acefuture
Well-known member
- Jun 8, 2021
- 386
- 659
Last weekend we made the trek from Duner's Diner in Gordon's Well Sand Dunes to Parker to watch the 500, stayed the weekend, then made the trek back. Thought I'd share some photos of the experience. The concept started from a late uncle of one of the guys in the group who lived in Yuma and suggested we make the trip. After his passing, his nephew @Reece Pettersen decided we should do it in his memory, so he spent a ton of time planning the route that initially followed the Arizona peace trail, but modified to fit where we were leaving from, and how we wanted to make the trip.
We started our trip at 8am from Duners Diner on Thursday morning with 14 guys, 7 cars, and 1 chase truck. Pretty smooth sailing from the dunes out through the pass over the chocolate mountains and to the Colorado river through Paymaster Landing/Cibola. Made the jump into the desert towards Quartzite from there.
My Dad was able to join me for the trip and road right seat with me which was a core memory. His brother also recently passed, so we brought his photo of him and his old race co-driver along for the ride.
We made good time all the way until we reached "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" which we chose to take to drop into Quartzite. It took us nearly 2 hours to make that crossing. Started with a high centered buggy, then had to figure out a way to get the jeep around me to pull me through with his winch because my car started burning a clutch. It was a major debacle, but we somehow got everyones cars through.
Our planned time splits initially put is in Quartzite at about 12:30pm, but we didn't make it in until 3pm. Stopped at Beer Belly adult day care for some quick late lunch, fuel, and got back on the road towards Parker. That stretch was a great time through the washes and we pulled into Parker about 7pm with no major issues other than some minor slippage of my clutch.
Checked into the casino. Had a few cocktails, lost some money on the black jack table, and called it night.
Friday morning we got up, got some breakfast, hit the grocery store and went out to scout a spot to watch the race. We ended up in the first 90 degree turn at RM3. Legacy officials were pretty tight and wouldn't let us close enough to see any action at the other spots we tried first (respectable). We got the Carne Asada cooking, and had a bunch of tacos and watched the limited race. It was a fun leisurely day. Only did about 30 offroad miles that day. A few guys in the group rented an Airbnb on the water, so we finished the day with burgers at their spot and a few beverages at "The Bar".
Saturday morning we headed to storage relatively early and headed to the start line. Again, pretty annoying you couldn't get anywhere near the start without a pit pass, so it was a lackluster place to watch as a spectator. But I understand Legacy having their hands tied with the permitting. We watched the first 20 off the line and then headed back out to our spot from the previous day to watch the race. We should have brought a screen with us to watch the in car cameras in between laps. The phone screens didn't really cut it, and we had starlink to stream. Next trip we'll have that dialed.
After seeing the lead pack come through on lap 4 we packed up and headed to desert bar for late lunch. Met up with @L.R.S. and had a quick hang. That was a fun way to spend the afternoon.
Hit the cantina for a beer at the end of the day. Then had dinner in town. Called it an early night for the ride back on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning got to the storage unit about 7am and got everything prepped for the trip back. We decided to forego the Quartzite section and cut back across towards the Colorado through Ehrenberg. That ended up being a great call. The trails were fun and relatively high speed. We made it to fuel station by 9:30am, ate a sandwich and hit the road.
The ride back from Parker was incredible. We had a ton of fun. High speed, choice lines, everyone stayed bunched up and communicated well. Just an A+ day of riding.
Made it back to Gordon's Well at 12:30pm California time. We decided to head up to the top of test hill for a final celebration of making the trip, but unfortunately my clutch said no more. So we opted for a quick hang and high fives at the bottom of the hill.
Ended up clocking about 366 miles for the round trip. One of the best group ride trips I've ever had. Was very impressed by how well everyones machines did. We had one small hiccup of a car on the lid towards the end of the trip, and my car smoked the clutch. But other than that, no real issues. Only 1 flat for the whole trip on a SxS. Would absolutely suggest that trip to anyone thinking about it.
And congrats to Cody Parkhouse and Eric Sheetz for taking home the W
We started our trip at 8am from Duners Diner on Thursday morning with 14 guys, 7 cars, and 1 chase truck. Pretty smooth sailing from the dunes out through the pass over the chocolate mountains and to the Colorado river through Paymaster Landing/Cibola. Made the jump into the desert towards Quartzite from there.
My Dad was able to join me for the trip and road right seat with me which was a core memory. His brother also recently passed, so we brought his photo of him and his old race co-driver along for the ride.
We made good time all the way until we reached "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" which we chose to take to drop into Quartzite. It took us nearly 2 hours to make that crossing. Started with a high centered buggy, then had to figure out a way to get the jeep around me to pull me through with his winch because my car started burning a clutch. It was a major debacle, but we somehow got everyones cars through.
Our planned time splits initially put is in Quartzite at about 12:30pm, but we didn't make it in until 3pm. Stopped at Beer Belly adult day care for some quick late lunch, fuel, and got back on the road towards Parker. That stretch was a great time through the washes and we pulled into Parker about 7pm with no major issues other than some minor slippage of my clutch.
Checked into the casino. Had a few cocktails, lost some money on the black jack table, and called it night.
Friday morning we got up, got some breakfast, hit the grocery store and went out to scout a spot to watch the race. We ended up in the first 90 degree turn at RM3. Legacy officials were pretty tight and wouldn't let us close enough to see any action at the other spots we tried first (respectable). We got the Carne Asada cooking, and had a bunch of tacos and watched the limited race. It was a fun leisurely day. Only did about 30 offroad miles that day. A few guys in the group rented an Airbnb on the water, so we finished the day with burgers at their spot and a few beverages at "The Bar".
Saturday morning we headed to storage relatively early and headed to the start line. Again, pretty annoying you couldn't get anywhere near the start without a pit pass, so it was a lackluster place to watch as a spectator. But I understand Legacy having their hands tied with the permitting. We watched the first 20 off the line and then headed back out to our spot from the previous day to watch the race. We should have brought a screen with us to watch the in car cameras in between laps. The phone screens didn't really cut it, and we had starlink to stream. Next trip we'll have that dialed.
After seeing the lead pack come through on lap 4 we packed up and headed to desert bar for late lunch. Met up with @L.R.S. and had a quick hang. That was a fun way to spend the afternoon.
Hit the cantina for a beer at the end of the day. Then had dinner in town. Called it an early night for the ride back on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning got to the storage unit about 7am and got everything prepped for the trip back. We decided to forego the Quartzite section and cut back across towards the Colorado through Ehrenberg. That ended up being a great call. The trails were fun and relatively high speed. We made it to fuel station by 9:30am, ate a sandwich and hit the road.
The ride back from Parker was incredible. We had a ton of fun. High speed, choice lines, everyone stayed bunched up and communicated well. Just an A+ day of riding.
Made it back to Gordon's Well at 12:30pm California time. We decided to head up to the top of test hill for a final celebration of making the trip, but unfortunately my clutch said no more. So we opted for a quick hang and high fives at the bottom of the hill.
Ended up clocking about 366 miles for the round trip. One of the best group ride trips I've ever had. Was very impressed by how well everyones machines did. We had one small hiccup of a car on the lid towards the end of the trip, and my car smoked the clutch. But other than that, no real issues. Only 1 flat for the whole trip on a SxS. Would absolutely suggest that trip to anyone thinking about it.
And congrats to Cody Parkhouse and Eric Sheetz for taking home the W
Last edited:
