The 2017 Rubicon was amazing and everyone had a great time. We had one slight layover and some breakage in the group but nothing major and we all made it out under our power. We managed to hit it at just the right time, just after the snow melt and high run off, but before any large groups went through. The Rubithon was a day behind us and I'm sure it will change a bit after every large group.
There were about 12 rigs thinking about coming but in the end there were 6 that showed. Tony and his daughter Taylor from Chicago in his orange TJ Rubicon, Mike and Lisa from Iowa, and their 3 daughters, Katie, Sammy, and Jenny in their white JKU Rubicon, Jeff and Michelle (San Francisco) in his sleeper sage green YJ, Brett (Draper) and his crew Noah, Nate, and Kaden in his green Scrambler, Brett's son Matt and his wife Katie in a white YJ, and me and my son Eric in my stretched black CJ from Orem.
We met at Loon Lake about 10:00 a.m. on July 10[SUP]th[/SUP] and headed to the staging area where we aired down, and got the red garbage bags that Cal4x4 hands out to every vehicle that does the Rubi. Thank you Cal4x4. We got on our way and almost immediately the white YJ started having mechanical issues. It had recently undergone a 5.3 motor transplant and was not running right. He made to the Gate Keeper and then lost 4 low in his T-case and Brett decided it was best to turn around and follow them off the trail.
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Things went pretty smooth after that and we were making very good time. In fact we caught up with a few groups that included much better built rigs, but were lacking in some driver skills. I noticed through this section that the trail had changed substantially since my last Rubicon trip in 1998. There were bridges over water crossings and new outhouses, but the trail itself seemed a bit more difficult which could have been because of the harsh winter and the timing of our trip. We made good time to the Little Sluice and this was one part of the trial that was much easier than before, because they blew up the big boulders and made it the main trail to avoid going by Spider Lake.
Spider Lake is one of the environmental lessons learned the hard way and was almost the demise the Rubicon. When we were there in 98 there were white flowers (toilet paper with rocks on the pile) everywhere you looked by the lake. It got so bad that the lake was closed for swimming because of human waste contamination. If not for the Friends of the Rubicon, Del Albright, and groups like them, that organized and implemented the trail changes and outhouses, the Rubicon would have been closed long ago. We didn’t know if the lake was open or not so we decided to press on to camp.
Just as we were about to pass a group that we’d been following for a while Mike noticed he had bent a tie rod on the Little Sluice. We made quick work of the straightening, with my winch pulling from behind and he actually drove it back to Iowa that way. We were just getting back on the trail when we came up to a V notch and Jeff got a little too far one way when a rock rolled out from under his tire and he laid his pristine YJ on its side. The damage was minimal, a dent and some scratches on the rear quarter panel and the door and a broken mirror. We had him up and going in about 15 minutes.
There were about 12 rigs thinking about coming but in the end there were 6 that showed. Tony and his daughter Taylor from Chicago in his orange TJ Rubicon, Mike and Lisa from Iowa, and their 3 daughters, Katie, Sammy, and Jenny in their white JKU Rubicon, Jeff and Michelle (San Francisco) in his sleeper sage green YJ, Brett (Draper) and his crew Noah, Nate, and Kaden in his green Scrambler, Brett's son Matt and his wife Katie in a white YJ, and me and my son Eric in my stretched black CJ from Orem.
We met at Loon Lake about 10:00 a.m. on July 10[SUP]th[/SUP] and headed to the staging area where we aired down, and got the red garbage bags that Cal4x4 hands out to every vehicle that does the Rubi. Thank you Cal4x4. We got on our way and almost immediately the white YJ started having mechanical issues. It had recently undergone a 5.3 motor transplant and was not running right. He made to the Gate Keeper and then lost 4 low in his T-case and Brett decided it was best to turn around and follow them off the trail.
- - - Updated - - -
Things went pretty smooth after that and we were making very good time. In fact we caught up with a few groups that included much better built rigs, but were lacking in some driver skills. I noticed through this section that the trail had changed substantially since my last Rubicon trip in 1998. There were bridges over water crossings and new outhouses, but the trail itself seemed a bit more difficult which could have been because of the harsh winter and the timing of our trip. We made good time to the Little Sluice and this was one part of the trial that was much easier than before, because they blew up the big boulders and made it the main trail to avoid going by Spider Lake.
Spider Lake is one of the environmental lessons learned the hard way and was almost the demise the Rubicon. When we were there in 98 there were white flowers (toilet paper with rocks on the pile) everywhere you looked by the lake. It got so bad that the lake was closed for swimming because of human waste contamination. If not for the Friends of the Rubicon, Del Albright, and groups like them, that organized and implemented the trail changes and outhouses, the Rubicon would have been closed long ago. We didn’t know if the lake was open or not so we decided to press on to camp.
Just as we were about to pass a group that we’d been following for a while Mike noticed he had bent a tie rod on the Little Sluice. We made quick work of the straightening, with my winch pulling from behind and he actually drove it back to Iowa that way. We were just getting back on the trail when we came up to a V notch and Jeff got a little too far one way when a rock rolled out from under his tire and he laid his pristine YJ on its side. The damage was minimal, a dent and some scratches on the rear quarter panel and the door and a broken mirror. We had him up and going in about 15 minutes.
