Long Lake Trail via Rubicon Springs through Lake Tahoe 2013
Long Lake Trail via Rubicon Springs through Lake Tahoe 2013
This is the preview report in advance of the "extended version" that will include. . .well. . .it will include a LOT more awesomeness.
Installment 1: Background
So, there I was, MMOGDB. . .about two weeks ago. I think I was munchin' on lunch when I got an IM from Toby. He explained that he had to drive his XJ (GG2.0) to Long Beach from Twin Falls, ID. Whilst diligently planning his route, he noticed that it bisected Northern California generally through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. And, as such, the route took him generally through the Sacramento area via Donner pass. . .or. . .maybe not.
I don't really remember what happened next, but I THINK that he had installed the "bucket list app" as a companion to "Google Maps" and all kinds of bells, sirens, and flashing lights went off. There may have even been an electric shock involved. At any rate, the horsehead offer was made:
"You wanna meet me at the Airport Flats Campground on June 27?"
I responded with, "Sure. . .but what are we doing?"
He said, "Look it up."
Once I recovered from the shock and regained consciousness, the gravity of what I had agreed to sunk in.
We were about to embark upon and, hopefully, conquer the most famous and one of the most difficult off-road trails on ANY planet: The Universally Famous/Infamous RUBICON TRAIL.
I quickly remembered that I had identified a new item for Danny that was residing in Denver (more on that later). With a little more Google Maps love, I realized that he had to be right there. . right then. . .anyway, so it was serendipity. I also remembered that a couple of us had discussed the trail "bench racing". A couple of those people had conflicts (gosh man, it was two weeks notice), but our own Lurch HAD to Load up and make the journey with us.
The call was made at that point that we would NOT be opening this up as a club and/or public run. Why? Well, we simply had no idea what to expect, no knowledgeable leader beyond an Amazon.com guide book, no firm plans and really no clue in general. So, if you didn't get a call, please understand that we were, in fact, purposely excluding you for your own protection. We decided that a small group of 4 or less rigs, a few cases of bottled water, a few lbs of Carne Asada, a puppy, a teenage girl, and a quartet of loose nuts would blaze a trail for possible "event" in 2014 on the Rubicon.
Dearest 4x4 enthusiast. . .I, neigh, WE had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. NONE. Zip. . .NADA. . .
Trial by fire. . .
Next Installment: The Journey (now with pics).
Installment 1: Background
So, there I was, MMOGDB. . .about two weeks ago. I think I was munchin' on lunch when I got an IM from Toby. He explained that he had to drive his XJ (GG2.0) to Long Beach from Twin Falls, ID. Whilst diligently planning his route, he noticed that it bisected Northern California generally through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. And, as such, the route took him generally through the Sacramento area via Donner pass. . .or. . .maybe not.
I don't really remember what happened next, but I THINK that he had installed the "bucket list app" as a companion to "Google Maps" and all kinds of bells, sirens, and flashing lights went off. There may have even been an electric shock involved. At any rate, the horsehead offer was made:
"You wanna meet me at the Airport Flats Campground on June 27?"
I responded with, "Sure. . .but what are we doing?"
He said, "Look it up."
Once I recovered from the shock and regained consciousness, the gravity of what I had agreed to sunk in.
We were about to embark upon and, hopefully, conquer the most famous and one of the most difficult off-road trails on ANY planet: The Universally Famous/Infamous RUBICON TRAIL.
I quickly remembered that I had identified a new item for Danny that was residing in Denver (more on that later). With a little more Google Maps love, I realized that he had to be right there. . right then. . .anyway, so it was serendipity. I also remembered that a couple of us had discussed the trail "bench racing". A couple of those people had conflicts (gosh man, it was two weeks notice), but our own Lurch HAD to Load up and make the journey with us.
The call was made at that point that we would NOT be opening this up as a club and/or public run. Why? Well, we simply had no idea what to expect, no knowledgeable leader beyond an Amazon.com guide book, no firm plans and really no clue in general. So, if you didn't get a call, please understand that we were, in fact, purposely excluding you for your own protection. We decided that a small group of 4 or less rigs, a few cases of bottled water, a few lbs of Carne Asada, a puppy, a teenage girl, and a quartet of loose nuts would blaze a trail for possible "event" in 2014 on the Rubicon.
Dearest 4x4 enthusiast. . .I, neigh, WE had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. NONE. Zip. . .NADA. . .
Trial by fire. . .
Next Installment: The Journey (now with pics).
Installment 2. . .the Journey: Rollin' Heavy
Danny, being retired, left a couple of days early to settle the Taj (along with the very tolerant Mrs. Foley) in at an RV Resort in (uh. . .the mountains) California. Toby left from Twin Falls at O'Dark:45 preceded by Me, Jessy, Parker (the dawg), and Tim at O'Dark:00. For reference, that is 3AM ETD. We were flyin' low and ridin' heavy with both Tim's rock eating Bronco and Orville ridin' on the deck behind Tim's F350. Here we are grabbing welding rod and Starbucks in Bend.
Shasta was B E A YOUTUFUL (Tim's pretty too)
We basically rolled along as usual with no drama. In N Out burgers in Redding and then on to Sactown and rush hour traffic. A stop for ice and a stretch in Placerville lead us to call Toby (who was already with Danny) and the beginnings of a plan. Remember, we only knew a few things. Where or when we would meet up was NOT one of them. We DID know that we would be staying in South Lake Tahoe on Saturday night (this was Thursday afternoon) and that we wanted as little highway time as possible for Tim's Bronco.
