Let's face it. Dune season is over at Dumont and the triple digits are here to stay until September. While most of you are headed up into the mountains or to the lake to beat the heat, some of you get those summertime dune withdrawals. They usually start to set in around June or July when all you want is a quick sand fix. Well we're here to give you some tips on how it can be done.
Summer sand fixes should only attempted by experienced and dedicated duners. They aren't for the average weekend warrior or faint-hearted. Newbies best stay home until Halloween weekend rolls around. You have to come prepared and know Dumont well. Summer brings on a whole new set of challenges for going out and shredding the dunes that you thought you were familiar with. The sand changes...considerably. Those lines you usually take during the season are long gone. There are zero tracks to follow. The dunes take on different shapes and razorbacks become back-cut drop offs and are almost impossible to traverse like you normally would. "Witches Eyes" form and can swallow up a side x side like nothing. There are no BLM or medical personnel on site and there are very rarely any other duners out there either. Never rely on your cel phone for your life line. You must go prepared and take extra caution.
So how can one even think about going out and enjoying this dangerously scorching hot sandbox and treacherous landscape? Well to start, weekend trips are out of the question unless you plan to run your generators all weekend only to cool off your RV to 90 degrees during the day. So a quick, very early morning trip is the way to do it.
1. Pick Your Day Wisely.
The first thing you should do is watch the weather. Follow the forecast and go out when the temps are at their lowest. Even a dip of 5-10 degrees makes a big difference. Sometimes you can even catch a break and get some unseasonable cool weather. Follow
Tecopa, CA weather. That is the closest recorded weather to Dumont Dunes.
2. Forget About Sleeping In.
If you want epic conditions and want to go duning, you have to be dedicated enough to wake up in the middle of the night to leave. Yes, we're talking like 2 or 3 AM depending on how far from Dumont you live. A trip like this is typically only possible for those who live 200-300 miles from Dumont. Plan on arriving about 45 minutes before sunrise or even earlier if you don't mind unloading in the dark. You will be able to get about 3-4 hours (at the most) of duning before the temperatures rise to the upper 90's. It sounds short, but it is so worth it. You'll wanna get out of Dodge before 11AM. Even in the shade, the heat radiated from the sand is no fun to sit and relax in.
3. Don't Skip the Essentials.
While you are so stoked at the first sight of that virgin sand and can't wait to go carve it up ....hold up. Just because you are most likely the only group out there you should still always run a flag. This helps others in your group follow and keeps you guys from running into each other should you find yourselves in some tight areas or crossing back over towards the rear of your group. Helmets and wrist restraints should ALWAYS be worn in side x sides. They prevent major injuries and save lives. And as always, ATV or motorcycle riders should wear full riding gear such as boots, helmet, goggles, etc. Consider wearing a chest protector too. Those witches eyes can be very dangerous and stop you really quickly sending you right into the handlebars. Don't forget water and even some sunscreen too. Plan for the breakdown, not the ride.
4. Bring Your Wolfpack
As much as you want to bring the whole family and show all your buddies who have never seen Dumont before, this should only be a trip for the most experienced duners you know. You don't want to invite the guy who never maintains his ride either. Summertime is no time to be messing around out there with broken equipment. If you or someone in your group has a breakdown, be prepared. Have at least one decent tow strap in the group, preferably 2 or 3. Many of us run the Super Straps too. They are a must-have for recovering vehicles from the dunes. Another good idea is to have a good toolbag with the basics plus things like ratchet straps, zip ties, etc.
5. Choose Your Lines Wisely
As mentioned earlier, the dunes change in the summertime. With no traffic and shifting seasonal winds, the dunes can be dangerously different from what you are used to during the season. The sand is usually very "slippery" in summer too. You should basically treat Dumont like a place you've never been to before and use even more caution than you normally do. Watch for those witches eyes and it's best to take a familiar route through the dunes first in order to make some tracks to follow on your next ride or way back to the truck.
If this sounds too dangerous and risky for you, it probably is. However, if you are a die hard, experienced duner that wants to shred Dumont like no other time of the year, the dunes are flat out epic. They resemble scenes from a movie. There's something extra special about being out there on the virgin ripples of sand when the sun is just rising and there is nobody else out there except you and your buddies. Knowing that you are on your own and if something goes wrong, it adds an element of adventure and adrenaline to the experience. That might sound a little crazy, but that's why you don't see anyone out there in the summertime.
