Raptor Expeditions - Carson 500 Club Run

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Raptor Expeditions

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Raptor Expeditions - Carson 500 Club Run - Trip report

***Below you’ll find the trip report for the 2nd Raptor Expeditions Club run. If you’d like to attend a future run and have access to the club calendar you must be a member. For further info and to register go here: http://www.raptorexpeditions.com/about-us/

I hope I didn’t miss any of the major details but so much happens when you’re covering over 500 off-road miles in 2 days that it can become a blur at times. To begin...our adventure started 7AM Saturday at the Del Taco Parking lot in Carson City...

After arriving, everyone introduced themselves and began finishing the final touches of truck prep for the trail. Around 7:50 we (RE Crew) gathered everyone for a quick drivers meeting. After which, we all headed for our trucks as Matt (RSV-4) got a few fly over shots with the drone we’ve nicknamed the “Mesquito”. We then departed for the trail head.

14220309752_29e50e5880_o.jpgIMG_4526 by Big5050, on Flickr

14220310092_e21ee7d4ae_b.jpgIMG_0433 by Big5050, on Flickr

We lined the trucks up and began sending drivers on their way in 1 minute intervals. This was to ensure we aren’t driving in each others dust all day and allows us to keep a solid pace. This would not be possible without the required GPS and a VHF radio.

We made quick work of the first section of trail and began climbing into the mountains. We slowed the pace down quite a bit here due to the possibility of oncoming traffic. Apparently, we should have slowed it down even more as a local did give a couple of our drivers an earful. He was probably more surprised at how many trucks were on “his” mountain but it is important to be mindful of others while on the trail. After 30 minutes we began making our way out of the mountains.

14200820316_6b9c8111eb_b.jpgIMG_0441 by Big5050, on Flickr

14223751084_b0026a9a7e_b.jpgIMG_0440 by Big5050, on Flickr

Once we were out of the mountains the group was able to pick up the pace again and we began booking it towards Fallon. All was going well until we got a call from Glenn over the radio. He’d hit a rather large rock in the trail which had fooled the truck into thinking the airbags had deployed. After closer inspection it seemed the rock hadn’t done any major damage other than messing up Glenn’s alignment. Shortly after we reached the end of this trail where we all gathered. I was able to grab a couple shots as everyone pulled up.

14036014218_312ee058be_b.jpgIMG_0446 by Big5050, on Flickr

14220308462_07d81a58ff_b.jpgIMG_0451 by Big5050, on Flickr

14222665955_c64bef439e_b.jpgIMG_0454 by Big5050, on Flickr

14199514526_b68bb8a4b7_b.jpgIMG_0455 by Big5050, on Flickr

14036083407_a2bca752c3_b.jpgIMG_0459 by Big5050, on Flickr

14036006949_72be969cf4_b.jpgIMG_0462 by Big5050, on Flickr

14222664855_943cb42595_b.jpgIMG_0464 by Big5050, on Flickr

14036082127_d2de9bda03_b.jpgIMG_0467 by Big5050, on Flickr

14242837463_7e068c0575_b.jpgIMG_0470 by Big5050, on Flickr

14242837083_84b6ab9117_b.jpgIMG_0471 by Big5050, on Flickr

14222663445_d6610d765e_b.jpgIMG_0472 by Big5050, on Flickr
14036010728_d03827eec9_b.jpgIMG_0474 by Big5050, on Flickr

14036004489_6df4c9e4f9_b.jpgIMG_0477 by Big5050, on Flickr

We then hit the next section of trail which is the perfect “Raptor Road”. It has a nice section of rough terrain, and whoops which is perfectly suited for the Raptor. This section really allowed the Raptor suspension to shine. There’s even a little jump if you are able to get enough speed.

14221579602_aaacfd8480_o.jpgphoto 1 by Big5050, on Flickr

The Mesquito catching some fly by shots.

14037346827_f6fa6c2487_o.jpgphoto 3 by Big5050, on Flickr

After we made quick work of the trail we all gathered, as drivers pulled up it was great to see the smiles on everyones faces. I believe Jake (who drove all the way from Washington) said he was grinning from ear to ear as they took this section.