The Call was made to drop the Yellow Bronc and Orville at the Icehouse Resort on the aptly named Icehouse Road near. . .you guessed it, the Icehouse Reservoir. Danny and Toby would roll out from Georgetown on Wentworth Springs Road and meet up with us at the intersection of Icehouse and Wentworth after having a beer at Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Meeting Point on the map:
Patiently waiting:
From there, we headed north to Airport Flat Campground and some well deserved Tacos (Tina outdid herself on the Taco meat. . .). There was only one other group camped here and they weren't wheelers. Had the whole place to ourselves.
Night 1 Sunset:
Campfire. .
Off to bed and getting ready to wheel the first day. Sleep was hard to come by even for everyone but the dog and the teenager. . .Even though we'd all had a LONG day.
Next Up: So You Think You Know All About the Rubicon?
Magazines and Internets don't tell half the story. . .but I'm going to tell the whole thing, a quarter at a time.
Danny, being retired, left a couple of days early to settle the Taj (along with the very tolerant Mrs. Foley) in at an RV Resort in (uh. . .the mountains) California. Toby left from Twin Falls at O'Dark:45 preceded by Me, Jessy, Parker (the dawg), and Tim at O'Dark:00. For reference, that is 3AM ETD. We were flyin' low and ridin' heavy with both Tim's rock eating Bronco and Orville ridin' on the deck behind Tim's F350. Here we are grabbing welding rod and Starbucks in Bend.
Shasta was B E A YOUTUFUL (Tim's pretty too)
We basically rolled along as usual with no drama. In N Out burgers in Redding and then on to Sactown and rush hour traffic. A stop for ice and a stretch in Placerville lead us to call Toby (who was already with Danny) and the beginnings of a plan. Remember, we only knew a few things. Where or when we would meet up was NOT one of them. We DID know that we would be staying in South Lake Tahoe on Saturday night (this was Thursday afternoon) and that we wanted as little highway time as possible for Tim's Bronco.
The Call was made to drop the Yellow Bronc and Orville at the Icehouse Resort on the aptly named Icehouse Road near. . .you guessed it, the Icehouse Reservoir. Danny and Toby would roll out from Georgetown on Wentworth Springs Road and meet up with us at the intersection of Icehouse and Wentworth after having a beer at Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Meeting Point on the map:
Patiently waiting:
From there, we headed north to Airport Flat Campground and some well deserved Tacos (Tina outdid herself on the Taco meat. . .). There was only one other group camped here and they weren't wheelers. Had the whole place to ourselves.
Night 1 Sunset:
Campfire. .
Off to bed and getting ready to wheel the first day. Sleep was hard to come by even for everyone but the dog and the teenager. . .Even though we'd all had a LONG day.
Next Up: So You Think You Know All About the Rubicon?
Magazines and Internets don't tell half the story. . .but I'm going to tell the whole thing, a quarter at a time.
Part 3: Rubicon Trail Day 1
"So you think you know all about the Rubicon?"
Let me explain something, my dear 4x4 enthusiast. I certainly didn't know a THING about this trail. I mean, it is legendary. Little Sluice, Walker Rock, Big Sluice, Cadillac Hill, and all of the other great parts of the trail have been in my dreams since I was 8 years old. However, I really had no idea. Nor did anyone else in the group.
The Rubicon is, in one word: RELENTLESS. It simply never stops throwing curve balls. I mean, if you are rocking a giant wheeler or buggy with huge tires, it is still a challenge. However, if you are in a little Jeep on 33s, it is a MONSTER. Even Tim had some challenges. . .but more on that later.
Up early in the morning, we were ready to rock and get on the trail to beat the rush.
Staged and Ready:
What some people don't know is that there are basically two ways to start the trail from the West side. The most popular way is via Loon Lake. It is the "normal" place to start. However, it cuts off a couple of miles of the original trail. Since we weren't sure that we were ever coming back, we chose to take the longer route.
Cow Camp:
After a slight detour, we aired down and got right to the trailhead at around 9AM. It is important that you remember that time.
Now, firmly in low range we started on the actual Rubicon Trail. It was easy going for about 22 seconds. Jess was driving O while I was. . .uh. . .spotting? Anyway, we cruised along enjoying the shade in the woods.
One last break to gather our wits. . .
and the cute little trail turned into THIS:
Now, most of the rest of the "original" Rubicon Trail is captured in our forthcoming movie. We'll move on in a minute to the "current" section of trail, but let's discuss something first.
That last photo was the EASY part. In fact, Jess drove about half of that before I took over behind the helm. The part of the trail that most people BYPASS looks IMPASSIBLE when you first see it. To say that we were dumbfounded would be a massive understatement. The before Loon Lake is really, really difficult. We don't have anything to even compare it.
I'll continue part 3 in a while. . .
"So you think you know all about the Rubicon?"
Let me explain something, my dear 4x4 enthusiast. I certainly didn't know a THING about this trail. I mean, it is legendary. Little Sluice, Walker Rock, Big Sluice, Cadillac Hill, and all of the other great parts of the trail have been in my dreams since I was 8 years old. However, I really had no idea. Nor did anyone else in the group.
The Rubicon is, in one word: RELENTLESS. It simply never stops throwing curve balls. I mean, if you are rocking a giant wheeler or buggy with huge tires, it is still a challenge. However, if you are in a little Jeep on 33s, it is a MONSTER. Even Tim had some challenges. . .but more on that later.
