Last weekend’s 4XFAR fest was epic! One part music fest one part outdoor adventure show and one park Land Rover new and old made for an amazing trip in to the Coachella Valley. I had come across it a few weeks before and told by good friend and professional outdoor photographer Brice Weaver of Brice Weaver Photography about it so we hatched a plan to head out there and see what it is.
I could not have been more stoked about this weekend, we woke up and finished packing since we were driving over from Ramona we would be going through Anza Borrego and staying there on out ay back. It was a nice drive with barley any traffic in fact the busiest place was the desert for the off road scene in Anza Borrego, then a quick pass by the Salton Sea and into date country. I have to say I was really impressed by the venue, pulling up on to the well-manicured lawn and taking it all in was pretty cool especially since we headed directly to the lineup of classic Land Rovers.
Getting in was quick and easy and everyone was super cool and friendly. We were starting to make our rounds when we came up to a kiosk to sign up for you different events. Basically once you got this bracelet just about every experience there was included in the cost of your ticket so I was pretty stocked. Added bonus and the main “driving” force behind this was the roll out of the 2020 Land Rover Defender, they had free test drives, on an off-road course, and we headed directly there.
The only real wait we had was to drive the defender and it was worth it, now full disclosure we are a Jeep family but I have always loved the classic Lan Rovers and couldn’t pass this up, we had Aaron who is one of the driving instructors from their North Carolina School (they have one in Carmel CA too) so we had him taking us through the technology as we went.
And there is a tone of tech, it was interesting getting used to the push button shifting and park at first but with it set in the mud fording setting it kept us in first gear most of the time, I got told to slow down (mission accomplished). Another thing I though was really neat was the airbag suspension so you could adjust clearance based on your need, very cool. Now I could sit here and write a whole blog about it but I will leave with the rear view mirror is a screen and what was interesting, lots of tech.
By the time we finished up there it was around noon and we started exploring the different interactive areas, they had everything from rock climbing, the US Equestrian Team, to Wild Edibles and Yoga. We were thirsty so we did the only thing that made sense and headed to Trader Vic’s for some Mai Thais, having begun hydration we sauntered over the to fly fishing area Presented by California Trout a cool nonprofit and they had some great guides John and Ryan from the Clear Water Lodge. This is one of my favorites because I fly fish, terribly.
But it was cool in the tent they had stations set up for everyone and we got to tie our own flies. It didn’t seem that bad when you had a professional helping you every step of the way, haha. It looks like there will be a new hobby coming to the house… But it was really neat and I got to leave with a new fly!
Outside along the shore line they had people set up to try their luck at casting and had opportunities to get pointers from the staff which was really cool. The lagoon there by the way was pretty epic, no fish or swimming but still pretty cool.
After that we headed over to the equestrian exhibit and while I was over there I slid over to the mountain bike and One Wheel Board park to try my luck and try my luck I did. I know from the looks of me you would think I have the skill and coordination of a jungle cat, sadly though that is not the case. After almost eating it big I headed off to one of the Kammock Hammock stations to take a break while Brice grabbed some pictures of the horseys.
As coincidence would have it our next class was knot tying and it was the Kammock Krew (see what I did there). These guys are out of Austin TX and really cool dudes to hang around. I’m not the best knot tier so this was a good class and reminded that I need to get my practice up. The 4XFAR was one of those amazing events where there was almost always something to do and tons of really cool people.
I could literally write chapters on this and how much fun I had, but I will leave with this. After he sun went down it was getting chilly and we were getting a little snackish which worked perfectly. We headed over to Mont y Boca and met Chef Corso who was doing camp cooking demonstrations. This was truly a highlight because while I believe I am pretty competent in the outdoors making enjoyable food is not one of my strengths.
What made this great is Chef Corso is a classically trained chef with a passion for the outdoors so this is an expert in the field and I’m all ears. Pretty much all of his meals are one pot meals that take less than thirty minutes using less than ten ingredients, pretty legit. This demo want him cooking either it was us! We all had different tables and different recipes we teamed up to make them then we got to share so this fat kid was happy.
Our team lucked out even more because we got to make desert with nella wafers and banana, I was a little apprehensive at first but the end result garnished with nuts was epic. Plus it was fun going to the other tables and trying all their good food it was like a camping buffet. Yeah basically one of my favorites plus him and his crew where really cool and friendly, I’m looking forward to carrying their book in the shop.
After that how do you top it right? Well the concert was in full effect and it was eight thirty with the event ending at ten so we slid out, after all we had an hour and a half drive to the middle of the desert to set up camp. That is another story.
As always we enjoyed sharing this with you and hope you check it out as well as the amazing people we talked about, ninety percent of the adventure is just getting out there and this was a good one!
