Silver Lake Hummer Happening - Michigan

Original post from Ghostrider:  Just thought I would pass the info along that there will be a Hummer Happening held by Harvey Hummer (Grand Rapids) on October 13th at Silver Lake dunes. (Central Lower Peninsula of MI on the shores of Lake Michigan...kinda between Muskegon and Pentwater)  Call Harvey Hummer to RSVP or more info at 1-866-514-8663.  Ask for Adam or Val.  Or post your ?'s here with contact info...word on the street is they are lurking in the shadows..

I will definately be there for my first Silver Lake driving experience and I'd love to meet up with some other people on the forum!
 
I moved this to events, and then here to General Hummer Talk so folks could post on.  Sorry for rainin on your parade Grider.
 
Okie, if you need help, pm me with next time with an event.

Well..I guess stay tuned on this one...
As a result of our state government not passing a 2008 budget, as of midnight tonight, the great state of Michigan is CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!
We are going to have a "government shutdown" and as a result of all "non-essential" government functions stopping until further notice, all state parks and campgrounds are closed.  This means Silver Lake is closed....so if they dont approve a budget by the 13th...I guess that means we wont be going to Silver Lake.
I'll keep ya'll posted and I'll have a talk with the guys at Harvey tomorrow to see if theres a backup plan.

wow,that stinks.....how do ya close a lake

Heyyyy...we're open again.  Go government.  I guess they came to an agreement at 4:30am and decided that we'll just pay more taxes to make up for that 1.alot billion dollars of debt.  ...didn't see that one coming... I better be getting my moneys worth at Silver Lake!!  So its back on...everybody come!

I do not think I can possibly do this one, but the rest of you should seriously consider it!!!!!!   Awesome DUNES!!

 

 

I'm excited!  I've got a nice camera and a video camera with a mount that will attach to my brushguard and roof rack.  I'm hoping to get some great documentation!

It was a BLAST!!!  Thanks a bunch to the Harvey guys for putting it on.  I had a ton of fun.  there were about 30 Hummers that showed up.  2 H1's and about the rest even split between H2's and H3's.
We did some climbing, water, even a Hummer drag race!  The dunes were fun!
We had an awesome day for it and no major accidents.  Just 1 H2 SUT that launched and did something to throw things out of alignment.
I've got 2 things to share...

Video:
I mounted a video camera to my Gobi roof rack and let it run for most the day.  I put it together into a 7min video of the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6QBGphYUns

Pics:
Here are some pictures that I took... if ANYBODY wants to go again, i'm there!















 
Edit: Just updated the picture links so they work again.

KUDOS Brudda!!!!!!!!      Nice job on the pics ans vid.  Yes sir, Silver Lake Sand Dunes are a BLAST.  Glad you had a good time.  Shouldn't be to hard to twist your arm for another trip next year. 

Thanks Doc!!
 
I will DEFINATELY be there and so should every other Hummer driver in the area!!   Just name the date!!!

How did all those damn Jeeps get in the pics?    
 
Loved the Hummer-Cam footage. (Feel like describing that little setup?)
 
Never been in the sand, much less dunes......Looks like a blast.
 
Thanks for posting the pics and vid link.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Gunner_45

How did all those damn Jeeps get in the pics?    

Loved the Hummer-Cam footage. (Feel like describing that little setup?)

Never been in the sand, much less dunes......Looks like a blast.

Thanks for posting the pics and vid link.

haha I think they just wanted to belong.   
Actually my dad is driving the silver Rubi.  He just picked that up a couple weeks ago.  This was the first outing.  Plus I think they rent red Jeeps down the road so anybody who is just out in a rental has the same red Jeep.  Literally everywhere you turned, there was a Jeep!  I think somebody in the group might have had a friend who was renting a Jeep because I saw them in our convoy a few times through the day.

As for the camera mount, its made by Bogen.  Designed for exactly this use.  The arm has really good articulation, you can get the camera anywhere within its 2 foot reach and hold very steady.  Its used often in race cars as it can mount to a roll bar without drilling into it.  Pretty reasonably priced too given the quality!
Its 2 pieces.  This arm...
http://www.normancamera.com/product-exec/product_id/13564/nm/Bogen_196B_2_Single_Articulated_Arm_2_Sections_w_Camera_Brckt

and This clamp...
http://www.normancamera.com/product-exec/product_id/13312/nm/Bogen_2915_Super_Clamp_without_Stud
(sidenote:  Norman Camera is right down the street from my house, they have been around for ages and are seasoned pros.  Lots of camera scam sites on the internet but these guys are legit and very good...I reccomend.)

