Re: Phil's Rubicon Run report - the long blog
Hi everyone, sorry for taking so long to check in, but we had a bit more trouble from Big Red on the way out...but I digress...
We started early and arrived late. Not wanting to be late to the party, we started heading to Buck Island Lake on June 9th - yea, that's right - two weeks early. We were virgins.
We're not virgins anymore. (yep, she _did_ us like she's done so many before us).
Schedule of events:
June 9th - Friday - three virgin guys arrive at north camp...they sing, play guitar and drums, and generally get pasted.
June 10th - Saturday - I'm new at this, but I found this "really big rock" - it's bigger than anything I've ever seen, so I just had to....articulate.
Hi, mom! I'm here at XJ Camp, and they say we're both "special."
Later, three virgins successfully arrive at Little Sluice. Pirates and Zombies are everywhere - we watch the big show. Most of the guys have great looking dirt-free babes, and the babes have lap dogs - what's that about?
I'm a movie, play me.
One of the virgins bends over, and BLAM! the steering box falls onto a rock. The virgins don't care. They make camp and party again. They sing, play guitar and drums, and generally get pasted.
June 11th - Sunday - another virgin bends over, and BLAM! - the other car blows a rear axle. Now we feel like we've been screwed. We start walking, and as we leave the Little Sluice area, seven cars carrying fresh meat arrive with spare parts - we're saved ON A SUNDAY!!!! We drive home in car #2, leaving Big Red on the rocks above Mud Lake. Home at 2am.
I'm OUTA Here!
June 12th - Monday - we get spare parts, and drive back to rescue Big Red. We're not even through Placerville when car #2 blows a rear bearing at 4:50pm - just 10 minutes before all the machine shops close. CHP drives us to two parts shops. We hitchhike back. We rent a hotel - it ain't Park Place, but we pass GO and get $200. We play guitar and drums, and generally get pasted.
June 13th - Tuesday - is this the twilight zone? We arrive at Little Sluice with spare parts by 2pm, but it's 5pm before we get Big Red together. On the way back to the Staging Area, we lose those funny little end caps in the U-joint on the main drive shaft. Fug-it, we got us our SYE, we ain't leakin' any Tcase oil, we're a funny lookin' Taurus - front wheel drive all the way! ...almost to the slabs. At twilight we blew the front right U-joint, and Big Red became a camp ornament again....but we still had Car #2. We're going home...on the slaps...in the dark...under overcast skies...with no moon...(i can hear the third virgin getting ready to bend over) and BLAM!!! We're driving in circles on a moonscape! Lost for three hours, we're finally rescued by a rising moon. At north camp by 1 am, home by 5 am on June 14th.
Navigate This!
June 21 - Wednesday - A week has passed, and our Camp Ornament has been under the watchful eyes of Merlin Scott (Dpty Sheriff) and Ranger Tom. We arrive at North Camp at 10pm not knowing what to expect when we get to Big Red. We play guitar and drums, and generally get pasted.
June 22 - Thursday - We arrive at Camp Big Red with fresh provisions and more parts. We're happy that nothing has been disturbed. The beer is still in the cooler, but it's not cool, and the hamburger is really stinky...so we sing, play guitar and drums, and generally get pasted. Swimming in Loon Lake is refreshing.
June 23 - Friday - We meet-up with Clay - a tow truck driver and all-around Angle of the Rubicon and he adopts us...he has virgin radar.
We arrive at Little Sluice again...this time with no damage...so we sing, play guitar and drums, and generally get pasted.
June 24 - Saturday - We make our way to Buck Island Lake. Life is tough, and we take a wrong turn. We find a Toyota guy with a busted Pittman Arm. He wants a welder. We don't have one. We direct him to Brent at Buck Island Lake. Brent fixes his Pittman Arm, and feeds him a steak. Life is good. We break an axle - short side. Thank god we spent that week surfing the bone yards. We have a spare!!! Too bad it's already bent to hell. We install it anyway. Thanks Clay! We brought another virgin with us on this trip, so he had to bend over...and BLAM! the driver's side is newly decorated. At Buck Island Lake, we arrive and I instantly go skinnydipping. No one notices. Here's what you guys look like that night:
Too bad my camera sucks so much.
June 25th - Sunday - Tie Rod Hell. We block Big Sluice for an hour and a half while Cruzilla (pirate4x4) welds my tie rod, THANKS Toyotathon!
A few meters later, we hear screams ahead. Everyone jumps out of their rigs and races down the trail. I guess we're not the only ones having a bad day:
Dang! I toasted another tail light!
Hey, if you guys can find my pen, I'll sign autographs for ya'all
We make it to the slabs at Rubicon Springs, and the "new" bent axle eats it. We're miles from South Lake Tahoe, at 2pm on a Sunday. We're probably the last batch of fools on the Trail, and we need another short-side axle from a D30. WTF we going to do?
You see that little green tent between the two cars? That's the Chow Tent for the Rubithon event. There are about a dozen Toyotas, one Pinzgauer, and one Jeep. I walk up to the Jeep guy and say: "you wouldn't happen to have a short-side axle for a Dana 30, would you?" ...and of course, he does.
Back on the road by 5pm, we encounter Cadillac Hill for the first time without a clue (the most important trail equipment), and bend the SIHT out of the recently welded tie rod. Jerry and the HiLift jack fix that problem, so we exit the Trail at about midnight, get to Jerry's Tahoe house at 1am, $2 breakfast at the Casino at 1:30am, and in bed by 2:30am. Thanks, Jerry!!
Jerry - over 20 years on the Rubicon.
Finally, Big Red was in no condition to take-on a superhighway, so she became a Trailer Queen for the first time.
Since then: Superior alloy axles front and rear, J.E.Reel U-Joints in front, and now she's off to Toby Lavender for a high-steer kit, and slider/nerfs.
See you all down the trail...with less breakage, I hope.
Crawldaddy out...
Thanks man.
