Dunas de Coahuila 2009 Trip

[RU55ELL]

This was my first overland trip. Jose (owns a 2001 silver Taco)and I (blue 4runner) travelled from Houston, TX and met up with a big group of guys from Saltillo and Monterrey Mexico. We arrived in Monterrey on Friday, 10/30, and changed the fluid in our rear diffs at Jose's brother-in-law's shop (we had just installed new gears in both of our rigs).

A place we stopped to eat at between Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey:

Some of the scenery on the way to Monterrey:

We visited with Jose's in-laws for a bit and then went to Saltillo where we spent the night with his sister-in-law's family. Saturday morning we met up with some of the guys that we would travel with in Saltillo.

We met the rest of the group in a small town called Paila Coahuila.

From there, we hit the desert flat lands. The plan was to go through rough terrain and virgin country which consists of desert flat lands, mountain canyons, and sand dunes. The days were warm and the nights were cold, but that is typical desert weather for you. As we drove across the desert, we had to clean our air filters every chance we got to avoid the fine dust reaching the engine cylinders.

 

[RU55ELL]

To give you an idea of the amount of dust:

It had rained a couple days before we crossed so we got into a little bit of mud:

 

[RU55ELL]

After a full day of the dusty desert, we started to get into the mountains and canyons:

A couple of the others fighting their way thru:

Following a Cherokee thru a canyon:

Up out of the canyon:

By the end of the day, we arrived at the Zone of Silence.

 

[RU55ELL]

We ended up setting up camp before we hit the dunes. The next morning:

Heading out to the dunes:

Photo op on top of one:

After many problems with some of the rigs, our trip had to be cut short and we had to turn back to civilization. We were supposed to reach Las Pozas de Cuatrocienegas (an oasis), but we were too short on time to go. Perhaps we will return next time.

The trip was the maiden voyage of my freshly SASed 4runner, and it did really well in my opinion. I broke a shock mount and pulled the front driveshaft apart at the yoke, but both were fixed on the trail. Of course, now that I am back, I had to replace a starter and lost 4th gear so I need to replace the tranny. I guess that's why they call it a shake down.

Both mine and Jose's pics can be found here: http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p98/thompsrx/Dunas de Coahuila 2/?start=all

and here: http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p98/thompsrx/Dunas de Coahuila/?start=all

 

[viter]

I've been to Monterrey, mexico once before and it's a cool city sitting between some even cooler mountains. While there I saw quite a bit of off-road vehicles dirivng to/from mountains that were quite dirty - made me so wish I had my truck (we flew in for a relative's graduation). Can't wait to read the rest of your story!

 

[viter]

i guess u posted last post right before mine.

which way are dunes from monterrey?

did you have a chance to check out mountains right by the city?

 

[RU55ELL]

The dunes are due West of Saltillo. Jose was telling me about how great the wheeling is in the mountains close to Monterrey, but we didn't get a chance to explore them.

 

[adrenaline503]

How did that stockish yellow Nissan Frontier do?

 

[RU55ELL]

How did that stockish yellow Nissan Frontier do?

It did surprisingly well. The biggest drawback for anyone on this trip was no lockers. There was also an FJ cruiser in the bunch and it performed very well just because of having a rear locker. It was completely stock, right down to the street tires.

 

[adrenaline503]

Would you say that most of the problems encountered were with stock vehicles or the more modified ones? That looks like a great trip, makes me want a snorkel with a pre cleaner.

 

[RU55ELL]

Would you say that most of the problems encountered were with stock vehicles or the more modified ones? That looks like a great trip, makes me want a snorkel with a pre cleaner.

Most of the problems were on the modified ones. Most was fuel starvation and overheating, but there was also the pretty much stock (spacer lift, wheels, tires, Warn winch/bumper) 08 Tacoma that broke a front spring mount and had to limp it back to the nearest town to call for a truck to come pick it up. Of course, it would be safe to say that it was a freak deal for that to happen. An overland trip with harsh conditions will show you how good your rig really is.

 

[Strizzo]

thats cool, i didnt know there were dunes west of saltillo. the company i work for runs a field trip in saltillo and monterrey looking at salt tectonics in the canyons near santa catarina and the la popa basin out northwest of monterrey.

how long is the drive down to monterrey from houston?

 

[RU55ELL]

how long is the drive down to monterrey from houston?

It took us about 10 hrs.

 

[Snafu]

Those pics remind me a lot of the El Paso area. Even the buildings!

My truck is always covered in sand much like you showed there...It gets into everything and the sand storms are awful sometimes.

I've always wanted to explore the Chihuahua desert from the Mexico side but at the moment, there's no way I'm passing through Juarez to get there.

 

[RU55ELL]

Yeah I really don't blame you. The crossing at Nuevo Laredo wasn't too bad, of course, it was my first time crossing the border and it was a big culture shock to me anyway.