2008-12-22: Anza Borrego VW Toureg Tour
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:25 pm
I've been talking to Arkarch for a little over a year now about him coming down to Anza Borrego and checking it out in his Toureg. Well we finely made it happen. The participants were Arkarch (Toureg), VegasMatt (Toureg), MattM (2003 Jeep Rubicon), Frogeye (FJC), and myself (FJC).
Anza Borrego is, for the most part, washes and open trails. However, to give them the grand tour, with as little pavement as possible, I really wanted to get them through Arroyo Seco Del Diablo. There-in lay the challenge and also why we didn't make this run public knowledge. If we had problems in the canyon, I didn’t want to worry about getting 20 rigs through the now, not so tame, Arroyo Seco Del Diablo cut-across to Fish Creek. Arkarch and VegasMatt have both had there Touregs on the trails in Ouray and Hell’s Revenge in Moab but Seco Del Diablo was a different kind of challenge.
Frogeye and I met the two Touregs and the Jeep at Dudley’s Bakery in Santa Ysabel at around 08:30. We decided to take Masson Valley to Oriflame Canyon to the S-2 to get to the Canyon Sin Nombre entrance. We ran Canyon Sin Nombre to Vallecito Wash to Arroyo Seco Del Diablo.
At the point where Vallecito Wash meets Arroyo Seco Del Diablo, Frogeye had the privilege of being stopped by a California Highway Patrolman. You read it correctly, out in the middle of absolutely nowhere, Frogeye got pulled over by the CHP for, get this…………. "driving off the highway”. Since Frogeye was getting dusted out in the back, he pulled out to the left of the group in this wide wash (not speeding) and the trooper decided that he was driving off the designated road.
The trooper let him off with a warning but it made for some interesting conversation during the rest of the run.
We decided to eat lunch at the tight (squeeze-like) spot of Arroyo Seco Del Diablo about 3 miles prior to getting to the famous Diablo Drop-Off. We had a nice little 20 minute lunch while we chatted with one another. Once the stomachs were satisfied it was time to head to the challenging part…
I wanted to make sure the Touregs had a chance of making through the rough section of Arroyo Seco Del Diablo before even thinking about letting them go down the drop-off. So VegasMatt jumped in the FJ with me and everyone else waited at the top of the first part of the drop-off. I wanted Frogeye up there so incase I needed to come back up the first drop-off (the long loose sandy section) I would have a winch up top to assist me and then we would have to figure out plan “B”. After assessing the situation, Matt and I agreed it would take some work but we were pretty sure we could get the Touregs through by doing a little road work. Imagine my surprise when Frogeye hollers on the radio that our Rubicon friend decided to try to go down the sandy section of the drop-off and go back up again. He had gotten stuck in the soft sand and needed a strap. So up the lower drop-off I went strap in hand to snag the Rubi from the sand.
We got the Rubi out of the sand without incident and got the rest of the group down the drop-offs where we got to see the infamous teeter-totter of that four wheel independent suspension on those Touregs. What a sight to behold. I thought my FJ had a bad case of Bulldog Syndrome. These guys go from three to four to two wheels like it’s nothing. They do it on a much more stable platform too.
It took about 1.5 hours to work the two Touregs through the 100 yard rocky section of the Canyon. I messed up while spotting the line for the first Toureg and finally had to put a strap on him on the very last boulder. The second Toureg went all the way through without any assistance. By this time we had about 5 other trucks we were holding up. The last one through was Frogeye.
We were all just getting to load up to head for Fish Creek when we heard an engine rev with a crash, bang, boom…
We turned to see a stock 4WD 4Runner (2005???) come flying through the tight rock/waterfall section and slam to a stop on the final boulder severely hung up on his rear diff. This had to be the biggest case of “here’s your sign” I’ve ever seen on the trail. The driver appeared to be wasted and his companion certainly was. His companion had the juevos earlier on to ask us how we ever got the Touregs down into the canyon. The 4Runner had far less clearance than the Touregs. The, now shredded, running boards of the 4Runner were crushed clean up into the rocker panels. Frogeye backed up and had his chance to strap someone off of a rock.
The adventure over and the sun quickly setting, we ran out to Fish Creek, took a group shot at Split Mountain, and aired up at the pavement. We said our farewells to the Touregs and Rubicon while Frogeye screamed up the road to get back to the wife. I had a friend of mine riding shotgun with me and decided to do a night run over to Fonts Point to snap some after-dark pics. It was amazing how, even after it was dark, you could still see the dust hanging in the air off of Fonts Point from everyone tearing around in the desert all day. We finished at Fonts, drove into town where we had some light and I emptied my Scepters into my tank before heading home. All-in-all, a great day.
Pics in posts to follow...