The cam and mount held amazingly well.  Didn't budge the whole day of dune-ing.  I used a Canon ZR65mc for the camera which is a pretty standard miniDV cam from about 4 or 5 years ago.  You could probably find one cheap on ebay now or use it with whatever.  Its a standard tripod mount so any camera will work.  The LCD screen worked perfect angled down so I could see through the sunroof where the cam was pointed.  With the remote start and stop and IR sensor on the back of the cam, it was easy to record as I pleased.

Now that i know it works, I would love to mount it to the brush guard and get some good wheel shots showing shock travel, etc.  Maybe even a weatherproof housing to get some mud action!




Thumbnail Image

That camera setup is sweet.
 
However, I might need to go with a different solution based on my wheeling environment:
 

 
I thought about leaving the cam inside and mounting an external bullet cam, or trying a dash cam maybe.
 
Unfortunately, I don;t know much about vid gear and have a thing about clutter on the dash when wheeling.
 
Any suggestions?
 
Again, thanks for taking the time to post your pics. I really wish more people would do the same.
 
I don't care whether it's mud, sand, rocks, desert or camping and fishing photos....I think it's important
for all of us to share our various Hummer experiences and to show these vehicles are more than just
the "Boulevard Buggies" and "Rap Wagons" a lot of people assume them to be. Now don;t get me wrong,
there is a place for those guys as well. While not necessarily my cup of tea, I can damn sure appreciate
a ride with some well executed street mods and enough shine to blind low flying aircraft.
 
The Hummer world is large and diverse.....I guess I just want to see as much of it as I can.
 
 

Thats my kind of off roadin too!!  But I'm struggling with a good mount too.  I haven't really come up with one yet.  This bar mount that I have is surprisingly stable so I'm thinking about finding a way to mount a bar inside that is out of the way but can still get good shots.
This is one way I found a while back that looked interesting. 
http://www.ae92gts.com/ae92gts_video_mount.html
 
I'm not sure how steady it will be with the seats moving but it might work pretty decent and you could avoid an expense of not having to use a poor quality bullet cam.
 
I've also thought about mounting directly to the rear view mirror or even putting a bracket 3M taped to the windshield right in front of the mirror so I cant see it but if I want to mount a camera, I could attach something that would be relatively out of the way but still sturdy enough to stay dry.  Kind of like the police use.
 
Or, option 3 is probably the most expensive but just get a waterproof housing for the video cam and stick it on the roof.  Bring lots of paper towel and windex
 
I wish I could figure out who makes the mounts for the cameras on the top of race cars with the self cleaning lenses that you see on tv where the dirt magically slides off to the side.  That would be awesome.  Anybody know where to pick those up at?

Oh and thanks for the props on the video!  Glad you like it!  Probably not as much fun as going out there and doing it but I agree...I wish more people could video and get good pictures of runs.  Its great to make a mental to-do list of offroad places.  Hopefully I inspired some people to do the not so obvious and come to the Midwest for some good wheelin!!!

WOW I am sooooo mad, i just read this and could have been there...
doc you just ruined my day

ebrown;  I just moved Ghostrider's original post to events, and then reposted to the forum for comments.  This was A Harvey Hummer Happening that Ghostrider shared with us, but guess nobody from here was that interested.  I couldn't do it.   I wanted to, but hey you can't do it all.  Snooze ya loose thing bro.
 
So, when we post one up with lots of lead time for next year, can I sign you up?? Hopefully some more of the forum members, and have a good old time!!  There is about 8-10 of us in MI, and we can get some participation from IL, IN and OH, it will be a fun trip.  Ghostrider is in charge of video!!!

There are talks of a mixed 4x4 group going again on the 28th.  Anybody interested?

doc you can def sign me up

I would like to hop in on the 28th meet.

GhostRider,
 
That is a great video,  Looks like alot of fun man!!!!  That could be an awesom Imax video.  How can I learn more about Silver Lake???  Is there a site?  It would be so cool to do a Hummerforums meet there????   Also the White truck, Did you get to see him flip???  Was the driver ok?  How did he role it?  To me it looks like a pretty safe place to go wheeling.  Any accidents??  Also looks like because of the terrain that there are not many breakdowns????  I have never been wheeling in any dunes but it looks like a blast.

Yeah it was major fun!  A perfect spot to go out and really get the feel for what these things can do if you don't have much off road experience and a place to test the size of your uh...ride... if youre a seasoned vet!
 
