Despite the Grinch trying to steal Thanksgiving, a great time was had by all. In fact it was one of the safest and most enjoyable Turkey Days at Glamis I can remember. A combination of greater awareness on the part of visitors, increased enforcement against slime ball punks by the BLM and 70 plus degree temps, with clear skies and almost no wind made for an epic holiday! In fact there were no fatalities this year. None save for that 1/2 gallon of Jack I killed...

Zoom Zoom Zoom!

   Seems the Rangers now have some Honda 400EXs to scoot around on in the dunes and write tickets, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them, they're easy to spot... They have pretty, flashing, red and blue lights and go really, really slow.

   I do have to give the BLM credit, they are starting to catch on to this enforcement thing and using their judgment in who to harass or not to harass. They've figured out that the non-off roading punks are the ones that need to be jacked up on a regular and repeated basis until they learn to stay in L.A. for the holidays, and not come out to Glamis and spoil our party.

   The ASA was out in force with scores of volunteers handing out flyers on the closure and encouraging visitors to avoid the closed areas. The Eco-Nazis of course were out and about as well, lurking in the shadows like the hunchbacked little freaks they are, trying to catch people riding in closed areas so they can tattle on them and try to shut the whole area down for good. Seems they ran into some groups of off roaders that taunted them and made threats... What a shame. I hope they come back for a visit soon.

The new wave of hi-tech sand cars is mind blowing...

   What can anyone say but WOW! The Dune Gods were more than kind to us this year! The Sun, the sand, the 112 octane racing fuel, the food, the ice cold brew, all combined this year to create an orgy of smoke and steel the likes of which has not been seen at Glamis in many years. The biggest change out at Glamis is the explosion of high dollar, long travel sand cars. With 500 plus horsepower engines, custom paint, buckets of chrome and over 20" of suspension travel, this new wave of high tech sand cars has taken our sport by storm. With price tags on some of these cars exceeding $60,000 its mind boggling to think where does all the money come from. And how do I get some!

   All manner of machines could be seen shredding it up Olds in the afternoons. From the usual buggies and quads to the infamous Dodge War Wagon, that incredibly clean 65 Mustang Pony 4x4 and the irrepressible Dunaboat. Robby Gordon made his appearance for some big airtime. Unfortunately I was a few minutes late in getting to Olds and missed the insanity. The fastest of the big motor quads, GSXR 1100 and ZX11 powered animals with NOS and turbos were smoking up the hill in under 4 seconds and hitting speeds close to 80mph up this 20 story wall of sand. The activity at the bottom was hectic, huge sound systems, and screaming engines blending into a thunderous roar, chrome and polished aluminum goodies stretching as far as the eye could see. People and their incredible machines gathered from all over the country to see and be seen. This is the ultimate cruise event.

Big air anyone?

   Behind Oldsmobile hill the big air lunatics were going off on their dirtbikes. Hitting a big double at warp factor eight they were launching over 100 feet. One mad man in a two seat buggy joined the fray and was kind enough to give me some of my best photos of the weekend, launch his car over 100 feet in distance and 50 feet vertical, this guy had some serious huevos!

   As night falls on the Dunes the party moves over to Competition Hill. Where the action rages until well past the witching hour. Drunken revelers surfing behind four wheel drive pickups riding atop Mom's old living room sofa, the fastest sand rails in the world throwing 100 ft roostertails as they wheelie up the hill. Rows of lifted pickups and OHV's of all descriptions line the valley twenty deep and hundreds wide. Burning magnesium engine blocks lighting up the night sky. Competition was rocking as hard as it ever has! The lights, the smell of racing fuel filling the air, and the sound of pure horsepower thrashing against The Hill, boggling the mind and the senses. There are gonna be some hungover folks tomorrow!

   Another favorite afternoon/night spot is of course, The Boardmanville Trading Post. With some of the coldest beer and best burgers you can find on the planet, Jeannie Boardman delivers some of the finest hospitality this side of the Mississippi. The warm afternoons were perfect for a burger and beer after a hard morning ride out in the Dunes. The sand was pretty well cut up in most of the more popular areas. But my secret spots still were pretty clean until Saturday morning. Those of you who rode the big bowls above Comp can probably still feel your forearms and knees groaning from the deep grooves in the sand.

  All in all it was pretty quiet early in the week. But all hell broke loose by Thanksgiving Day and by Saturday the crowd at Olds was as big as I've ever seen. And the crowd over at the Sand Drags stretched for over a mile.

   Those of you who couldn't make it missed out on one of the best Thanksgivings I can remember. I'm sure we'll see you out for the show next year. To miss Glamis at Turkey Day is almost blasphemy in the world of off-roading. The sights and sounds are beyond belief to the uninitiated. And like a narcotic to the faithful. I can sum it up in one word... EPIC!

  Well, now its time to go get some of those turkey leftovers and a cold beer, have a seat and prepare to smoke your modem on some of the hundreds of high quality digital photographs I painstakingly shot and edited for your amusement!

 Four Big Photo Galleries:
[ Airtime! | Olds Hill! | Sand Drags! | Other Stuff! ]

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