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Story & Photos: Sven & Magdalena Schlogl
Photos: Sven & Magdalena Schlogl
 After reaching the halfway point of our trip — Maine, the northeastern-most state of the U.S. — our journey would take us zigzagging through the northern states back to the west coast. This was not the first time we were looking forward to getting away from winter temperatures.
We cruised through New Hampshire and Vermont, enjoying the quaint New England towns, and took what would turn out to be one of the last pictures of ‘The Old Man in the Mountain’ (less than a week later this rock formation, New Hampshire’s famous state symbol, collapsed). Then we worked our way along Lake Ontario through upstate New York where we couldn’t miss a stop at the imposing Niagara Falls. During the winter months, the spray forms bizarre icebergs just in front of the falls — a truly spectacular demonstration of nature’s force. Through Ohio we traveled into Michigan and followed the coast of Lake Michigan north to Lake Superior. The water at the rugged south shore was still frozen in some places and most of the ice had collected in the western corner of the lake. It was still quite cold here and not many visitors joined us on the exploration of shipwrecks on the beach — Lake Superior’s once busy ship traffic often fell victim to its treacherous shallows. Now we started to head back south through Wisconsin in full bloom, where spring had sprung, on to Chicago. We hadn’t experienced much nightlife since leaving New York City and treasured the Windy City’s cultural offerings. Then it was definitely time again for some four wheeling. Due to the masses of snow and ice in the upper states we hadn’t been able to hit any trails in a while, so we were excited to reach Badlands, a privately owned off-road park in Attica, IN. This area offers all kinds of terrains, from sand to mud to an old quarry, and wheeling in the lush surroundings was a treat by itself. After a stop in Des Moines, IA, where we visited some friends, we pushed on to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, famous from its appearance in the movie ‘Close Encounters’. Our route turned south into Colorado, another eagerly awaited off-road “Eldorado.” Unfortunately, even in June, winter was in our way again: an unusually late and heavy storm had dumped 60 inches of snow in the higher elevations (and which trails in CO are low altitude?) and due to forest service closures, many areas were inaccessible. But we took every chance we could get to put our rig into 4-low and found some very nice trails around Boulder. In the Great Sand Dunes National Monument we ran into Stan with his green Dodge Ram ‘T-Rex’, a heavily modified 6x6 truck. We also paid a visit to the fairly new ‘Avalanche Ranch’, a 4-wheel park owned by Steve Rumore, who is known for his company “Avalanche Engineering” and his rock crawling buggy “Sniper.” The Durango area has a lot to offer. We visited the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde and went wheeling with George of Durango 4x4 who guided us to Engineer Pass at about 12,000’. Had we had a few more weeks to wait for more trails to thaw out, we could have done some amazing off-roading! Finally, we traveled north again through the spectacular Rocky Mountains and from Grand Junction further west to Moab, UT — an area which has been often described in many publications so we’ll let the pictures do the talking...
This four wheel paradise marked one of the highlights of our trip. The sheer natural beauty and countless recreational opportunities make it a special place for every outdoor enthusiast. We would have liked to stay longer but there was still so much to explore...
 “The Old Man in the Mountain” less than a week before it tumbled down to the valley floor. |
 Great Sand Dunes National Monument stands in fascinating contrast to the snow-capped mountains in the distance. |
| Niagara Falls. A tourist asked me at this location, “Excuse me. Can you tell me where the Niagara Falls are?” What do you answer? |
 We hooked up with Bob Castaldo, who guided us along the 7-Mile Rim Trail. His 6x6 Pinzgauer is an old military vehicle built in Austria. |
 A rivercrossing near Engineer Pass. There was still a lot of snow on the sides of the trail. |
 The infamous Lion’s Back, Moab. |
 Stan’s custom 6x6. |
 Bangs Canyon near Grand Junction features some “play areas” along the trail. |
 Mesa Verde where the dwellings seem to be glued to the rock. |
 Devil’s Tower: fascinating remains of a volcano. The faces of this monument are popular with rock climbers. |
 Moab from above. View from Poison Spider trail. |
 Trails were carefully chosen by Avalanche Ranch owner Steve Rumore. There are challenges for every level of four wheeling. |
 Trail 115 near Boulder was our first 4-wheel adventure in Colorado. We had expected to put a lot of off-road miles on our odometer but the forest service kept many areas closed because of snow. |
 Driving through remote areas we sometimes encountered interesting wildlife such as this mountain goat. |
 Lefthand Canyon, also near Boulder, is a good-size OHV area. Close to the city, this part of the woods gets quite crowded on weekends. |
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