Up early in the morning, we were ready to rock and get on the trail to beat the rush.
Staged and Ready:
What some people don't know is that there are basically two ways to start the trail from the West side. The most popular way is via Loon Lake. It is the "normal" place to start. However, it cuts off a couple of miles of the original trail. Since we weren't sure that we were ever coming back, we chose to take the longer route.
Cow Camp:
After a slight detour, we aired down and got right to the trailhead at around 9AM. It is important that you remember that time.
Now, firmly in low range we started on the actual Rubicon Trail. It was easy going for about 22 seconds. Jess was driving O while I was. . .uh. . .spotting? Anyway, we cruised along enjoying the shade in the woods.
One last break to gather our wits. . .
and the cute little trail turned into THIS:
Now, most of the rest of the "original" Rubicon Trail is captured in our forthcoming movie. We'll move on in a minute to the "current" section of trail, but let's discuss something first.
That last photo was the EASY part. In fact, Jess drove about half of that before I took over behind the helm. The part of the trail that most people BYPASS looks IMPASSIBLE when you first see it. To say that we were dumbfounded would be a massive understatement. The before Loon Lake is really, really difficult. We don't have anything to even compare it.
I'll continue part 3 in a while. . .
- Livin4Today
- Posts: 1054
- Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 8:23 am
- Location: Kennewick, WA
Ok! I confess like Lee I'm slappin' veins here, STOP whatever else you're doing (regardless of importance) and FINISH THE STORY!
And maybe the other as yet silent villians that snuck off with you will chime in too...
And maybe the other as yet silent villians that snuck off with you will chime in too...
Lance
Building a capable off roader is easy, building a street legal one that you can wheel and then drive daily is the challenge...
2007 JKU, 7" RK lift, 40s, ARBs, 5.38s, Headers, Fox Coilovers, etc. http://www.Livin4Today.com
Building a capable off roader is easy, building a street legal one that you can wheel and then drive daily is the challenge...
2007 JKU, 7" RK lift, 40s, ARBs, 5.38s, Headers, Fox Coilovers, etc. http://www.Livin4Today.com
- mattawajeep
- Posts: 1221
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2010 6:18 pm
- Location: Mattawa, WA
Part 3, cont.
Now we were in the thick of it. After that monolith in the previous photo, the first real obstacles started popping up. Obstacle. Funny word. Most trails have an obstacle, a bunch of just "trail, then another obstacle. The Rubicon simply isn't like this. There are sections of trail on the front and back, but the obstacles are all just strung together in the middle. Here's the first section:
As you can see, that is a screen cap for a video. Sorry about that. The movie will come out later. We captured hours and hours of HD video that needs to be edited.
Here are some more pics of that area.
How the heck is O gonna get up this???? Again, this is a bumper cam screen cap.
This carried on for quite a while until we popped out of the trees and ended up here:
The granite is sort of like really nice, smooth concrete. Like a garage floor. Traction is OK at best, but if it is wet at all. . .fuggitaboutit.
First real carnage of the trip. . .I wiped off a shock mount on a rock. This happened because I'm a crappy welder, but it still happened. I guess that smacking it on a rock is worse that jumping it in the dunes.
Now, we lost the trail completely so Jess compared the trail map to the GPS and we picked our way through the slabs.
No cables were pulled in the making of this photo:
Back into the trees/sharp stuff a little. Somewhere around here we were discussing that we hadn't even made it to the modern "trail head" yet.
On up the hill. At this point we could see the Loon Lake dam and hear V8s screaming in the distance.
Toby got a dent (a dent. . .haha):
I'm sure that this hill has a name. If it doesn't, it should. We'll call it "Tackle Box Hill"
Speaking of tackle box. . .here comes Danny!!
The squeeze at the top of Tackle Box Hill.
This is really challenging. Like, OH S*(T challenging.
Orville needs more clearance before Rubicon 2014
Toby on Tackle Box Hill
Suck it up brother. . .
That's a video camera, not a cell phone. No service this far off the grid. Toby is ready to skin the top of TBH.
You wanna take your minivan through WHAT??
Look hard Danny!!
Wait a minute?? What's Tim doing??
Yep, Danny got stuck on the final obstacle on Tackle Box Hill.
Loon Lake coming into view. . .still not to the "trail head" quite yet. For those that like to plan, buy going the way we did, we lengthen the trail by quite a bit, but we do miss the "granite bowl" and the "gatekeeper". From the photos and videos I've seen, I think we made the right choice. I think that people come in through Loon Lake most because they can run the "major" obstacles in one day and still get home.
Who put that there? Isn't it almost time for lunch?
These are NOT optional obstacles. There are very few bypasses on the Rubicon. As a group, we took exactly zero of them. I went around one waterfall that the rest of the group scaled, but the way around was just as tough. . .so, optional and bypass are NOT the same thing.
The Sierra Nevadas are spectacular.
OK. . .we finally made it to the beginning of the modern Rubicon. Wentworth Springs Campground would be a fantastic place to camp if you planned on 3 trail days instead of two. At about 1PM we had lunch on top of Walker Rock. That is where we saw our first "traffic" of the day in the form of two well built Broncos that were there for the Norcal Bronco event. There was also a RZR with a busted off steering knuckle.
