Avance trip UM AL OUSH 17 December

[CANTALOUBE]

Report of the trip to UM AL OUSH on 17 December

This trip will remain in my memories. The evening before we camped near the meeting point of the next day. The evening and the full moon night was perfect, we thought it was daytime.
The next morning everyone arrived on time despite the fact that the meeting point was located more than 20 km from the usual entrance to the stars dunes.

The team was composed of:
1- John ****(Leader)
2- ZAC **** (part lead)
3- René**** (part lead)
4- Maher***
5- Rob**** (Sweeper)
6- Marshal Michael ***** (supervisor)

The briefing was quick, the drivers are experienced and Maher was the only advance of the trip. I decided to go from east to west of the star dunes at Um al Oush to avoid the sun.

It's special, you don't arrive on the dunes as usual and you can't miss them. The morning was fantastic, I took the lead for the first hour then it was René's turn for an hour and then Zac's before I took the lead again when we reached the stars dunes. The choice of routes was excellent and we crossed many high crests. Some of them were completely trackless, which was a great pleasure for the leader.

Maher made a lot of progress and gained a lot of confidence; he crossed and rode the ridges with ease. I won't mention the experts and explorers who also had a great time. We had a great break in the big bowl before the dunes and we had fun riding on its high crests, also virgin for the first one, what a pleasure.

It was at this point that one of us lost his engine power and this was the beginning of a long afternoon with lots of disappointments that I won't talk about here. We already had to get the vehicle out of the first big bowl, which was not easy but was successfully done thanks to Rob and his truck. We continued with difficulties to pull the vehicle to the Gatch, not without pain and not without some material damage.

It was a long day that will be remembered by all. Thanks to all for the good mood even in difficult moments and for the mutual help of the desert drivers. Thank you Michael for supervising this trip.

John

[Ayfas]

Very well written John. When reading I feel like I was there in the trip. Really missed it because children wanted to join kite trip. Sometimes we have to consider their preferences as well. Anyway catch up next time.

Regards
Ayfas Offroader (Shajumon)

[Octopus]

It was a beautiful day and a very nice drive. And a big fun for the recovery at the end, a good trip overall and a reminder that the desert is full of surprises and should not be underestimated.

I look forward to the next camping it will be nice to enjoy the weather and stars before it gets too hot.

[The Baron]

It was a great day, with some nice tracks and great group - and yes, a learned lesson on how to recover a Jeep with the front wheels locked and the danger of having tow rob break… But a very nice and memorable trip and look forward to the next one. Till next time!