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Morning Intermediate Desert Drive - Long Range Patrols Series: Al Ghail to Bataeh - RAK to SHJ - 23 Oct 2021


Ale Vallecchi

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Exploration Drive from Al Ghail to Al Zubair - RAK to Sharjah Report

"If you find all your roads and paths blocked, He will show you a secret way that no one knows" - Rumi

Since the start of this drive we have been finding our path blocked: first the very access from our meeting point to the entry along the pylon track, secondly a brand new road being build in the middle of the first sabkha, then several fences blocking our way through the second segment of the drive, between Biyatah and the planned exit point. Nonetheless, we always found a way around, and endured, what turned out to be the longest drive, in terms of overall duration: 5:38 hours, from 6:41AM to well past Noon.

A good deal of time, in truth, was spent while assisting @Rawad's car, in the attempt to fix its 4WD, blocked in the 4L gear it had used to get itself off a crest. Somehow a cable had gotten damaged, and in spite of @Rob H's best efforts, it was impossible to make the car get back into normal driving mode. Recovery was eventually called, and Rawad managed to reach safely first the garage then home. Profuse thanks go to Rob, who always comes through as a magician, whenever a mechanical problem arises. Your help has been invaluable. 

The drive saw a couple more defections along the way, with @Jorge Stepniak Felippe having to exit early (at the same location as Rawad) due to his passengers not feeling well, and @Sunil Mathew who did complete the first segment of the drive (still quite a long one, lasting for the first 4:20 hours overall), but had to leave due to time constraints. 

The first section of the drive, as someone mentioned, offered us the possibility to cross what appeared to be different continents: African bushy savannahs, Australian rugged Outback, and Emirati's sand deserts. The main feature of this first part was the serial ridge-riding of the longitudinal dune field just north of Al Ghail, where we ploughed our way through the soft tops, mostly in a north to south direction, and zipped back up the narrow sabkhas in between the cordons, to reach the next ridge, and repeat this simple but fun drive plan. Having exhausted this area's possibilities, we entered the low plateau that separates this mostly flat region from the village of Biyatah: this is an area of massive red colored slip-faces, kissing the white sabkhas and yellow longitudinal dunes to the east, where animal farms and local's tracks separate the plateau from the first foothills of the Ajar Mountains. The driving here is mostly technical. Truth be told, we had to take as many open tracks as possible, in order to make up for the time spent early on in the drive. 

Upon reaching Biyatah, we crossed E55 through an underpass, and entered the drive's second segment. A rugged plateau of soft round shaped dunes and some fun riding longitudinal dunes, dotted with ghaf trees gathered in small shady forests, with occasional farms popping out on the horizon. The first part of this section was the most fun. The second half of the itinerary turned out to be interrupted by new and less recent fences (all unmarked), which blocked our passage toward the last field of longitudinal dunes that I had planned to cross. We had to manage the drive as best as we could, across a very mixed terrain, with quite a lot of vegetation (actually making for great camping places) and some soft sandy dunes. Fortunately we found a way to reach the planned exit point, on the road between Bataeh and Al Zubair. 

We concluded the day with 3:34 hours of moving drive (put of the total of 5:38 hours), covering 82.4 Km, at an average moving speed of 23Km/h

Great thanks go to @Thomas Varghese for his precise Second Lead, to @GauravSoni for anchoring the convoy (and assisting Rob H in the mechanical work), and to @Mario Cornejo for taking up the Sweep position after Jorge's exit. Very well driven all other members: @Sunil Mathew@Rawad, @Jorge Stepniak Felippe@Looper, @JeromeFJ, @Russ and @rob, hoping you found the exploration satisfying, if not entirely relaxing 😅.

