First Exploration Quarterly Field Camp Report
Our exploration community came together last week for four days of exploring, training, and best of all, camaraderie in southern Arizona’s beautiful Aravaipa Canyon. Forty explorers joined us and our sponsors—Graham Jackson’s Overland Passage, Goose Gear, Exploro, Swarovski Optik, and Sonoran Rovers—arriving as strangers and departing as friends.
With smaller numbers we were able to host overland training workshops with experts Graham Jackson, Jim West, and Jonathan Hanson in winching, non-winch recovery, and a morning drive up into the woodlands above the ranch. We had a pop-up training opportunity to work as a team to get a 12-foot-tall Bliss Mobil rig into the venue through a creek crossing with lots of low-hanging trees without tearing up the trees or the beautiful new rig.
Brian Fulton with Goose-Gear and Graham talked about storage solutions, Marcus Whittaker of Sonoran Rovers talked about the ins and outs of purchasing classic Land Rovers, Jonathan gave his popular toolkit and bushcraft knife talks, and Roseann lead a group on a beginner’s field sketching and journaling walk.
We enjoyed a panel discussion of Exploration Quarterly contributors, and a hosted dinner (catered by Oracle Patio Cafe) with an agave spirits tasting courtesy Sonoran Rovers. Ecologist and EQ contributor Ben Wilder gave a talk on agave cultivation and spirit production. Each evening we enjoyed movie screenings, including Graham Jackson’s Camp 6 Road, and two vintage overland films: Tom Sheppard’s Widest Beach in the World, and Rough Road to Panama and its sequel Rugged Road to Cape Horn by Sullivan C. Richardson (thank you René and Mike Van Pelt of GXV - Storyteller Overland for the tip!). A campfire, lively discussions, and more spirits followed.
We were sad for the four days to come to an end, but look forward to future Field Camps. We are looking at venues in Maine, the Pacific Northwest, and the Midwest. Send us suggestions of private venues in beautiful, wild places. We hope to see you soon.
