Dumont Dunes 10/31

From: Randall
Activity_Date: 10/31/01
Remote Name: 216.86.200.221

Comments

Drove out to Vegas on Wednesday with a couple friends and stopped by the Dumont Dunes (near Baker, about mid-way from LA to Vegas). Beautiful spot. The dunes looked like folded silk. Only a few scruffy but friendly off-roaders camped out there, seni-permanently. We got the low-down on the best launch sites from one of them, drove to the base of the highest dune. Steep, west-facing peak about 300 or 400 feet high.

The day was getting late and the wind was very light. No thermal activity. Hiked to a flat spot near the top, forward-launched into a faint breath of west wind and slowly zig-zagged down the dune. An old-timer with a souped-up dune buggy gave us wild rides back up the hill at about 60 mph straight up, for more launches as the sun descended and the sky slowly turned red. Beautiful.

On a day with the right wind, this place would be a blast to soar. There's even a hot springs to soak in afterwards a few miles away.