RUBICON '13: JK-Forum's Run at the Rubicon Picture and Video Thread Part 1
Thread Starter
JK Jedi
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 8,931
Likes: 6
From: San Marcos, CA
RUBICON '13: JK-Forum's Run at the Rubicon Picture and Video Thread Part 1
As some of you know the So Cal group decided to do a Rubicon Trail run that involved multiple trail leaders leaving and different points in time from different trail heads. This was done to reduce the traffic on the trail and help ensure the groups weren't too big so they could move through the trail in good time yet have time to enjoy all that there is to see and do. Unfortunately, as luck would have it all good plans run into a bump in the road and this adventure met the same fate. While we did research to see that there wouldn't be a Jeepers Jamboree we (me) missed the fact that our Toyota brethren also enjoy having large events not unlike those put on by the Jeep Jamboree.
Fortunately for us we have two trail leads with not only a ton of experience but who have made great contacts and are respected in the community. Roger (wildandwillin) is one of the leads and he happened to know the Toyota event organizer and got his approval for us to share space at Rubicon Springs (yes - they had the entire campground reserved for their event). The following is an accounting for the Group B guys running Rubicon '13 but BigLow does a nice Jeep Blog over on Tru Jeepin and captured some of the experiences of Group A on his blog. Check it out: The Carnage Con - Part 1
This year being 2013 we decided to dub the event Rubicon '13. And as we found out that might have cursed us...
All staged up and Tomslik and JK-Wrench were ready to roll...as in roll on. I was warned to stop using roll when we are on the trails!
The drive up to the Rubicon for some of us in Group B was a nice one as Oside49er and tomslik decided to join us along with their copilots Jumpnt & JK-Wrench. And as it turned out they wanted to take the road less traveled and do some sight seeing on our way up!
Ran into a little issue with Oside49er's brakes but nothing our JK-Wrench couldn't handle!
As luck (or fate) would have it our next fuel stop led to the group running into David (OVRNUNDR) & Anne (BlueMouse) who were doing their own exploring but on the other side of Tioga Pass (120). What are the odds of that happening? We had planned to join them on Monday for breakfast before heading up the Sonora pass to do some sightseeing on the way to Placerville but instead they wanted to join in on our planned trip to Dynamo Pond and Kavanaugh Ridge so off we went.
The entire Dynamo Pond area is beautiful but cold.
The next morning we planned an early morning run up to Kavanaugh Ridge then off to Bridgeport for breakfast and then a drive through the Sonora Pass. However, the terrain prevented us from getting up to the ridge line as snow bank after snow bank was blocking our trail. We made it through the first couple but decided that the time and effort to make it past the third one were to much risk...we all wanted to get to the Rubicon in one piece.
After getting back onto the 395 highway we found more issues with Oside49er brakes and decided to forgo the 108 Sonora pass but found some pretty scenery just the same traveling through the 89 which is a nice scenic drive as well.
JK Thang eager to finish off the drive to Placerville by taking a short cut through a very scenic drive up the 89.
Finally at our resting spot for the night the group needed to get Oside49er and a few other mechanical issues resolved then off to bed early for a 4 AM wake up call!
4AM sure does come early! David was up and ready before most to take a run at the famed Rubicon Trail!
That early morning drive to the trail head is exceptionally cold! And it's never fun getting ready for the ride topless and doorless!
Our trail leader Roger (Wildnwillin) and his copilots Bo and Calvin joined up and ready to lead us on Group B's Rubicon '13!
Group B all gased up, last minute supplies purchased and ready to roll out.
A bit of a change of plans are Group B had originally intended to run the Wentworth Springs side of the trail but instead ran the Loon Lake side.
Rob (Jumpnt) getting in his last communication with Roze (Desert Diva) before losing communication for the week!
There was a lot of talk about the Rubicon trail getting easier and to be honest the first part of the trail up to Buck Island was relatively easy with lot of crushed granite dumped along the trail, gatekeeper from Loon Lake all but domolished, and a rerouting of the lines up the slabs avoided the more difficult ledges.
OVRNUNDR and Oside49er making their way through the slabs.
This should have been a foreshadowing of things to come on the Rubicon '13 trip as our trail leader Wildnwillin broke his tie rod after exiting the slabs.
Making his way towards the Little Sluice Oside49er was walking through everything with his new 40's.