Looking forward to seeing you all again. Have a great week ahead.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

Exploration Drive from Al Ghail to Al Zubair - RAK to Sharjah Report

"If you find all your roads and paths blocked, He will show you a secret way that no one knows" - Rumi

Since the start of this drive we have been finding our path blocked: first the very access from our meeting point to the entry along the pylon track, secondly a brand new road being build in the middle of the first sabkha, then several fences blocking our way through the second segment of the drive, between Biyatah and the planned exit point. Nonetheless, we always found a way around, and endured, what turned out to be the longest drive, in terms of overall duration: 5:38 hours, from 6:41AM to well past Noon.

A good deal of time, in truth, was spent while assisting @Rawad's car, in the attempt to fix its 4WD, blocked in the 4L gear it had used to get itself off a crest. Somehow a cable had gotten damaged, and in spite of @Rob H's best efforts, it was impossible to make the car get back into normal driving mode. Recovery was eventually called, and Rawad managed to reach safely first the garage then home. Profuse thanks go to Rob, who always comes through as a magician, whenever a mechanical problem arises. Your help has been invaluable. 

The drive saw a couple more defections along the way, with @Jorge Stepniak Felippe having to exit early (at the same location as Rawad) due to his passengers not feeling well, and @Sunil Mathew who did complete the first segment of the drive (still quite a long one, lasting for the first 4:20 hours overall), but had to leave due to time constraints. 

The first section of the drive, as someone mentioned, offered us the possibility to cross what appeared to be different continents: African bushy savannahs, Australian rugged Outback, and Emirati's sand deserts. The main feature of this first part was the serial ridge-riding of the longitudinal dune field just north of Al Ghail, where we ploughed our way through the soft tops, mostly in a north to south direction, and zipped back up the narrow sabkhas in between the cordons, to reach the next ridge, and repeat this simple but fun drive plan. Having exhausted this area's possibilities, we entered the low plateau that separates this mostly flat region from the village of Biyatah: this is an area of massive red colored slip-faces, kissing the white sabkhas and yellow longitudinal dunes to the east, where animal farms and local's tracks separate the plateau from the first foothills of the Ajar Mountains. The driving here is mostly technical. Truth be told, we had to take as many open tracks as possible, in order to make up for the time spent early on in the drive. 

Upon reaching Biyatah, we crossed E55 through an underpass, and entered the drive's second segment. A rugged plateau of soft round shaped dunes and some fun riding longitudinal dunes, dotted with ghaf trees gathered in small shady forests, with occasional farm popping out on the horizon. The first part of this section was the most fun. The second half of the itinerary I had designed turned out to be interrupted by new and less recent fences (all unmarked), which blocked our passage toward the last field of longitudinal dunes that I had planned to cross. We had to manage the drive as best as we could, across a very mixed terrain, with quite a lot of vegetation (making for great camping places) and some soft sandy dunes. Fortunately we found a way to reach the planned exit point, on the road between Bataeh and Al Zubair. 

We concluded the day with 3:34 hours of moving drive (put of the total of 5:38 hours), covering 82.4 Km, at an average moving speed of 23Km/h

Great thanks go to @Thomas Varghese for his precise Second Lead, to @GauravSoni for anchoring the convoy (and assisting Rob H in the mechanical work), and to @Mario Cornejo for taking up the Sweep position after Jorge's exit. Very well driven all other members: @Sunil Mathew@Rawad, @Jorge Stepniak Felippe@Looper, @JeromeFJ, @Russ and @rob, hoping you found the exploration satisfying, if not entirely relaxing 😅.

Looking forward to seeing you all again. Have a great week ahead.

 

 

Thank you for the honor @Ale Vallecchi. I only followed you. 

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Thanks @Ale Vallecchi for the great drive and report. Couldnt continue due to some other commitments, but enjoyed the picturesque and scenic areas we crossed and the ridges we rode...smoothly flowing through , although i had done the same area on our previous ride.

14 hours ago, Ale Vallecchi said:

The drive saw a couple more defections along the way

But ..isnt "defection" too strong a word for a poor guy  succumbing to familial pressures , and going for some mall crawling ?? :-) :-) 😂

 

Looking forward to the next adventure!!

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