This March, approximately 200 people gathered south of Searles Valley in southern California at a unique spot named as Trona Pinnacles for a weekend of camping, campfires, some off-road training and unofficial trail runs throughout the area. Andy and Lori from The Adventure Portal  put together a great, free and non-commercial event for outdoor and overlanding enthusiasts, with training provided for free by the Off Road Safety Academy.

The Trona Pinnacles are located on BLM land and so are open to dispersed camping but does provide one pit toilet at the main hub of trails. Do yourself a favor and bring your own restroom facilities - IE: a PETT Toilet or a RESTOP or similar sanitary solution. Don’t leave little surprises out in the desert for others to stumble across while exploring.

We arrived Friday late morning along with the others who were able to get escape civilization a bit early. The wildflowers were still booming out there in some spots, pretty amazing to see. Once camp was set it was time to relax, visit, look at trucks, run some trails, do some reading, basically anything except work. 

Temps were really mild and comfortable throughout the day. The wind came up that afternoon/evening and reminded us all how spoiled we are in our normal existence. Nature is always primed to remind us of our place in the world. 

We jumped in line with a group of 4-Runners, a GMC Safari (The Minivan That Can), and an OG Bronco and ran a bunch of trails and some washes, it was a great couple hours of wandering about. Thanks guys for the hospitality!

The Run To The Sun brought out more than 75 different overlanding rigs. Toyota and Jeep were well represented by the variety and versatility of the builds as well as a host of over vehicle formats. Roof Top Tents seemed to be the most popular tent option out there. One of the great things about an event like this is seeing everyones gear and borrowing inspiration and ideas from each other. Here’s just a sampling of the variety of builds out there.

And some great views!