Being that our group was really pretty small at just six rigs we decided to take some of the obstacles. Tomslik put down the camera and had some fun!
Finally the Little Sluice! As many of you know this was once part of the trail but buggies and time made the trail inaccessible to most until this year. I met a person in Placerville who's part of the Jeepers Jamboree and he made it sound like they wanted to shake things up a bit with the trail while at the same time getting rid of some of the crowds that came in buggies just to do the Little Sluice and give it back to the jeepers. His words not mine.
Walking the Little Sluice we saw it was very much doable with only the last part of the trail having some nice boulders and a little off camber section.
As luck would have it Woodchuck broke a rear axle while locked up trying to do the last section...and as our luck would have it his synthetic Winch line broke trying to winch out of it...yep they do indeed drop to the ground when they break. So we had to use Oside49er and his metal rope to pull him out...those lines don't merely break and drop to the ground!
Next up was Blonda and again on the same obstacle she too broke this time it was a ujoint that gave way and took out the ear. First and last time running greasable ujoints! More to come!
After a quick stop for lunch and trail repairs we were off again!
This time David (OVRNUNDR) decided to take a mud bath which led to getting himself stuck in a hole and wading into the mud hole to pull the winch line!
What an awesome site to see Buck Island in the distance with Group A waiting for us!
Tomslik doing some flexin'
Finally the storm of carnage was behind us (or so we thought) and the future began looking bright again!
Here Vince (modestoperandi) welcomed Roger and myself to camp and they convinced the group to stay at Buck Island instead of the original plan to head to Rubicon Springs...after the day we had it was an easy sell job!
We tried to swap out Woodchucks rear axle back at the Little Sluice but found it had busted off right at the splines and we couldn't get the last piece out! Poor Freddie (Woodchuck) and Scott (JK-Wrench) and many others including David (OVRNUNDR) and Tomslik as well as others put a lot of time into getting that stub out!
Finally after much help from a fellow wheeler (bad ass old Bronco Dude) the group of helpers were finally able to get it out! Putting it back together proved to be challenging since we couldn't get all the shims back in without a diff spreader and we had a hell of a time trying to get the eLocker unplugged. Our mechanic for the trip is a certified "Honda" mechanic Scott quickly adapted even earning the name JK-Wrench by the group!
Day one completed and the carnage count was 1 tie rod, 2 axle shafts and a winch line. Usually more than we see in a normal trip but this was no normal off road trip this was the Rubicon! Yes the trail might be tame compared to days gone by but it still is the Rubicon and Rubicon '13 with it's breaks bumps and bruises was just beginning! When we met up with Group A Vince and Dave (CaliJK) gave us their update. No carnage other than a blown bead in their group all the way up to camp at Buck Island. However, Vince and Scott decided to head out in Beast and run the True Sluice which turned out to be costly as Vince came down on and busted the rear Drive Shaft. Try as we might there simply wasn't another stretched 4Dr DS in the group to help out. And the welder was acting up! Fortunately, it worked long enough to get Roger's tie rod fixed but that was it! Later we learned that Day 1 of the trip was nothing compared to what we'd experience on our second day on the trail!
To be continued......
Fortunately for us we have two trail leads with not only a ton of experience but who have made great contacts and are respected in the community. Roger (wildandwillin) is one of the leads and he happened to know the Toyota event organizer and got his approval for us to share space at Rubicon Springs (yes - they had the entire campground reserved for their event). The following is an accounting for the Group B guys running Rubicon '13 but BigLow does a nice Jeep Blog over on Tru Jeepin and captured some of the experiences of Group A on his blog. Check it out: The Carnage Con - Part 1
This year being 2013 we decided to dub the event Rubicon '13. And as we found out that might have cursed us...
All staged up and Tomslik and JK-Wrench were ready to roll...as in roll on. I was warned to stop using roll when we are on the trails!
The drive up to the Rubicon for some of us in Group B was a nice one as Oside49er and tomslik decided to join us along with their copilots Jumpnt & JK-Wrench. And as it turned out they wanted to take the road less traveled and do some sight seeing on our way up!
Ran into a little issue with Oside49er's brakes but nothing our JK-Wrench couldn't handle!
As luck (or fate) would have it our next fuel stop led to the group running into David (OVRNUNDR) & Anne (BlueMouse) who were doing their own exploring but on the other side of Tioga Pass (120). What are the odds of that happening? We had planned to join them on Monday for breakfast before heading up the Sonora pass to do some sightseeing on the way to Placerville but instead they wanted to join in on our planned trip to Dynamo Pond and Kavanaugh Ridge so off we went.
