On the evening on 20 August we had our first official Offcamber night drive.

This event came about very suddenly as I only decided 2 days before than I want to do the trail at night. I have done this a few times in the last few months without any incident and I suggested to Chris we should perhaps send out an invite. He agreed and the invite went on 2 before the event. We didn't expect much response on such short notice, but in the end 4 people took on the challenge.

I went through the afternoon to drive the sections we would be driving in the dark. I do this to familiarise myself with the current conditions of the trail which places me in the best possible position to ensure every one's safety when we head out onto the trail in the dark. After my recce drive I went back to the camp site, made myself some dinner and waited for the vehicle to arrive. Chris arrived at about 18:30 and 3 other vehicles a few minutes later. We stood around and chatted until Greg arrived at 19:15. I did a driver's briefing explaining how the trail drive will run and what will be done to ensure every one's safety. After this the 6 vehicle convoy left the camp site and drove to section 4. the group consisted of myself in a Triton, Leon in a Triton d/cab, Greg in a 110 Defender, Anton in a Pajero, Gerhard in a Colt and Chris in a Colt.

I decided to skip a part of section 4 as I felt it will be too risky in the dark. When entered the trail through an escape route that met up with the main trail. Not far into the trail we got to the first serious obstacle, a very rutted steep downhill. I explained to everyone what the best lines are and when it looks like further down out of sight. I then slowly went down showing which is the best line. At the bottom of the hill my co-driver, Jan, moved my bakkie out the way and I walked a short distance up the hill to guide the vehicles through the difficult sections at the bottom, while Chris guided the vehicle over the big steps at the top of the hill. All the vehicles followed the guidance and everyone made it down without any hassle.

From here we slowly made our way through the trail. Due to the limited visibily one has to move very slowly when driving a trail at night or you could end up in serious trouble. Next obstacle was the drop down into the river. Again everyone got out of their vehicles and gathered at the obstacle. I explain what the right line is on the obstacle and highlighted a few possible problem if the correct line wasn't followed. I went first to show the right line and crossed the river. Jan again moved my bakkie out the way and went to try and take a few photo's. Chris the guided each vehicle down the steep hill which everyone did with ease by simply following our instructions and guidance. From this river crossing the trail runs along the dry river bed until you reach a small water crossing again and a nice steep climb up the river bank.

After another few minor ups and down we arrived at the go-go climb, a steep loose hill with a few boulders to climb over half way up the hill. This hill was very bad in the past, but the trail owner has layed down some concrete because it became near impossible for normal vehicle to get up. I went first and made it up with a bit of momentum. Next up was Leon who had to give it a second go when his Triton slipped a bit on the loose soil. Greg came flying up in the old Defender and was right on Leon's heels. The other 3 vehicle also made it up with a bit momentum.

The last serious obstacle was the Launch Pad. This obstacle has a warning sign and should not be attempted if your vehicle doesn't have good approach and departure angles. I suggested that the Triton d/cab and the Pajero take the bypass as the risk of damage was too high. I made my way down to the obstacle and slowly dropped down into the deep dip and crawled out the other side. Greg, Gerhard and Chris followed and all of them made it through the Launch Pad on their first attempt. I was very happy about this as most people struggle with this obstacle even in daylight.

We then came to the end of the trail and took the gravel road back to the camp site. I started a fire and a few people left immediately, while a few still hung around and had a chat. There were no incidents, recoveries or vehicle damage, and to us this means the evening was a huge success.

Thanks to everyone who joined, it was a very nice group of people. If you would like to experience Offcamber at night, let us know and we will do it again!