This brings us to the end of Part 3. For those of you still reading along, I will make my observations to this point. The weather was HOT. Firmly in the 90s. 3/4 of us (not Danny) were running a little on the hot side. Toby kept his AC off and Tim stopped once in a while. I did the same, but I kept the AC on Max. The combination of a manual tranny and air conditioning is a huge benefit on a day like this.
Also, Orville's gears are too high. . .so are Danny's. Tim with his doubledown t-case and Toby with the Auto and 4.56s were both better set ups. I didn't actually feel like I was driving at my full ability until. . .well. . .until about half way into Part 4. Speaking of which:
Next Up: Part 4.
"There I was, standing by the snag over Little Sluice. . .contemplating. Do sane people on 33s drive THROUGH that?"
We shall find out. . .
Now we were in the thick of it. After that monolith in the previous photo, the first real obstacles started popping up. Obstacle. Funny word. Most trails have an obstacle, a bunch of just "trail, then another obstacle. The Rubicon simply isn't like this. There are sections of trail on the front and back, but the obstacles are all just strung together in the middle. Here's the first section:
As you can see, that is a screen cap for a video. Sorry about that. The movie will come out later. We captured hours and hours of HD video that needs to be edited.
Here are some more pics of that area.
How the heck is O gonna get up this???? Again, this is a bumper cam screen cap.
This carried on for quite a while until we popped out of the trees and ended up here:
The granite is sort of like really nice, smooth concrete. Like a garage floor. Traction is OK at best, but if it is wet at all. . .fuggitaboutit.
First real carnage of the trip. . .I wiped off a shock mount on a rock. This happened because I'm a crappy welder, but it still happened. I guess that smacking it on a rock is worse that jumping it in the dunes.
Now, we lost the trail completely so Jess compared the trail map to the GPS and we picked our way through the slabs.
No cables were pulled in the making of this photo:
Back into the trees/sharp stuff a little. Somewhere around here we were discussing that we hadn't even made it to the modern "trail head" yet.
On up the hill. At this point we could see the Loon Lake dam and hear V8s screaming in the distance.
Toby got a dent (a dent. . .haha):
I'm sure that this hill has a name. If it doesn't, it should. We'll call it "Tackle Box Hill"
Speaking of tackle box. . .here comes Danny!!
The squeeze at the top of Tackle Box Hill.
This is really challenging. Like, OH S*(T challenging.
Orville needs more clearance before Rubicon 2014
Toby on Tackle Box Hill
Suck it up brother. . .
That's a video camera, not a cell phone. No service this far off the grid. Toby is ready to skin the top of TBH.
You wanna take your minivan through WHAT??
Look hard Danny!!
Wait a minute?? What's Tim doing??
Yep, Danny got stuck on the final obstacle on Tackle Box Hill.
Loon Lake coming into view. . .still not to the "trail head" quite yet. For those that like to plan, buy going the way we did, we lengthen the trail by quite a bit, but we do miss the "granite bowl" and the "gatekeeper". From the photos and videos I've seen, I think we made the right choice. I think that people come in through Loon Lake most because they can run the "major" obstacles in one day and still get home.
Who put that there? Isn't it almost time for lunch?
These are NOT optional obstacles. There are very few bypasses on the Rubicon. As a group, we took exactly zero of them. I went around one waterfall that the rest of the group scaled, but the way around was just as tough. . .so, optional and bypass are NOT the same thing.
The Sierra Nevadas are spectacular.
OK. . .we finally made it to the beginning of the modern Rubicon. Wentworth Springs Campground would be a fantastic place to camp if you planned on 3 trail days instead of two. At about 1PM we had lunch on top of Walker Rock. That is where we saw our first "traffic" of the day in the form of two well built Broncos that were there for the Norcal Bronco event. There was also a RZR with a busted off steering knuckle.
This brings us to the end of Part 3. For those of you still reading along, I will make my observations to this point. The weather was HOT. Firmly in the 90s. 3/4 of us (not Danny) were running a little on the hot side. Toby kept his AC off and Tim stopped once in a while. I did the same, but I kept the AC on Max. The combination of a manual tranny and air conditioning is a huge benefit on a day like this.
Also, Orville's gears are too high. . .so are Danny's. Tim with his doubledown t-case and Toby with the Auto and 4.56s were both better set ups. I didn't actually feel like I was driving at my full ability until. . .well. . .until about half way into Part 4. Speaking of which:
Next Up: Part 4.
"There I was, standing by the snag over Little Sluice. . .contemplating. Do sane people on 33s drive THROUGH that?"
We shall find out. . .
Last edited by OldGreen on Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Part 4
Loon Lake to Buck Island Lake
AKA: Little Sluice and True Old Big Sluice and a LOT of Rock Crawling.
AKA AKA: The tail of two tires, an axle and a tail light.
It is worth noting that we saw exactly 3 rigs on 33" or smaller tires. Those 3 were US. After lunching on fried chicken and sammiches along with sitting on a rock and letting Parker the trail dog take a nap under a tree, we saddled back up and bounced down a hill.
At the bottom of the hill, there was a beautiful lily pad pond.
Then there was a sign with a Jeep on it and some sort of a marker saying that we were like 3 miles into the trail. My best guess is that it said.
LITTLE SLUICE
Wait..What? We have to drive up THAT?
