Remote Trails Radio

It's Halloween at Remote Trails™ Radio, and things are getting a little spooky! 🎃 This week, Garrick and Melody trade their usual trail talk for a round of Halloween trivia featuring strange-but-true mysteries, eerie places, and some downright terrifying moments in history. What killed an entire forest along the Washington coast in a single winter? How do enormous rocks move across the deser...

Labor Day weekend sent Garrick and Melody in two very different directions. Garrick heads into the woods near Lake Wynoochee for a rare night trail run, putting the 4Runner’s lights to work on a forest route that gets a little tighter and darker with every mile. The weekend continues with a run around the Wynoochee area alongside a group of motorcycles, some surprisingly fun technical terrain, and...

Wildfires change the plans, the mods keep multiplying, and apparently owning an awning officially makes you an overlander. In Episode 51, Garrick takes his new Ford F-150 on its first real off-pavement adventure after wildfire activity forces a last-minute pivot from the Cascades to the Olympic Peninsula. The trails may not have been especially technical, but the full-size truck gets its first tas...

For Episode 50, Motorcycle Zack is back to join Garrick and Melody for a deep dive into Garrick and Zack's weeklong ride of the newly revised Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route. The adventure nearly ended before it began when Zack dropped his motorcycle on his foot in a Lakeview hotel parking lot. Fortunately, some ice, a very purple foot, and a pair of very stiff motorcycle boots were enough...

Summer has been busy, and we're finally catching up on everything that's been happening behind the scenes. Garrick kicks things off with a pretty major surprise: after months of talking about buying a Ford Ranger, he somehow ended up with a 2024 F-150 instead. We dig into what changed his mind, why the unusual SuperCab/6.5-foot-bed configuration caught his attention, and what nearly 2,10...

Join us as we're joined by our friend Demetre to look back on our unforgettable overland journey through Capitol Reef National Park and the surrounding Utah backcountry. From colorful desert landscapes and remote campsites to river crossings, fuel planning, and unexpected trail obstacles, we break down what made this one of our favorite adventures yet. Along the way we share stories about hel...

Whether you're curious about XOverland's ranch in Montana or wondering if The Big Thing deserves a spot on your calendar, this episode is for you. We spent several days at XOverland Collective's annual ranch event near Three Forks, Montana, exploring the property, attending classes, meeting vendors, and talking with fellow overlanders from across the country. From lakeside camping a...

If you're thinking about attending Overland Expo, this episode is for you. In Part 2 of our Overland Expo PNW series, we share the biggest lessons we learned after spending the weekend exploring hundreds of exhibitors, attending educational classes, talking with industry experts, and geeking out over some seriously impressive adventure rigs. We cover the products that genuinely stood out, fro...

Episode 45 takes us on location at Overland Expo PNW! For the first time, we're recording together in person from the expo grounds as we kick off a two-part series covering one of the biggest overlanding events in the Pacific Northwest. Garrick shares why he's planning to move from his trusty 4Runner to a midsize truck camper setup, including what he's learned about payload ratings,...

Summer is coming and the rigs are getting ready — whether that means new bump stops, a custom moto seat, or frantically cutting a leash off a choking dog on a cliff. In Episode 44, Garrick is freshly back from a Capitol Reef run with the overland crew (full debrief coming in Episode 45 with guest Demetre), and Melody has been deep in build mode on the 5th Gen 4Runner. This week: Melody swaps her D...

Garrick and Melody are back with a packed episode — and a lot of grievances to air before the good stuff kicks in. Garrick kicks things off fresh off a new MacBook Air M5, finally ditching the decade-old Windows machine. Meanwhile, Melody's had a rough stretch: her 4Runner got broken into (again), she battled pink eye, and her lucky cat had nothing encouraging to say about any of it. She walk...

Melody debuts her new Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T tires and breaks down exactly how she saved $425 at Discount Tire — including the one question you should always ask at checkout. Garrick shares his experience at an Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance trail work party and makes the case for giving back to the trails we love. Melody also recaps a trip to the North Mountain Fire Lookout near Darringt...

Adventure season is here, and Garrick and Melody are kicking it off with a packed episode full of gear talk, trip recaps, and insider tips. First up, Garrick delivers an unfortunate update from Episode 40 — what started as a cracked rim from snow wheeling turned into a full steering rack replacement, officially marking the end of his snow wheeling career. Then the two recap an incredible spring me...

