- Apr 29, 2021
- 6,930
- 7,679
Who introduced you to the Glamis Sand Dunes?
I was in elementary school, about the 5th grade and my dad told me we are going to spend Thanksgiving in the Sand Dunes. For the whole week? He said no, just the weekend after turkey….Glamis here we come, who knew it would become what it has to us from there on out.
His co-worker, an older gentleman he worked with at Cal-Trans was an avid high desert off-roader, and simply a sand dune nut. Old Willie raised 5 boys and a daughter all alone; he lost his wife at a young age and had this huge active family to bring up. When we met them, they were all seasoned riders in their early 20s that had spent their youth riding all over southern California, most of the time being split between Honda Valley and the Glamis Sand dunes. His family was a great group of people, most of them were firefighters, EMT or police. Willie always said, keeping his boys busy riding dirtbikes was the greatest thing he could ever do to keep them out of trouble.
We loaded up the 2 old ATC110s we bought from Willie, his boys were all already on ATC250r’s, these were their older ATC’s that nobody used anymore. So, we loaded them in the back of my Dads Chevy Cheyenne truck with little else besides beer, sodas, and chips. We drove down there alone, they had already left a couple days before, that drive alone was an adventure, I recall a blown tire issue in Indio, CA. WTF are we now? Felt like another world already.
We get to Gecko, drove up and down the road looking for them, finally heard “Hey Manny” …from an old guy (looked like Santa Claus) sitting shirtless drinking a Coors in camp. We camped at what I later learned was called “the Keyhole”. I recall seeing the huge worm track, thought that it looked crazy, who could drive that and not crash…hah, the dunes nearby seemed unreal.
We set up our camp, which means we parked the truck next to his Motorhome and unloaded our two ATC110s. There was not much else to set up or put out, I don’t even recall if we had an extra can of gas LOL. Willie did hand us two ATV Flags; they had a few extras.
Willie then gave my dad and I the talk…
+ If you can’t start it, you can’t ride it.
+ Top off the gas before you go.
+ Never ride alone.
+ No Helmet, no ride.
+ Don’t go straight over any dunes, go sideways.
That was it, we officially knew everything we needed to know…LOL
My dad and I putted around the camp area for a while, sand here was different from White Water, which is where we first went riding. Sand here was so smooth and flowy, it seems endless. The worm track was a blast, I quickly learned to stay on the throttle and keep the momentum up, otherwise I found myself at the bottom of the ditch. We drove over the canal as well, this place was so amazing, I hadn’t even seen a dune yet up close on my ATC.
Willie and his boys were the greatest hosts, food was shared, laughs were had and many great moments even just sitting at the campfire. These guys could ride! My dad took them up on a guy’s ride, he borrowed an ATC200X that someone just bought, he dumped it somewhere, cause the jokes that weekend about it never ended HAH. Willie told me, start it, you can ride it…here around camp. I did, what an insane difference from my ATC110.
Eventually we “tickled” the edges of the dunes, finding some of the smaller areas where our ATC110s could have some fun, yes, we got stuck, aired down our tires, and learned momentum was our buddy. We were hooked, when is the next trip was asked the whole weekend.
I don’t recall it being chaos for a thanksgiving weekend, but then of course I was in such wonderment, I didn’t see much past what was right in front of me. We did a few more trips alone with Willie and his boys, then started gathering more stuff of our own and bringing along, more of our own family members.
I’m thankful for old Willie, that saw his friend Manny trying to find a connection, a hobby to share with his stepson that was having a rough time. That gesture helped us connect; my stepdad simply now became dad and a lifetime of memories followed.
Thanks Willie (RIP long ago), and thanks dad.
Share your story, who it was that invited you, took you or in general infected you with the love of Glamis?
Where did you camp, what did you ride, how did that first trip go?
I was in elementary school, about the 5th grade and my dad told me we are going to spend Thanksgiving in the Sand Dunes. For the whole week? He said no, just the weekend after turkey….Glamis here we come, who knew it would become what it has to us from there on out.
His co-worker, an older gentleman he worked with at Cal-Trans was an avid high desert off-roader, and simply a sand dune nut. Old Willie raised 5 boys and a daughter all alone; he lost his wife at a young age and had this huge active family to bring up. When we met them, they were all seasoned riders in their early 20s that had spent their youth riding all over southern California, most of the time being split between Honda Valley and the Glamis Sand dunes. His family was a great group of people, most of them were firefighters, EMT or police. Willie always said, keeping his boys busy riding dirtbikes was the greatest thing he could ever do to keep them out of trouble.
We loaded up the 2 old ATC110s we bought from Willie, his boys were all already on ATC250r’s, these were their older ATC’s that nobody used anymore. So, we loaded them in the back of my Dads Chevy Cheyenne truck with little else besides beer, sodas, and chips. We drove down there alone, they had already left a couple days before, that drive alone was an adventure, I recall a blown tire issue in Indio, CA. WTF are we now? Felt like another world already.
We get to Gecko, drove up and down the road looking for them, finally heard “Hey Manny” …from an old guy (looked like Santa Claus) sitting shirtless drinking a Coors in camp. We camped at what I later learned was called “the Keyhole”. I recall seeing the huge worm track, thought that it looked crazy, who could drive that and not crash…hah, the dunes nearby seemed unreal.
We set up our camp, which means we parked the truck next to his Motorhome and unloaded our two ATC110s. There was not much else to set up or put out, I don’t even recall if we had an extra can of gas LOL. Willie did hand us two ATV Flags; they had a few extras.
Willie then gave my dad and I the talk…
+ If you can’t start it, you can’t ride it.
+ Top off the gas before you go.
+ Never ride alone.
+ No Helmet, no ride.
+ Don’t go straight over any dunes, go sideways.
That was it, we officially knew everything we needed to know…LOL
My dad and I putted around the camp area for a while, sand here was different from White Water, which is where we first went riding. Sand here was so smooth and flowy, it seems endless. The worm track was a blast, I quickly learned to stay on the throttle and keep the momentum up, otherwise I found myself at the bottom of the ditch. We drove over the canal as well, this place was so amazing, I hadn’t even seen a dune yet up close on my ATC.
Willie and his boys were the greatest hosts, food was shared, laughs were had and many great moments even just sitting at the campfire. These guys could ride! My dad took them up on a guy’s ride, he borrowed an ATC200X that someone just bought, he dumped it somewhere, cause the jokes that weekend about it never ended HAH. Willie told me, start it, you can ride it…here around camp. I did, what an insane difference from my ATC110.
Eventually we “tickled” the edges of the dunes, finding some of the smaller areas where our ATC110s could have some fun, yes, we got stuck, aired down our tires, and learned momentum was our buddy. We were hooked, when is the next trip was asked the whole weekend.
I don’t recall it being chaos for a thanksgiving weekend, but then of course I was in such wonderment, I didn’t see much past what was right in front of me. We did a few more trips alone with Willie and his boys, then started gathering more stuff of our own and bringing along, more of our own family members.
I’m thankful for old Willie, that saw his friend Manny trying to find a connection, a hobby to share with his stepson that was having a rough time. That gesture helped us connect; my stepdad simply now became dad and a lifetime of memories followed.
Thanks Willie (RIP long ago), and thanks dad.
Share your story, who it was that invited you, took you or in general infected you with the love of Glamis?
Where did you camp, what did you ride, how did that first trip go?