Well, in reality, no one HAS to drive up it. In fact, while were there, only one other rig even attempted it while maybe 7 or 8 bypassed. But, after much contemplating we decided that we didn't just come a bazillion miles to NOT run the Little effing Sluice freaking BOX. So. . .IN we went. Well, almost. First, we flipped Danny's shackles back over (they had both inverted) and Tim cleaned some tree-seeds out of his tranny cooler. At this same time, Toby and I stood about the famous Box peer pressuring one another into driving up the most famous obstacle on the most famous trail in the World. . .we simply HAD to do it.
For those of you that know your Rubicon facts, the rumor is/was that the Little Sluice was "paved" in 2010. Well. You have now seen the pictures of the trail. Yes, there are some additional soccer-ball sized rocks, but. . .it is still the hardest section of trail that I had laid eyes on up to that point.
This, again, is all on in-car video. But there are a few pics that will tease you in the mean time.
As it Turns out, this IS the line:
Then Danny shredded his left rear tire.
But he still drove it out. This may or may not be where he broke something on the passenger side front that left him in 3 wheel drive for the rest of the weekend.
Just before that, I drove up the thing in less than elegant style. I got hung up in the same spot as Dan and busted out my Driver's side tail light. Still made it through unassisted as did Tim.
So, just so everyone is keeping score. We drove through Little Sluice under our own power. . .To say that we were thrilled would be an understatement.
After we got Danny's spare tire mounted (the Driver's rear is now slashed), we headed up the trail about 100 yards more and came to a very nice man sitting on a lawn chair monitoring the top of the Box. He explained that he was with "Friends of the Rubicon" and offered us up a fresh set of maps. He also explained that we were next to the famous "Spider Lake".
I now understand the allure of this place. The gentleman sent us on a short hike of about 200 yards to take a peek. The five of us with Parker scampering out in the lead crested the rocks to a fantastic sight. Spider is within walking distance of Little Sluice and offers some spectacular views.
At this point we were waxing on about how civilians just don't understand. This was truly a moment I'll never forget. We sat on a rock in the shade and just took the whole thing in.
Spider Lake, for you history types, used to be one of the traditional camp grounds on the trail. However, people didn't respect the area so it is now off limits to camping. As wonderful as it would be to camp there with a small group, I am actually glad that it is off limits. Huge numbers of people would disrupt the tranquility. . .plus, the trail is only a few hundred yards away. No harm in parking and walking up for a look or a picnic. Plenty of places to camp down the trail.
Speaking of which, the day was getting a little "long in the tooth" by this point at maybe 4:00PM and we had a long ways to go before we got to camp.
At this point, we were looking for the bypass around "True Sluice" or "Old Sluice" or "True Big Sluice" or whatever it is called. At any rate, the kind man at Spider Lake told us that "Million Dollar Hill" was closed and that the True Sluice would be impassible to rigs like ours even though we just scaled the Box. We didn't really know what that meant, but signage directed us on down the trail.
Somewhere in THIS neighborhood, we were supposed to find the bypass.
We even turned around and went back a little ways. . .but it was nowhere to be found. We even connected with one of the Broncos. He couldn't find it either. So, Toby and Tim took a walk down the True Sluice to see what it was like. Well. . .it was gnarly. But, we decided to go for it.
I can't find many pictures of that section, but Danny got stuck a couple of times in 3 wheel drive and Tim shredded a 37" Toyo on a wayward sharp stone. Of course, as usual. . .there will be video.
Next up was the approach to Buck Island lake. There were a bunch of stairsteps down and some off-camber on this section plus some interesting V-Notch kind of things.
This thunderstorm bypassed us.
Old road bed from when they used to drive cars over the trail to get to the posh resorts back in the day.
Then we rolled into the campground at Buck Island Lake. It was getting to be around 6PM at this point but everyone told us that Buck Island was NOT a place to camp for peace and quiet. I actually had to ask people for directions on how to get through the campground because the trail is not marked at all. After the first water crossing, we came upon this joker wading in the kiddie pool. . .yes it is literally a natural swimming pool. Warm water from the rocks, nice smooth bottom, etc. I do hope that this fool's truck is ruined and he got a HEFTY fine.
Future wheeler learning what not to do.
The dam and Buck Island Lake
Here is the group. . .recovering Orville. I missed a turn and ended up on a line I had no business taking. For those keeping score, you are supposed to drive up that rock face, not the notch behind it. I crushed the exhaust pipe here. No biggy other than it is now hard against the body creating heat and noise.
Then we wound around a few more obstacles by the lake.
And there we have Part 4.
Part 5 is on to Big Sluice and Rubicon Springs!!
[/img]
Loon Lake to Buck Island Lake
AKA: Little Sluice and True Old Big Sluice and a LOT of Rock Crawling.
AKA AKA: The tail of two tires, an axle and a tail light.
It is worth noting that we saw exactly 3 rigs on 33" or smaller tires. Those 3 were US. After lunching on fried chicken and sammiches along with sitting on a rock and letting Parker the trail dog take a nap under a tree, we saddled back up and bounced down a hill.
At the bottom of the hill, there was a beautiful lily pad pond.
Then there was a sign with a Jeep on it and some sort of a marker saying that we were like 3 miles into the trail. My best guess is that it said.
LITTLE SLUICE
Wait..What? We have to drive up THAT?
