Midweek Night Fewbie Desert Drive - Pink Rock on fire - Dubai - 3 Nov 2021

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

Drive Brief
The only time when Pink Rock isn't pink at all is... at night, but that doesn't make it any less attractive for those off-roaders who are curious to see how the rock looks like under the feeble light of the waning crescent moon.

We will enter the desert at 6:00pm sharp, i.e. at dusk, from 2nd December Cafeteria gently move south-west, getting progressively accustomed to driving in the dark along the nice, smooth and round ridges that make the west side of Pink Rock so fascinating. 

As soon as the convoy will be fully accustomed to driving in the dark, we will turn around and head east, to climb the rock itself and descend on its opposite side, a whole new experience when compared with the usual daytime approach. We will drive along the east hillside of the rocky complex to reach its southern extremity, where we will take a break around 7:00pm, setting up a camp fire and enjoying the magic mixture of flames, rock, sand, breeze, moon and landscape for approx. 1 hour, the time needed to burn a few logs and tell a few off-roading stories around the fire pit.

From there, we will continue wandering south, riding one ridge after the other one along an exciting series of convoluted, diversified and fun dunes that will take us in the majestic area Al Badayer area and, should the time allow us, close enough to Big Red to be able to distinguish its silhouette when turning off our lights for a few seconds, after which we will make our exit on E44 Dubai - Hatta Road by around 10:00pm.

Note: in compliance with Sharjah regulations and in a spirit of respect for the beautiful landscape that will host us, the bonfire will be arranged in a portable fire pit and all remains will be collected and disposed of outside the desert. 

General Infos

This drive is organized in full compliance with the COVID19 guidelines. We expect every member that joins this drive to go through below information and and strictly follow these guidelines in order not to jeopardize someone's health, and to ensure we can keep organizing these drives safely.

MUST READ AND TOTALLY AGREE: 

• COVID19 Precautions
• Mandatory Safety Requirements
• Ban from Carnity Off-road Club
• Two Way Radio Guidelines

Drive Details

Level:  Fewbie and above (All Levels)

When:  03 Nov 2021, Wednesday

Meeting time: 6:00 PM (SHARP - Without any exceptions)

Meeting Point: 2nd December Cafeteria - https://goo.gl/maps/4MLgfqjsrbyt4XNA6

Type of Car: Any proper 4x4 with front and back tow hooks and 8-10 inches of ground clearance.

What to bring along: Loads of water, snacks (for yourself), smiles, face mask, rubber gloves, enthusiasm, willingness to learn, torch and your own compressor for tire inflation. 

Approximate finish time: 10:00 PM

End Point: E44 Dubai - Hatta Road

Limited Spots Available:

• Limited to 10 cars only. RSVP will close on Wednesday - 9 AM.
  • If the RSVP is full and you wish to join, please mention your name on the drive thread to add on the waiting list. 
• Latecomers will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS.
• Members without RSVP will be returned back - without ANY EXCEPTIONS.
• Please withdraw your RSVP, if you aren't joining, so your spot can be taken by others.
• Repeated no-show members after RSVP will have their account suspended for a month.
   

PLEASE RSVP ON THE BELOW CALENDAR EVENT 

 

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

this RSVP is now closed.

Please find below the convoy order for our drive:

@Thomas Varghese, @Waqas Parvez, @Vaibhav, @MMansoor, @Tareck, this drive is meant to be an easy going, mid-week night diversion from our routine working days. We will take it easy and aim for a relaxing evening in good company. Nevertheless, driving at night comes with its own challenges, especially if this is one of your first times, therefore please prepare to devote your full and undivided concentration at every step and make sure you come well rested and hydrated and that and you don’t have any reason for being distracted. Passengers are welcome, however be mindful about their ability to sustain long off-roading sessions without developing motion sickness.

Also, remember that desert at night is populated by many animal species that you would rarely see during daytime, especially scorpions and snakes. For this reasons, please wear closed shoes and long trousers. As we are going to take a break and relax around the pit fire at the top of Pink Rock, bring along with you a mat or a foldable chair. Be mindful about having your meal during our bonfire break: do so only if you are certain you won't get car-sick in the following 2h drive: this especially applies to your passengers, which should be discouraged from eating at all. There's no need for you to bring anything for the bonfire: I'll take care of the required stuff. 

We will be using Carnity Channel 4 (446.08125Mhz).

Our meeting point is confirmed at 2nd December Cafeteria: https://goo.gl/maps/4MLgfqjsrbyt4XNA6

See you tonight, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 6:00pm (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:45pm.

[Thomas Varghese]

See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 6:00pm (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:45pm.

@Lorenzo Candelpergher You gave the shock of my life when I read it was today morning and had to double check to see the timing which is at evening. 

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

15 minutes ago, Thomas Varghese said:

See you tomorrow morning, ready to go (i.e. already caffeinated, deflated, flagged and briefed) by no later 6:00pm (sharp), so make sure you make it to the meeting point at least by 5:45pm.

@Lorenzo Candelpergher You gave the shock of my life when I read it was today morning and had to double check to see the timing which is at evening. 

You are easy to shock @Thomas Varghese! Anyway, I fixed the post. 

