17 JANUARY 2014: Tagged along with the Tierra del Sol 4-Wheel Drive club on their annual Dunes run into the Desierto do Altar, Mexico. Three days of off-road Jeep fun in the sand offered lots of opportunities to get more comfortable in this terrain. Some basic land navigation and a few recovery scenarios too…
12 JANUARY 2014: Back to the Imperial Sand Dunes for more practice in the ups and downs of the soft stuff. Spent some time just driving the dunes, getting a feel for the rhythm of the sand without thinking about navigation. This was a great exercise in repetition, as we took the time to work through some of the specific challenges that had caused us trouble previously…
11 JANUARY 2014: Training in Ocotillo Wells where we can practice navigating to a point in a “straight-line” cross-country rather than using trails. This gives us the chance to experience the kind of scenario we will be facing in the Moroccan Sahara during the rally, when we will have to figure out how to overcome unexpected terrain obstacles similar to this wadi…