewhere of what you really said. Hopefully we’ll see you out there in the Mog next year.