Raptor Expeditions - Desert Heat Trip report and vids

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Raptor Expeditions

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*If you’re interested in joining us, check out Raptor Expeditions for more info. Also please follow us on fb @ www.facebook.com/RaptorExpeditions and instagram under @raptorexpeditions

Any members who attended, feel free to add any pics or video's you were able to get.
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To say the Desert Heat Run was a success, would be an understatement. To be honest, we thought we might be a little crazy to be taking 16 trucks across 3 states, covering 430 bone jarring miles. But than again, we are all probably a little crazy to be beating up such nice trucks.

The philosophy behind the club continued to shine through as the run went off without a hitch. We only had 3 flats, and one power steering hose came loose. We made excellent time and reached the Hard Rock in Las Vegas by 7pm. To add some perspective, this route was the same as day 2 of the Land Rush; there were 21 flats, several mechanical problems, and we didn’t reach the Hard Rock until 11pm. It was truly impressive to see the REC members work together to finish the run. So, cheers to all members who attended...you did an outstanding job!

Now for some pictures:

Everyone getting ready & chatting it up in the hotel parking lot at 3am

14742913893_7cb16c0b10_b.jpgIMG_0372 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536595267_d13d5788b7_b.jpgIMG_0375 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14723036945_d4fd5ec039_b.jpgIMG_0378 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536398069_5c662ac388_b.jpgIMG_0379 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536386788_03c2c85ee7_b.jpgIMG_0380 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Time for the Drivers meeting

14723036475_7b5be962fe_b.jpgIMG_0383 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14720649924_19edef9f9a_b.jpgIMG_0385 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

All lined up at the trailhead ready to go!

14536593967_cce540c220_b.jpgIMG_0390 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Sun began to come up after about 45 minutes on the trail

14536236560_320151abfd_b.jpgIMG_0400 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14749192053_165e3d1c0c_b.jpgIMG_1718 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

This section of trail is pretty smooth. However, there was a ton of bone jarring washboard. So much so, one might think that they would soon find themselves sitting in there chair with the truck in pieces all around them.

14700039666_5a1e4d53ca_b.jpgIMG_0411 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Rainbow off in the distance

14560037408_91a0142e32_b.jpgIMG_0414 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Some action shots

14722736632_81dee7ab08_b.jpgIMG_0422 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536250658_0388917cc7_b.jpgIMG_0418 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14700037736_0b5e086d50_b.jpgIMG_0426 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536392699_3f0b992335_b.jpgIMG_0427 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14560259467_9cf051836c_b.jpgIMG_0431 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14742907563_85d9277298_b.jpgIMG_0428 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14560265507_65ac450111_b.jpgIMG_0434 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Sometimes it sucks running sweep all the time but there are a few perks. One is you can stop to take some really neat photos. The sun breaking through the clouds made for some great photos.

14536459957_e9164dda03_b.jpgIMG_0436 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536261939_94b015d587_b.jpgIMG_0453 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Stopping for a little breather

14742776153_f71ed45ecc_b.jpgIMG_0443 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536379358_bfc4f822e2_b.jpgIMG_0445 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14719855551_49469bd729_b.jpgIMG_0448 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Stopped to fire off a couple rounds while the rest of the group grabbed lunch.

14536458367_1cc7622e8e_b.jpgIMG_0460 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14726949384_6be853c75f_b.jpgIMG_1679 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

A few cool shots

14726958444_9abbf15dd9_b.jpgIMG_1648 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14729327125_e9d3c50710_b.jpgIMG_1647 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Next up was the sand hill climb outside Needles.

