Rubicon Trail v3.0

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tobyw
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Rubicon Trail v3.0

Postby tobyw » Sun Jul 08, 2018 6:59 pm

There will be more added to this run report in the coming days, but I wanted to share a couple quick pics and some thoughts after pouring myself out of the JL with the final tally being just shy of 2,700 miles and 62 hours of total driving time...

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First and perhaps foremost, I want to thank my wonderful wife and the great group of friends that shared this experience with me. I have been fortunate enough to run the Rubicon three times now, and each time has been an experience I won't forget:

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Second, while I have ownt no less than four Jeeps that bear the namesake, and as I just mentioned have run the trail three times now, yet this was the first time I actually got to play Rubicon on the Rubicon!! Yay!!

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While on the topic of the aforementioned JL Rubicon, there are a couple of key things that stood out for me during the course of this trip. The first is the extreme level of refinement of the JL platform over the outgoing JK, which was a huge step in civility over the TJ. It simply amazes me how much nicer to drive and generally be in that these things are getting, considering what they are (still) capable of. Another big stand out for me was the shear size: the JL is big. Bigger than the JK in every way, and of particular note would be width. Not just body width, but axle width and corresponding track width. In stock form, the JL Rubicon axles are within 1/2" of what is considered "full width", and when you slap on some 12.5 wide tires on aftermarket rims, or in my case stock rims with wheel spacers, it makes an already wide load extremely wide. This was problematic for me several times on the trail, admittedly mostly because I simply wasn't used to it, but after scraping and clawing my way over a few obstacles only to remember doing the same obstacle with relative ease in a decidedly narrower XJ and LJ, it makes me wonder if maybe the Jeep guys didn't miss the mark a bit on this particular statistic. Similarly, the final recurring theme was breakover, or lack thereof. The JLU wheelbase is longer than the JKU, and it showed several times on the trail with myself and Jim scrapping horrifically on several obstacles that were clean as whistle for the others. Combine that with our relatively low lift height of only 2.5", and it was a recipe for leaving the most chassis paint on the trail out of any rig that I have ever run on any trail, period.

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Rubicon Springs. It's THE place to setup camp, and the $15 fee is pittance for what you get. Seriously, it's not even an option, it's mandatory:

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And finally, the ARB fridge... Wow... It performed flawlessly all week long, in everything from 40's at night on the trail to 100+ in the SoCal desert, and we used it for a true second fridge with 11(!!) of us sharing a rental house in La Jolla. I will truly struggle to go back to dealing with ice for even a day trip. In my best Ferris Bueller: "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

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For now, I'm off to bed for some much needed R&R from this vacation. Hopefully the others that were on the trip will chime in, and I will generate an actual run report soon.

:cool:
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...
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tobyw
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Re: Rubicon Trail v3.0

Postby tobyw » Thu Jul 12, 2018 7:07 am

The idea for another Rubicon run came to be sometime in March or so of this year, with my family planning on taking the annual trek down to SoCal to visit the in-laws for a couple of weeks. As in years past, I devised a plan to put them on an air plane and I would follow a few days later in the Jeep, run the Rubicon trail on my way South, and eventually meet up with the family in SoCal. Discussions were had with a few folks, and not too much later a full-blown attendee list and agenda were developed.

Accompanying me on this adventure would be Mr. & Mrs. OG in their sparkling new JLU-R, Rottwheeler +2 in his JKU-R, Dryside +2 (but they stayed at a rental house in South Lake Tahoe while we toured the local dirt roads) in his JKU-R (which is actually my old JKU-R, affectionately known as Trail Cow v3.0), and Craig riding solo in his 5.3L powered TJ. We met up in the parking lot of the Southridge Sports Complex around 0900 on Friday, June 29th and rolled out as a convoy headed for Klamath Falls, OR as our destination for the night:

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Somewhere just after Biggs, as I was following him up a hill, Dryside took a hard right turn into the gravel shoulder. Turns out his 6.0L Powerchoke Super Duty stopped powering but was still choking... After a quick diagnosis, it turned out to simply be a blown turbo boot which was quickly remedied, and we were back on our way:

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We stopped in Bend to check out a local overlanding equipment retailer, Free Sprit Recreation, and to have some lunch:

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As we have done in years past, we rolled through the scales on the North edge of K-falls just to get some idea of how badly we were overloaded. My JLU-R ended up being pretty gross:

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Our home for the night would be the Holiday Inn in K-Falls, which happens to share a parking lot with a Sizzler restaurant. Now, I haven’t been inside a Sizzler since I was in single digits for age, and I’m not sure if it was the hanger or some other outside influence, but it was delicious!!