Well, in reality, no one HAS to drive up it. In fact, while were there, only one other rig even attempted it while maybe 7 or 8 bypassed. But, after much contemplating we decided that we didn't just come a bazillion miles to NOT run the Little effing Sluice freaking BOX. So. . .IN we went. Well, almost. First, we flipped Danny's shackles back over (they had both inverted) and Tim cleaned some tree-seeds out of his tranny cooler. At this same time, Toby and I stood about the famous Box peer pressuring one another into driving up the most famous obstacle on the most famous trail in the World. . .we simply HAD to do it.
For those of you that know your Rubicon facts, the rumor is/was that the Little Sluice was "paved" in 2010. Well. You have now seen the pictures of the trail. Yes, there are some additional soccer-ball sized rocks, but. . .it is still the hardest section of trail that I had laid eyes on up to that point.
This, again, is all on in-car video. But there are a few pics that will tease you in the mean time.
As it Turns out, this IS the line:
Then Danny shredded his left rear tire.
But he still drove it out. This may or may not be where he broke something on the passenger side front that left him in 3 wheel drive for the rest of the weekend.
Just before that, I drove up the thing in less than elegant style. I got hung up in the same spot as Dan and busted out my Driver's side tail light. Still made it through unassisted as did Tim.
So, just so everyone is keeping score. We drove through Little Sluice under our own power. . .To say that we were thrilled would be an understatement.
After we got Danny's spare tire mounted (the Driver's rear is now slashed), we headed up the trail about 100 yards more and came to a very nice man sitting on a lawn chair monitoring the top of the Box. He explained that he was with "Friends of the Rubicon" and offered us up a fresh set of maps. He also explained that we were next to the famous "Spider Lake".
I now understand the allure of this place. The gentleman sent us on a short hike of about 200 yards to take a peek. The five of us with Parker scampering out in the lead crested the rocks to a fantastic sight. Spider is within walking distance of Little Sluice and offers some spectacular views.
At this point we were waxing on about how civilians just don't understand. This was truly a moment I'll never forget. We sat on a rock in the shade and just took the whole thing in.
Spider Lake, for you history types, used to be one of the traditional camp grounds on the trail. However, people didn't respect the area so it is now off limits to camping. As wonderful as it would be to camp there with a small group, I am actually glad that it is off limits. Huge numbers of people would disrupt the tranquility. . .plus, the trail is only a few hundred yards away. No harm in parking and walking up for a look or a picnic. Plenty of places to camp down the trail.
Speaking of which, the day was getting a little "long in the tooth" by this point at maybe 4:00PM and we had a long ways to go before we got to camp.
At this point, we were looking for the bypass around "True Sluice" or "Old Sluice" or "True Big Sluice" or whatever it is called. At any rate, the kind man at Spider Lake told us that "Million Dollar Hill" was closed and that the True Sluice would be impassible to rigs like ours even though we just scaled the Box. We didn't really know what that meant, but signage directed us on down the trail.
Somewhere in THIS neighborhood, we were supposed to find the bypass.
We even turned around and went back a little ways. . .but it was nowhere to be found. We even connected with one of the Broncos. He couldn't find it either. So, Toby and Tim took a walk down the True Sluice to see what it was like. Well. . .it was gnarly. But, we decided to go for it.
I can't find many pictures of that section, but Danny got stuck a couple of times in 3 wheel drive and Tim shredded a 37" Toyo on a wayward sharp stone. Of course, as usual. . .there will be video.
Next up was the approach to Buck Island lake. There were a bunch of stairsteps down and some off-camber on this section plus some interesting V-Notch kind of things.
This thunderstorm bypassed us.
Old road bed from when they used to drive cars over the trail to get to the posh resorts back in the day.
Then we rolled into the campground at Buck Island Lake. It was getting to be around 6PM at this point but everyone told us that Buck Island was NOT a place to camp for peace and quiet. I actually had to ask people for directions on how to get through the campground because the trail is not marked at all. After the first water crossing, we came upon this joker wading in the kiddie pool. . .yes it is literally a natural swimming pool. Warm water from the rocks, nice smooth bottom, etc. I do hope that this fool's truck is ruined and he got a HEFTY fine.
Future wheeler learning what not to do.
The dam and Buck Island Lake
Here is the group. . .recovering Orville. I missed a turn and ended up on a line I had no business taking. For those keeping score, you are supposed to drive up that rock face, not the notch behind it. I crushed the exhaust pipe here. No biggy other than it is now hard against the body creating heat and noise.
Then we wound around a few more obstacles by the lake.
And there we have Part 4.
Part 5 is on to Big Sluice and Rubicon Springs!!
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Part 5. Big Sluice and Rubicon Springs.
and on to Big Sluice.
Yes, that's right. We covered 6 miles of trail in something like 9 hours.
We didn't get a lot of pictures on Big Sluice. I think we were getting a little tired and it took all of our concentration to navigate the huge rocks. Big Sluice runs downhill from West to East (our direction of travel). It is a boulder strewn trail of tight squeezes. Paint was traded with rocks a few times on the way down, but we all managed the decent unassisted.
Here is a screen cap to give you an idea of what it was like. There were LOTs of mosquitos at this time of the evening right here. . .
After that spot, I blew a bead which we made short work of reseating and then we headed down to cross the MOST FAMOUS. . .Rubicon River.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii19 ... 47b268.jpg
Gettin' Dim so the pics are a little blurry:
Then we wound our way through the trees. This part of the trail was very much like the Naches trail. Pretty soon, we came out in the open to a large campground. Rubicon Springs. This is private property owned by Jeepers. There were LOTS of Jeeps. Had we not been so tired, we probably would have taken photos. At any rate, there was everything from a brand new AEV JK350 to a CJ2A with a military trailer. There is even a cabin and a guy that can repair stuff there. Pretty cool.
