dunefreak

Did you ever leave? 😆

Great weekend Ben. I heard you mentioning to someone about your sweatshirt/jacket mod to reach the pedals. hahaa Your the only guy I know with a complete second setup (buggy, truck/RV).

We rolled in Thursday night. The weather was breezy at times, but it was really nice. So nice we hung out around the fire until 2AM. I was excited to get my car back out after some recent suspension and tire upgrades. Plus I acquired another new toy...a couch! Polaris Sportsman 700. I took the couch, also referred to now as Pedro, out for a morning cruise to see how it did and check out what mother nature had groomed. Then we headed out for our first buggy run and Josh's spindle decided to break in half. We pulled it off and took it back to camp to get welded up in order to get the car back. Theron and I stayed and played security guard with the help of some cold beers in the cooler. We got it all back together and we headed back. Josh was convinced the spindle wasn't strong enough to drive on anymore, but Theron made sure to give him that push to weld it up on the inside as well so he could dune the rest of the weekend. Everyone came together to help out. On the way back to camp from the spindle incident, we made a few rips up comp hill. I noticed my car was falling on its face over 4000 rpm. I've been dealing with an issue all season and I was getting pissed off I haven't figured it out yet. So long story short I took it out to test a few things and I blew up my motor. 😥 I had excessive blow-by coming out of my breather and one or two cylinders were not hitting anymore. I kinda felt like this was going to happen, but not on day 1 of this weekend. I was really bummed. Luckily I had friends to cheer me up. I hopped in Theron's car and Anna rode in Dan's so we could all go up to Sunset Hill. Saturday morning it was really gusty at times, but the W finally calmed down. I took the couch quad out again and ended up all the way across HWY 127 exploring some ohv trails in Anvil Canyon. Along the way I spotted an old memorial up on a hill between Little D and Big D. The message in the concrete read LOVED THE DESERT. Quickly realizing I didn't bring any water or supplies, I decided to head back. I was pretty far out there. You can barely see little Dumont in the distance in this pic. I got back to camp and found out the guys still hadn't returned from their buggy run. Gary and Josh came back but it was to get a pully for Gary's car. On the run, it fell off. Ben stopped to get it as it was rolling down a hill, then got stuck! Then Theron hooked up to him and got stuck and then one more buggy got stuck. They had 3 buggies tied together with tow straps so tight they had to cut one off. LOL It's this was our first dune trip of something. After fixing Gary's car and then bringing out a floor jack, everyone finally got Theron's car extracted from the earth. LOL VID_20210306_135334615.mp4 Later that day everyone else went out while I cruised around taking dune pics and managed to snap some of the crew. Looks like Greg's car is Pacman and eating the buggy in the distance. haha Josh and Greg had a little more fun for the camera. Sunday we all packed it up and headed home. I have a ton of stuff to fix. First a buggy motor swap, then some more upgrades to switch over to 5 lug front wheels from spindle mount wheels, then fix my water heater and furnace which BOTH decided to take a crap in the same weekend. It's always something! Duning is constant work but so worth it when everything is clicking and working right. I was really bummed I couldn't take full advantage of those amazing dunes this weekend. They were so epic while my car lasted. Just not the same on an old man quad. haha Big thanks to all my friends that made a sh*tty weekend still a super fun one. Saturday night we had ATC races, giant human ball fights, guess that crappy 80's song, and lots of fun around the fire. Time to get to work and get back out before summer hits. I'm not done yet!

glad you haven't changed. Hi Bob! mafakaaaaa!

Post a picture of the satellite map showing which dune or ridge it's on. I'll look for it this weekend. We'll be out there.

Thanks for posting these, Justin! Times sure have changed out there. I love seeing all the old trucks and campers.

Sounds like a relaxing day with good food and drink!

It wasn't just a coyote was it?

Unfortunately there was a fatality this last Saturday when a side x side rolled at Comp hill. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene and the passenger had injuries. I always hate hearing about these accidents. I don't know exactly how it happened, but it's always a reminder to always play it safe out there and wear proper safety gear. Coroner Press Release On Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 8:32 PM, Bradley Scott Mowdy, a 62-year-old resident of Corcoran California, was the driver of a UTV that rolled over in the Dumont Dunes Off Highway Vehicle Area near Baker CA. Mowdy was pronounced dead at the scene. The Barstow office of the California Highway Patrol is investigating the incident.

A legend was lost today. Bruce Meyers, creator of the Meyers Manx dune buggy in 1964, revolutionized how we dune today. He started it all. His creation of the dune buggy became an icon of our culture in the sand and off-road community. Legends like this are few and far between. He will be missed! Bruce was 94. Meyers died of a blood disease called myelodysplasia, which is similar to leukemia. photo cred

There was a crew out there working on it yesterday.

Not that I'm organizing, no. I can't even make it out to cleanup this year. I have to work that Saturday. 👎🏻

UPDATE! March 13, 2021 will be the day for a COVID-19 compliant clean-up at Dumont Dunes. BLM will supply dumpster, water, and tool trailer. BLM will be on-site to sign-up volunteers. Pens will be disinfected between users, hand sanitizer will be available, and social distancing will be required. If not feeling well, stay home or seek medical attention as appropriate.

Post up your pics from President's weekend. We have a bunch on our social media, but zero on here so far. WTF guys!? Ya'll slacken.

It's wherever you'll be camped! Usually next to the mariachi band. PS I don't go holiday weekends anymore. Enjoy the shitshow!

Vendors! Post up if you will be out at Dumont on Vendor Row for President's weekend. Please only one business post allowed. No thread bumps with the same info.

Hey Gary thanks for reaching out and posting up what happened. I'm glad your nephew is ok and wasn't hurt! The guy who put up the swingset is already making plans to remove it and upgrade it from what I have heard. There are many others who have helped to volunteer as well. I just hope that it doesn't happen again. I have mixed feelings on these things that have popping up at Dumont over the last year or so. The swingset is cool and a fun place to visit, especially for the kids, but without having a set of safety standards, routine checks and maintenance, this is what is bound to happen. I know it is a huge liability for the BLM. The swingset at Glamis is insanely overbuilt and nothing has happened to it. Maybe the Dumont swingset builders can take notes? 😄 Welcome to DDR by the way!

Please list a price in your ad.

I just wanted to post an update since I have not listed the cleanup date yet on our events page or calendar. I got with Jason from Friends of Dumont Dunes and he still needs to talk with BLM as far as if, how, and when cleanup will happen this year. It will probably still come together sometime in the middle of March, but that is all I have right now. I will definitely post an update and date as soon as it all gets decided on. I know some people have been asking so I wanted to post what I knew so far.

They did great! It felt good to once again pull the front tires up on some of those rollers now that I have traction. The razorbacks were a huge improvement too. Much more responsive and it sticks to the dune when side hilling. 🤟🏻 Ahh that was you guys? Damn. Would have be great to finally meet you. 👍🏻

Is anyone else headed out this weekend? I'll be out with a few buddies. Stoked to try out my new paddles and front razorbacks!

Hi there Simon. It was me who published the article. Larry Short of Short Sand Cars built me that car. He never offered plans and is no longer building sandcars. That's why the site is gone. I sold the car about 10 years ago.

Awesome. Thanks for sharing Mike! Looks like a nice weekend in the sand. 🤟🏻