We broke camp and headed SW towards Glamis, where the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreational Area (ISDRA) is located. This was something that Andras had an itch to try, and we all went along. My concerns before we got there were mostly about how my 255s (a tire width slightly thinner than what you have on a stock FJ) Mud Terrains would fare on the soft sand.
The Glamis location was basically a few stores and a couple of RV camping grounds. The place was crawling with quads, dirt bikes and serious looking dune buggies. Conspicuously missing were any sort of SUV type vehicles around the dunes. There were pickup trucks with 12 in lifts and 37 in tires, but mostly towing trailers with quads or bikes. Still, we figured we'd give it a shot. We let Andras lead.
We go over a dune, and then over another. My tires are at 18PSI, and I'm having no issues. And then Andras heads for a steep slope. A this point I should explain that the dunes where we were were not large. They were at most 20 ft height. But that is precisely what made them dangerous for us. The tops of the dunes were not wide at all, for instance. And they tended to be steep. I felt like I was driving an FJ on a skate park. In any case, Andras goes over a larger, steeper wall, barely makes it. Then his voice comes on the radio: "This is harder than I thought!" I follow him, but didn't have enough momentum, so had to slide down backwards. And there's the other reason why those dunes were dangerous to us. The FJ sliding down does not track straight, and turning the wheel has little effect, so you could be sliding on a diagonal or even on your side. Which was precisely what happened moments later with Erik. But we'll get to that.
We go over a couple more dunes, at which point I radio: "Am I the only one feeling uncomfortable about this?" to which laughter breaks on the radio, as Rick and Erik heartily confirm that I'm not. Moments later I drop without slowing down from a four feet ledge where the slope broke. Lots of those around, too. Yet another evidence that the place was going to end up outright killing us.
Still we continue, trying to find paths through the dunes. Eventually we found ourselves surrounded by bowls, and the only way out was along the dune tops. Rick and Andras were ahead, and Erik and I a little behind. And that's when it happened: Erik is trying to stay on the top, but he starts sliding sideways, on a fairly steep slope. Not too steep if you were going down on it front first. But very steep as it was. Miraculously, he did not tip over. That's when I hear on the radio (don't remember if Andras or Erik himself): "That's it, we're done!" This happened about 20 minutes or so into the run.
Finally out of there and laughing at ourselves about the whole ISDRA visit we headed south via dirt roads towards I-8. I-8 is the southernmost interstate in this area, and in certain points it travels at less than a mile from the US-Mexico border. Before we came we talked about the possibility of accidentally traveling into Mexico, due to the proximity and the fact that we would driving through the back country and often not even on roads. Well, as we drove on I-8 west-bound I realized that would have been difficult: There is a 20+ ft metal fence along the boder. We took an exit towards the border when I-8 seemed particularly close to the fence (about half-mile) and drove right to it (after clearing it with the border patrol agents in the area). We got out of the vehicles, took pictures and touched the thing. The idea of having a fence like this does not agree with me, but the worse part is that, even at the height of 20 ft, it would still be possible to climb it, for someone even moderately in shape, even if that person did not have a hook attached to a rope. Like many other actions take by government, this seems to be a token to show that it is taking action (any action). This is only my personal opinion, of course.
After following the fence for a bit and driving over the dunes, and even racing along the fence (Andras and I drag-raced to the exit road for about 300 ft) we headed to a hotel for the night.
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