[Thomas Varghese]

13 minutes ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

You are easy to shock @Thomas Varghese! Anyway, I fixed the post. 

Thanks & is there anything else we need to bring along? If you want some songs to be played kindly let me know the playlist so that I can record them on a SD card. My car has a small sound system of 3600 Watts 

[Thomas Varghese]

Too much traffic. Please wait 10 min

[MMansoor]

I am omw too.. will touch in 10 mins 

[Vaibhav]

@Lorenzo CandelpergherThank you for the wonderful drive, Bonfire, Music. Night drive is indeed very challenging But we all conquered it well with few refusals. Looking forward to the future drives.

 

@Danish MohammadThank you for your support there. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Vaibhav

[Lorenzo Candelpergher]

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

The first drive of the season where my windows were down from start to end! What a beautiful feeling.. 

We started a bit later than planned at 6:22pm, because of the late arrivals of @Thomas Varghese and @MMansoor due to heavy traffic. 

To my surprise, my main off-roading headlights were not working properly (a loose contact somewhere), which casted some doubts on how relaxed the drive was going to be, as limited visibility implied more focus.. My doubts were wrong, as it all went smoothly and beautifully. 

We roamed around on the West side of Pink Rock for a little while to warm up the convoy and get everyone accustomed to the night driving experience, which always takes a bit of time and was, for some, really the 1st time. 

As usual the initial stint is also a test drive to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the convoy, so after the 1st quiet 20 mins I pushed a bit here and there to see who may get in trouble. We had a few refusals and reattempts, but nothing major, all nicely self-recovered with the occasional guidance of @Danish Mohammad.

As we were approaching 7pm, we made our way back to Pink Rock, which we climbed to the top. The ascent to the pass is always an epic experience, no matter how often it is done. Yesterday, however, was definitely the most difficult night climb I happened to lead so far, as it was a pitch black evening with no moon light, so I had to climb relying entirely on my GPS track and then guide the convoy to the top by holding my torch light on so that drivers could have a target to aim at in the distance while climbing up in the dark. Quite an experience! 

As we were planning a proper stop pretty soon, we didn't indulge much at the top, so we made our way down on the east side of Pink Rock, and quickly climbed to its south edge, then stopped where the sharp rocky edge offers a 360° panoramic view of the surroundings.

As planned, we reached our camping point approx 1h after our departure, and set up our bonfire. There was a nice breeze blowing, a beautiful view of the rock and of the surrounding landscape, with the horizon outlined by the lights of the roads outside the desert, a reminder of the civilized world far away, in stark contrast with the untamed nature of the place we stood at. 

Having a break around the bonfire, with some quiet music in the background (it was a piano concert by Ludovico Einaudi, for those who are curious), chatting about past off-roading adventures, was a really nice relaxing moment.. Exactly what I was hoping for the evening. 

After approx 1h, at 8:15pm, we put off the fire, wrapped up the remains, and made our move south, aiming at Big Red. 

What followed was a beautiful, uninterrupted, very fluid stint, during which we were blessed with a convoluted, but yet gentle ride, flowing around the fat ridges and the large bowls that the terrain south of Pink Rock offered. 

With minimal refusals and reattempts, we covered a significant distance and progressively approached our final destination. As we reached Big Red with a few minutes still left to spend, we tried an attempt to climb to the top: we didn't quite reach it, but didn't get far from it. On the way down, however, we had our only stuck of the day, with @MMansoor crested at a tricky criss-crossing: I had promised him, around the fire, that I'd get him stuck somewhere soon.. And I kept my word.. 😂😂

As I didn't want to delay our exit, the recovery was performed by winching the Y62 down from the crest, the fastest solution to the stuck. Five minutes later, by 9:58pm, we were out on the tarmac on E44 at Badayer. 

Everyone in the convoy did well yesterday night:

@Thomas Varghese was a reliable 2nd lead, careful and responsive at all times, ready to reroute when required. A great entertainer as well around the fire!

@Waqas Parvezat his 1st Fewbie drive with Carnity, followed without much hesitation. His past off-roading experience was very clearly visible.

@Vaibhav handled is Jeep Wrangler very well, overcoming very quickly and very fast the initial hesitation in driving at night time at Fewbie level. His 2nd part of the drive, after being energized around the bonfire, was excellent. 

@MMansoor was roaring around with his beast very well. A couple of refusals that required a bit of help rerouting, especially in the beginning, otherwise a great drive!

@Tareck at the back, with the 2nd Y62, did well everywhere. I couldn't see much, but I don't remember his name being mentioned on the radio for any problem.

@Danish Mohammad had a lot to do last night, giving precious instructions to those who were having refusals and having some trouble himself from time to time (including a flat tire due to a probable minor pop-out, where the tyre went back in place after deflating): the sand was already churned up for me at the front, it must have been sand soup for him at the back. Well done!

Overall we covered 38.7km in net 1h 55' moving time, which makes a brilliant 17.3km/h moving speed for a night drive. Except for our 1h bonfire break, we were on hold for only 19', which tells quite a good story about how the convoy performed last night. 