We met up with the manager (who I believe is one of the owners) and he directed us to a remote camp site about a quarter mile down the trail. Now, this isn't a campground that you could bring your RV into. There are rocky climbs and water crossings IN CAMP.
After registering and ponying up the $15/rig (soooo CHEAP), we cruised over the rocks and streams to our camp spot. It was heaven. I could have easily stayed here until the weather turned in the fall.
We were in our own private bowl with access to the river. The ground was sandy so you could actually walk around barefoot. Nice flat spots for the tents and our own private bathtub.
Our own waterfall leading to the bathtub:
While the rest of the crew erected the tents, I got to cooking about 5 lbs of some of the best Carne Asada anywhere. We ate almost all of it, washed up in the creek (Jess went swimming in the dark even) and settled in around the campfire. I think our total time in low range was around 11 hours. We went less than 10 miles. We were tired. Toby and Tim nodded off by the fire while dan scrubbed the tackle box, but we finally got enough energy to hit the sack.
Whew. . .That was a full day and we didn't even make it to the Long Lake Trail yet. . .
Part 6 is up next. We'll talk about breakfast, the Long Lake Trail, Cadillac Hill, Observation Point and our descent to Tahoe.
There is this one other thing that is worth mentioning. One of us almost dies in Part 6.
and on to Big Sluice.
Yes, that's right. We covered 6 miles of trail in something like 9 hours.
We didn't get a lot of pictures on Big Sluice. I think we were getting a little tired and it took all of our concentration to navigate the huge rocks. Big Sluice runs downhill from West to East (our direction of travel). It is a boulder strewn trail of tight squeezes. Paint was traded with rocks a few times on the way down, but we all managed the decent unassisted.
Here is a screen cap to give you an idea of what it was like. There were LOTs of mosquitos at this time of the evening right here. . .
After that spot, I blew a bead which we made short work of reseating and then we headed down to cross the MOST FAMOUS. . .Rubicon River.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii19 ... 47b268.jpg
Gettin' Dim so the pics are a little blurry:
Then we wound our way through the trees. This part of the trail was very much like the Naches trail. Pretty soon, we came out in the open to a large campground. Rubicon Springs. This is private property owned by Jeepers. There were LOTS of Jeeps. Had we not been so tired, we probably would have taken photos. At any rate, there was everything from a brand new AEV JK350 to a CJ2A with a military trailer. There is even a cabin and a guy that can repair stuff there. Pretty cool.
We met up with the manager (who I believe is one of the owners) and he directed us to a remote camp site about a quarter mile down the trail. Now, this isn't a campground that you could bring your RV into. There are rocky climbs and water crossings IN CAMP.
After registering and ponying up the $15/rig (soooo CHEAP), we cruised over the rocks and streams to our camp spot. It was heaven. I could have easily stayed here until the weather turned in the fall.
We were in our own private bowl with access to the river. The ground was sandy so you could actually walk around barefoot. Nice flat spots for the tents and our own private bathtub.
Our own waterfall leading to the bathtub:
While the rest of the crew erected the tents, I got to cooking about 5 lbs of some of the best Carne Asada anywhere. We ate almost all of it, washed up in the creek (Jess went swimming in the dark even) and settled in around the campfire. I think our total time in low range was around 11 hours. We went less than 10 miles. We were tired. Toby and Tim nodded off by the fire while dan scrubbed the tackle box, but we finally got enough energy to hit the sack.
Whew. . .That was a full day and we didn't even make it to the Long Lake Trail yet. . .
Part 6 is up next. We'll talk about breakfast, the Long Lake Trail, Cadillac Hill, Observation Point and our descent to Tahoe.
There is this one other thing that is worth mentioning. One of us almost dies in Part 6.
Part 6: Maybe I should post just ONE video. . .
Breaking Camp, A detour, Danger and Beauty.
So, per the routine established the day before, Toby woke up and went on a photo safari, Parker wondered where he went and came and asked me.
Toby and I took turns in the tub while we waited for the coffee to brew and the rest of the gang to wake up. The water was brisk but refreshing. Being this clean after a full day of hard wheeling is a welcome departure from the norm when you are this far back in the woods.
Orville took some damage. He needs a few things to be magical for a trail like this, but he got the job done for sure.
We knew that Saturday would be a shorter day on the trail so we didn't plan on heading out until 10AM. We rolled out at 9:58.
Now, we knew that Cadillac Hill ascended almost immediately out of camp. We also knew that we were to come to a place called "Sid's Grave" at the based of the hill/staging area.
Well. . .we came to a fork in the road and went left instead of right.
We kinda shrugged it off and decided to see where the trail headed. It did say "most difficult" after all.
I believe this to be "Long Lake"
The Long Lake Trail was .91 miles long and was much like the Shoestring but with more rocks (Jess' observation). Pretty neat little side trip on a very unused trail. Danny managed to put his Jeep on two wheels one time. When we got to the end of the trail, we turned tail and went in "high speed" mode back to the intersection and found that Sid's Grave was about 25 feet from where we made the wrong turn. Serendipity strikes again.
Then we immediately started up Cadillac Hill.
OK. . .Cadillac hill is a MONSTER. You start off on a nearly vertical rock wall and then it turns into a boulder strewn trail. I think Toby has In-Car for later, but for now, I feel as though I should post up two videos.