Anza Borrego is, for the most part, washes and open trails. However, to give them the grand tour, with as little pavement as possible, I really wanted to get them through Arroyo Seco Del Diablo. There-in lay the challenge and also why we didn't make this run public knowledge. If we had problems in the canyon, I didn’t want to worry about getting 20 rigs through the now, not so tame, Arroyo Seco Del Diablo cut-across to Fish Creek. Arkarch and VegasMatt have both had there Touregs on the trails in Ouray and Hell’s Revenge in Moab but Seco Del Diablo was a different kind of challenge.
Frogeye and I met the two Touregs and the Jeep at Dudley’s Bakery in Santa Ysabel at around 08:30. We decided to take Masson Valley to Oriflame Canyon to the S-2 to get to the Canyon Sin Nombre entrance. We ran Canyon Sin Nombre to Vallecito Wash to Arroyo Seco Del Diablo.
At the point where Vallecito Wash meets Arroyo Seco Del Diablo, Frogeye had the privilege of being stopped by a California Highway Patrolman. You read it correctly, out in the middle of absolutely nowhere, Frogeye got pulled over by the CHP for, get this…………. "driving off the highway”. Since Frogeye was getting dusted out in the back, he pulled out to the left of the group in this wide wash (not speeding) and the trooper decided that he was driving off the designated road.
The trooper let him off with a warning but it made for some interesting conversation during the rest of the run.We decided to eat lunch at the tight (squeeze-like) spot of Arroyo Seco Del Diablo about 3 miles prior to getting to the famous Diablo Drop-Off. We had a nice little 20 minute lunch while we chatted with one another. Once the stomachs were satisfied it was time to head to the challenging part…
I wanted to make sure the Touregs had a chance of making through the rough section of Arroyo Seco Del Diablo before even thinking about letting them go down the drop-off. So VegasMatt jumped in the FJ with me and everyone else waited at the top of the first part of the drop-off. I wanted Frogeye up there so incase I needed to come back up the first drop-off (the long loose sandy section) I would have a winch up top to assist me and then we would have to figure out plan “B”. After assessing the situation, Matt and I agreed it would take some work but we were pretty sure we could get the Touregs through by doing a little road work. Imagine my surprise when Frogeye hollers on the radio that our Rubicon friend decided to try to go down the sandy section of the drop-off and go back up again. He had gotten stuck in the soft sand and needed a strap. So up the lower drop-off I went strap in hand to snag the Rubi from the sand.
We got the Rubi out of the sand without incident and got the rest of the group down the drop-offs where we got to see the infamous teeter-totter of that four wheel independent suspension on those Touregs. What a sight to behold. I thought my FJ had a bad case of Bulldog Syndrome. These guys go from three to four to two wheels like it’s nothing. They do it on a much more stable platform too.
It took about 1.5 hours to work the two Touregs through the 100 yard rocky section of the Canyon. I messed up while spotting the line for the first Toureg and finally had to put a strap on him on the very last boulder. The second Toureg went all the way through without any assistance. By this time we had about 5 other trucks we were holding up. The last one through was Frogeye.
We were all just getting to load up to head for Fish Creek when we heard an engine rev with a crash, bang, boom…
We turned to see a stock 4WD 4Runner (2005???) come flying through the tight rock/waterfall section and slam to a stop on the final boulder severely hung up on his rear diff. This had to be the biggest case of “here’s your sign” I’ve ever seen on the trail. The driver appeared to be wasted and his companion certainly was. His companion had the juevos earlier on to ask us how we ever got the Touregs down into the canyon. The 4Runner had far less clearance than the Touregs. The, now shredded, running boards of the 4Runner were crushed clean up into the rocker panels. Frogeye backed up and had his chance to strap someone off of a rock. The adventure over and the sun quickly setting, we ran out to Fish Creek, took a group shot at Split Mountain, and aired up at the pavement. We said our farewells to the Touregs and Rubicon while Frogeye screamed up the road to get back to the wife. I had a friend of mine riding shotgun with me and decided to do a night run over to Fonts Point to snap some after-dark pics. It was amazing how, even after it was dark, you could still see the dust hanging in the air off of Fonts Point from everyone tearing around in the desert all day. We finished at Fonts, drove into town where we had some light and I emptied my Scepters into my tank before heading home. All-in-all, a great day.
Pics in posts to follow...
" I was tailgunner," I told the guy. "I never passed anyone in front of me, you saw that didn't you?" He says, "I saw you bouncing up and down." I'm about to blow my top at this point. I didn't. We were in the middle of a desert wash (at least four car lanes wide and tire tracks everywhere). I guess he wanted to take a closer look at my rig 
There are a few drivers who have built their own skidplates; we are looking at the TransSyberian Cayenne (same platform) for ideas. The easiest option is to acquire 32" offroad tires (265/70/17 BFGs, Nitto Grapplers, etc) to get the steel to 9.6" and air to 13"+ clearance. 