Bright and early on Saturday morning, we rolled out of K-Falls and headed for Reno, NV. The road trip shenanigans started early, with Mrs. OG going full Mario Kart on me and tossing a banana peel in the roadway. While I wasn’t able to accomplish a high-speed 360 as per the rules, my evasive maneuver was deemed adequate to continue playing:

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As we continued South, we came across Wong Road and Wong Potato LLC, and suffice it say there were some tears involved. As we approached Reno, part of the group continued South to Tahoe in an effort to get the rental house situation handled, while myself and the OG crew headed for the nearest In-N-Out, via the Reno airport because I had to pick up my wife. She played rock star and flew from SoCal to Reno just to run the Rubicon, leaving the minions with the in-laws for a few days until we made our way down to meet up with them.

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Anyhow, In-N-Out was delicious as always, and we eventually met up with the rest of the gang in South Tahoe and headed West on Highway 50, with Uncle Tom’s Cabin as our destination:

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After enjoying a couple of frosty beverages and some great conversation, we saddled up and made our way to the Airport Flat campground. Eating and sleeping equipment was deployed, and we had ourselves a grand evening of food, beverage, and lies, all with high anticipation of what lie in store for the next two days:

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Sometime around 0700 Sunday morning, we were on the road, pointed toward the Rubicon trailhead at Wentworth Springs. As in years past, we wanted to run the entire trail and quite frankly, some of the best four wheeling lies in the section from Wentworth Springs to the intersection at Loon Lake. After airing down, we eased onto the trail and meandered our way toward the first section of real trail which is known as the Post Pile:

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There is one particular ledge in this stretch of boulder-strewn nirvana that has given us cause for pause every time, and this year was certainly no exception. After scratching and clawing my way around and over, I walked back down to give OG a little spot. Now, some will say the boulders moved, some will say the spotting was terrible, and others will say it was a perfect plan with poor execution; regardless of who you believe, OG suffered what would be first and thankfully the only “real” carnage for the trip, relieving his shiny new JLU-R of its passenger rear fender flare. Suffice it to say Mrs. OG was not impressed with this part of the program:

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As in years past, we got lost on the granite slabs but eventually found our way back onto the main trail just below what we have affectionately labeled Tackle Box Hill, at which time my wife took the helm and put on a clinic on how to spank an obstacle. I really should have let her drive the entire trail…

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Just past the summit of Tackle Box Hill, the trail meets up with the entrance from Loon Lake, and we took a quick rest stop at the outhouse just over the bridge. With everyone gathered back up and excess fluids removed, we trudged Eastward toward Little Sluice:

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As we arrived at Little Sluice, we were greeted by a convoy of wheelers that were exiting the trail, undoubtedly from Buck Island, and we spent about 20 minutes watching the show as they went by. The Rubicon has vehicle watching that is similar to people watching in Vegas; highly entertaining and sometimes you just can’t look away. Coors Light: czek. Square driveshafts: czek. Iroks with less tread depth than a racing slick: czek. Boat speakers on the rollcage cranked up to 11: czek. Yep, we are squarely in the middle of Rubicon country now, gang!! Once the procession was past, we continued a few hundred yards up the trail to take a quick gander at Little Sluice before diving right in:

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At the top of Little Sluice is one of the true gems of the Rubicon – Spider Lake. We parked the rigs and took the short hike over to the lake, sammiches in hand, and spent a few minutes taking it all in:

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With lunch in our bellies, we loaded back up and continued on toward Buck Island, with mixed emotions about possibly camping there if the crowds were slim versus pushing on to Rubicon Springs for the night. Overall we were making incredibly good time, and found ourselves at Buck Island before 1600hrs:

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After taking a quick break in the bathtub warm water in one of the granite pools at Buck Island, we surveyed the camping opportunities and found almost no one else around, which is extremely rare at that location. Some debate was had, but we eventually decided it best to push on to Rubicon Springs and keep our fingers crossed that it would be similarly deserted. The trail exiting Buck Island offers some of the most intense obstacles of the entire trail, and as soon as you leave Buck Island Lake in the mirror you are staring at Big Sluice, which is nothing to sneeze at:

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At the bottom of Big Sluice is the infamous green bridge over the Rubicon River, which signals the entrance into the mecca of Rubicon Springs:

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We stopped into the caretaker’s cabin at the springs, happily paid our $15 to secure a camp site for the evening, and then proceeded a few hundred yards North to find a beautiful camp spot right on the edge of the river. Camping and eating weaponry was again deployed, and we enjoyed a delicious potluck highlighted by carne asada provided by Mrs. OG and perfectly grilled by Mr. OG himself.

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At some point a camp fire was lit, and as per the rules I went to sleep:

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Monday morning was very leisurely, with OG making eggs and Craig walking around camp with a mountain of delicious bacon for everyone to savor. Just as the sun crested the ridge to our East, we broke camp and headed for Cadillac Hill:

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Observation Point lies at the summit of Cadillac, and the group bunched up for a photo op to commemorate the event.

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At this point the most difficult portions of the trail were behind us, but the wheeling was far from over. There are still a few miles of trail to be traversed before meeting up with the dirt road that eventually takes you to the trailhead/exit near Tahoma, CA. We stopped for lunch near Miller Lake before airing up at the parking lot and finally hitting pavement again:

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Craig headed North toward home, but the rest of us headed back to South Lake Tahoe for an evening of fine food and spirits at the Hard Rock hotel:

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Overall, it was another one for the record books. The Rubicon is hard, period. It’s miles and miles of continuous difficult trail, the likes of which we simply don’t have here in the PNW. Throw in the awesome scenery and the good times of a road trip on each end, and it’s truly an experience. Thanks again gang, can’t wait for the next one!

8-)
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...

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Lurch
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Re: Rubicon Trail v3.0

Postby Lurch » Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:11 am

Looks like a great time. I eventually want to do the four dyce trail down there.
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tobyw
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Re: Rubicon Trail v3.0

Postby tobyw » Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:33 am

Fordyce would be awesome, but it's difficult to plan out based on PG&E's control of the water levels. I've looked into attending the Sierra Trek event just to be able to czek it off the bucket list, but the price they are asking for what essentially boils down to a 4-day event with 2 trails run offered is outrageous...

The Dusy-Ershim, on the other hand, is my next real target 8)
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...

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TJDave
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Re: Rubicon Trail v3.0

Postby TJDave » Thu Jul 12, 2018 2:32 pm

8) Great report. Thank you for posting. Love the new JLR.
2018 JLU Rubicon
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OldGreen
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Re: Rubicon Trail v3.0

Postby OldGreen » Sat Jul 14, 2018 11:33 pm

Here is a video on Ginger on Little Sluice. More vids on my YouTube channel.

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Dryside
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Re: Rubicon Trail v3.0

Postby Dryside » Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:10 pm

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Coolest poop truck ever
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92 YJ
88 XJ (Son's project)
75 Power Wagon
09 JKU (Balloon Animal)

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Dryside
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Re: Rubicon Trail v3.0

Postby Dryside » Mon Jul 16, 2018 7:34 pm

Here's a more from another view. Since I'm behind the camera my behind is not in any of these.

First time and glad to have had some experience around. Also first time on the trail since TC3 came to live with us. Great time!

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They went that way!
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There's nothing quite like the sound of a JL scraping it's belly across the rocks
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Red White & Blue
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92 YJ
88 XJ (Son's project)
75 Power Wagon
09 JKU (Balloon Animal)


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