Rubicon with the Outlaws 2008

by Todd and Linda (AKA Giggling Grammy)Adams with additions by Larry Olsen

What would be more fitting than my second Rubicon trip with the Wasatch Outlaws 4x4 Club. My first trip to the Rubicon was with Craig Stumph (of UROC fame) and some of the other Delta, Utah folks hooking up with the Pirates of the Rubicon making for an interesting 4^th of July 1999.

I wanted to go back and since Linda did not accompany me the first time, we talked about taking another trip someday. We attended a Birthday party for Ian (Red Jeep Club) who is a member of the Wasatch Outlaw 4x4 Club out of Ogden, Utah when the conversation came up about a planned trip to the "Con".

It did not take much to invite ourselves along. The trip was planned for the last weekend in June of 2008 so Linda and I cleared our calendars of work and waited and waited....

Boy, do the Outlaws now how to go on a field trip. One of the members (Eldon) just happens to own a trucking company. Yep, you guessed it, they load the rigs up on flatbed trailers for the 1200 mile round trip saving on gas expenses, not to mention the piece of mind that if something should break on a rig, it would just be loaded up and taken home.

So came the big day of our departure. We loaded up our Jeep on our trailer pulled by our Dodge. We then headed out to meet up with Larry who was driving the family car to the trailhead. Since Linda and I had other plans after we got off the trail we towed instead of putting the Jeep on the semi.

The day started out just great with a trailer tire blowout 20 miles west of Salt Lake. (I knew there was something I forgot to put on my to-do list.) So back to Salt Lake to buy two new tires and wheels for a much later start than I had planned.

Talking with Larry I found out that Ian had 2 trailer tire blowouts the day before on his way to the trail head. All the wheels off of Larry's trailer (not being used since Larry's Jeep was on the semi) were stripped off and sent out to Ian. As it turned out, by the time the spare trailer tires made it to Wendover, Ian had bought 4 tires in the fun gambling section of that town for a screaming deal of just over a 400 dollar bill. Oh, the joys of 4 wheeling.

The main thing Linda and I were worried about was that we were supposed to have dinner ready for the entire group. The meals were planned out so that dinners and breakfasts were prepared by one of the families so that we only had to worry about our lunches and one other group meal. Well we were gonna be late for our turn. (Or so we thought)

We caught up to the group near South Lake Tahoe and our fears of having a late dinner were dispelled. Dinner was a long drawn out affair since everyone was trickling in. Some got lost finding the camp site. Some were tied up with getting the rigs off the flatbeds and some were just late. By midnight everyone had settled in and was trying to sleep in anticipation of the fun to come. (for some the next day would not be too much fun)

Ready to leave camp

Day two started out with a tremendous breakfast. We were a bit late pulling up first night camp and getting on the trail. I thought we were going to go right to Loon Lake. A friend of ours was working the entrance kiosk and expected us. We ended up taking the scenic and more traditional way on to the trail via the Wentworth Springs road to Wentworth Springs Campground so we missed meeting up. Right after Wentworth Springs Campground there is a difficult hill by the name of “Heckler Hill”.

I didn't think much about it but Bill could not seem to get his Sami into 4 wheel drive. Seems a snap ring had come off not allowing his transfer case to engage front wheel drive. So a strap was attached from our Jeep to the Sami. Part way up the hill I heard a loud snap from the rear of Bill's rig. Now it had no wheel drive.

About the same time as this was going on, Eldon was attempting an optional obstacle where he broke a rear axle. We got Bill up to a flat spot out of the way so he could check the damage to his Sami. Another snap was heard from the front of Ian's Jeep. They say things come in threes. Wrong, further up the hill Phil had broken a rear axle as well and unlike Eldon there was no replacement available. So there we sat, ate lunch and got to know the others that were not involved in repairs for close to 4 hours. Yep this seemed familiar from that last trip here.

Ian assessing the damage

Finally the decision was made, Larry, Jayme, John and Lynn helped the disabled vehicles Bill, Phil and Ian back the few miles to the trailers so they could be loaded for the trip home. I felt so bad for Ian. He had built an off road trailer to tow behind his Jeep so that he could bring his family along. He had it partially done when Linda and I were at his birthday party. He had just completed it a few days before leaving. I think Ian has a score to settle with the Con.

