Expeditions West

I was able to sit down with Tom Collins for an interview on Sunday. It took me a couple days to get it edited but I’m ready to post it. Tom was a really great guy who was willing to sit down with me for about an hour. It was a great opportunity. He’s had an interesting life and has some great stories.

How about we start by you telling me about yourself?

Tom Collins, El Jabel, Colorado. I graduated from San Jose State in wildlife conservation. No jobs in Colorado, headed to Wyoming. Lived in aspen for 12 years, basalt for 18 years. 7 years in El Jabel.

What’s the make/model of your vehicle?

Ford F-250 - through my job I’m always driving brand new Land Rovers. When I was doing Toyota road trials, I was driving new FJs. This is my work truck. I do have an old Ford Bronco, and an old Toyota Pick Up. Motorcycles: KLR 650 and a KTM 525. I have more then an abundance of vehicles.

What sparked your interest in overlanding?

When I was a kid, we were always camping. Wandering backroads in northern California, going deer hunting. I had a wide variety of vehicles, everything from pick-ups to old Jeeps. I just kind of grew up with it, exploring - Sierras, Coast Range, over by Bishop and all those places. It just kind of grew and grew and it never left me. Then I got into motorcycles and just started exploring further. I worked for Santa Clara County doing mosquito abatement and we had swamp trucks. I worked for the state park system and there was an always an abundance of trucks to drive.

My dad always hated motorcycles so naturally I wanted to race them until I was 18. The Bay Area was home to the best mile and half mile riders. Then I saw the international motocross riders and it was the perfect combination of man and machine. Then I just bought a bike and carried on. Now I just do it for fun. I had a blast racing. Met some great people. It’s just like the overland crowd - everyone is friendly and it’s a good time.

You know about the motorcycles, we do about 100 miles of single track in a day. I’ve never really done a long trip on one. I’ve strapped sleeping bags and gone elk hunting. I’ve never gone to Central America.

What was your first vehicle?

It actually was a 2-WD 1958 Chevy pick up - V8 with a 4 speed. I put a big block of marble in it and drove it all over the back roads of Telluride and Aspen. I got it ridiculously stuck in Bodie, California. I got stuck a lot, there were holes in the oil pan and the wheels were splayed out. I had a pick up topper and I took it to Mexico too. I took it to Mazatlan and we drove all over the beaches. One of my friends had an FJ truck and we drove that thing all over. We went down into parts of Baja, but nothing super rough. I took a lot of motorcycles down into Baja, we took some down to pre-scout the Baja 1000. I was able to race for Ford in an F150 and we finished second in our mechanical class. Most of the other vehicles, Ford Bronco, Jeeps, it was all short trips, 4 wheeling trips on the passes in Colorado. All the other experience lead to the Great Divide expedition in 1989. I took it to Bill Baker. All along to the great divide as close as we could drive on legal roads.

At the end of the Great Divide, we did have a corporate jet setting in Pueblo waiting to fly the journalists out. We drove all the Great Divide trucks out onto the tarmac and then poof they were heading back to New York and LA.

I had a brand new Great Divide Range Rover so I could prepare the Road Book. I had 35,000 miles on it and I think 24,000 were dirt roads.

What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had in your vehicle?

The one that scared me the most was I was on the light hill right across the street from my house. I was deer hunting that day and I had my Camel car. I turned to go down a ridge I normally hunted on but I turned down one ridge too soon. I didn’t have my chains on but I should have. I noticed I was on the wrong ridge but I had already tipped over the ledge. I went into reverse and the tires spun and the snow turned into ice and the car shot like a toboggan. The car started going sideways and hit a small rock, and it tipped over. There was a 300 foot ledge on my left and I opened the door and it stood up like a kick stand. I crawled out, ran up the hill. I used the 20 foot rope and winched myself up the hill. Then I went home and had a beer. The door was fine too.

What’s your favorite region/trail/location to drive?

You know, I love driving in Moab. It’s so much fun, there’s all kinds of challenges. There are trails that aren’t difficult but are beautiful. I can get trails that are god awful hard and you need a really capable vehicle. I can get sand too. For pure beauty, I love Colorado as well. I told this at the slide show last night but during the G4 Challenge, everyone said Colorado – my back yard. For Land Rover Trek we have made rafts out of 55-gallon drums and had races. You have to put a car on the raft, pull it across and winch it up the hill.

Can you tell me a little more about the process of making the Camel Trophy team?

I was working construction - a carpenter. My wife was a dental hygienist. Her boss traveled all over and brought back Australian overlanding magazines. In between patients he would come out and ask me if I wanted to go with him. One day I was reading a magazine, saw an article about the Camel Trophy and said, “this is me”. Then I read Gary Westcott’s article and found out there was a US team. One day I went to the Eagles Club in Aspen and saw the Camel Trophy - 1984 Borneo on ESPN. I pointed to the TV and said “that’s me”. Half of them said “Yeah TC” and the others said “No way”.

They flew me down to Denver for the interview. I didn’t think they would believe all the stuff I was doing so I brought photos. I was riding moto cross, river rafting, and bare backing broncos at the rodeos 3 days a week. I even brought my short course speed skiing certificate - I took 2nd place in the country. That was a fluke - I tried it once and didn’t have a fancy downhill suit. From that dentist, he gave me some books from all the passes and he really pushed me to do it.

The guy believed me and everything. I didn’t hear from anyone for a while. Then he told me I made it and I could go to trials. That year they didn’t have a big budget so they didn’t have US trials so they flew us to Europe and we did trials at the International Trials. I ended up making the team with Don Floyd (who had tried out the year before). The 20 countries represented the countries where Camel Trophy outerwear was sold. They brought in the US to really make it a ‘world’ competition’.

