TIERRA DEL SOL DESERT SAFARI MAKES A BIG SPLASH!
The Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari made it’s 48th appearance in the desert of Ocotillo Wells or an area commonly referred to as Truckhaven. Jeeps and off roaders of all kinds made the voyage to the mud hills to enjoy a great weekend of riding and activities. The biggest activity is the guided trail ride on Saturday followed by the huge raffle on Saturday night. Sunday morning the local Senior Center held it’s yearly fundraiser, another outstanding breakfast enjoyed by all. Good eats! Good friends! Good Times!
The Truckhaven area is known for it’s mud hills and nachos. When I say nachos, don’t start thinking about the kind that you can get at the game or movies, I’m talking about canyons that are so tight you can barely get a jeep through them. These canyons are created from the run off of the flash floods and they change after every storm. It’s always a great place to ride after a storm because the edges are square and the trails are fresh. This area is known to test vehicles to their limits as the soft dirt and off camber situations make you use both your power and suspension to it’s fullest. The term “front dig” could very easily have been invented in this area as well. Front digging is the act of taking your rear end out of gear and letting your front wheels drag you around a tight corner. You can take a typical 4 or 5 point turn and turn it into one nice tight circle. This can also be increased by dragging the rear brake, by setting the emergency brake a little, or by installing a turning brake in your vehicle.
The weekends activities officially kicked off on Friday afternoon as registration opened at 1pm and participants were able to safety tech their vehicles, collect their goodies, and cruise the vendors. The vendor list for this years event was impressive to say the least. From old favorites like Jason Bunch at Tri-County Gear showing off the latest in Raceline wheels, axles from the Ten Factory, to Genright Offroad with their King of the Hammers buggy on display along with their armor and fenders for jeeps. If you were in the seating market, PRP Seats had their full line on display for you to test fit and see just how comfortable they are. Saturday’s events kicked off at 8am sharp as the Group Ride left for the hills. The Group Ride can best be described as a long snake through the desert as hundreds of jeeps lined up to tackle the trail. The trail at this years event was one of the best in recent years. It offered a variety of terrain and technical options. TDS puts together a trail system that is challenging for all skill levels. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced driver there is something to keep you challenged.
The number of people that came to the event and did not participate in the Group Ride and just explored the desert of Truckhaven was unbelievable. It would probably be safe to say that it was two to one the amount of people that came out to the event to ride this weekend but didn’t register. It’s a tough situation with the current state of the economy and every last dollar counts but the event that the Tierra Del Sol Jeep club put together is one of the biggest fundraisers of the year and is for a great cause. The money that is raised gets donated to fight for our rights to ride on the trails in the US. If anything, this should hit home with the jeep group as the event has had to be moved in recent years. For years, the safari took place off of North Marina Dr in the heart of the Truckhaven Hills. About four years ago, the environmentalists got a hold of our riding area and changed the rules to put it nicely. TDS was moved to the Ocotillo Wells area which wasn’t conducive to the technical riding that jeepers enjoy. After a long uphill battle, the group was able to move it back closer to it’s original site.
After the trail ride, the big get together centers around the raffle where the event gives away over $100,000.00 in raffle prizes. It would be safe to say that you could easily build a jeep from all the different parts that are raffled off. This years raffle offered tires, bumpers, seats, winches, body armor, axles, differentials, and much much more! A brisk wind that came up in the early afternoon and stayed through the raffle as people bundled up for the cold. This and the threat of rain drove some people away as they stayed bundled up in their trailer and motorhomes. This led to better odds for those that showed as you had to be present to win. The best addition to the raffle this year was the Cal Trans billboard that we are so used to seeing on the roads and freeways was used to display the winning numbers. This made it much easier for the people in the back to check for winning numbers.
Sunday morning brought a steady rain which lead to a wet desert which may have helped the Senior Center in their breakfast fundraiser. It was once said that over 80% of their budget for the year comes from this fundraiser alone. It’s always great to see the smiling faces of the local seniors as they divvy out hearty portions of eggs, biscuits and gravy, and more. Following the breakfast, the last two organized events of the weekend took place as a majority of the participants packed up and headed for home. The last events were the Hard Run and GPS Run. The Hard Run as the title suggests is not for the faint of heart as it gets into some of the most technical trails in the Ocotillo Desert. The GPS Run is just as it suggests, participants use their GPS to locate specific points in the desert such as a scavenger hunt and bring back the locations to the main camp for a special prize.
For those of you that were able to make the event, you will always remember the fun you had with your family and friends and the new ones you met along the way. Whether it was the stories by the camp fire, the broken brake line fix on the side of the trail, or the lunch stop out on the trails it will be remembered for years to come. If you weren’t able to make it this year, make sure that you get it on the calendar for next year. Remember to support this hard working group and save our trails! The Tierra Del Sol Desert Safari is something that you won’t want to miss again!