First, this video is Tim on the second obstacle on the Hill. I bypassed this spot on an optional line that was rockier but not as steep. I'm putting this up so you can understand just how steep this rock face is and, well, what a BadA$$ Timmy is. . .
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfsTbN8HyYg&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
Now, this video highlights the fact that our sport is very, very dangerous and things can go sideways without warning. I'm personally thankful that we all didn't lose a friend on this day. . .
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exIEMlZwRIw&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
I will let that marinate before I carry on with part 6.
Breaking Camp, A detour, Danger and Beauty.
So, per the routine established the day before, Toby woke up and went on a photo safari, Parker wondered where he went and came and asked me.
Toby and I took turns in the tub while we waited for the coffee to brew and the rest of the gang to wake up. The water was brisk but refreshing. Being this clean after a full day of hard wheeling is a welcome departure from the norm when you are this far back in the woods.
Orville took some damage. He needs a few things to be magical for a trail like this, but he got the job done for sure.
We knew that Saturday would be a shorter day on the trail so we didn't plan on heading out until 10AM. We rolled out at 9:58.
Now, we knew that Cadillac Hill ascended almost immediately out of camp. We also knew that we were to come to a place called "Sid's Grave" at the based of the hill/staging area.
Well. . .we came to a fork in the road and went left instead of right.
We kinda shrugged it off and decided to see where the trail headed. It did say "most difficult" after all.
I believe this to be "Long Lake"
The Long Lake Trail was .91 miles long and was much like the Shoestring but with more rocks (Jess' observation). Pretty neat little side trip on a very unused trail. Danny managed to put his Jeep on two wheels one time. When we got to the end of the trail, we turned tail and went in "high speed" mode back to the intersection and found that Sid's Grave was about 25 feet from where we made the wrong turn. Serendipity strikes again.
Then we immediately started up Cadillac Hill.
OK. . .Cadillac hill is a MONSTER. You start off on a nearly vertical rock wall and then it turns into a boulder strewn trail. I think Toby has In-Car for later, but for now, I feel as though I should post up two videos.
First, this video is Tim on the second obstacle on the Hill. I bypassed this spot on an optional line that was rockier but not as steep. I'm putting this up so you can understand just how steep this rock face is and, well, what a BadA$$ Timmy is. . .
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfsTbN8HyYg&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
Now, this video highlights the fact that our sport is very, very dangerous and things can go sideways without warning. I'm personally thankful that we all didn't lose a friend on this day. . .
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exIEMlZwRIw&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
I will let that marinate before I carry on with part 6.
Okay, need to jump in here....Timmy did it, Toby did it so why couldn't I do it? We'd been following each other through these huge obsticals for a dan and a half so why should we stop now.
After seeing the video I see what I did wrong. Picking the correct line and too much passenger side steering just about cost me. It would have been about a 5 roll tumble.
A winch to a tree and I was off and down the trail in about 5 minutes.
No TP was needed in making this video.
After seeing the video I see what I did wrong. Picking the correct line and too much passenger side steering just about cost me. It would have been about a 5 roll tumble.
A winch to a tree and I was off and down the trail in about 5 minutes.
No TP was needed in making this video.
Forget your age and live your life!
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OldGreen wrote:79chevy39.5's wrote:i dunno if it can be squeezed in on a yj but a 231/231 box 4 rocks kit would give a lot more control on somethin like that too
While you may be correct, Danny will be rockin' 4.10s, 4:1 TCase, and a 3.6 Pentastar in about 5 minutes.
....make that 3 days!!!
Forget your age and live your life!
....and Lee.....you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT....but a good video is hind sight. The minute I saw the video and saw the direction my tyres were pointed climbing over that rock I knew!! We'd been staying on the high side of rocks all day and I just figured that that had to be the line...ABAIN!!
Forget your age and live your life!
Danny wrote:....and Lee.....you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT....but a good video is hind sight. The minute I saw the video and saw the direction my tyres were pointed climbing over that rock I knew!! We'd been staying on the high side of rocks all day and I just figured that that had to be the line...ABAIN!!
Ain't 2nd guessing, just quoting Jimmy. I just wish I was there to pick the wrong line... no way in hell I could be, but still...
Okay, we're a little crazy to have a Duramax for a daily driver. But if we go off our meds, we might wind up in a Prius.
If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.
N7EEL WROD249
If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.
N7EEL WROD249
OldGreen wrote:79chevy39.5's wrote:i dunno if it can be squeezed in on a yj but a 231/231 box 4 rocks kit would give a lot more control on somethin like that too
While you may be correct, Danny will be rockin' 4.10s, 4:1 TCase, and a 3.6 Pentastar in about 5 minutes.
Danny? A Rubi-can't? Pictures, or it did not happen. Even if it did the level of grief that you will receive from the 4:1 community is great.
Okay, we're a little crazy to have a Duramax for a daily driver. But if we go off our meds, we might wind up in a Prius.
If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.
N7EEL WROD249
If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.
N7EEL WROD249
Never been a huge fan of them but I needed tires without side wall plugs due to the amout of highway driving. I bought the set of 5 with good tread from a buddy for $350 so the price was right. To be honest they didn't do to bad. And being 14.5 wide on 10" wheels they give the bronco a nice aggressive look. I had to drop to 5 psi before they would even start to bag because of the heavy side walls.
You can follow me.... but it's gonna hurt
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