Once we’d all gathered, (takes a while when you have 17 trucks spread out over 10 miles) we headed into Fallen for lunch and to top off our tanks. This would be an important gas stop as it would be 200 miles until the next. This put us right at the limit of the Scabs.

After everyone had a chance to grab a bite to eat, we quickly headed out since we still had a lot of miles to cover (approx. 210). After making quick work of the first section of trail it quickly deteriorated into long rolling whoops with lots of embedded rocks. RSV-1 was able to make quick work of this section.

14222667435_6bd33bbd67_b.jpgIMG_0443 by Big5050, on Flickr

The majority of us mortals had to keep their pace to around 20 mph to not damage their trucks. There were a few guys like Randy and Jim who were able to push it much faster due to their heavily modified rigs.

The trail eventually began to get better and we were able to pick up the pace. The next section was a lot of fun as it had a lot of rolling hills. Only tough parts was that there were a lot of washouts everyone had to keep an eye out for. The hills also caused transmission temps to soar for many.

14222454374_be32538e49_b.jpgIMG_0485 by Big5050, on Flickr

After the hills the trail opened up into what I like to call an “Offroad Highway”.

14199510676_d46c2547ae_b.jpgIMG_0489 by Big5050, on Flickr

There is a mining operation that semi’s need access to so the road is roughly 3 cars wide and is well graded. This section of trail was roughly 30-40 miles. As you can imagine, we made very quick work of this section :biggrin:

After twisting our way north we began to approach Berlin Ichthyosaur State Park. This place is pretty neat as it’s both a well preserved Ghost town and archeological site where they found several well preserved ichthyosaur fossils in the 1970’s. We didn’t have to explore the fossil site but everyone took the opportunity to explore the old town which had been a silver mine in the 1860’s.

14242832663_f86fe583d0_b.jpgIMG_0504 by Big5050, on Flickr

14220300252_274d6878cb_b.jpgIMG_0508 by Big5050, on Flickr

14199505926_da0c04d87b_b.jpgIMG_0510 by Big5050, on Flickr

14242835063_6ac96408d7_b.jpgIMG_0491 by Big5050, on Flickr

14199509926_608857130d_b.jpgIMG_0493 by Big5050, on Flickr

14222452984_a232c6cfe1_b.jpgIMG_0498 by Big5050, on Flickr

14242834103_8c5f1fb4e4_b.jpgIMG_0500 by Big5050, on Flickr

14222451884_bc3b160c20_b.jpgIMG_0501 by Big5050, on Flickr

We were so spread out that we had trucks flowing in for 30-40 minutes.

14222450314_4414e40dd1_b.jpgIMG_0507 by Big5050, on Flickr

14224338655_a0c33a64aa_b.jpgphoto 4 by Big5050, on Flickr

14224338735_96820a9e57_b.jpgphoto 3 by Big5050, on Flickr

14221993312_958033f50c_b.jpgphoto 2 by Big5050, on Flickr

I hope he was running 2 spares lol.

14037751577_9f6c4b7be9_b.jpgphoto 1 by Big5050, on Flickr

Couple of us were wondering how much this would fetch at a scrap yard.

14201190506_9eba1c965b_b.jpgphoto 4 by Big5050, on Flickr

After exploring the town, we all jumped in our trucks and hit the trial. Everyone lined up and waiting to take off. Again, spacing is key on these runs!

14036004948_250f4c74fa_b.jpgIMG_0516 by Big5050, on Flickr

After about 40 minutes we got word Jim had suffered the first flat of the run. He really destroyed this tire!

14037784979_d758190696_b.jpgIMG_4539 by Big5050, on Flickr

2 hours later we reached Tonopah Dunes. This would be the destination for the day and where most of us camped for the evening. This was a lot of fun as everyone got the opportunity to sit around a campfire and share stories of the days adventure.

