Rubicon 2006

All signed release forms , poker run entree fees paid all before 9:00 am. Stacy passed out Rubicon run Tee shirts to everyone who attend (free to all, thanks Stacy) Craig was airing down and noticed the side wall leaking on one of his new 40" BF Goodrich tires. Craig only had a 35" spare with the 8 bolt lug pattern and didn't want to run the entire trail with one 35" so he said he's done and was going home. We said no to his request and decided to break down my 38.5 spare and mount on his rim. These guy were pretty amazing taking these two tires apart and remounting the 38.5 on the rim with only a couple of pry bars and a high lift jack but had the job done in less than an hour. We had a short drivers meeting and introduction (we all met Phil Dayton from 4 Wheel Drive & Sport Utility Magazine) an off and we were on our way at 10:15 just a little behind schedule. A total of 17 rigs with 14 of those being jeepster/ commandos.

About an hour into the trip we had our 1st mishap. I had just climbed a ledge and looked in my mirror and saw the little blue CJ upside down. All three inside were ok and the next 1.5 hours we spent getting it upright, the oil cleaned up, fluids back in it and were off again.

We stopped for lunch and met a group of park rangers and talked about trail conservation for a while.

We made it just about to the Little Sluice and Ken broke a rear spring hanger. Some went on to play in the sluice box while Ty, Ryan and Ken worked on the hanger . About an hour later they had Ken running and off went the rest of the group to the little Sluice.

Bull Dog Bob was deep into the box and having no luck. After a least 1.5 hours of trying Bob turned around and headed out Toyota Hill. Most of the group went up Toyota Hill (it's about a 1/3 of the way into the little sluice) and then Stacy took a shot at the Sluice with Tom spotting and Nate stacking rocks. Stacy tried for a good hour but finally popped a bead on the left front tire and he called it. Not enough room to work on the tire so we winched him up the side of the Sluice box and aired up the tire. Most of the group headed for the camp ground at Buck Inland Lake while Stacy played in the Sluice box. It was about 6:30 pm and we still had about 1.5 hour to go to camp so Tom, Stacy, Curt and myself all took off knowing we would be up for a little night wheeling before we hit camp.

Curt found out his head lights were not working on the way to camp so Andy had to help watch for the rocks while Curt drove in. I was following Curt and noticed he got a little hung up on the top of the slabs but managed to get through it. I got hung up at the same place. Stacey and Nate helped me out of it but I broke a front drive line trying to get out. I shattered all 4 ears on inner and outer shaft but the supper u joint held up perfectly (looks like I found the next weak link on my front axle). I didn't have a front axle for my Ford 9" so the rest of the trip for me would be in 3 wheel drive.

We made it to Camp around 8:00 pm and found Eddie working on his steering box (the cast iron mount broke 30' from camp) Craig and Eddie welded it back together and Eddie was back together ready for the next day of wheeling.

Nate brought along a propane fire pit and most gathered around the fire for a little BS and watched last years run on DVD that Ryan did for us.

Everybody was ready to go by 9:00 am the next morning and Diane passed out a poker card to everyone for being ready to go.

We all made it out of Buck Inland Lake without any mishaps (this is one of the hardest areas of the trail) and up to Big Sluice. Ken took a high line to the entrance to Big Sluice and high centered on a big rock (all 4 wheels dangling). We tried to free him by pushing and stacking rocks without any luck so next up was a long winch line and a snatch block to try to free him. Ken came close to rolling over while we winched him so a few jumped on the high side to add more weight and a few more tries, we had Ken back on the trail with all 4 wheels on the ground.

All made it safely down Big Slice and into the springs for lunch and the poker run activities. Diane passed out the final card, we laid out all the prizes and everyone gathered around to see what they could win if they had the good hand. Brenda won 1st place with a king high straight flush that won her $105.00 cash and her pick of any prize she wanted (she picked the winch accessory kit) and second place went to Curt with 4 off a kind and Curt won $62.00 and picked the Warn synthetic winch line. The next award went to Dan for dead ass last (he beat me by one card) Dan, received $42.00 cash and took his turn to pick from the pile of prizes last. We had enough prizes for almost everyone to pick again and the poker was over.

We all loaded up and said a few goodbyes. Dion, Mark, and Jason didn't want to drive back on the road so they turned around and did the trail back to Loon. The last big challenge is Cadillac Hill. Craig (did I mention that Craig pulled a military trailer all the way through the trail!) had a problem with overheating and was able to get the rig cooled down and running for the climb up Cadillac Hill. Eddie slid the pretty blue paint into a tree (ouch!!!) just before the climb. Ken stayed behind to help Ryan with a wheel stud on his Toyota. All made it up Cadillac without any problems for the group photo (accept Ken, Dion, Mark, Ryan and Ken from Oregon in the CJ).

Next up was the 1.5 hours of dirt road back to Tahoe. Tom Clark was doing a little hot dogging and broke a front drive line. We all made it back to the air up spot, said our good bys and headed out.

I've done many 4 wheel drive trips (4 times over this trail with mostly jeepster/commandos) and would have to say this trip rates in the top two I've done (only compared to our 1st Moab trip). To get 17 rigs through this trail without spotters at each tough spot like most big organized runs on this trail is amazing. My 1st thought was the trail ran easy this year but after thinking about it the trail doesn't change much from year to year but the Jeepsters and Commandos and how they continually make changes to meet the challenges of this tough trail and the skills of the drivers! Hands down, the best set up jeepsters and Commandos I've seen on this trail.

Special thanks to:

Tom White who co sponsored the event
Diane Fletcher who ran the poker run
Phillip Dayton for the magazine coverage

Donations from the following to the poker run (you guys rock)
Stacey Eaton
Tom Clark
Ty Brookes
Andy Lung
Eddie Peverill
Bob Watson
Richard Queen
Mark Vilbert
The Jeepsterman Inc.
Jeepsterpartsdude.com
Alcan Spring
Winchline.com
General Mill Inc.
Terra Flex Inc
High Impact (Klune V)
JCCA

Phil from the magazine has asked for me to gather a little bit of information about the JCCA, and each participant's rig for this run. Please email me specific information on your rig (engine, axles, tire size, etc).

This event has become an annual event that we plan in years to come as long as the trail is open for us to use. This year we had participants ridding along from other states. We had rigs from Oregon, Utah, and all parts of California. The run is always scheduled for the last Thursday and Friday in September. Mark your calendars, we're already talking about next year--doing the trail backwards to make it a little more challenging.