Episode 40 is a full-on rollercoaster. Garrick finally tracks down that mysterious rear-end thud, only to discover a much bigger problem lurking under the rig. Meanwhile, a snow wheeling trip goes sideways with hidden obstacles, cracked wheels, and more trail damage than expected. Melody shares a soggy lesson in winter tent camping after waking up in what can only be described as a lake, plus some...

What does it actually take to move toward an electrified overlanding setup—and is it worth it? In this episode, Garrick walks through the thinking behind his shift away from propane and toward battery-powered camp systems, while Melody helps unpack where that strategy shines and where it still falls short. They talk about the real advantages of electric cooking, charging flexibility on the trail,...

Melody just got back from Overland Expo SoCal 2026 , and she’s bringing stories from the show floor, vendor booths, and even an unexpected moment on stage at the Women Who Wander meetup. From suspension conversations with 74Weld to recovery gear troubleshooting with Maxtrax, this episode is a look at what makes expos worth the trip beyond just the shopping. 🚙 We also talk about community connecti...

Garrick and Melody are back with a mix of adventure updates and practical trail wisdom. Garrick shares his experience attending the Montana Backcountry Discovery Route (MTBDR) unveiling in Seattle , including what the new 900-mile route looks like, the film screening, and why Montana might be the next big BDR destination for riders and overlanders.  From there, the conversation shifts to one of th...

This one’s a mix of heavy hearts and winter wins. We start by honoring Cameron — better known as Roo — Beth’s loyal trail companion and a beloved member of our overlanding crew. If you’ve ever driven behind “Roo Tube,” you know what we’re talking about. He’ll be deeply missed. From there, we shift into a Presidents’ Day weekend done right: winter camping near the Wynoochee River with blue skies, f...

What do Goose Gear, used mud terrains, cross-country skiing in the Methow Valley (yes, that’s MET-HOW), and a futuristic Honda camper trailer have in common? Apparently… this episode. Garrick breaks down his recent Goose Gear cargo plate and fridge slide install in the 3rd gen 4Runner—what went smoothly, what didn’t (missing hardware, no instructions), and whether it’s actually worth the money. He...

In Episode 34, we welcome back friend of the show Beth for a wide-ranging conversation that blends winter overlanding reality checks with trip stories, gear lessons learned the hard way, and a few laughs along the way. We start with a follow-up on rainy-weather ventilation gear, including an honest post-mortem on the Roadie window tent—what works, what doesn’t, and how operator error (and torrenti...

In this episode of Remote Trails Radio , Garrick and Melody trade road-trip stories from winter travel across the West, introduce Melody’s new pup Yuzu, and share updates from past episodes - including a deep dive into Bluetti’s new Charger 2 and what it means for vehicle-based power systems.  Garrick walks through his experience with the Starlink Mini, explaining how standby mode makes satellite...

Welcome to the first Remote Trails Radio episode of 2026 —and instead of a highlight reel, we’re doing the anti-wrap . Garrick and Melody unpack a wild, soggy, and often frustrating Pacific Northwest fall, from historic flooding and washed-out highways to snow seasons that never quite showed up. From there, things turn productive (and optimistic): we celebrate our first-ever fan mail , share pract...

🎄 Merry Christmas from Remote Trails Radio! In this holiday episode, Garrick and Melody kick things off with updates, mishaps, and the ongoing debate over car color—before diving into gear talk, trail stories, and a deep Moab travel breakdown. We start with real-world vehicle issues, including a cargo-area heat problem in a 3rd-gen 4Runner and a physical muffler swap that had unexpected consequen...

Zack is back! Our favorite resident tinkerer (last heard on Episode 10) returns with a new-to-him 2023 Tacoma and a head full of ideas. We chat through how he specced it as a dual-sport hauler on a budget—why he went with the “park-service white” access cab, the first mods he’s already done (hello, plug-and-play bed lights and wheel chock), and what actually makes sense to upgrade when your priori...

Our Thanksgiving episode is here! 🦃 This week, Garrick and Melody dive into an unexpectedly eventful stretch of adventures, gear experiments, and one very fancy set of license plates. We kick things off with updates from Episodes 26 and 28—including Garrick’s saga of trying (and failing, then succeeding) to build a DC5521 fridge cable, plus the surprising Instagram shoutout that has us basically...