Enter the Inferno II

[Tomvanhouten]

With the temperatures rising and quite some hours to kill, we decided to have a nap. Happy to have an FJ where you can comfortably relax in temperatures of 46C outside.

Once all were there, the briefing was quick (luckily) and off we went with a very long convoy, 13 cars in total!
The soft sand made the flow really slow, especially in the beginning and I was thinking, we were tested for our RTM skills ones more. Luckily, later on, it went a bit smoother.

Can't really remember, if I did this track before, but it was interesting for sure.

Thanks and see you all soon

Tom

[Petr]

@Scorpio brough us to an interesting area of Nagrah that we may know from other drives but taking it from east to west was a very old memory.

At the briefing he asked for a volunteer for a 2nd lead from the 'old' intermediates and since there were no enthusiastic responses I picked it up as the oldest one (in both serving and age senses :)).

The sand was super soft and I got stuck immediately at the first two crests. The soft sand slowed the car rapidly and the front axle of my Jeep worked as an plough once I got parallel on the dune. When it happened for the second time I started to curse the voice that whispered me to pick this challenge. I understood I had to be much more aggressive with the approaching momentum and got it better gradually - and I found it was not enough for me to just follow the speed of Scorpio, who was nicely and smoothly flying up any slope, but take it a bit faster to get there.

The convoy had many breaks on that day due to second try attempts and stucks, and the long waiting time didn't let us get too far before dusk, so we had to pass untouched many nice spots including the Nagrah hill. Anyway, we made it all safe back, which is most important.

Many thanks to Scorpio for arranging the drive and to @Rashidjass and @Orlantsev to keeping us safe.

[Lenny]

The briefing began with a warning for soft sand and ditches.
Right from the 1st crest , the sand was incredibly soft and as Scorpio described, it was in pockets which if you entered, you'd get sucked in.
2 consecutive cars got crested here.
Its was this soft sand that slowed us down , challenging the inters with mutiple second tries , stucks & pop outs.
It was a challenging route which most of us had never done before & track needed to be modified a few times as we had some interesting climbs...... I guess we need to drive here more often.
Scorpio made it look effortless!
The convoy struggled to find flow until the latter part of the drive.
Despite the odds we had a blast & all exited safe.
Thanks to Tom for sweeping, Rashid for your guidance and Scorpio for cooking a nice drive for us . See you all soon.

[orlantsev]

Hello all,

the drive was not on the calendar for long, and it was during mid-week when Scorpio asked if people would be interested in driving. Despite many people travelling it was a good turnout, with 11 cars in the convoy, and 2 floating cars.

Truth to be told it was a good afternoon for conversations, and less driving :) In the first 50 minutes convoy moved just couple of dunes and the subsequent hour was not much better. If you after car 3 in the convoy you just have to search for fresher tracks in these conditions.

Luckily despite the heat it was not very humid, so we could stay outside the cars.

Many people ask me why I drive without AC? No, it is not broken. First, it is the habit, as I like to listen to the engine, and see the sides better. Second, AC is not the best part of Nissan to begin with, and when the engine temperature starts to rise, the AC blows warmer air. Some people have put extra fan, but I still prefer to be a summer time martyr. It even got so hot from transmission, that one of my radios stopped to work (but resumed after I cooled it down).

In the last hour (after our longest stop) the flow improved, but still some interruptions happened as we entered the area with some traffic from other convoys.

@brett did very well floating in his yellow FJ (with his always present passenger), and supporting drivers with 2nd tries and recoveries.....oh wait, it was @rashidjass.

Next week is going to be fun, so looking forward to meeting those who were quick on the trigger.

[brett]

Haha
I was there in spirit
I am sure my car was doing things way beyond my capabilities with the infamous Mountain Goat piloting it

[galindakis]

Greetings fellow off-road enthusiasts,

I am thrilled to share our recent off-road adventure, the "Enter the Inferno II" drive, which took us to the captivating dunes of Nagra.

As we gathered at the meeting point, the scorching heat was evident with temperatures reaching a sweltering 47-48 degrees.

The dunes in Nagra proved to be a unique challenge, with super soft sand making the tracks sun
supersoft after just three cars. Negotiating the mixed low and high dunes with patches of super soft sand required skill and precision, as we struggled to maintain momentum and faced a few second tries.

During the drive, I encountered a challenging ditch and made a mistake that led to a pop out. However, the camaraderie and support of the group helped us quickly recover and continue.

As we ventured into a small bowl of super soft sand, we faced some difficulty, having several stucks and second tries.

I would like to extend my gratitude to Scorpio for Organising the drive and Rashidjass and Ortolansev for support and guidance.

Until we meet again in the sands.

Best regards,