14222460044_8920ecbcd9_b.jpgIMG_4544 by Big5050, on Flickr

14222447684_b0d61d4e63_b.jpgIMG_0538 by Big5050, on Flickr

14203655946_335f82998f_b.jpgScreen Shot 2014-05-19 at 6.37.21 PM by Big5050, on Flickr

14226575994_d016327137_b.jpgScreen Shot 2014-05-19 at 6.35.44 PM by Big5050, on Flickr

14224494382_e88492a462_b.jpgScreen Shot 2014-05-19 at 6.36.01 PM by Big5050, on Flickr

14036074017_f01dc661b7_b.jpgIMG_0527 by Big5050, on Flickr

Connor enjoying Gordon’s hightech/lighweight camping chair.

14037725700_d8c6d61c46_b.jpgphoto 5 by Big5050, on Flickr

14242829263_f88fe4f5da_b.jpgIMG_0541 by Big5050, on Flickr

14222655835_ff5f1eb4e2_b.jpgIMG_0554 by Big5050, on Flickr

14036003408_c2db824a56_b.jpgIMG_0556 by Big5050, on Flickr

14199504026_1e3945a3d4_b.jpgIMG_0560 by Big5050, on Flickr

14222655245_4f6902ed12_b.jpgIMG_0569 by Big5050, on Flickr

14219348171_6cc07f5aa7_b.jpgIMG_0579 by Big5050, on Flickr

Day 2 continued here: http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f112/raptor-expeditions-carson-500-club-run-34494/index2.html

-Bigg50

Raptor Expedition Team Member RSV-6
 

Bigg50

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I had an absolute blast this weekend! It was great to meet so many members of the REC. So stoked by how well everyone worked together to tackle this adventure. To have no issues with 17 trucks (other than a couple flat tires) is really impressive.

We'll be posting a full trip report with tons of pictures. Until then...

IMG_4544

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ruffstuff

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Tires? Plural?...you must be Ed....?
This was a fantastic run. I'll let the guys get the shots and post trip up before too many details are given. Best run to date!
Damnit Joe! No names! LOL Yeah, the search for new tires begins ...

This was an Awesome run! Much appreciation to those who pre-ran the trails and provided an excellent map. I only got lost a few times because my navigator sucks ... oh wait, that would be me! LOL A great variety of trail conditions and the scenery was great. Here are a few pics of the scenery I took ...
9298-img-1208a.jpg


9299-img-1235a.jpg


9300-img-1246a.jpg


9301-img-1309a.jpg


Looking towards the town of Hawthorne ...
9302-img-1313a.jpg


Walker Lake
9303-img-1316a.jpg
 
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ezavala02

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Tires? Plural?...you must be Ed....?
This was a fantastic run. I'll let the guys get the shots and post trip up before too many details are given. Best run to date!
Speaking of tires Joe, how did your new 37s fare? Did you notice any rubbing with the stock fenders? I want new tires after hearing from Bill that he also got 2 flats on this trip on the stock BFs.
 

The Car Stereo Company

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Damnit Glenn! No names! LOL Yeah, the search for new tires begins ...

This was an Awesome run! Much appreciation to those who pre-ran the trails and provided an excellent map. I only got lost a few times because my navigator sucks ... oh wait, that would be me! LOL A great variety of trail conditions and the scenery was great. Here are a few pics of the scenery I took ...
9298-img-1208a.jpg


9299-img-1235a.jpg


9300-img-1246a.jpg


9301-img-1309a.jpg


Looking towards the town of Hawthorne ...
9302-img-1313a.jpg


Walker Lake
9303-img-1316a.jpg
ed dont listen to your dog. he is not your co pilot. he is just going to point you in the direction of rabbits.
 

slowjoe

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Speaking of tires Joe, how did your new 37s fare? Did you notice any rubbing with the stock fenders? I want new tires after hearing from Bill that he also got 2 flats on this trip on the stock BFs.

I have nothing negative to say of the Falkens. They actually held up better than the bfgs and grip was MUCH better suited for MY driving. I felt that the bfgs having a very squared off edge didn't give the sidewall any room to work the corners. With the falkens, the grip was phenomenal and allowed the truck to roll the sidewalls when I really wanted them to. Rubbing was very minimal into the fender liner, never the flare or bumpers, no matter if I had the wheels pinned one way in a tuck.
I'll get you a picture before I wash it and you'll see how little it was. Barely audible.

And yes, we had two guys with double flats, so I highly recommend running two spares. Both were oem.
 
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