When I went to air down my tires, I realized that my tire pressure gauge only goes as low as 20psi. Doh. I guessed at 10... and ended up taking more air out after the sandy road to get to the dunes - at the first bathrooms.
4-hi was too fast for the most part, so I was in 4-lo at 3rd or 4th gear most of the time.
When we left those first bathrooms, we didn't really know where we were... so we immediately found ourselves in the middle of the extreme area (where Chris got his dunebuggy stuck). I was able to cruise around the ridges with careful planning. That was fun, but stressful.
Then we figured out how to get to the sand highway and cruised further down where it was less crowded... but I also found that the "highway" still has quite a few drop-offs. Don't assume it's just clear sailing! And it's so hard to tell if you're coming up on a drop-off.
By the time we got a good ways down the sand highway, we had to turn back for sake of time.
Back nearer the entrance there was a big hill. I thought I'd give it a go to try and get up that, and then have fun coming back down. I came pretty close to getting to the top, but not quite. I couldn't even get up enough speed (should have shifted to 4-hi probably). About 10-feet short, the wheels just started to dig down. I had to reverse the whole way back down. I didn't try again, because, as much as it probably looked to the gazillion people around that I was an idiot, it would have looked even worse if I tried again and didn't make it!
I can't believe the people who got their infinity sedan out there, or were driving their Acura MDX's around, etc. crazy people.
It's the wild west out there - no rules, tons of vehicles everywhere.... crazy stuff!
I beat my shocks to hell... it may be time to pick up an Icon package from my buddy, Dylan. Besides, the stocks are 11 years and 67,000 miles old now. And I've done some heavy loads in the truck bed. I could definitely see the advantage of having a little better travel, slightly bigger tires, and way better shocks... bouncy, bouncy!
I would definitely go back... even stock. It would be fun to have someone drive who knows the dunes and the capability of the truck. Then I know what I can or can't do.