Ocotillo Wells 10-05-13 PICS and VIDS

Weather: clear skies with a high of 85. minimal wind. not a cloud in the sky. infinite visibility in all directions.

Trucks:
Jackrook: 2013 Screw. Mid-Perch. ADD Race front bumper. 40 inch M&R

1nthoc: FX4 with RPG Stage 3. Fox 3.0 Fronts and 2.5 Rears. N-Fab front bumper. 4 Rigid D2s. 4 Rigid Duallys. 30 inch Rigid E series. OEM beadlocks.

History: 1nthoc, whom i will refer to as Marshall form here on out, was in the same boat as i was. we both had bad ass trucks but very little experience and were throwing around the idea of a beginners run. something where we wouldnt worry about being "slow" or "inexperienced". so we decided to meet up at Ocotillo with an open invite to all those interested in coming. nobody else showed. LOL

i stopped before we hit the road and bought a 3 ton Pittsburgh floor jack, a 130 piece tool set, and a fix a flat kit(keeping them all nice in their respective boxes hoping to never have to use them but have confidence knowing that theyre there.)

myself and my better half arrived at Ocotillo Wells at 1:30 and the weather was beautiful. we decided to do some slow speed prerunning before Marshall showed up. my GF did all the driving before Marshall showed up.

getting in the drivers seat on Wolfe Well rd and highway 78.

driving through the trails



Stopped at a few points of interests

Devils Slide


me and my better half at Shell Reef



VIDEO of Tiffany driving:
Shell Reef Expressway - YouTube
Bank and Shell Reef. Ocotillo Wells - YouTube
now we meet up with Marshall and his GF. and once he arrives, we study the map, but apparently not good enough.Darker brown area to the right is a "Trails Only" riding area. we didnt know what that meant, we just knew there were trails. well, long story short, the dark tan area on the mad is for jeepd/quads/dirtbikes. much more narrow and technical trails. we were already an hour into the trail before we realized we should turn back.

me and Marshall and our trucks


stopped for a ***** break


this next part, we didnt document too much because we were too muisy trying to get out of these difficult jeep trails. dont believe me?? heres a picture of Marshall going ALMOST STRAIGHT DOWN to get out of a sketchy area. i had just done the same thing a few minutes before but didnt bother taking pictures.

Artesian Trail video
Artesian Trail. Ocotillo Wells - YouTube

Marshall and all his lights.


we reached the highway after blazing our own trail for about an hour. thank goodness neither of our vehicles suffered any damage. we didnt take enough pictures during the hard stuff but believe me now fellas....RAPTORS CAN HANDLE THE SLOW SPEED STUFF AS WELL AS THE HIGH SPEED STUFF.

We met up at the highway and said our goodbyes. heres a few pics of my truck at the gas station.

supposed to be black but covered with dirt

wheels with dirt. this is from rubbing in the narrow trails

Damn, you had perfect weather for this time of year. I think it was hotter in SD yesterday. Great pics!

Glad you guys had fun! I wanted to get out there but I couldn't get out of town.

Glad to see you got out there and got your Raptors dirty. I give you a lot of credit for admitting you don't have much experience offroad.

Next time don't go to Ocotillo Wells (suggestion). Go to Anza Borrego Desert State Park as off road vehicles (quads, ATVs, non-street legal bikes) are not allowed there so you won't have to worry about seeing them in the dust.

The trails in AB DSP are awesome and there's a lot to see as well.

I highly recommend you do the Ford Test Route - the route the Ford engineers ran to test the Raptors before they were sold. Here's the information for that route:

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f112/found-fords-test-route-anza-borrego-desert-state-park-7499/



Here's a link to a thread with multiple AB DSP links:
http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f113/raptor-run-saturday-april-16th-abdsp-ocotillo-wells-svra-8365/

And here's another one:
http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f114/anza-borrego-desert-state-park-b-dsp-5477/

MagicMtnDan, afterast night we are no longer rookies. We pushed out trucks hard. It was dark and we erroneously ended up on very technical jeep trails. We worked as a team and pushed our trucks.

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Looked like you had fun jack!

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Nice job! Glad you're able to make it out and brake the truck in.

I know the feeling of heading down a trail that you soon realize you shouldn't have. However, they often end up being the most fun and memorable. ( as long as there's not serious damage)

I had a great time; really glad there were two of us towards the end of the day we needed to help each othe guide our rigs through some non-truck friendly terrain.

MajicMtnDan: the Ford test route sounds like a must do, thanks for the link!

Jackrook; thanks for the company, lets go again soon!

nice

looks like fun

1ntheoc said:

really glad there were two of us towards the end of the day we needed to help each othe guide our rigs through some non-truck friendly terrain.

Click to expand...

A word of advice for everyone:

NEVER, EVER go offroading in one vehicle. Even if you think you'll "meet someone on the trail" it's a bad idea and it's bound to be the time that Murphy's Law comes along.

I know a seasoned off roader who went out alone and got his Raptor stuck and had to sleep along side it (good thing he brought his gear with him) and wait for his buddy who was an hour away (good thing he had cell service!).

And there are many true stories about people who went off roading in 1 vehicle and never made it back. Here's an example:

Death Valley skeletons solve riddle of missing German tourists - The Local