Here’s the final installment of Expo photos. I’ll post my interview with Tom Collins once editing has been completed (I apologize for the delay) and hopefully post more about the Expo wrap up.

Have a nice day,

Chuck

I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend at the inaugural Overland Expo. First off, I’d like to apologize for not posting last night - the festivities ran late and I pitched in to help disassemble the Overland Journal booth. Second, I’d like to thank everyone who attended and helped make it a great event. I’m new to all of this stuff so it was really cool to meet new people and no one was intimidating or belittling at all.

Dinner was enjoyable too and the auction was the highlight of the night. Lance Blair did an awesome job getting everyone pumped up. It was great to see people feeling generous and contributing to a great cause.

Today has been busy as well - I helped shuttle trucks back and ended up camping at the fairgrounds for another night. Lots of familiar faces from the Expo have been stopping at the shop today as everyone departs for home. Things are starting to get back to normal here as everything is moved back in.

I’m going through my third day of photos which will be posted shortly. Hopefully everyone had a safe drive home!

-Chuck

Well, it’s the final day of the Expo. The sun is shining and the wind has disappeared so it’s been the nicest day we’ve had so far.

Today has been busy (as my entire time at the expo has been). I spend most of my time shooting photos but occasionally I attended a seminar or work a booth. Today I had the very enjoyable experience of sitting down for an interview with Tom Collins. That should be posted in the next couple days. It was very interesting and Tom is a great guy.

The vendors are slowly packing up and heading for home. The campground is emptying as well. Things haven’t completely shut down yet - there’s still a final BBQ/dinner to attend.

Speaking of dinner, I believe it’s that time. Check back later for more photos and some thoughts on the expo.

-Chuck

Tom Collins spoke tonight and gave an incredibly cool speech about his experiences on the Camel Trophy. He was genuinely enthusiastic and was willing to spend time talking to anyone with a question. His experiences and photos really drive home just how grueling the Camel Trophy could be - but one could tell that he regarded it with a certain nostalgic quality and wistfulness, especially when he spoke about the camaraderie between team members and participating members.

Here’s a double-sized portion of photos (50+) for you all to digest!

-Chuck

It’s a bit windy here at the fairgrounds, but the sun is shining and everybody is having a good time. This is the first day the Expo has been open to the public and the turnout seems to be quite good. I’ve been doing much of what I did yesterday - floating around to the different areas, courses, and classes to take photos.

There is also a ton of really cool gear on display. The vendors all seem to be drawing lots of interest. It’s too bad I can’t afford most of it. Maybe they will take an I.O.U.?

One of the coolest things I saw this morning was the women’s overland driving course. It’s neat to see that everyone can find something to enjoy in the overland experience. After a scheduling conflict left the Overland Journal booth empty, I stepped up to the plate and manned it for a brief time.

I also found the time to attend Josh White’s Overland Videography class which was extremely useful. I was able to get a lot of good information out of it, which I hope to be able to use soon enough.

Coming up this afternoon, we have vendor demos, more classes, and stayed tuned later for more photographs!

Day 1 was a success. The afternoon had a more relaxed pace then the morning. The Expo floor was open during the afternoon, which allowed every to catch glimpses of what each company is offering.

Once 5 PM rolled around, everyone wanted to relax a little bit. ARB and Sportsmobile sponsored a Landshark party with a luau theme. Nothing like some free beer to really take the edge off after a day in the sun.

At 7:45 Scott Brady took the stage and delivered a fascinating presentation. The presentation detailed the two completed sections of his “Ends of the Earth” expedition: all the way to the Arctic Ocean and down to the end of the road in Panama.  It was extremely interesting and the photos were amazing.

I’m going to leave you guys with another gallery. Enjoy!

The inaugural Overland Expo is off to a great start. Things got off to a tremendous start this morning - Roseann, Jonathon, and Graham all contributed to what was a very fitting opening ceremony. The highlight was the hoisting of the official Overland Expo flag. At the end of the Expo, a name will be selected and they will get to keep the flag for a year. Hopefully, the flag will travel to parts unknown with a lucky overlander, who will then return next year to pass the flag on to another traveller.

The seminars have all been very interesting - everything I’ve witnessed myself or overheard has been nothing but positive.  The level of access is one of the most enjoyable aspects - it’s possible to have an in-depth conversation with just about anyone. It’s great to be able to meet a lot of the stars of the overland industry and discover that they’re still as passionate as those just discovering how enjoyable it can be.

Of course, for many attendees the main attractions are the vehicles. The trucks here are a testament to the creativity, ingenuity, and dedication of overlanders. Every truck has at least one idea that makes one think “why didn’t I think of that?”.  The sheer variety of vehicles means that there really is something for everyone.

Education is an important component of the Expo too. Courses cover everything from Four-Wheel Recovery to Overlanding with Infants. I’ve been lucky enough to poke my head in and they have all been well-attended.

One of my favorite aspects is the social one - it’s great to see familiar faces and encounter some new ones. Everyone here has an interesting story to tell.

That’s all for now - I’ve got more photos to take. Stay tuned for additional updates - photos will be posted at the end of the day.

-Chuck

Wow, it’s been a busy day at the Expo. Lots of set up and organization for tomorrow. Here’s a mega-gallery of photos from today. Tons of stuff going on and tons of cool trucks…and tomorrow should be even busier.

Enjoy the photos!

-Chuck

Well, it’s going to be a big day. We’ll be spending the day shuttling vehicles out to the fairgrounds, setting up booths, and generally trying to take care of a multitude of logistical details.

It’s going to be my first trip out there, so I’ll be sure to post some photos before the madness descends!

-Chuck