Finally got her in the dirt... She is no longer a virgin, lol.

Spent a day exploring the local Mojave desert / Red Rock Canyon State Park area a few miles north of the city of Mojave, California. About a dozen of us, all friends, in a variety of vehicles, from several Jeeps to Disco 3/4s and older P38s, even a Ford F150 Raptor. There were 2 brand new Defenders as well, mine and my friend Shah's gorgeous Tasman Blue. Both new Defenders - bone stock - did great, then again the trail was mostly easy going - deep sand, some steep and crumbly dirt trails of varying widths climbing the El Paso Mountains range, with a few rocky sections - not very technical, just extremely fun and scenic. Little video at the end from my dash cam of the most "challenging" part, the narrows at Goler Gulch. You can see why rock sliders (and strong, big AT tires) are very important to have in our deserts and mountains here in the US Southwest.


Abandoned talc mine.

 

Wow Umberto, great photos and video. I see you were brave enough to put your new Defender out in the wild right away.

 

Nice! Looks like good times!

 

Love that blue color

 

Thanks for posting! Looks like a great time

 

No spotters for you! How are you liking the off-road camera system?

 

It's got potential. Didn't really need it on this easy trail, but I did have the "transparent hood" off-road camera on the touchscreen the entire time as it is so darn cool to see. Honestly, it's kinda hard to look at both the camera and in front of your, uh, real hood at the same time while you crawl forward, but on a more challenging trail and without a good spotter I can see that feature being a real asset, if you take your time. As we were cresting over some real steep climbs, the camera showed what you just couldn't see looking out, which was great.

 

It must have been thrilling to take your Defender off-road and break her in. The diverse terrain and scenic trails sound like a dream, especially with a great group of friends and a mix of vehicles. If you're ever in need of a more relaxing trip, consider unwinding at Deep Creek Hot Springs. It's a serene oasis that was perfect for our last family trip. You can read about it in this guide https://www.mklibrary.com/deep-creek...rn-california/. Good luck!