Another summer has passed and it’s time to switch gears. Fall…or as us duners like to call it, dune season has arrived! It’s the season of adrenaline. For those that have never heard of this, I will explain. From the months of October through April, it’s finally cool enough to hit the dunes. My favorite place on Earth, Dumont Dunes, is located in Death Valley. Summertime temperatures there reach over 120 degrees and sometimes never even get below 100 at night, hence it’s name. It’s a rather miserable place to be from March through September. There isn’t much life in this part of the desert, but come October and more specifically, Halloween weekend, Dumont comes aliive! Halloween is the first big opening weekend when it is finally cool enough to spend a weekend out there.
Dumont trips are a little different than my usual adventures. They completely contradict my motto of “Travel Light, Go Farther, Do More”. Instead, we load up half the house, way too much food, and all the toys for just a couple days in the sand. It’s all about the party, comfort and good times. Dune trips aren’t really camping, although that’s what most people think they are doing out there.
So Thursday afternoon we did just that and hit the road with just about everything we own. We rolled into Dumont just after sunset and got set up. It always a great feeling to finally get out there, unload and crack open that first beer of the season.
After hanging out at camp for a little bit, I was itching to go to the hill (Competition Hill) and run my car. So a few us headed over there and ran the hill then hung out for little bit. I was surprised how many people were there this year. Even Thursday night was hopping over there. There were drones flying around, music, and even some racing action. I could already tell this was going to be a crazy weekend.
Friday morning came and some coffee and a Halloween doughnut were in order.
Then I decided to take a quick solo cruise pay a visit to my late buddy, Bert’s, memorial on Memorial Hill.
There were a ton of people in the camp area already.
It was time to round everybody up and do our thing.
After a quick stop out at the North Pole, I saw a bunch of dune buddies out there so we stayed and chatted for a bit.
Then it was time to head back to camp. It was getting warm out!
Randy got his ATC fix…
…and so did this clown.
My buddy Joe and his son, Michael, had a little drone accident. oops!
During an afternoon dune run, we had to make a stop.
Chad’s friend experienced a little motion sickness and had to get rid of her lunch.
Later we sat on Banshee Hill watching the sun go down.
Saturday and Sunday consisted of the usual dune routine which means hang out, hit the dunes and just have fun with friends.
For more information on Dumont Dunes, visit my Dumont site: http://www.dumontduneriders.com/
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