I do believe Rubicon exceeded everyone’s expectations. Just where does one begin to describe this place. The one thing that held true was Don’s description of this place being relentless, it was. Rocks, rocks and more rocks.
Eric and Mom, Don and Family, James and Holly, Tony with Sooz and the boys all made the 900 mile drive down to the trail head. We also met up with a friend of Eric’s, Al with his nephew Francisco in California.
Maintenance started early with a little trailer fender welding for Don at the first nights campground in Oregon. Then James lost a u-joint just shy of the trail head at Loon Lake. So we got a bit of a late start that we never did seem to catch up on.
First night on the trail was rather timely, it was getting late and a wide spot presented itself right at the Base of Walker Hill. After a bit of a pause to think about the next obstacle, Eric noticed his spring hanger had pulled off the frame. Good thing he brought along his Mig Welder. We stopped for the night for a fresh start in the morning.
Its strange to start the morning on the rocks with no time to think about it, just get up and start wheeling within ten feet of camp. Other than the thrill of wheeling it was a pretty uneventful day. On closer inspection we thought better of trying to tackle Little sluice as the rocks were of an outrageous size, but even the long bypass around it was no slouch. The trail to the Slabs got a bit exciting as I almost rolled the Diesel with Sooz in it to boot. Buck Island Lake looked inviting but our late evening arrival stopped us from going for a swim. Sadly for Eric the nature of the trail managed to destroy the rack holding his tent so another night of work to make sure he had a place to sleep.
Third day started out hardcore wheeling once again (no surprise there). While this was one of the shortest for distance, it seemed to take the longest. Eric even renamed the upper section of Big Sluice the Forever Spot. But after working our way through that we got down to the lower section and we were all working together really well. I thought it may have been the hardest section of the trail because it was really long with huge rocks, not just one rock to crawl over. Definitely a place to listen to your spotter and we all did. I think Don is getting used to my wagon as the spotting for me was great. After the mandatory stop on the bridge for pics it was off to the campground at Rubicon Springs. Not that the wheeling was over for the day. Once you pay for the campsite its back to the trail for a short run to the campsite, I even managed to drag my roof rack sliders on some rocks on the way.
Cadillac Hill, a place to be forever scratched on my rig. Breakage, Big Rocks and Obstacles and more winching than I care to remember. Not a half hour from Camp and I broke a rear axle in my full float, yank the broken shaft, put the outer piece back in to hold the oil and keep going. The first turn was where things got tough and stayed tough for the next couple of hours. We all had to winch through this section, most of us multiple times. Especially me with the broken axle. Not a lot of pics in this section as most of our photographers were hot tired and worn out. And I do remember the guy at the campground saying it’s only a dirt road to get out of here.
And the fun wasn’t done yet. Shortly after getting over the first of the big steps I tore a brake line off the front drive shaft. Did I mention that good things come in 3’s? 200 yards later I felt the tell tale grinding of a birfield that gave up the ghost. I may have rubbed the other hub on a rock which unlocked it, putting more stress on the one still locked. Fortunately no damage to the inner axle so I was able with everyone’s help to put my spare birf in and keep rolling.
A quick stop at Observation Point for pictures and off down the “dirt road” we went. The guy at Rubicon Springs sure had a different idea as to what a dirt road is. I think we were another couple of hours on the road to make it to the trail head. We even got excited when we were able to hit 10 mph after 3 plus days of crawling!
If you act now the fun is not over yet. When we hit the highway at last, we were met by the El Dorado County Sheriff wanting to know if we were the group from Washington. Due to some miscommunication we were reported as overdue but that was quickly sorted out. I sincerely hope any one stressed by this part of the trip can someday look back and laugh.
And least I forget, Don even put a dent in his rig! You should have seen the tears! Just kidding, about the tears that is, there really is a dent, no really!
All in all a great run made better by the friends that went. along. I will never forget this trip. Thank you everyone for making it happen.
