JOURNEY OUT TO WHERE THE WORLD FALLS SILENT
There are trips where the trail is the destination.
This isn’t one of them.
For five days, we’ll travel through the Owyhee canyonlands toward the Alvord Desert, following dirt roads through canyon walls, open range, empty valleys, and miles of high desert where towns, pavement, and cell service slowly disappear behind us.
We’ll carry our homes in the trucks. Find camp when the day starts getting long. Cook dinner outside. Wake up somewhere completely different. Pack it all away and keep moving.
There’s no single obstacle we’re coming out here to conquer and no checklist of attractions we need to race through. The point is simply to go — far enough, and for long enough, that life gets reduced to the things immediately in front of you.
The road. The weather. The people beside you. Where we’re sleeping tonight. What’s over the next ridge.
Eventually the canyons give way to enormous open country and the horizon seems to move farther away with every mile, until we reach the Alvord Desert beneath Steens Mountain.
It’s difficult to explain what makes this trip special without making it sound bigger than it needs to be.
You load the truck with everything you need for five days.
You point it into the desert.
And for a little while, the rest of the world gets very quiet.
Vehicle Requirements
This is a remote, multi-day backcountry trip. Technical difficulty is only part of what your vehicle needs to be prepared for — reliability and self-sufficiency matter considerably more when the nearest town may be a long way behind us.
High-clearance 4WD or capable AWD
All-terrain or mud-terrain tires
Full-size spare tire
Functional front and rear recovery points strongly recommended
Basic recovery equipment
Vehicle in good mechanical condition
Enough fuel range to travel significant distances between services
Enough cargo capacity for your food, water, camping equipment, tools, and personal gear for five days
If you aren’t sure whether your vehicle is appropriate, reach out before registering. We would much rather help you figure that out ahead of time than discover a problem three days into the desert.
What to Expect
Expect to spend five days actually living out of your vehicle.
Some days will mean long stretches behind the wheel. Others will slow down because we find somewhere worth staying awhile.
We’ll travel as a group through remote portions of southeastern Oregon, establish dispersed camps along the way, and adapt the route as necessary for road conditions, weather, fuel, and whatever the desert decides to throw at us.
You should expect:
Five days and four nights in the backcountry
Hundreds of miles of travel
Dirt and gravel roads through remote high-desert country
Canyon roads, open range, and expansive desert
Dispersed camping each night
Breakfast and dinner provided September 19–22
Light breakfast provided the morning of September 23
Very limited or nonexistent cell service
Long distances between fuel, water, and other services
Dust
Cold mornings and potentially large temperature swings
Changing road and weather conditions
Group travel and support throughout the trip
Time to stop, explore, take photographs, make camp, and actually be where we are
The goal is not to cover as many miles as physically possible.
The goal is to come home remembering where we spent them.
What to Bring
For most GrandX events, forgetting something means stopping at a gas station on the way out to the trailhead.
Out here, it may mean doing without it for several days.
Come prepared to be self-sufficient.
Bring:
Lunches and snacks for the full trip
Plenty of drinking water
Complete camping and sleeping setup
Warm layers and weather-appropriate clothing
Sun protection
Personal medications and essentials
Full-size spare tire
Basic vehicle tools and repair supplies
Recovery equipment
Tire repair kit
Air compressor
Power banks or other off-grid charging
Trash and waste storage
Enough fuel to begin the trip with substantial range available
Any comfort items that make several days of living outside enjoyable
GMRS Radios are required for this experience. If you do not have one, let us know and we will be happy to loan you a handheld.
Everything and everyone we bring out into the desert comes back out with us.
Pricing
$250 per rig
Registration includes the vehicle and driver for the full September 19–23 trip.
Additional passengers are $50 each.
Your truck is your transportation, your bedroom, your kitchen, and everything you need for five days.
Pack it accordingly.
Minimum registration Requirement
A minimum of 3 registered vehicles is required for this trip to run as scheduled.
If the minimum is not met, the trip may be rescheduled or canceled. Registered guests will be given the option to transfer their registration or receive a refund.