JPFreek - Index

JPFreek - magazine - Index

Yuma to Rocky Point
Overland Contest
Winning Entry
Fifty years ago, Roy Follows and Noel Dudgeon
completed a unique overland adventure in an
ex-army Willys Jeep. Their journey would be
known as The First Overland, and their travels
would encompass the spirit of adventure.
JPFreek Adventure Magazine is proud to share with you an
exciting recount of a journey along the Sea of Cortez with the
members of Jeepexpeditions.org. Their adventure, while not as
harrowing as Roy and Noel’s journey, encompassed the idea of
overlanding and pure enjoyment between man and machine.
We salute the adventure lifestyle and we hope this story, as well
as Roy and Noel’s, will inspire you to take a break from the ordinary
and enjoy our great planet.
To purchase and read about the entire First Overland journey by
Roy Follows and his friend, Noel Dudgeon, please visit:
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Wheels-Frontiers-Overland-
Singapore-England/dp/0953757781
http://www.ulric-publishing.com
Sea of Cortez: Jeepexpeditions.org
Mexico: Clean beaches, pristine deserts, cerveza and ceviche!
Our first trip to Mexico included four days along the coastline
of the Sea of Cortez from El Gulfo to Rocky Point, and a crossing
of the Great Dunes of the Altar Desert with the Rocky Point Jeep
Club.
Ah Mexico…………………………
Many thoughts go through people’s minds when Mexico is
mentioned. Aztecs, pyramids, rich history, arid deserts, rain
forests, Cozumel, Cabo, Cancun, Corona, and many others I can
think of. Mention the Sea of Cortez or the Gulf of California and
you will often get puzzled looks.
The Sea of Cortez, sometimes referred to as the Gulf of
California, separates mainland Mexico from the Baja, or Baja
California. What is it about this 669-mile long body of water and
what of its history?
Millions of years ago, as the North American plates and the
Pacific plates collided, a vast mountain range was forced
upwards forming the mountains that are now a big part of the
landscape of the Baja Peninsula. Faults in the earth’s crust
formed in the length of what is now the western side of North
America. Scientifically speaking, as the plates collided, the
thinner Pacific Plate slid under the North American Plate and
formed what is called a subduction zone and with it, the
volcanic activity that formed the Pinacante National Park in
Mexico. The park is dotted with as many as 300 craters/cones,
some as large as three miles wide. This landscape is so desolate
and much like the moon that the Apollo astronauts trained here
for the moon missions.