You're the second one to tell me they should do an imax like that!  anybody got a few extra hundred thousand they could toss my way for a camera?
 
Silver Lake is a state park so you just need a park pass and an ORV sticker to get in.
Here is the DNR website
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10365_15070-34760--,00.html
 
You can also get some more info over at http://www.silverlakeforum.com  I just started posting some stuff there, same name.  theres quite a few Hummer guys over there too.
It would be a great spot to do a meet!  You definately dont need anything special to go wheeling there.  Just air down the tires and take off the side steps!  We had stock everything from H3X's to H1s...lots of quads, dirt bikes, sandrails and tricked out dune buggies too.  There was even a stock new Ford Explorer with 4 people in it keeping up!  Varying terrain from mild to wild and the sand is nice and soft so no trail damage so you can try the wild without worrying about totaling your every day driver!  Really helpful people too.  If you get stuck, a huge pickup truck was on its way up the dune with a strap in a matter of seconds.  All the big dunes are directional so you never have to worry about flying up a huge dune and wondering if somebody else is flying up the other side right at you.  The only real danger is getting to the lip of a dune too fast and launching.  We had one H2 SUT do that and he cracked his windshield and did some realigning of the body because he came off a little too hot and nosed into the ground.  But no breakdowns,  everybody does a good job at keeping thier distance and driving defensively.
 
As for the white truck, I didn't see it happen but I got there right after.  They said he came over the ridge too fast and launched it.  The nose dropped right when the back launched so it flipped them completely over endo style and they landed right on the roof.  It was a family of 4 with no seatbelts!!!   The fellow dune riders were there in a matter of seconds to get everybody out.  They were all really shook up but other than a few bumps and bruises, they walked away.  Here are some more pics from the guys over at silverlakeforum ..
 

 

 

Signing up HumminNBoatin.  I have a nod from Zyne as to a trip, so you guys could caravan if you're interested.  There are some wipe outs, most don't end up with sigificant injury.  Everybody just has to use their brain...............absolutely no alcohol in the Dune Area!!!!  I've been goin there since 1979, and I only saw one helicopter evac, I think it was 3 or 4 years ago when two trucks rolled and a kid was ejected, US Coast Gaurd can be there PDQ!  
 
You can do the Dune area from mild, up to crazy WILD.  Depends on your equipment (tires mean a lot), sand experience, and common sense.  If you have never been before, the best way is to go with somebody who has to give you a tour, show you the trouble areas, then you can have at it.  Loads of fun.  I take the family every year and this is a great place for the kids.  Tons of stuff to do, don't have to wheel all day to have a good time.  Plenty of accommodations: hotels, motels, cottages and campgrounds.
 
Ghostrider, where did you end up getting your flag?  Looks like a nice one.  Those drag vids crack me up dude.    I heard your I5 roaring, NICE with a ha ha at the end up hill.    Watched it a bunch of times, I might have to dub it over with some classic rock though    This is what we needed to get people interested in a Dunes meet.  Nice work!

I ended up getting my flag right at the Silver Pointe General Store.  Its the gas station right on the corner between the campgrounds and the dunes entrance where B15 curves.  It was definately expensive thats for sure but its nice.  Screws in half so you dont have to have the whole thing up.  I quickly realized why you designed your own bracket though.  It took some major creativity to get it to work and it was just enough to get me by for the day.  I'm going to work on making something better.
 
Yea the drags were awesome.  That chuckle of mine at the end was when we had the "great" idea of racing to the top of the hill.  I won but accidentally climbed a few feet above the hill too!  Launched it.  Luckily it was a clean jump, landed clean on all 4 and didnt bottom out the suspension or hurt anything.
 
funny you suggest classic rock. I actually had the 1st version with a nice variety of classic rock...but decided to make it a little more extreme.  But the classic was mostly because Thursday night I went to the REO Speedwagon concert so I was rockin to XM 49 classic rock allllll weekend long!

I figured, we have the same flag!    I like taking it apart to transport back and forth every time I go!  The Silver Sand Resort acrossed the street is where I usually stay, unless I rent a cottage for the week. 
 
Back in 1982 I saw REO at the Silver Dollar Saloon, East Lansing.  I was the guy who let them in the back door unannounced cuz there was a huge line out front!!  he he, was supposed to be studying, oops.

Hey Doc.  Are we still looking for a spring get-together here?  Is this the same place we've been talking about this whole time?  I think it would be loads of fun.  Do they allow grills and BBQ'in and all that fun stuff?