James Baroud ambassador David Gonzalez shares the details of his camping setup for a trip to Central Oregon hunting for his next rally vehicle.
I am a car guy. So is my oldest son. For a year now we have shared a car-themed storage condo we call “Alpha”, the first version of our grand plan. This grand plan includes sourcing a 2002 to 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX 5-door as the starting point for a rally build, our passion for rally a direct byproduct of sharing a much-anticipated 2020 experience at DirtFish Rally School. In our world, there is no more compelling type of driving than rally. At speed, a rally driver and navigator must negotiate all manner of harrowing corners and straights with ever-changing surfaces and without ever driving the stage before. It is sheer chaos. The car’s dominant orientation is sideways. The driver, through instinct and a highly tuned intuition, must keep the shiny side of the car up throughout.
Together, my car guy and my outdoor adventure personalities have combined to send me on another car hunt. This latest hunt took me to Bend, OR to touch, taste, and drive a candidate WRX 5-door while simultaneously taking in the boundless outdoor beauty Central Oregon has to offer. Tumalo State Park – a traditional structured campground with water, electricity, and real bathrooms – was chosen for its proximity to the candidate WRX. The climate in Bend favors Ponderosa Pine, of which there were many, interspersed with prominent boulders everywhere. The colors and shadows screamed “Fall”. All that was missing was the proverbial campfire, but an extreme fire warning precluded any such extravagance. Also precluded was any escape from the sounds of a bustling city.
A cornerstone of my setup is the James Baroud Odyssey (Size M) rooftop tent, which includes the following:
Under the Odyssey, my latest iteration of gear tubs is nearly perfect. It’s everything I need in just the right size and shape and location in the truck bed:
The candidate WRX was disappointing. On the outside, there were numerous dents and dings and blemishes, which by themselves are not a deal breaker. Whereas, the interior looked like the day it was manufactured. This contrast still baffles me. More baffling, however, was the drive. A preponderance of little things built up to a big “no”. Alignment was way off, especially under load. The clutch and possibly the transmission were well worn and behaved mysteriously. Then while accelerating hard, the engine would cut out and not catch up until I let off – maybe timing or top end issues. It was another frog kissed without the promised prince.
With the car crossed off and the intermittent night behind me, the early morning drive to Smith Rocks State Park, just 24 miles North of Bend, was not disappointing. I actually gasped at my first expansive sighting. The ruggedness of the ridgelines, the reflections on the serene Crooked River, and the long shadows of sunrise combined to deliver a palpable panorama and the perfect backdrop for rock climbers. The sunrise vibe was outdoor chic. Fit young men and women were rolling in, gathering up their high-tech climbing gear, finishing their coffees, and excitedly pointing across the river while finalizing their routes for the day. To get to the plethora of bolted routes, they must first hike down to the valley floor, cross a bridge, then climb up the other side to a point quite a bit higher than where they parked. I suppose these passionate climbers viewed the hike as little more than dynamic stretching before a game-starting whistle. I was enthralled by the spectacle. Obligations kept me from deploying my Odyssey at nearby Skull Hallow Campground for another night’s stay, the closest vehicle campground with the best of names, but I did hike down to the bridge and pretend I was one of the cool kids there to climb. Nobody fell for it.
Driving the nearly 340 miles back to Boise offered plenty of time for contemplation. I contemplated the WRX and its unfortunate accumulation of warts and woes. I contemplated the tradeoffs of a densely packed structured campground versus an isolated dispersed campsite, concluding the latter is more to my liking. I contemplated the staggering beauty of the Smith Rocks geology. But mostly, I contemplated my incredibly good fortune to be able to pair my rally-lovin’ car passion with my outdoor adventure passion into a single fulfilling experience. And since our rally car starting point remains elusive, more opportunities lie ahead.
