Matt and I got onto the lake bed about 12:30 am friday and set up camp under perfectly clear skies and nary a breeze to be felt. Adam rode shotgun with Tony, showing up at about 8:30 am, and Jack Brant was my copilot, a nice size group. Saturday was beautiful with a breeze in the morning, as the day progressed that breeze turned into gusty winds. The run was fine, the only experiencing trouble was me. First I needed a winch assist after my right rear tire was deep in a hole, with my tire getting bound up and against a very big rock. My flare was gingerly removed by the rock next to me and my hole, but it seemed all was good.
                            There is a big waterfall near the middle of the trail with another big rock to scale 20 feet later. Well the big rock got me, my RR axle shaft let go. We stabilized my Jeep, then went to work. We were blocking the trail but we did'nt have much choice. It took about an hour for my pit crew to get me back on my feet, thanks for the help guys. With about 5 or 6 vehicles behind our group we kept ahead of the crowd to finish the trail in about 4 hours total. Not bad time for a bit of winching and a repair. The trail wraps up at a saddle at the end of the canyon, and it was very windy there, a taste of things to come.
                             The closer we got to the lake bed, the windier it got. The entire lake bed was a massive swirling dust cloud. Once on the lake bed we had to stop a few times because of white out conditions, not very fun in a Jeep with no doors or windows. It took us all of 20 minutes to break camp and hightail it out of there. Too bad we had to leave, we finished in such good time, it would have been nice to relax a bit before building a nice camp fire and eating a good hot meal before a nice evening under the stars. Instead we drove into town for an exquisite meal at Arbys, thanks Adam. We all had sand and dirt in every orafice possible. The Arbys restroom was as good a place as any to knock the sand out of our ears and rinse off a bit.
                             All in all a good day with the exception of the wind, it's a do over for sure. Thanks to those that were able to come out and play, I can't wait to do it again, thanks guys.
 
                        Doogie