Congrats to all and thanks to @Thomas Varghese and @Danish Mohammad for their support.

See.you soon again in the sand. 

[Thomas Varghese]

1 hour ago, Lorenzo Candelpergher said:

DRIVE REPORT

Dear Desert Wanderers, 

The first drive of the season where my windows were down from start to end! What a beautiful feeling.. 

We started a bit later than planned at 6:22pm, because of the late arrivals of @Thomas Varghese and @MMansoor due to heavy traffic. 

To my surprise, my main off-roading headlights were not working properly (a loose contact somewhere), which casted some doubts on how relaxed the drive was going to be, as limited visibility implied more focus.. My doubts were wrong, as it all went smoothly and beautifully. 

We roamed around on the West side of Pink Rock for a little while to warm up the convoy and get everyone accustomed to the night driving experience, which always takes a bit of time and was, for some, really the 1st time. 

As usual the initial stint is also a test drive to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the convoy, so after the 1st quiet 20 mins I pushed a bit here and there to see who may get in trouble. We had a few refusals and reattempts, but nothing major, all nicely self-recovered with the occasional guidance of @Danish Mohammad.

As we were approaching 7pm, we made our way back to Pink Rock, which we climbed to the top. The ascent to the pass is always an epic experience, no matter how often it is done. Yesterday, however, was definitely the most difficult night climb I happened to lead so far, as it was a pitch black evening with no moon light, so I had to climb relying entirely on my GPS track and then guide the convoy to the top by holding my torch light on so that drivers could have a target to aim at in the distance while climbing up in the dark. Quite an experience! 

As we were planning a proper stop pretty soon, we didn't indulge much at the top, so we made our way down on the east side of Pink Rock, and quickly climbed to its south edge, then stopped where the sharp rocky edge offers a 360° panoramic view of the surroundings.

As planned, we reached our camping point approx 1h after our departure, and set up our bonfire. There was a nice breeze blowing, a beautiful view of the rock and of the surrounding landscape, with the horizon outlined by the lights of the roads outside the desert, a reminder of the civilized world far away, in stark contrast with the untamed nature of the place we stood at. 

Having a break around the bonfire, with some quiet music in the background (it was a piano concert by Ludovico Einaudi, for those who are curious), chatting about past off-roading adventures, was a really nice relaxing moment.. Exactly what I was hoping for the evening. 

After approx 1h, at 8:15pm, we put off the fire, wrapped up the remains, and made our move south, aiming at Big Red. 

What followed was a beautiful, uninterrupted, very fluid stint, during which we were blessed with a convoluted, but yet gentle ride, flowing around the fat ridges and the large bowls that the terrain south of Pink Rock offered. 

With minimal refusals and reattempts, we covered a significant distance and progressively approached our final destination. As we reached Big Red with a few minutes still left to spend, we tried an attempt to climb to the top: we didn't quite reach it, but didn't get far from it. On the way down, however, we had our only stuck of the day, with @MMansoor crested at a tricky criss-crossing: I had promised him, around the fire, that I'd get him stuck somewhere soon.. And I kept my word.. 😂😂

As I didn't want to delay our exit, the recovery was performed by winching the Y62 down from the crest, the fastest solution to the stuck. Five minutes later, by 9:58pm, we were out on the tarmac on E44 at Badayer. 

Everyone in the convoy did well yesterday night:

@Thomas Varghese was a reliable 2nd lead, careful and responsive at all times, ready to reroute when required. A great entertainer as well around the fire!

@Waqas Parvezat his 1st Fewbie drive with Carnity, followed without much hesitation. His past off-roading experience was very clearly visible.

@Vaibhav handled is Jeep Wrangler very well, overcoming very quickly and very fast the initial hesitation in driving at night time at Fewbie level. His 2nd part of the drive, after being energized around the bonfire, was excellent. 

@MMansoor was roaring around with his beast very well. A couple of refusals that required a bit of help rerouting, especially in the beginning, otherwise a great drive!

@Tareck at the back, with the 2nd Y62, did well everywhere. I couldn't see much, but I don't remember his name being mentioned on the radio for any problem.

@Danish Mohammad had a lot to do last night, giving precious instructions to those who were having refusals and having some trouble himself from time to time (including a flat tire due to a probable minor pop-out, where the tyre went back in place after deflating): the sand was already churned up for me at the front, it must have been sand soup for him at the back. Well done!

Overall we covered 38.7km in net 1h 55' moving time, which makes a brilliant 17.3km/h moving speed for a night drive. Except for our 1h bonfire break, we were on hold for only 19', which tells quite a good story about how the convoy performed last night. 

Congrats to all and thanks to @Thomas Varghese and @Danish Mohammad for their support.

See.you soon again in the sand. 

Thank you @Lorenzo Candelpergher for your kind words of appreciation and an exciting drive with a campfire yesterday. Looking forward for more drives like this in the future. What I noticed from the drive yesterday was all the fewbies which joined are far better drivers than our fewbie stints in Carnity as demonstrated by very few stucks and refusals in a terrain like this at night. Kudos to all of them. It was my honor to be your 2nd lead and watch how you choose the path for us to tread on following you. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Thomas Varghese