Bill thought he would rejoin us as a passenger later so I loaded his stuff up in our Jeep. As it turned out Bill's stuff made the journey over the Rubicon but Bill did not. Bill had a goose neck trailer behind his Dodge that held 2 rigs. With the addition of Phil's rig the trailer was now full and together they headed east. John had made the trip out with Bill so John would now take Phil's spot on the semi for the trip home.

Leaving late from the first nights camp and with the addition of the breakdowns put us way behind schedule. The plan was to make Buck Island Lake for our second night camp but it became obvious that we would not make it. A great camping area next to the trail was found just before we got to Spider Lake. The camping restrictions in place this year required that our vehicles stay within 25 feet of the centerline of the trail. There is action being taken to loosen up this restriction, stemming from the closure of Spider lake a few years ago, but we were able to camp and stay within the (hopefully temporary) rules.

The Outlaws know how to camp. As I remember, the choices for dinner included either steak, salmon or halibut steaks with plenty of sides. No one went to sleep hungry, even those that showed up late after helping the disabled rigs.

This year was one of those record years for mosquitoes. They were so bad (let me tell you how bad) there was a thread devoted to the problem on the Pirate 4X4 Rubicon forum. We were forced to use copious amounts of repellant and if you missed a spot guess what. The first bite I had was right next to my watch and I was forced to wear it on my right arm the rest of the trip. Guess what bug repellant and a dusty dirty trail in an open Jeep lead to. It means being covered with a dirty oily coating the entire trip. Oh and during the day when the mosquitoes were hiding in the shade, sunscreen provided the source for the dirt adhesion. For those folks that did not bring a portable shower (Linda and I did) there was the opportunity to bathe at Loon Lake and Rubicon Springs. This gave a brief respite from the situation. Was I the only one bothered by this? All I know is that I showered every day and it still took an hour in the shower at the motel to get clean.

The next morning we got underway early with the understanding that to complete the trail (actually this happened while we were broken down) we all needed to take the bypasses around the difficult obstacles. So around the Little Sluice we went and there were absolutely no objections especially when the first timers on the trail got a look at it from above on the bypass.

So down Thousand Dollar Hill we went with everyone being very careful and taking the least difficult lines On the way we had a great view of Buck Island Lake. So we were trying to get there last night? Yea, right.

Having lunch and a swim at Buck Island is one of the grand pleasures you can have while on the Rubicon. No one in our party was in any hurry to leave. Having parked below the dam gave me the opportunity to check out what sort of an obstacle had given me and a couple of others a surprise the last time I was here. There is a concrete portion of the dam that you have to drive over and on the blind side it has a big drop on one side. Last time out it cost one of the rigs in our party a broken steering box and me to loosen a few fillings by not asking for a spot. It doesn't look like anything unless you go to the left.

Lunch below the dam at Buck Island Lake

This trip I was able to look it over and warn everyone to stay to the right. Buck Island Lake is not the place to break. It is about the half way point and either way out with a broken vehicle is very problematic. Our trail guides from California took us to the edge of the big hill before turning back. They lived close to the way we came in and decided not to accompany us to Rubicon Springs so we bid them farewell and down we went to the Springs. We were down to nine vehicles now that three were turning around, three had broken and were heading home. One was to drive to the Tahoe side after making sure those that had broken were safely on their way home. Larry (the one) was to meet us in Rubicon Springs later in the day.

Our next big challenge in the trail is the Big Sluice. In reality we had bypassed the true Big Sluice now being called the "Old Sluice" back near Spider Lake. I guess to lessen the confusion. Who's confused? Not me. Anyway the big sluice had changed a bit since the last time I was here nine years ago. I only remember one tippy down, that was not the route now but there were plenty of others to take its place. Big, Huge, Gigantic rocks right in the middle of the trail with a big drop on the right so you can't go around.

Someone once described the Rubicon as three days of crawling over large rocks one after the other. This is not far from the truth other than at times you just have to stop and admire the scenery and realize why you are really here. Yes it is a fun and very challenging trail but the magnificent views at times are worth the trip and have you coming back (kind of like Moab). When you are on the Big Sluice there is not time to look around besides there is nothing to see but trees on either side of the cut. Good thing because drivers and spotters need to concentrate on the job at hand.

