Patty Upton
Patty Upton & Sand Ship Discovery, 1966 CJ-5 Jeep.
While she has traveled all of her life, crossing the Darién Gap set Patty Upton, her future husband Loren Upton, and their trusty 1966 CJ-5 Jeep, Sand Ship Discovery, into the 1992 Guinness Book of Records. After that legendary feat the trio continued on for a nearly all-land route, overland journey around the world full of the romantic, high adventure and narrow escapes we tell ourselves can only be found in books.
Crossing the Darién Gap to Cross the Globe
Patty & Loren Upton with Sand Ship Discovery.
Patty Upton documenting their expedition.
Loren Upton & Sand Ship Discovery river bank exit.
Sand Ship Discovery poises with Egypt’s pyramids.
Loren Upton had an overland goal of taking one, American-made vehicle on an all-land crossing of the globe. This meant crossing the infamous, dangerous and treacherous stretch of roadless jungle between Panama and Colombia know as the Darién Gap. To this day, the Darién Gap remains a mix of dense rainforest, mountains, swamps and rivers, providing deep cover for many deadly animals, diseases and even more deadly gang hideouts. The “Gap” in the name refers this section of formidable land is the only roadless gap in a network of roads known as the Pan-American Highway connecting the Americas from roads end Alaska to roads end Argentina.
June 15, 1984 Loren and Sand Ship Discovery set out from the terminus of the Dalton Highway at the edge of Prudhoe Bay near Deadhorse, Alaska. February 22, 1985 Patty as the expedition’s documentarian and photographer joined Loren, and Sand Ship Discovery to began their Darién Gap expedition by crossing the Rio Chucunaque at the town of Yaviza, Panama. This was Patty’s first and Loren’s fourth attempt to cross the Darién Gap. With many adventures and struggles in between, on March 4, 1987 after crossing the Rio Atrato at Rio Sucio, Colombia, 125 miles past and 741 days older, their Darién Gap crossing was complete. The 1992 Guinness Book of Records awards Loren and Patty Upton as the first all-land crossing of the Darien Gap by vehicle.
From Rio Sucio, Colombia, the trio made their way south through South America arriving early May 1987 at roads end, 39 miles south of Punta Arenas, Chile. From Chile Sand Ship Discovery was shipped across the South Atlantic Ocean to Cape Town, South Africa. Starting from Cape Agulhas, South Africa, the furthest road south in Africa, they ventured north through Africa and the Middle East until September 1988. On the drive through Israel on their way to Jordan political grid lock between the two nations forbid any vehicle travel across the border. The only option to return to Egypt and ferry to Aqaba, Jordon was taken allowing them to continue north through the Middle East and Europe. July 4, 1989 Patty, Loren, and Sand Ship Discovery reached roads end, at the Sletness Lighthouse, just north of Gamvik, Norway.
May 3, 2018 after having shipped Sand Ship Discovery back to Israel, Patty, Loren and their venerable Jeep completed the missing September 1988 Israel to Jordon land crossing segment to realize Loren’s all land crossing dream.
For the real, romantic, high-adventure story filled with determination, lots of harrowing details, humor, twists and turns check out:
Podcast: 5-Year Jeep Journey: Circumnavigating the World and Conquering the Darien Gap! Patty Upton, Great Things LLC
Article: Living Legends: Patricia Upton, Expedition Portal
In Person: Events Calendar on Patty’s website OutbackofBeyond.com