Day 6: Dune Camp 1 to Dune Camp 2

 

Navigation Links
 Trip Home Page     

 

 


The Trip

The objective of the day was to get from our dune camp to a more-northern camp that was closer to our planned exit from the dunes in anticipation of our trip to Guadalupe Canyon. Packing was old hat by now, so we loaded and left.

The big dunes dwarf the trucks.

We passed through some very big valleys.

Bill ascends a steep dune face.

Dan high centers on a small razor back requiring an assist. Dan had trouble since he could only run in 2WD due to the CV joint damage.

Graceful curves of the high dunes.

The sharp-edged razor backs add nice curves to the scene.

Large dunes loom to the northeast.

These dunes dwarf the big 1300s.

More beautiful razor back dunes.

Another sphincter tightening steep descent.

View from the bottom looking up.

High razor backs make the crossover very scary. Notice the bowl on the right? Sometimes due to flat lighting, these obstacles can be hard to see. If Kai had put a wheel over the edge, it would have caused big problems.

We discovered another wrecked and stripped jeep in a big, steep bowl. He was likely unable to escape the bowl. We refer to these as "death bowls". Like the Roach Motel, you check-in, but you do not check-out.

Getting out of the bowl was a challenge. These dunes are big and steep.

The big dunes dwarf our trucks.

A lunch break with DIY sandwiches and chips.

Clones, except for the hat and glasses (and about 15 years).

Roberto and Xavier pucker up before another steep descent.

Kai went into a "death bowl" and found that he could not come back out. So, we decided to winch him out with my truck. Here Larry stumbles attempting to pull the heavy winch cable over the crest of the razor back.

Stripping the cable from the drum was rather hard, even with the clutch disengaged.

Winching was easy once we got cabled up.

Nearly done.

Roberto gets sideways on a tough, loose crossing. Except for the first truck, every vehicle required an assist to make it over this obstacle.

Strapping up to pull the next truck in line.

Mark digs ditches getting Roberto over the crest of the dune.

Mike is definitely enjoying himself.

An unwelcome camp visitor. This sidewinder was quite small, so we just left him to his own devices and he wisely went the other direction. Note the horns on his head and his small button rattles.

Ah, dinner. Matt and Nancy cooked steaks and garlic bread.

This was a normal dune travel day. There were a few close calls and all of us got stuck at least once. One obstacle require each truck to help the one behind up the steep section of the dune.

In the morning, we would pack early, head to San Luis for breakfast and diesel and then on to Guadalupe Canyon and the hot springs.

 


Navigation Links
Previous Adventure
Top of this Page
  Next Adventure
Trip Home Page  
Bill Caid's Home Page

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2007, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.