We almost had an accident on the lower portion of the Big Sluice. I got back in the Jeep since my spotting was no longer needed. Did I mention that I never got behind the wheel of our Jeep. This was Linda's turn to drive the trail since I had before. I just happened to look back on my side when a grapefruit sized rock (I am now thinking of CW McCall's Black Bear Road) shot out from the rear tire, almost taking Anthony's (Larry's grandson) kneecap off. The rock shot out over 20 feet straight and landed almost 50 feet downhill. I never did see it stop, losing sight of it as we rolled on. Anthony did not try to pass on the right until we got to more level ground without a rocky field.

We proceeded across the Rubicon Bridge after entering the private property of Rubicon Springs; the home of the Jeep Jamboree. Seems like they have added two new helicopter pads plus many other improvements. The resort would be overfull with Jeep owners in just a few weeks for the 2008 Jamboree. I understand they have at least two bars set up during the event. That was OK since I was planning my own happy hour just as soon as I set up our camp. That included the shower that we set up on a concrete pad. The pad had been placed there by the friend of another jeeper who came by and pointed it out to me while I was starting to unload. Later I met up with the same fellow as he was using his under hood welder to put back together Peggy and Lynn's rigs. They somehow became broken on the Big Sluice. Something about a long arm separation, I wonder how that could have happened on that easy stretch of trail.

We rounded up enough split firewood to have a campfire on the granite slab that night, along with another great community dinner with our chairs circled around. Good conversation and of course those wild jeeping tales made an end to another great day on the Con.

Camping at the Springs

This was going to be our last day on the trail heading towards Lake Tahoe. Our main objective was to conquer Cadillac Hill. But first it was swim time in the Rubicon River below some beautiful cascades. With everyone refreshed and rested we headed towards the infamous challenge.

In reality Cadillac Hill seemed less difficult than the last time I was here. We were near the front and it did seem the back half was taking a long time to catch up. One of the rigs got high centered and took a while to get moving again. I was so at ease I was able to take a nap on the way up. My sore neck told me later that I should have stayed awake. Linda confessed to me that she was a bit nervous driving up the hill due to the far way down on my side but I am so confident in her driving ability I was able to completely relax. Besides our life insurance would take well care of the kids if we did take the 2000 foot plunge so nothing to worry about, right?

Waiting on Cadillac Hill

Once up to lookout point we congratulated ourselves by lining the rigs up and taking lots of pictures. We then headed out on the long road to Tahoe Lake and the even longer trip around to the tow vehicles. Seems like the mosquitoes were out in full force during the day on the way out. I heard lots of complaints so it was not just me.

Top of the hill

Linda and I loaded the jeep back on the trailer where we started and found a motel in South Lake Tahoe. We found the rest of the group loading up the semis in an open parking lot. This is an unusual occurrence even here at the end of the most famous Jeep trail in the world as we gathered a number of spectators to watch the action. One of them asked if all these Jeeps were broken. Another older couple that lived there had never heard of the Rubicon Jeep trail. Riding their bikes they just thought we were wasting gas. "It's a Jeep thing you wouldn't understand" came immediately to mind.

Loading up in South Lake Tahoe

Members of the Wasatch Outlaws 4x4 Club and others on this Rubicon:

Larry, daughter Amanda, grandson Anthony- Red TJ

Todd and Linda Adams- Red YJ rockcrawler.

Ian, Tammi, son Alex- Red TJ

John Waldron, White TJ

Jayme Patterson- Green CJ7

Eldon and Katherine- White TJ

Peggie and grandson Austin-Yellow TJ

Phillip, Jean, daughter Autumn, son Owen.-Tan TJ

Fred, Dawn, son Skylar, (3 more names to get)- Green Ford Exploder

Bill Fields- Reddish Samurai

Lynn Motskos- Blue Samurai

Bruce, Corrie- Red TJ named Rubithion

Kevin- Tacoma truck

Brian, Carrie- passengers in a couple of rigs throughout the trip.