Jeep Tour at Silver Lake Dunes

The boys love going up on the dunes, and they’ve had a few opportunities in the past to get up on the dunes with other campers, but this year we decided to try something different.

We signed up for a Jeep Tour with 2 extra hours of time on our own.  When we were signing the contract before setting out, we were surprised to learn that Bryce would be able to drive the Jeep, too . . . we had thought that drivers had to be 18 . . . so he was suddenly VERY excited about going out!

They lined the Jeeps up next to the building, and we had a short drivers’ meeting before headed towards the OHV Staging Area.

Tom was driving first, and the boys were ready to go!

From the staging area, we drove onto the sand,

and towards Test Hill.  The rental Jeeps aren’t allowed to go OVER Test Hill, but we were allowed to go UP it.

Each of the Jeeps drove up the hill as fast as they could, and about 3/4 of the way up, our guide told us to turn in an arc and head back down the hill.  He called it a “Parrot Rainbow” . . .

some drivers did better than others!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With all the Jeeps back off the hill, we drove around on some of the smaller dunes.  From the top, we could see Lake Michigan.

Going down!

Even the DNR has fun vehicles for on the dunes – a Ford Raptor!

We climbed the “Big Hill” (no, it’s really not part of Test Hill, because we’re not allowed to go there!),

and stopped next to the pedestrian area to take some pictures.

Our “Family Photo”

Back at Test Hill, it was getting more crowded!

We drove all the way to the top of Test Hill . . . and stopped!

What a great view from up here!

Well, it was time to get down, but we couldn’t go over the crest . . . and you’re not allowed to turn around on Test Hill, so we were going to have to back down the hill!

We were the last one to make our way down!

Looks like we got off the hill just in time!

That was the end of the tour, and everybody else had to return to the rental office, but we had 2 more hours of playtime left!

Tom drove us through some of the trails and down to the beach.

Tom and I decided to take a break and walk the beach for awhile, so the boys went out on their own . . . Nicolas was driving . . . Bryce will need either Tom or I in the vehicle when he drives!

The beach is a pretty popular place for people to hang out, and on busy weekends, they can be parked 4 vehicles deep!

There’s quite a bit of standing water around still, and like many other places we’ve been on Lake Michigan, the beach has shrunk!

We watched these guys for several minutes . . . we weren’t sure what possessed them to bring a car out on the dunes . . . and we weren’t sure what they were being pulled over for either . . . I don’t think they issue tickets for stupidity out here, but maybe they should!

 

The boys came back to pick us up, and it was Bryce’s turn to drive 

 

He had a lot of fun, even though he had a couple of backseat drivers the whole time!

 

 

 

 

 

He did a good job, though, driving us up and over some of the smaller dunes.  When he’d had enough, we stopped at the bottom of Test Hill to watch the action,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and Nicolas got back in the driver’s seat to take us over the big dunes a few more times before our time was up.

 

The day was definitely a highlight for all of us, although the boys both said they thought they liked the wide-open area of the Oregon Dunes a little better . . .  it was a fun day, though, and very exciting!

The rest of the Jeep adventure . . .

 

Our Jeep rental went until 6pm, and it was 3pm when we arrived back at the Sand Flats Recreation Area. 

There was nobody in the Fee Booth when we arrived, and just a few people in the park.  This is definitely the quiet time of year around here!

 

Most brochures say that the Fins ‘n’ Things Trail takes 3-1/2 – 4 hours to complete.  There are two sections to the Trail, so we decided to try the first part and see how it went.

 

We got started climbing slickrock right from the very beginning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of these hills were pretty steep, and we had just white paint marks and black tire residue to follow.  On the really steep climbs, I got out so that I could “take pictures”.  On some of these climbs, Nicolas or Bryce would get out and check out the other side of the hill so that Tom would know what to expect when he got to the top!

Sometimes the down side would be so steep that one of them would also need to guide him on the way down, too!  On other hills, we had several alternatives for getting down . . . Nicolas always wanted to try the one that looked like more “fun”!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom was relieved to reach the bottom!!

We completed the rest of the first section without much trouble (in fact, I didn’t even need to get out to take any more pictures!), and with over 2 hours left to our rental.  The boys were determined to complete the full trail, so we headed over to section 2!

In the name of the trail, “Fins” refer to the steep, rounded, slickrock mounds, and “Things” refers to the gravel and fine red sand that is a result of erosion of the slickrock.  There was plenty of both! 

Nicolas just loved making the steep climbs, and he was really good at talking Tom through the climbs – slow and steady . . .

Bryce’s favorite part was anything that made me scream . . . and there was plenty of that!

Particularly, between the “Fins” the trail twisted and turned through the sand, and Tom took those turns as fast as he could in order to throw me around in the backseat!

Nicolas managed to keep us on the trail, and out of any trouble, and we reached the final leg of the trail which was a series of fins in a row . . . we needed to go out to the end and then back again!

There was a shortcut that would have taken us back to the main road, skipping this section of the trail, but Nicolas wasn’t hearing any of that!!

I guess we were up to the challenge, and we started up the first hill!

There were several questionable turns, and a few moments of indecision, but we made it through them all!

They were afraid I wouldn’t get back in the Jeep if I got out, so Bryce took over taking the pictures!

The final climb was REALLY steep, so Bryce and I got out and walked around, after he guided them up the hill.

There they go!

That was it – we made it through the entire trail in about 2-1/2 hours!

 

Tom’s nerves were shot by then!  LOL!

 

We had a half hour to get back to town, fill up with gas, and spray it off at the car wash . . . plenty of time!!

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at the City Market to fill up with gas (right next door to Outlaw Rentals – thank goodness!), and after we finished filling up, the Jeep WOULD NOT START!! 

Tom tried several times, and then walked over to Outlaw to get Dwayne.  He came back with one of the other Jeeps and jump-started ours.  We made it back to Outlaw’s parking lot, and he determined that the battery had boiled dry!  We had been smelling a sulphur odor most of the afternoon (we thought it was coming from the rocks!), and Dwayne said it was the battery boiling.

We were SO lucky that it didn’t die out on the trail somewhere!!!!  Somebody was definitely watching over us that day!

It was a really fun day, one that the boys will remember for a LONG time, and fortunately a lucky day for us, too!