A few notes from the Overland Expo

Full disclosure: I am not actually an Overlander guy and I doubt I would become one even if I had the money. It just doesn’t take that much to get off of the beaten path. However, many others see it differently, and the market that emerged from this worldview created the Overland Expo which was recently encamped in Flagstaff.

https://www.overlandexpo.com/photo-gallery/overland-expo-west-2025-friday-photos/

My wife and I went, and while we paid to shop, essentially, we had a discount through some means I do not recall.

Amateur but veteran tip: we parked at NAU and took the bus in, and this was little trouble. Especially compared to a previous year where we spent so long hiking in from our found parking space that we essentially missed the event.

This is not a detailed review of what is a giant outdoor mall for people who want to see the great outdoors from the window of their expensive vehicles. We found a few cool things, and I record them here for my reference, but I share also with you.

More or less smallest to largest:

The Transcool portable evaporative cooler. A lunch-boxed sized evap cooler you can run from your car battery of other portable power. Or a wall outlet, I suppose. Couldn’t vouch for its performance in the humidity but the demo was blowing cold on a dry Flagstaff afternoon. https://transcoolusa.com/

The Aquaboost power station turns salt water to electricity, perhaps to power your Transcool for up to 12 hours, per their literature. https://www.aquaboostpower.com/

Your state parks and local tribes are trying to save history – and they gave me a sticker, so I give them a plug. https://savehistory.org/

This is tangential to a previous post.

Finally, if money were no object, this would be the trailer I tow:

The Bowlus Rivet is an airplane fuselage disguised as a trailer. Our European host made us take off our shoes to walk inside the thing. Once inside we learned that while it has actually fewer amenities than trailers in its $150k price category ( you read that right) it is stupid lightweight for its size. That’s what you’re actually paying for. Sure the shower is clever, the other features are spare but well laid out, and thing outside is mirror-shiny, but what makes it worth it is the #2800 base weight. You can tow it with an SUV.

We would tow it with a cargo van – money being no object – for UnObtanium events. But we are not anywhere close to that kind of money.

Even so, it was fun to get out of the heat and daydream.

Golden Bear West Peak tent review

You get what you pay for – but you only get what you pay for.

If Golden Bear Tents is not a house brand for Big 5 Sporting Goods, it might as well be. That is where I bought mine in person, and the only outlet that sells them new online.

Don’t mistake them for the jewelry and sportswear company, or some Canadian outfit that sells higher end tactical gear exclusively via internet or several other companies selling everything from pool cleaning to insurance.

Golden Bear makes, let’s face it, affordable tents, and that was the primary draw for me to purchase this one. The zippers on my much higher end Copper Canyon 6 had finally failed, and I needed a replacement quickly for what was left of a paycheck. That replacement ideally would have enough room for our queen-sized air mattress and enough height to dress standing up – which meant straight walls. Big 5 had this tent – which met those specs – on sale for just under $80. Sold.

This has everything you expect from a tent made in this century: fiberglass poles; detachable rainfly, dual zippers, bathtub floor, a couple of mesh pockets and a little flap for your electrical outlet. All of these features can be found on any other tent sold in any other US sporting goods store. There is zero innovation about this tent.

It actually had better ventilation than I was expecting, and did I mention that I can stand up in it? Well, I can.

The tent clips to the poles. There is only one small sleeve for the optional canopy pole. That makes set-up quick – if you have two people. If one person tries to set it up, you have to clip the middle (top) portion first, and then do the legs. I think. I’ve always had help, and even then, it helps to be tall.

Like most budget tents, the carrying bag is not generous, and you must roll it up the exact width of the pole bag and no longer, or it will not fit back inside.

I have not used it in bad weather, but I have low expectations. I clearly got what I paid for. There’s a mud flap and tie downs and such, so you could rig for storms, but I never have. This is a privacy tent for established campgrounds in good weather. The nylon is thin, the stitching is minimal, and the zipper feels less substantial than the Copper canyon zipper which took ten years to fail.

This is not an adventure tent. Happily, I do not need one. I needed a tent to sleep and change clothes in on weekend escapes and occasionally ren fairs. I expect to get a year or so of that sort of use out of it.

If that’s all you need out of a tent, this one is fine and affordable. If you plan to stay out your 14 day limit in the wilderness during monsoon season, you may wish you spent more money.