Go prepared, take calculated risks, and enjoy Dumont like never before.
A traffic light? In Baker? No, it doesn't mean Baker is booming enough to need one. It is simply being installed in front of the Baker Travel Center on Baker Blvd at Caltrans Avenue because it is a cheaper alternative for the gas station owner than the traffic mitigation fee already imposed by San Bernardino County. Apparently there was already an agreement for the owner to install the traffic light in order to get the business permit for the station. Because of Baker's remote location and lack of contractors to get the work done on time, it has taken 4 years for this to finally happen. So hopefully this traffic light doesn't back things up getting to Dumont. Only southbound I15 travelers from Vegas would go through this light as they get into Baker. CA vistors would not be affected. Just thought we'd spread the "breaking Baker news" with the community.
forum discussion, http://www.dumontduneriders.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=20688
You just never know what kind of spring weather you'll get at Dumont this time of year. Usually it starts getting plenty warm by now, but the temperatures have dropped and stayed low enough to squeeze a little more season out of the dunes. Our friends at GTP Offroad were scheduled to go up north and hit Coral Pink Dunes for the weekend of April 30-May 1st, however the forecast showed it was going to be super cold. On the flip side, Dumont was looking nice and cool with only a slight chance of rain. They didn't let that stop them though. They packed it up and headed out to the empty, overcast dunes. The dunes were smooth and they only saw a couple drops of rain all weekend. The wind was fierce Friday night, but conditions remained a step above amazing all weekend long. So to those who think the season is over, you just never know. Have your toys ready, keep an eye on that forecast and you just might be able to seize an epic weekend in the sand and have it all to yourself. Speaking of doing that...check out those temps for this weekend! (mid 70's!)
photos by Jodi Knight
Get the full trip report here! http://www.dumontduneriders.com/invision/index.php?showtopic=20676
MINNEAPOLIS (April 19, 2016) Polaris Industries (NYSE: PII) jointly announced with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, today, that the company is voluntarily recalling certain RZR 900 and 1000 off-road vehicles manufactured since model year 2013 due to reports of thermal-related incidents, including fires. Detailed information about the recall is available at www.polaris.com/rzr-recall.
Polaris conducted a thorough investigation to pinpoint the root causes and put forward a comprehensive solution to address them.
"One of our foremost guiding principles is Safety and Ethics Always," said Scott W. Wine, Chairman and CEO, Polaris. "We know that the foundation of a good ride is a safe ride, and we have been proactive, aggressive and thorough in putting forth a plan to get our vehicles repaired and give us and our customers confidence in the safety of our RZR vehicles."
All affected vehicle owners will be asked to contact a dealer to schedule a complimentary service appointment, which should take approximately one hour. Polaris is working quickly to source the necessary parts and is allocating parts daily to dealers as they become available. Dealers will schedule appointments subject to parts availability.
"We are working day and night to inform our customers and dealers and to obtain the parts needed for the repairs we identified in our comprehensive analysis," said Wine. "We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers as we work to ensure all the systemic thermal risks we identified are eliminated from our vehicles."
Polaris has already begun implementation of its Corrective Action Plan and has made manufacturing updates in new-production vehicles. Polaris also plans to include a warning on new-production vehicles instructing riders not to carry fuel and other flammable liquids in their vehicles, and cautions against carrying flammable liquids in previously produced models.
About Polaris
Polaris Industries Inc. (NYSE: PII) is a global powersports leader with annual 2015 sales of $4.7 billion. Polaris fuels the passion of riders, workers and outdoor enthusiasts with our RANGER®, RZR® and POLARIS GENERAL side-by-side off-road vehicles; our SPORTSMAN® and POLARIS ACE® all-terrain off-road vehicles; VICTORY® and INDIAN MOTORCYCLE® midsize and heavyweight motorcycles; SLINGSHOT® moto-roadsters; and Polaris RMK®, INDY®, SWITCHBACK® and RUSH® snowmobiles. Polaris enhances the riding experience with parts, garments and accessories sold under multiple recognizable brands, and has a growing presence in adjacent markets globally with products including military and commercial off-road vehicles, quadricycles, and electric vehicles. www.polaris.com
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!
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