The entire Dynamo Pond area is beautiful but cold.
The next morning we planned an early morning run up to Kavanaugh Ridge then off to Bridgeport for breakfast and then a drive through the Sonora Pass. However, the terrain prevented us from getting up to the ridge line as snow bank after snow bank was blocking our trail. We made it through the first couple but decided that the time and effort to make it past the third one were to much risk...we all wanted to get to the Rubicon in one piece.
After getting back onto the 395 highway we found more issues with Oside49er brakes and decided to forgo the 108 Sonora pass but found some pretty scenery just the same traveling through the 89 which is a nice scenic drive as well.
JK Thang eager to finish off the drive to Placerville by taking a short cut through a very scenic drive up the 89.
Finally at our resting spot for the night the group needed to get Oside49er and a few other mechanical issues resolved then off to bed early for a 4 AM wake up call!
4AM sure does come early! David was up and ready before most to take a run at the famed Rubicon Trail!
That early morning drive to the trail head is exceptionally cold! And it's never fun getting ready for the ride topless and doorless!
Our trail leader Roger (Wildnwillin) and his copilots Bo and Calvin joined up and ready to lead us on Group B's Rubicon '13!
Group B all gased up, last minute supplies purchased and ready to roll out.
A bit of a change of plans are Group B had originally intended to run the Wentworth Springs side of the trail but instead ran the Loon Lake side.
Rob (Jumpnt) getting in his last communication with Roze (Desert Diva) before losing communication for the week!
There was a lot of talk about the Rubicon trail getting easier and to be honest the first part of the trail up to Buck Island was relatively easy with lot of crushed granite dumped along the trail, gatekeeper from Loon Lake all but domolished, and a rerouting of the lines up the slabs avoided the more difficult ledges.
OVRNUNDR and Oside49er making their way through the slabs.
This should have been a foreshadowing of things to come on the Rubicon '13 trip as our trail leader Wildnwillin broke his tie rod after exiting the slabs.
Making his way towards the Little Sluice Oside49er was walking through everything with his new 40's.
Being that our group was really pretty small at just six rigs we decided to take some of the obstacles. Tomslik put down the camera and had some fun!
Finally the Little Sluice! As many of you know this was once part of the trail but buggies and time made the trail inaccessible to most until this year. I met a person in Placerville who's part of the Jeepers Jamboree and he made it sound like they wanted to shake things up a bit with the trail while at the same time getting rid of some of the crowds that came in buggies just to do the Little Sluice and give it back to the jeepers. His words not mine.
Walking the Little Sluice we saw it was very much doable with only the last part of the trail having some nice boulders and a little off camber section.
As luck would have it Woodchuck broke a rear axle while locked up trying to do the last section...and as our luck would have it his synthetic Winch line broke trying to winch out of it...yep they do indeed drop to the ground when they break. So we had to use Oside49er and his metal rope to pull him out...those lines don't merely break and drop to the ground!
Next up was Blonda and again on the same obstacle she too broke this time it was a ujoint that gave way and took out the ear. First and last time running greasable ujoints! More to come!
After a quick stop for lunch and trail repairs we were off again!
This time David (OVRNUNDR) decided to take a mud bath which led to getting himself stuck in a hole and wading into the mud hole to pull the winch line!
What an awesome site to see Buck Island in the distance with Group A waiting for us!
Tomslik doing some flexin'
Finally the storm of carnage was behind us (or so we thought) and the future began looking bright again!
Here Vince (modestoperandi) welcomed Roger and myself to camp and they convinced the group to stay at Buck Island instead of the original plan to head to Rubicon Springs...after the day we had it was an easy sell job!
We tried to swap out Woodchucks rear axle back at the Little Sluice but found it had busted off right at the splines and we couldn't get the last piece out! Poor Freddie (Woodchuck) and Scott (JK-Wrench) and many others including David (OVRNUNDR) and Tomslik as well as others put a lot of time into getting that stub out!
Finally after much help from a fellow wheeler (bad ass old Bronco Dude) the group of helpers were finally able to get it out! Putting it back together proved to be challenging since we couldn't get all the shims back in without a diff spreader and we had a hell of a time trying to get the eLocker unplugged. Our mechanic for the trip is a certified "Honda" mechanic Scott quickly adapted even earning the name JK-Wrench by the group!
