- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Our Monthly RME 4x4 Trip for February was to the Little Sahara Sand Dunes.... little did we know that a massive storm was going to drop a few inches of snow the day before and lower the temps to single digits the morning of the planned trip! @I Lean and @ChestonScout both pointed out that we were going to have BOTH our Snow Run and the Sand Run, killing two birds with one stone! 
Also attending were @WILDHAIR225 , @Hairboy12 , @Gravy and Kevin & Martha Manning in their stock and very new Jeep Wrangler JKU.
We all dropped tire pressure and started playing, first getting a feel for what the sand was going to be like with a layer of snow on top. The snow didn't seem to effect traction much at all, especially if you could keep your momentum and RPM's up. Going back down hill, you had to be more cautious as the rear tires would lock up. You had to steer out of your rear end sliding down hill, let off the brakes and sometimes accelerate downhill to get the 4x4's pointed straight again. We played around The Chute at first, then worked our way to the North side and some of the exposed sand hills. Everyone just did their own thing, some climbing STEEP dunes in 4 Low, others blasting around at 30+ MPH in 4 High. We found some great bowls and used the momentum from them to climb higher hills, cresting massive dunes. Breaking over the spine of a dune when you can't see how steep it is on the otherside is very exciting... almost a bit too much at times.
Around 11 AM the sun was shining bright and it warmed up enough to be mostly comfortable... it was amazing how quickly you'd gain elevation and how far across the valley you could see with the higher vantage point. We wandered out to the South side of Sand Mountain to the Spider Tree and explored out that way. Carl & I found a pretty long, steep snow-covered run and took turns climbing until we conquered it.
Stratton finally showed up, so we took him out in his new Ford Ranger 2WD PreRunner... it was surprising how well it worked in the dunes. The suspension seemed built well and it soaked up pretty big jumps with ease. He'd hit the bigger hills with momentum and speed and would usually pop right up.... it was fun to watch him playing around with the 2WD truck.
As the clouds rolled in again that afternoon it got cold again and we all decided to call it a day.... it was an incredible amount of fun. I have been riding dirtbikes to Little Sahara several times in the past, but this was so much more enjoyable. It was seriously such a good time, I'm already looking forward to the next trip out there. 4x4's in the sand require such a different driving style than most of the trips we usually make... high RPM's and high speeds compared to the typical trail. And climbing the massive dunes, getting VERY sideways while carving a dune at speed was amazing. I don't think the video does it justice, you don't get to feel the bumps, speed and gravity either!
Also attending were @WILDHAIR225 , @Hairboy12 , @Gravy and Kevin & Martha Manning in their stock and very new Jeep Wrangler JKU.
We all dropped tire pressure and started playing, first getting a feel for what the sand was going to be like with a layer of snow on top. The snow didn't seem to effect traction much at all, especially if you could keep your momentum and RPM's up. Going back down hill, you had to be more cautious as the rear tires would lock up. You had to steer out of your rear end sliding down hill, let off the brakes and sometimes accelerate downhill to get the 4x4's pointed straight again. We played around The Chute at first, then worked our way to the North side and some of the exposed sand hills. Everyone just did their own thing, some climbing STEEP dunes in 4 Low, others blasting around at 30+ MPH in 4 High. We found some great bowls and used the momentum from them to climb higher hills, cresting massive dunes. Breaking over the spine of a dune when you can't see how steep it is on the otherside is very exciting... almost a bit too much at times.
Around 11 AM the sun was shining bright and it warmed up enough to be mostly comfortable... it was amazing how quickly you'd gain elevation and how far across the valley you could see with the higher vantage point. We wandered out to the South side of Sand Mountain to the Spider Tree and explored out that way. Carl & I found a pretty long, steep snow-covered run and took turns climbing until we conquered it.
Stratton finally showed up, so we took him out in his new Ford Ranger 2WD PreRunner... it was surprising how well it worked in the dunes. The suspension seemed built well and it soaked up pretty big jumps with ease. He'd hit the bigger hills with momentum and speed and would usually pop right up.... it was fun to watch him playing around with the 2WD truck.
As the clouds rolled in again that afternoon it got cold again and we all decided to call it a day.... it was an incredible amount of fun. I have been riding dirtbikes to Little Sahara several times in the past, but this was so much more enjoyable. It was seriously such a good time, I'm already looking forward to the next trip out there. 4x4's in the sand require such a different driving style than most of the trips we usually make... high RPM's and high speeds compared to the typical trail. And climbing the massive dunes, getting VERY sideways while carving a dune at speed was amazing. I don't think the video does it justice, you don't get to feel the bumps, speed and gravity either!
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