Despite an earlier than usual start to today’s drive, we were unable to beat the morning heat. It seems like the mighty Sun has access to Desert Fellas  trip postings, and makes a special effort to rear his shining head just before the start of the drive.

Today’s trip was posted as a Junior level drive, but since all the drivers in attendance were Off-roaders, we agreed to upgrade the drive to “light Offroader “.   The convoy warmed up on the high slopes south west of Badayer shops and then crossed over into an area with long, easily navigable crests. Since our convoy consisted of one driver who had been off the sand for an extended period of time, and two drivers who were initiating their new cars in the desert, we spent extra time in this area so that they could get a feel for the behavior of their vehicles in predicable surroundings.

Shortly afterwards our route took us into one of the most technical sections of Badayer. It was clear from the absence of tracks in this area that it was avoided by other convoys, and for good reason too.  What lay ahead was a 1.2 kilometer continuous climb composed of small tightly spaced dunes with steep leeward slopes, which would have been impassable without the impressive low speed switching and cresting skills of the Dawn Patrol convoy.   Given the sand texture and convoy size, this climb expectedly claimed a few second tries and self recovered stucks. It was an ideal test of convoy discipline, specifically following distance, observation of the progress of the leading vehicle and quick, clear communication.  It won’t be fair to speak for the rest of the convoy, but the convoy leader certainly bred a sigh of complete relief when we finally  emerged into an area of large, well spaced dunes where we could put our pedals to the metal and let our engines breathe.

The coffee break that followed shortly afterwards filled us with all the caffeine and sugar that was needed for what was still to come.

The drive resumed at a moderate pace with the convoy tackling bowls, climbs and switches with ease. Just when things seemed like they were going perfectly, the convoy leader decided to tempt fate. The challenge was a rather unassuming, small bowl, which required just the right speed and approach angle to enter, and just the right approach angle on the other side to exit the bowl. The first pass resulted in one self recovery, so we went back around to finish the challenge in style. But the track was pretty dug up by this time and one of the Dawn Patrols got stuck in a precarious position. The caffeine and sugar from the earlier break was called into effect as we spent the next 15 minutes shoveling enough sand to make a small dune without much progress towards recovering the stuck car.  Considering that we were taking up valuable drive time and the fact that there was an endless supply of searing heat from the curious mid-morning sun who decided to pop in for a closer look at what we were doing, we decided to surrendered our measly shovels to the might of an electric winch.

With our teammate safely out of the hole, we got back on track and made our way to a much larger bowl where the convoy could speed around and feel the thrill of bowl driving at Offroader level. This was the first time that some of our new Off-roaders had driven around Iftar bowl and it looked like they had fun.

Our exit from the desert was a meandering medium paced drive with enough switching and cresting opportunities to keep the convoy satisfied for a week.

The camaraderie and skill level displayed on this trip was commendable. I would be glad to have this convoy accompany me through the harshest desert terrain that the UAE has to offer.