Day one completed and the carnage count was 1 tie rod, 2 axle shafts and a winch line. Usually more than we see in a normal trip but this was no normal off road trip this was the Rubicon! Yes the trail might be tame compared to days gone by but it still is the Rubicon and Rubicon '13 with it's breaks bumps and bruises was just beginning! When we met up with Group A Vince and Dave (CaliJK) gave us their update. No carnage other than a blown bead in their group all the way up to camp at Buck Island. However, Vince and Scott decided to head out in Beast and run the True Sluice which turned out to be costly as Vince came down on and busted the rear Drive Shaft. Try as we might there simply wasn't another stretched 4Dr DS in the group to help out. And the welder was acting up! Fortunately, it worked long enough to get Roger's tie rod fixed but that was it! Later we learned that Day 1 of the trip was nothing compared to what we'd experience on our second day on the trail!
To be continued......
Last edited by sm_rubi; Jul 2, 2013 at 01:50 PM.
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 135
Likes: 0
From: Carlsbad
Well thankfully I did not become a sacrifice to the Rubicon gods. The goat lives despite all predictions and Cadillac Hill is conquered.
That was an epic trip I will never forget. Made great friends and would go into the trenches with any of you Rubicon 13.
After the trip I found an offroad shop in Sacramento fittingly named Carnage to get a part. I was really lucky to escape with minor damage on my mild/moderately modified rig:
-Broken steering stabilizer
-Sliders pressed into body
-Caved in factory Evap skid
-Small soft top tear
-Broken license plate mount
-Broken back up camera line
-Shorted ARB switch (it looked like someone was smoking inside my dash) Thanks Woody for the new switch!
Big thanks for Trail Leaders and Organizers of the trip.
I am going to spend the next few weeks making up to my jeep $$ .
That was an epic trip I will never forget. Made great friends and would go into the trenches with any of you Rubicon 13.
After the trip I found an offroad shop in Sacramento fittingly named Carnage to get a part. I was really lucky to escape with minor damage on my mild/moderately modified rig:
-Broken steering stabilizer
-Sliders pressed into body
-Caved in factory Evap skid
-Small soft top tear
-Broken license plate mount
-Broken back up camera line
-Shorted ARB switch (it looked like someone was smoking inside my dash) Thanks Woody for the new switch!
Big thanks for Trail Leaders and Organizers of the trip.
I am going to spend the next few weeks making up to my jeep $$ .
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 135
Likes: 0
From: Carlsbad
More pics
Attachment 470676 camp near Buck Island
Attachment 470677 How many times has this guy rolled?
Attachment 470678 Bridge near Rubicon Springs
Attachment 470679 My Poser shot
Attachment 470680 Ovrunder making a squeeze
Attachment 470677 How many times has this guy rolled?
Attachment 470678 Bridge near Rubicon Springs
Attachment 470679 My Poser shot
Attachment 470680 Ovrunder making a squeeze
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 171
Likes: 0
From: SoCal
We left Tahoe at 11am and now I'm back home. 1319 miles of fun for me. Pictures will follow after unloading everything out the Jeep.
Woodchuck
Attachment 470836
Woodchuck
Attachment 470836
JK Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 171
Likes: 0
From: SoCal
Trending Topics
JK Freak
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 827
Likes: 0
From: Socal
I only took a couple of pictures (aside from my son) and it happened to be Jkgypsy on itsy bitsy sluice...
Attachment 471368
Attachment 471363
JK Super Freak
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,138
Likes: 0
From: The happiest friggin' place on earth...
The granite slabs at the beginning of the trail. Just amazing! That's Ralph taking pic's.
Something going on with Peter's Jeep. This won't be the last time you see Mike under a Jeep.
Moving right along.
Andrew taking on an optional obstacle. And conquering.
Peter and copilot Martin
Tracy, is that you?
Love the ferns
I want this lily pond in my back yard. Oh, and the Sierras too.
Pretty flowers
Something going on with Peter's Jeep. This won't be the last time you see Mike under a Jeep.
Moving right along.
Andrew taking on an optional obstacle. And conquering.
Peter and copilot Martin
Tracy, is that you?
Love the ferns
I want this lily pond in my back yard. Oh, and the Sierras too.
Pretty flowers
