Ah, that time of year to squeeze one (or two!) more trips to DD. Assembled a tight crew of one this time. Quick one nighter but a lot of riding up and around the area. It was actually strange to ride/camp in dry sand! It was quite the nice and wet season eh? Can't say I don't miss the wettish sand, but love the warmer temps!
We had a crew that could go next week but the weather is looking too wet/stormy. Mayyyyybe week after if the temps hold under 90.....
Just a few pics this time, enjoy!
One of the best sunsets of the season....one of those type that just keep changing and keep their color forever it seems
If you end your day at top of a dune, you must be doing something right!
...the hills are watching....
The hills are.....happy! You can spy this geological "wonder" on the way to Shoshone via hwy 127 (between Tecopa and Shoshone)
Chicago Valley Rd area (on other side of pass east of Shoshone), found the "12 mile Spring", but didn't find the nearby grinding holes (mortars) or agave roasting pits. But did score some nice pics and wasn't shot at for going into some possible private property.
What's that, you wanted more flower pics??LOL! Back to the sand....this spot at the Little Dunes always seems to pop up the best desert lilies, they just hadn't bloomed yet
Too hot to ride in midday so I grabbed my gloves and some bags and started some clean-up along the track that goes from big dunes to salt creek mine area. I went to pull on a strap sticking out the sand and pulled up a lost bag.....some big cresent wrenches (rusted), an intact bottle of water, a busted Pepsi can, some intact snack bags. You never know what's lurking beneath that sand!
If you know what "Volcom" is, you'll like this....there are lots of cool rocks around the area, but this one is amazingly similar to the "Volcom Stone". I didn't bring it home, see if you can find where I left it??
Usually when you get stuck at Dumont, it's in the sand right? Well, I highly recommend NOT riding into the "dry" Little Dune Lake! Holy crap, what a mess....I was coming back from Big dunes to camp and while messing around in the little dunes rode thru some area that looked dry but 20 feet in my bike sank up to the axles.....quick mud!? No chance to lift it out....had to tip the bike on it's side and wrestle the rear tire out, then the front....and repeated for almost 40 minutes until I finally reached some solid ground, a whole 20 feet away!!! Damn, it was a chore but could have been worse being I was solo. Poor bike! It was the worse kind of mud....playa or alkaline mud, very very sticky and is like a suction cup when wet and drys hard enough to require an hour or more with a pressure washer to get mostly clean. You should have seen my front brakes....had to tear it all apart to get all the dry mud out. If I would have been in a Sxs or quad I would have been completely screwed!
Can you guess what side I dragged it out on? My driveway is permanently stained from the mud (nice reminder) now
It was surreal driving out on Tuesday evening, the wind was a bit much for riding or camping, glad the timing worked out. Hope to be back in a week or so for one more round this season! Anyone else going out this month?
Can you believe Easter Weekend is already here? The season has flown by! Easter is the last official holiday of the season. It's never a crowded weekend and don't expect many vendors, if any, to be there but it is a great weekend for duning.
The forecast is looking like the weekend will have great weather with highs around 80 and lows in the 50's.
Everyone be careful and have a great weekend.
Springtime is always the time of year when Dumont blooms with vegetation and flowers. This year's bloom, however, is different. Death Valley usually only receives 2 inches or less of precipitation per year and in some years, none at all. In early October alone, there was more than 3 inches of rain. This rainfall is what prompted millions of wildflower seeds to grow creating what has now been called a rare superbloom!
Bright yellow desert gold flowers are the first to catch your eye. They can be seen mostly along the north edge of the camp area near the base of the dunes.
photos by Jodi Knight
Other species of flowers, such as the deep purple phacelia and desert primrose, can be found mixed with the desert gold flowers creating quite the display of colors.
Another very interesting one is the pink and purple desert five-spot. The 5 pedals open up in the afternoon and close at night.
As mentioned earlier, many of the flowers are easily accessed on the north edge of camp while others are farther to the south end. The super bloom won't be around for long so get out there and see it for yourself. There are probably only a couple weeks where the bloom will be at it's peak. Once the temperatures start to rise, the only flowers that will survive will be at higher elevations (not Dumont).
