West coast Adventure; Bucket list wheeling:The Rubicon Trail
One thing sticks in my head... Do not take life for granted want to do something then do it! Well that is exactly what we are doing out here. We did it! We hit the Rubicon trail. We drove down Saturday night which from Fallon is about 4 hours. It is a very long drive through some small towns and a lot of mountain passes which is kind of horrible because you can not see the beauty in the darkness. We arrive to the trail head about 1-2 AM. Once here we take no time and we get the jeep setup to sleep. It is going to be a bright and early morning.
YAY! It is time to get out on the trail. We air down and pack up and we get started. We get the go pro ready and we hit the trail. For some newbs to the Rubicon like us. I would highly recommend some rock sliders, gears and lockers. It can get very gnarly along the trail with all the boulders and etc. There is a lot of bypasses to some but also some do not have a bypass. body damage is possible and be prepared to break.
The trail took us about 11 hours to finish.we started at Loon lake and ended at Tahoma. You will encounter about 4-5 main obstacles. Your first will be the gate keeper. If you can not make it past this then well you need to turn around ha ha. the second obstacle is going to be just past Wentworth Springs. There is a bypass to this obstacle the little sluice very rocky and fun. sliders are a must. Nowww we have the True big sluice, which we did not go on because we must have missed the entrance to it. but we have heard it is pretty crazy. Once you get passed this you come up to the the big sluice which you CANNOT bypass it right before the Rubicon Bridge and has a lot of boulders which again I suggest rock sliders not just those cheap steps. Now the iconic bridge I have heard is called the "Finally Bridge" like finally you are almost to the end of the trail. it is pretty but not much of an area to stop. The bridge is pretty narrow. At this point you are at Rubicon Springs where JJ is held every year. it looks like an amazing place to be. Now the last few obstacles are not too crazy. You will hit Cadillac hill which climbs up in elevation and leads you down to Staging area on the Tahoma side. Now we stopped along the trail a few times to get out stretch take in the scenery as well as sometimes sit in traffic. We stopped at Buck lake for lunch and just took in the views and it was just beyond amazing. Now if I was to do all over again I would have to say we should of took more than just a day to complete the trail . there is just so much to see and do along the trail that you should not rush it. there is plenty of camping along the trail that is primitive. the closest town is probably Tahoma on the other side. but if you are at the Con I would suggest camping and taking in all the trail has to offer you. I plan on coming back for Jeepers Jamboree next year. It was just beyond amazing.
But we did not get out scott free. We did crush the driveshaft, blew a wheel hub, and started having issues with shifting but that turned out to be an easy fix. No body damage and a full of day of laughs and family time. I will do it again and I am so happy that I got the chance to run the Rubicon Trail. This is a short and sweet blog today but if you have any questions in regards to the trail feel free to comment below.
Looks like a great time! :D