Rubicon 2009

[nwoods]

Bummer Matt, those are invisible to non-facebook members. Check out smugmug.com or pbase.com for nice free online photo galleries

[MrBash]

What a beautiful place!

[mkjeepers]

I have seen stock Jeeps go through Calico (except the gate keeper). I don't think it is even close to the Rubicon's difficulty.

[COLOR="Blue"]I think Nathan's just getting too hard core. [/COLOR]

[miguelitojeep97]

Ill be on the trail in 24 days 2 hours and 15 minutes.... but whos counting....

I cant wait! trail looks great. Going down old sluice is a lot of fun. Did you guys do that or run the slabs (bypass). LAst year we just stayed at Buck for 5 days and made day runs up to Spider and down to the Springs. Great time. One of the best vacations I could ever ask for!

Now lets get some more pics up!

[Navy-Jeepster]

Nice seeing you guys down there at the Springs.

I was down at the Springs for the work weekend on the trail.
We put lots of rock on the trail at the mud hole at the care takers cabin and trail up to the kitchen.

I towed a trailer up and down Cadillac, and have no lockers. Fully open. I did winch through the split rocks and just up from that also, as towing the trailer, I did not want to bounce and break an axle.
The trailer put a whole new perspective on it.

Great pics everyone.

Of the last few years that I have done work weekends on the con, I have never run the whole thing.
One of these years I will.

Todd

[shoe83]

You can check out my pics here: http://photobucket.com/shoe83
-Matt

[tony m]

Great pics guys! nice report..I need to get out there again!

[08RUBIJK]

We camped at the trail head with Al and the rest of the group, thursday night. I was part of the group of JKs. We had three, LWB JKs and a SWB JK. Our group ran from Loon, then down and back on the Wentworth Springs Trail, finishing the day at Little Sluice, where we camped just below Spider Lake. The next day we spent a little time at the sluice box waiting for some rigs to come through but the trail was pretty quiet so we didn't see any rigs attempt the box. We wheeled to Buck Island where we set up camp and swam in the warm water. Along the way we took a look at Old Sluice and seriously considered an attempt at it but we learned that a rig was broken in there, so we took the slabs down to Buck. After a relaxing afternoon and evening at Buck, we headed off for our last leg of the trail, Big Sluice and Cadillac. It was a challange getting our long wheel base rigs through. As it turned out we made it through clean. We had lunch at Rubicon Springs and swam in the river.

Along the entire trail we challanged ourselves by taking the harder lines. For me though, Cadillac Hill made me the most nervous. A steep climb, on loose dirt,rock and a long ways down on one side. I was very happy to get to the top of Cadillac.

Here are a few shots of the beauty of the Rubicon.





















We had a great time. Glad to hear everyone else had a great time too.

[100dollarman]

W O W !!! What a great trip!!! The BEST Jeeping trip ever!

First- I am with Al on difficulty of this trail--- we found it to be VERY challenging! The 4 dr JKs made it through everything with minimal damage. (lost a control arm bolt, busted a tail light/license plate frame on the soup bowl, broke the valve stem off of my Fox steer stabilizer, scraped one of my soft doors slightly. Woods (not nwoods (hey Nathan!) busted his stock spare tire holder-- we strapped it back on. Eugene cut a sidewall) We took alot of the toughest lines--- most everything- we went around Little Sluice and Old Sluice was blocked by a broken Jeep.

Cadillac Hill was a little easier than I expected, but still a challenge. I cant think of anything at Calico (one of my fav spots to wheel) as tough as the tough spots on the Rubicon (besides Gatekeeper).

We met up with the group at Loon Lake Thurs nite, camped and headed out after Al's group. We wanted to take our time on the trail with no schedule-- didnt want to hold that group back so we split off. We didnt have to be back till Monday and wanted time to take it all in. We wheeled all day Friday and camped at Little Sluice/ Spider Lake. I was surprised how warm the water is in all the creeks and lakes up there! Did ALOT off swimming on the 'Con! (I can call it the 'Con now that I have been there!!!LOL). We even went down and back up Wentworth springs-- there is some "fun" lines there!

Our group consisted of Michelle and I and her son Anthony, and Turbo, 08Rubijk, Woods and his son Brandon, and Eugene all in JKs- with Eugene in a 2 dr, the rest in 4 dr.

Sat we wheeled from Spider lake to Buck Island Lake and set up camp early to relax a bit. BBQ'd and went swimming (we were camped 40' from the lake!)

Sunday morning we hit Big Sluice (really enjoyed the challenge!) and spent a couple of hours for lunch at Rubicon Springs (more swimming!), then did Cadillac and observation point, then out to Lake Tahoe, then took the hiway back around to Loon Lake and camped Sunday nite on the slab. Loaded up and headed home Monday.

Every Lake, stream, trail, vista, etc up there is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! WOW! Even if you didnt wheel, it would be a great area to camp and hike.

We had the best time ever and will go back again! It was great to meet new people and a special thanks goes out to Igofshn for putting this trip together.

Dusy and Fordyce are next!

Thanks everybody for a fantastic time!!!

I'll get some pics up when I figure it out- (Art???)

[Matt2001TJ]

W O W !!! What a great trip!!! The BEST Jeeping trip ever!

Mark I passed you in my work truck as you were going out of town,... I am so jealous of the great time you guys all had. One day I will make it to the rubicon,....great pics all you guys,... looks like a awesome run to say the least.....MATT

[100dollarman]

My pics are here---

http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12098

[nwoods]

My pics are here---

http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12098

Nice pics Hundy. You certainly captured the, um, natural beauty of the place :-)

[SoCalinIt]

My pics are here---

http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12098

Great pictures Hundy!

[seapahn]

I threw all my pics (and a few shamelessly stolen ones) here.

If you guys want any of the hi-res ones, just let me know and I'll put them up. When looking at the pics, the image file name is at the top left for identification.

Otherwise, what can I say that hasn't been said .. the trip was a blast except for the 'skeeters' drilling us left and right, going up the nose and into ears and God knows where else The first day from Loon to the Springs was hot as hell but we ended up making good times with the 4 jeeps, even with the two brief trail repair sessions.


My drive shaft started making noises going up towards Loon Lake the first night ... after an hour of inspecting, messing with it, and a WD40 treatment, I determined it wasn't anything to hold back the trip and it wasn't. Though on the way home the noises had been getting much worse so it's getting rebuilt right now (needs a new CV centering kit and I'm having the shop install new u-joints while they're at it). Otherwise, the only other "damage" was my AC line that gave way on the way home as it had been rubbing against the YORK that was probably at a million degrees (not really trail damage).

The trail was definitely harder than last year and gave me and Jaclynn a couple of nice "oh shit" moments when severely off-camber. We were probably a bit more nervous due to the flop we had 2 weeks ago and the fact that the jeep was quite a bit top heavy with all the camping crap. Conclusion is, I need a wider stance which is fine since I am not in WI anymore and don't have to have the wheels tucked in the flares.

So the main question is, what the hell is going on here:


(click for bigger)
:oops:

Most important of all though, the group was excellent which always makes or ruines a trip. It was awesome meeting up with some old friends and getting to know some new faces (as well as puppies!).

By the way, this picture just cracks me up!

[Drewminator]

Seapahn,

Thanks for sharing your pics. What a beautiful place to wheel....