It was a great trip with 8 guys and one gf. Drove out from Big Bear with light rain from Barstow, turning heavy after turning toward Baker. Heavy winds and more rain that fortunately lasted until midnight, then was quiet as a mouse! As you can guess, the conditions were amazing the rest of the trip! We did plenty of dune riding, a side trip to the infamous "Crusty Bunny Ranch" (southeast of Dumont), and a long 180 mile loop to Furnace Creek via Harry Wade road. Saw plenty of prudy wildflowers....we nailed it on the timing for this decades Super Bloom, by accident, sweet! Dantes View was also on the agenda. The rest of the crew did another side trip up Sperry Wash to gulp down a few Date Shakes at China Ranch date farm, so I got bored and decided what the hell I'm going to find out what is on top of that big mountain to the east of the Little Dunes!! Check out the pics for the killer views....
Planning another trip next week and probably one more mid month if the weather holds up. Enjoy!
WET and FUN
This sunsets for you Barrie Morris....RIP
Miss ya Mate
Anyone ever slept next to your ride when it's raining? I can cross that off the list! Clancy, Coors lite, CRF
The gang, mid 30's to the mid 70's and we ain't talking temperature!
Crusty Bunny Mine
Inside the earth
Terry checking out old headframe
Wet desert traction for days
Apparently, the Crusty Bunny Ranch has been closed for some time....
Near Ashford Mill in DV
Super Bloom!
About 150 miles into the 180 mile loop, east entrance to DV. Red Bikes galore!
Sperry Wash was running
FYI, the "Death Valley Internet Cafe" is in Tecopa, 20 minutes north of Dumont. They offer FREE WIFI, great food, beer and wine and a great atmosphere. Checkitout!
You seen this mountain behind the Little Dunes? I decided to see what was on top. Started (hiking) from camp, went up the "road" that goes to first little peak, found a goat trail that climbed to next peak, and then worked north/left to Summit. Very nasty scramble down but totally worth the effort!
Halfway up. Not much of a trail eh?
Made it to the top! There was a large rock stack, some possible sleeping circles, sentry post, and of course a killer view! Can you see our ring of campers (middle, just before Hwy 127)? Note water flow and cool dune formations!
This President's Weekend had quite the turnout for 2016. BLM reported an estimated 12,000-15,000 people visited Dumont over the holiday weekend. Vendor row was full and quite busy all weekend with some vendors such as GTP Offroad offering end of season blowouts. This was basically the last big holiday weekend for most so many made it count. Sunny and warm weather made for a beautiful weekend with friends and family at the dunes.
Aerial photos by Tess Roussin
The Las Vegas Jeep Club in coordination with SxS Wars/ K&T Performance put on one of the biggest racing events Dumont has seen in years, Sand Wars! Excitement has been brewing leading up to this event. Many remember last year where there were no races at all due to time constraints and personal commitments with some of the organizers. Well this year they made up for it big time with the Sand Wars. The event was a perfect mix of old and new. Many are into the old Jeeps and dragsters, while the side x sides have grown HUGE in popularity.
Guys like K&T Performance have taken the Polaris RZR to levels nobody has seen before.
On Saturday, duners pulled up and filled the area scouting for the best spot to watch the races. The races consisted of the Jeep Club doing their regular format of hill climb drag races along with their Turtle Crawl. In addition to the Jeep races, the multiple class side x sides raced on the hill as well. The tricked out side x sides turned heads when they lined up and pulled the front tires off the ground. Many don't ever expect that kind of performance from a side x side. Sunday consisted of the 300' sand drag competition with both the dragsters and UTV classes.
With the large crowds you can guess what the nightlife was like over at Comp Hill. Rows and rows of lighted whips and lights filled the entire staging area of Comp. Photographer, Jason Wink, caught some great long exposure shots of the action.
In addition to the excitement going on at Sand Wars, Comp Hill, vendor row, camp and of course the dunes, Banshee Hill had a huge gathering in itself. Racers from Utah, CA, and AZ came out to race each other in typical holiday weekend fashion. North Shore Drag Racing shared some photos of the action.
Throughout the weekend the BLM staff opened it's doors to the public at the Dumont Dunes visitor center. They hosted a "Meet the Medics" open house and desert wildlife display.
Flight for Life made numerous landings throughout the weekend. We only heard of one fatality, but that is one too many. A Utah man died while racing his Banshee on Banshee Hill. Other injuries occurred in other various accidents including a couple accidents on Comp Hill and a broken femur which was near a major artery and the person required immediate Flight for Life medical attention.