14746773195_e599b608c7_b.jpgIMG_0477 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14560136639_76398c1a82_b.jpgIMG_0483 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Dale showing how it’s done haha

14560097390_806e727d69_b.jpgIMG_0486 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14560097200_fe6d30caa5_b.jpgIMG_0487 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14766639083_94d7c2e856_b.jpgIMG_0490 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14744420354_e72a8c6eda_b.jpgIMG_0488 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14560317577_c7f621ea2f_b.jpgIMG_0495 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14766638743_f61d96aa17_b.jpgIMG_0499 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14560096280_30a4875cff_b.jpgIMG_0502 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14746777475_52270a44b1_b.jpgIMG_0507 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14744419424_4fd016c62a_b.jpgIMG_0509 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14560095560_23ece82e41_b.jpgIMG_0516 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14746776805_6cd48e0024_b.jpgIMG_0520 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Next up was the living ghost town of Oatman AZ. Very cool to roll through here...donkey’s definately give it some character haha. Also, it was funny since most everyone in the town stopped what they were doing to watch the convoy roll through.

14536240130_28f168b747_b.jpgIMG_0528 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536266289_a31c60ed79_b.jpgIMG_0527 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536239730_752317cd04_b.jpgIMG_0529 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

14536265659_600ed55185_b.jpgIMG_0530 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Chase truck and RSV7

14729021332_4a2baa0e9f_b.jpgIMG_1709 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

From there we headed through Laughlin and then to Searchlight where we had a our final drivers meeting of the day.

14722898805_f15cc3aaf9_b.jpgIMG_0544 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

Tommy giving the thumbs up haha

14719728271_f1efa75fb4_b.jpgIMG_0545 by raptorexpeditions, on Flickr

From Searchlight, we rolled into the Hard Rock around 7pm. Strip was slammed as usual.

14533395697_e75d6a4268_b.jpgUntitled by Big5050, on Flickr

Couple of us had to have a well deserved beer from atop the parking garage.

14719826865_a907ecd315_b.jpgUntitled by Big5050, on Flickr

14533182999_7874ea3334_b.jpgUntitled by Big5050, on Flickr


Roughly 8-9 of us hit up Powerline road from Vegas to Barstow. All went well for the most part although Randy did have his tie rod back out which took about 2 hours to fix. Luckily no damage.

In closing, it was a great trip with an amazing group of people. The RE Crew would like to thank all the members who participated for doing a great job and making the event an absolute blast. The days can get pretty long and tiresome when people start overdriving their trucks and breaking stuff and that was not the case on this run.

Video:

 
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Raptor Expeditions

Raptor Expeditions

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This was a great run and I really have to compliment all those who attended and did such a great job. When we first put this out we expected 5-7 trucks to show up. As the numbers started to grow the RE crew started to really stress about if we were going to be able to pull it off. 420 miles offroad in one day is no joke. I am very happy to say all the REC members proved us wrong and the run went off with very minor issues.
So now I guess we have to come up with a tougher longer run to try and up the challenge. For those of wondering if we can, stay tuned for 2015 to see what we have planed.

Gordon.
 

jackrook

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This was a great run and I really have to compliment all those who attended and did such a great job. When we first put this out we expected 5-7 trucks to show up. As the numbers started to grow the RE crew started to really stress about if we were going to be able to pull it off. 420 miles offroad in one day is no joke. I am very happy to say all the REC members proved us wrong and the run went off with very minor issues. So now I guess we have to come up with a tougher longer run to try and up the challenge. For those of wondering if we can, stay tuned for 2015 to see what we have planed. Gordon.

LAND RUSH!!!

slowest member of WCPR
 

MotoDuc

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This was a great run and I really have to compliment all those who attended and did such a great job. When we first put this out we expected 5-7 trucks to show up. As the numbers started to grow the RE crew started to really stress about if we were going to be able to pull it off. 420 miles offroad in one day is no joke. I am very happy to say all the REC members proved us wrong and the run went off with very minor issues.
So now I guess we have to come up with a tougher longer run to try and up the challenge. For those of wondering if we can, stay tuned for 2015 to see what we have planed.

Gordon.

It was good times, can't wait until the next run.
We only suffered a cracked windshield (rookie move = didn't remove stock antenna) and a broken jack mount, thanks for the help Gordon.
 

Bigg50

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^^^I know it's Rickman's old truck. Couldn't find his build but I know it's sprung under with somewhere around 20"s of travel...could be more. The the back half has been cut off.
 
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