Raptor Run 3 - Anza-Borrego Desert State Park 2010-03-06 & 07

[MagicMtnDan]

I have a confession: I can't get enough of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (& parts of Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area) and driving my SVT Raptor there. The Raptor may have been "Born in Baja" but it was raised in Anza-Borrego (where it was tested) and the Raptor loves to run Anza-Borrego.

Raptor Run 3 started Friday night for 3 Raptor owners: me, Tim and Mark. Tim and I met up in San Fernando Valley and drove the 175 miles to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park arriving around 11:30 PM when we set up camp at Borrego Palm Canyon campground. Mark left Friday night from Nevada and stopped in Corona to pick up his nephew Paul and to get some sleep.

Saturday morning we all met at our campsite. Raptor Run 3 would consist of 7 Raptors and their owners: me, Tim, Mark, Brian, Justin S., Jeffrey, and Dave. We had all colors represented with 2 black, 2 white, 2 blue and one orange.

Tim, Jeffrey and Karl say hello:



Mark pulls up in his Molten Orange Raptor:



Dave, Brian and Justin together again:

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Brian had a flat after getting back from Anza-Borrego last weekend (Raptor Run 2.5 ) and it gave him an excuse to put new shoes on the buggy.

He went with Nitto's Trail Grappler M/T 35 x 12.50" - they're 12 1/2" wide which is wider than the stock BFG All-Terrain TA KO tires we have. They're great looking tires - aggressive and macho and I especially like their width - they fit very well under the Raptor's wide fenders.



The wider Nitto Trail Grapplers come a bit closer to the rear of the front fender liner when turned. Brian said he heard no rubbing when on the trails compressing the suspension and there was no visible evidence of rubbing.



Brian checks the tire pressure of his Nitto's:

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Brian also installed a K&N Cold Air Intake (CAI) since we last saw him. Here are a couple of pics of the unit installed:





Some of the guys aired down their tires prior to the driving from the campsite to the trails. Mark showed an interesting product, an Accugage E-Z Deflator - a tire pressure gauge that has a device that allows you to unscrew and remove the tire valve enabling faster airing down. Of course you can check the pressure with it while airing down and when the desired pressure is reached you can reinstall the valve.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

We left the campsite and headed for the trails driving through town to Christmas Circle:





There was a lot going on in the area. There was an event at the circle and a large Jeep event called Tierra del Sol which was out at Ocotillo Wells SVRA (it was a kind of Jeep trade show with many vendors selling their products in booths and lots of custom Jeeps were on display). Here are the activities at Christmas Circle:



We navigated the circle and headed to the Texas Dip (which was not named after President George Bush as was reported by one of our crew):

 

[MagicMtnDan]

We drove to the Texas Dip, a very large natural depression somewhat like a crater, where we turned off to the left onto San Felipe Wash. Once offroad we stopped to talk about how nice the weather was (we saw a high of 70 degrees and the sun was hot enough to burn skin - Mark was noticeably redder when he left at the end of the day). We also distributed radios (Family Radios) we almost had enough for everyone so we were able to keep in touch while driving - good for our safety and they help us coordinate our travels.

Chris (Tim's navigator) talks to Dave and Justin:





Mark, Paul (Mark's nephew and navigator), Dave, Justin, and Jeffrey:

 

[MagicMtnDan]

7 Raptors lined up in Borrego Sink Wash in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park:

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Karl (Jeffrey's very cool father and "navigator"), Chris and Tim:



Brian's white Raptor with its four very bright "eyes":

 

[ChadB]

Cant wait for three more weeks. I wanted to go so bad this past trip.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Raptors "doing the wash" - here's where we're headed - yet another wide open beautiful desert wash waiting for the Raptors:



I suggested we create larger intervals or gaps between Raptors so there was less dust to obscure our visiion enabling us to drive safer and faster when the conditions were right. There were rumors of speeds over 80 MPH but I didn't see that on my speedo.



Ahead clouds of dust indicate another Raptor "doing the wash":



More washes! This one's Cut Across Trail. Out there where there's no sign of civilization except for small signs at the intersections of washes (you need to look for them):

 

[FSM06]

Alright...........how do I give rep points? THAT was fantastic!! Nice job Dan!:rep: