Landsandcrab Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunefreak Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Great report and pictures. I know exactly what lake you're talking about. It really is like quick mud! As you get near it, it's pretty firm ground, pretty firm, pretty firm, then WHOA you're sinking! Nasty stuff too. Smells horrible. I wish I had a dune-able bike. I love quick, easy trips like these. All I have is my KTM690. Little heavy for the sand but great for adventures and desert. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landsandcrab Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Thank you Pete! Yeah that mud is very.....special! At one point, I thought my only hope was to find a way to solidify the ground....where's that dune trash when you need it?? I kick myself for not snapping a pic or two during the struggle, but that stuff is so nasty I didn't want to subject my poor phone to it. I was just happy to be unstuck but bummed I missed if that was my last ride of the season! Next week is totally out with all the rain coming (raining in Big Bear currently, snow by Saturday). Maybe last week of month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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