Pond to pond across Marshall Lake

Marshall Lake is a small, marshy pond, really, just south of Flagstaff. Its’ reedy shores are full of birds, and the forested hills around it are full of dispersed campers.

Arizona does not have many natural lakes, but Marshall Lake is one of them. It’s really only a lake at its rare high water mark. At normal levels it is a series of connected ponds. There are times when it is completely dry.

On my last visit, my son and I were able to paddle a canoe through breaks in the reeds and go from pond to pond to see the birds and hear the frogs and waver to the scattered fisherfolk. At high levels, AZ Game and Fish will stock some trout in here. Folks have also caught channel catfish, northern pike, crappie and the occasional largemouth bass.

More numerous than fisherfolk are the ducks and coots. The Coconino National Forest slipped a good line past the fedbots:

“Marshall Lake is a small marshy body of water that’s generally full of coots and other waterfowl splashing, flapping, and cooting around. It is such valuable wildlife habitat that it is managed in partnership by Ducks Unlimited and the Arizona Game and Fish Department.”

Signs and portents by the lake.

You can also see osprey and even eagles around the lake. The hills around are popular for elk and are grazing allotments for cattle.

Dispersed camping means no services: no tables, no trash, no outhouses, no water. When we were there in late June, we were under a fire restriction, which covers all of these sites. Even so, the area is popular. If you aren’t up there by mid-morning Saturday on a weekend with good weather, you are likely camping somewhere else. A lot of your neighbors are clearly going to use all 14 days of the stay limit.

Marshall Lake is seasonal, approximately May-October. Outside that window, the roads might close indefinitely due to snow.

The lake is located about 12 miles south of Flagstaff, off of lake Mary Road (aka FR3). Take that road south past the Lake Mary recreation sites to FR 128 which switchbacks up the hill before becoming graded dirt. Follow the signs.

There are no fees. There is a small parking lot next to the “boat launch”.

The observatory on the top of Anderson Mesa is not open to the public. The nearby trailhead is, and I have written about that in my book: 5 Star Hikes Sedona and Flagstaff.

There is a plan to improve the wetland conditions here, somehow. More information can be found here:

We quote from their 2013 PDF:

Current Status: The wetland is a perched clay basin with limited inflow from rain and snowmelt. As a result, Marshall Lake is sensitive to drought and is dry in many years. AGFD is conducting a water balance and feasibility assessment for habitat improvements in the Marshall Lake watershed. A restoration plan will be developed in coordination with the Coconino National Forest in 2015.

And finally, a video:

Los Lomitas Trail

Los Lomitas Trail in South Mountain Preserve is the connector trail between the middle of the developed picnic lands and the giant parking lot that separates the conference center from the group picnic grounds. It is the third and final leg of my South Mountain Infrastructure Loop.

For all that, this trail is worth doing on its own. Because this is part of the loop, we start in the middle of the park, and head towards the great lot where you likely left your car.

We start at the four-way junction: The Bajada Trail goes south, up the slope. The Ranger trail continues north, towards the Five Tables Trailhead. The Derby Trail, which is oft signed as part of Los Lomitas, goes west to eventually join the Max Delta Trail, but the part we want, the main portion of Los Lomitas, heads east, before bending north.

East now, from the junction, Los Lomitas goes over low hill and shallow wash a few times before crossing some flat desert. On the far side of that, you reach Los Lomitas Cabanas, which were fenced off when I was there, but the restroom was open. By open, I mean unlocked. The gate door is closed and latched, presumably to keep the critters out of the garbage. Latch it back up behind you.

The trail follows ridgeline NE to the Kiwanis TH (and another RR), then parallels the road a spell before dropping into a large wash near the ramada compound of the Piedras Grandes picnic grounds.

Here, you trudge through sand, as opposed to the packed dirt of the trail that came before. In mid-day, the high walls of this wash present your only hope for shade. Los Lomitas climbs out of this wash to merge with Box Canyon Trail, a horse trench bending more north now. Soon, Box Canyon/Los Lomitas parallels the Judith Tunell accessible trail as it gradually bends from north to northeast before reaching the parking lot.

Where exactly in the parking lot depends upon where they are in the endless construction. This flat expanse of asphalt hides few secrets, and rarely more than a dozen cars. You’ll be fine.