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This was the fifth time I've attended the TDS Desert Safari, and this was the best one yet! The weather was perfect! The days were in the low 80s, and the nights were in the 50s, and the wind was very gentle (until Sunday afternoon). Winter is over and Spring is just around the corner! The Trail Bosses, Joey Holden and his sister, Amanda Holden are commended for a great job at planning the route. They wisely set up multiple green and red routes at the start of the run, which minimized the wait at any of the obstacles.
I arrived at about 4 pm on Friday and set up camp on Holly Road, about a quarter mile east of the headquarters area. I went through safety and registration at about 6 pm with no delay. The safety and registration were set up further apart this year, so there was less congestion in the area. I saw George (TDS SD) and Guenther at the Registration tent and saw them again on the trail. I exchanged some text messages with Erik (Nailer341) but I never met up with him during the weekend. I also saw Gerald at the Savvy Offroad display area. Michael (Pikeman) and his friend, Edwin arrived at the campsite shortly after 10 pm in the Toyota 4Runners. They just missed the close of registration by a few minutes. On Saturday morning, Michael and Edwin got up early and took their 4Runners through Safety and Registration. They got back to camp about 6:30am, and we took our vehicles to the lineup at the starting point. We hoped to get near the front and we were surprised to find that we were the eighth, ninth and tenth vehicles in the lineup!! The run started exactly at 8:00 am. There were multiple red and green routes, so by the time we reached Checkpoint 1, there were plenty of vehicles that had taken alternate routes and were ahead us, but there were seldom any lines at any obstacles, and at those obstacles, the lines were short.
At Checkpoint 1, ORW handed out M&Ms and a coupon with instructions to enter their raffle. Michael, Edwin and I took the red route through Chuck Norris' Playground. At Checkpoint 2 we took a break and picked up some water from ICON Vehicle Dynamics. Obama Notch was restricted to short wheelbase vehicles, so I took my Jeep TJ through while Michael and Edwin had to keep their 4Runners on the green route. This was the only obstacle where I had to wait for vehicles that were ahead of me. At Checkpoint 3, we took a break while we watched vehicles on Tower Hill. At Checkpoint 4, we enjoyed a free hot dog lunch provided by 4x4Him Christian Four Wheelers. We returned to headquarters via Bad Girls Bluff, finishing the run shortly after 1 pm. I heard on the radio that over 500 vehicles had been counted at the start point of the run. We visited the exhibit area, explored some of the Truckhaven Hills area, and attended the raffle, but we didn't win any raffle prizes.
Here are a few pics from Saturday's run. Michael's (Pikeman) 4Runner:
Edwin's 4Runner:
Start of Chuck Norris' Playground:
Mike and Edwin at Amanda's Notch:
On Sunday, Edwin and I ran the Pinyon Mountain Trail. His descent of Heart Attack Hill in a 4Runner was the scariest that I have ever seen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srUp_wmnQzQ
I arrived at about 4 pm on Friday and set up camp on Holly Road, about a quarter mile east of the headquarters area. I went through safety and registration at about 6 pm with no delay. The safety and registration were set up further apart this year, so there was less congestion in the area. I saw George (TDS SD) and Guenther at the Registration tent and saw them again on the trail. I exchanged some text messages with Erik (Nailer341) but I never met up with him during the weekend. I also saw Gerald at the Savvy Offroad display area. Michael (Pikeman) and his friend, Edwin arrived at the campsite shortly after 10 pm in the Toyota 4Runners. They just missed the close of registration by a few minutes. On Saturday morning, Michael and Edwin got up early and took their 4Runners through Safety and Registration. They got back to camp about 6:30am, and we took our vehicles to the lineup at the starting point. We hoped to get near the front and we were surprised to find that we were the eighth, ninth and tenth vehicles in the lineup!! The run started exactly at 8:00 am. There were multiple red and green routes, so by the time we reached Checkpoint 1, there were plenty of vehicles that had taken alternate routes and were ahead us, but there were seldom any lines at any obstacles, and at those obstacles, the lines were short.
At Checkpoint 1, ORW handed out M&Ms and a coupon with instructions to enter their raffle. Michael, Edwin and I took the red route through Chuck Norris' Playground. At Checkpoint 2 we took a break and picked up some water from ICON Vehicle Dynamics. Obama Notch was restricted to short wheelbase vehicles, so I took my Jeep TJ through while Michael and Edwin had to keep their 4Runners on the green route. This was the only obstacle where I had to wait for vehicles that were ahead of me. At Checkpoint 3, we took a break while we watched vehicles on Tower Hill. At Checkpoint 4, we enjoyed a free hot dog lunch provided by 4x4Him Christian Four Wheelers. We returned to headquarters via Bad Girls Bluff, finishing the run shortly after 1 pm. I heard on the radio that over 500 vehicles had been counted at the start point of the run. We visited the exhibit area, explored some of the Truckhaven Hills area, and attended the raffle, but we didn't win any raffle prizes.
Here are a few pics from Saturday's run. Michael's (Pikeman) 4Runner:
Edwin's 4Runner:
Start of Chuck Norris' Playground:
Mike and Edwin at Amanda's Notch:
On Sunday, Edwin and I ran the Pinyon Mountain Trail. His descent of Heart Attack Hill in a 4Runner was the scariest that I have ever seen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srUp_wmnQzQ
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