To share your own pics and stories, hop on to our forum and post it to the community, http://www.dumontduneriders.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=20585
For some people, a wedding engagement usually takes place in a hot air balloon or over a candle lit dinner. Well not for this couple! After being together for 4 years it was time to make it official. Over President's Day Weekend, Kennon Werner popped the question to his girlfriend, Brittnee Bennett, at the top of Comp Hill. The couple, from St George, UT, have been together for 4 years and visit several dunes throughout the year. Dumont has always been a favorite for them and will now hold a special meaning.
Congratulations to Kennon and Brittnee!
Over President's Weekend around 3 PM on Friday afternoon, a Utah man was killed while racing his Banshee ATV up Banshee Hill. He apparently rode off of a steep drop off at the top of the hill. While it it uncertain at this point, some assumed his throttle stuck. Flight for Life was called out but it was too late and he succumbed to his injuries and passed away in his son's arms at Dumont. CHP and the coroner were called in because of the fatal accident. The man, Tony Costanzo, was 53 and was from Provo, Utah. Drag racing Banshees was his passion.
If you would like to help his family with burial expenses, please follow the GoFundMe link,
https://www.gofundme.com/mkamnhac
Forum link, http://www.dumontduneriders.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=20587
It's one of the biggest holiday weekends of the season, President's Day Weekend! Not only is it a holiday weekend, but this year the Las Vegas Jeep club is coming back with even more action. The Las Vegas Jeep Club and K&T Performance's SXS Wars have teamed up to bring you SANDWARS over President's Day Weekend. That's right. There will be hill climbs and drag races with multiple classes of Jeeps and side x sides. More info on Sand Wars here.
The BLM will have their Dumont Visitor Center Open all weekend with information about Dumont and it's surrounding areas. They will also have JR Ranger Activity Guides for kids 6-12 yrs old. There will be daily safety and wildlife programs at 11 AM and 2 PM. Something new this year is Meet the Medics Open House! At 4:30 on Feb 13th. There will be free coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks while you get a chance to meet the BLM staff that manages Dumont Dunes.
Oh and one last things...DUNING! Don't forget to go have some fun in the sand and tear it up. The dunes are in great condition right about now. We wish you all a fun filled weekend and like always, keep an extra eye out for each other. Happy duning!
It's the time of year to give back and take care of the amazing playground that mother nature offers to us, Dumont Dunes. Let's face it, some trash and things sometimes get left behind in fire pits or in camp when we go out to play in the sandbox. The annual cleanup is our chance to spend just a few hours of our day to make sure the dunes are free of trash. This year the Friends of El Mirage are stepping up to help the Barstow BLM with the cleanup. Usually Friends of Dumont Dunes are the ones who put it on, but over the last couple years lack of organization support has left the group without any active board members.
So grab your sunglasses, gloves and friends and come out for a weekend or even just the day to help give back to Dumont. Lunch will be provided and all volunteers will receive a wristband which will get you in and out of Dumont for free that weekend. If you have any question email the contacts on the banner below, leave a comment here on our page or on the forum link provided.
forum discussion: http://www.dumontduneriders.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=20562
A group of us headed out to take advantage of the empty dunes. As much as we like the energy of a holiday weekend, quiet empty dunes are more our style. It gives us a chance to rail the dunes without the added risk of other dune traffic.
Dumont was empty Friday morning and it was as nice as it gets out there. Temperatures were in the 60's and there was abundant sunshine. It was pretty much 50's and 60's weather all weekend. Saturday was very cloudy and overcast, but it stayed warm and there was only a slight breeze. Sunday it was back to sunshine without a cloud in the sky.
We only saw a couple groups pass by when we would stop to take a break in the dunes. It was mostly side x sides and a couple quads. The dunes were soft and dry on top and about 8" down there was some moisture from recent rain. They were smooth until later in the day on Saturday. By then we had left quite a few tracks from our buggies. The duning was great!
We burned through some fuel this weekend as our GPS told us we duned almost 100 miles! That was impressive to find out but not as impressive as zero breakdowns. At one point we had 8 sandrails and not one issue. Nobody getting hurt and nobody breaking down is a perfect weekend in our book.
There was one close call though. Lou B flopped a razorback in normal fashion but he quickly found out it was a slipface razorback with very little sand towards the top. His car was literally on it's side at one point but luckily he stayed on the throttle, steered into it and the car landed perfectly on all fours at the bottom. It was quite a sight to see. We took a well needed break after that to take a breather and have a good laugh about it.
https://vimeo.com/152938331
https://vimeo.com/153329003
More photos from this trip and full trip report on the forum, http://www.dumontduneriders.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=20555
