Rubicon July 2013

Ran Rubicon July 1-2 with my Father-in-law and two Brother-in-laws. 4 XJs, 7 kids and a lot of fun!

We headed out from Reno Sunday night and drove just a few hundred yards in from the Loon Lake staging area and found a sweet camping spot.

Heading out:


Crossing Loon Lake dam:


Camping spot:


The first night, before we even started the trail, the while XJ was having a throttle issue... we couldn't figure out at first why the linkage was resting on the steering shaft. We finally realized that the 3 bolts on the driver's side motor mount had sheared clean off! Luckily we were able to finagled them out and one of us had a set of grade 5 bolts that fit so we were wrapped up by midnight and properly prepared for the trail in the morning.

The next day we were on the trail by 8am and making decent time. The Rubicon is a long slew of large rocks with occasional insane sections. So most of the time you really don't get spotted over stuff like this:


This is about as good as you can expect (in our group anyway) someone will yell from their seat "you're on your rear diff!" ... or call it over the CB, whichever is easiest!


On the insane portions you can expect everyone to get out and spot you ... of course sometimes all that help is WAY too much! This s the Soup Bowl obstacle which I made it up this time.


You crawl up and turn right, kind of like Rocker Knocker on Pritchett Canyon in Moab. The difference is you pin your slider on the rock and get WAY up on your side. It's actually very stable though:


Then you burn rubber until the passenger wheels get to a spot where they force you down to all 4's:


My father-in-law got a little too tippy somehow and we threw a line on him to make him feel more comfortable:

(cont.)

3 of us made it up the Soup Bowl with the white XJ not trying (he's on 33's and doubt it would have made it).

Then we stopped for lunch at this awesome little pond where we soaked our feet:


Here's an interesting picture: the ledge to the right of this XJ is where the same rig rolled 3 years ago! Hence the modifications to the rear end.


The little Sluice has changed so much that I didn't even know I was on it... that was disappointing. Anyway, then we headed up the Old Sluice. I'd never ran this portion before and it was great. Very tight and challenging, lots of spotting and slow going here:


This is coming down the back side:


This is the rock that claimed 2 of our tail lights:


I have a couple videos I'll post a little later, good stuff.

Anyway, coming out of the Old Sluice we had a great view of Buck Lake. The scenery on the Rubicon is part of what makes the trip so awesome!


Here we are coming over the Buck Lake dam:


We camped at Buck Lake and it was great to be able to go for a swim! the water wasn't all that cold and it was in the 90s during the day so the refreshment was much appreciated.


The next day we were back at it. The kids hiked most of the trail but we loaded them up for water crossings. Here are a few catching a ride Bangladesh style:


Pretty quick on that second day you get to the Big Sluice, which is a blast. Massive rocks make for some fun posing:


More posing:


And still MORE:


Then we crossed the Rubicon Bridge with only Cadillac Hill left in front of us:

Fist there was the easy drive through Rubicon Springs though, some water this time of year:


We stopped for lunch at a little steamlet on the far side of Rubicon Springs (if you stop in the springs you have to pay for day usage...)


The kids played in the water, of course!


Cadillac Hill was a fun climb but the only REALLY challenging spot I remember has been "improved" to the point that it wasn't a big deal... that was disappointing.

Here we are at the top of the climb:


We still had a ways to go down dirt roads to get to the Tahoe staging area, some deep water spots kept it somewhat entertaining:


We all aired up at the Tahoe staging area and checked the trail damage. Nothing too serious!


A couple times on the trip I had bent BOTH of my leaf slider boxes... I need to box the ends, but even still I'm skeptical that they'll hold up on a trail like this:




So we all cruised home at speeds of up to 70mph - not bad after running a tuff trail for 2 days! Here we are skirting Lake Tahoe:


And that's it!

Looks like a nice trip. I need to make it up there this year.

I am going to the con before I die this has sealed it

Here is a YouTube playlist, 5 quick videos from the trip:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLomMo1X_glF0sjg1wbcAOB6hKbYVQjG70

Looks like a great trip. Really wished I could have made this one.

Looks like fun - definitely need to get out there one of these days.

The guy in the stretched and linked rig looks like he's lovin life!

Now this is motivation for me.......I LOVE these trips, thanks for sharing.

G2WANIT said:

Here is a YouTube playlist, 5 quick videos from the trip:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLomMo1X_glF0sjg1wbcAOB6hKbYVQjG70

Click to expand...

Holy hannah, after watching that blue XJ go through "Old Sluice", I think I can quit worrying about all the noise mine makes!

Awesome trip report. I would absolutely love to make it out that way sometime.

FloydXJ said:

The guy in the stretched and linked rig looks like he's lovin life!

Click to expand...

He was! But actually, he's on reversed XJ leafs and Revolver Shackles; good flex but they can unload on side-hills so it's a double edge sword. He always does great though - best of our group.

MoabXJeeper said:

Holy hannah, after watching that blue XJ go through "Old Sluice", I think I can quit worrying about all the noise mine makes!

Click to expand...

You're not kidding! The water/dust/water routine was playing havoc on my brakes and suspension, but I also developed all sorts of new noises and popping from the beating I took! (I'll need to work our some issues over the next few weekends if I want it ready for Providence Canyon.)

I'm planning on running Rubicon again next year, probably in September to get cooler temps. I'll make sure I post up well in advance so people can schedule/plan it in - the more the merrier!