Rubicon Bash 2000

September 22nd - 24th, 2000

Lost Coast 4x4's

The weekend started at the Pantry in Eureka for a quick lunch. We left Eureka around 1:00 and made our way to Placerville, then on to Ice House. The tension and excitement was obvious as we headed for the infamous Rubicon.

After a couple of gas stops, we arrived at the Ice House. All but 2 of our group camped out at Ice House. John Ayres and his son Chuck decided to motel it. Paul Adams arrived at the Ice House Saturday morning. Believe me, I think that they were the smart ones. I used to think that the Ice House derived its name from selling ice. Not so! Just camp there and check out the ice on the vehicles and tents the next morning.

Saturday morning, we grouped up and hit the road for Loon Lake. When we arrived at the lake, we gathered on the slab and made final preparations for the trip across the rocks. After everyone aired down, we made our way to the v-notch (a pair of rocks that indicates the entrance to the Rubicon). While on our way to the notch, we ran into a Land Cruiser, who’s driver informed us that the trail was closed as there were some big rocks in the way. Some think that he might have been talking about a different location, as we had no problems.

We arrived at the notch and decided that someone must have filled in some of the bad spots as it was much easier than it had been in the past. Greg did manage to leave a little red paint on the rocks with his TJ. Greg in his TJ and his daughter in her YJ only went in for the day as their vehicles weren’t really set up for the rocks yet. I will say that Greg did a great job breaking in his new, stock TJ. I’m not sure how much repair work the TJ needs after leaving, but I understand that a little more paint was left on the rocks on his way out.

We continued on across the bowl, a large granite slab that you drop into and climb out the other side, and up Walker Rock. Stevie tried to show up Ted by driving up Walker Rock like an old pro.

The next section we decided to take, much to Rocky’s chagrin, was the Old Sluice. Now, last year 3 of us had taken this route and thought that we had done something special. Well, we were partially right. We had only taken the beginning of the Old Sluice and hadn’t even hit the hard spots. This section of trail, as far as I was concerned, was the toughest section of the weekend. I managed to drag my top on a rock getting some minor damage. Rocky & Donna ripped out a drain plug in their rear end losing all the gear oil. Rocky repaired the problem by putting the fill plug into the drain plug hole, sealing it up with his new portable welder. He, then plugged up the fill hole with a branch of the appropriate size. Somewhere in this section of trail, Rocky managed to put a dent in his left rear quarter panel. I think that Arron placed a little body work on his Toyota during this stretch.

Well, we made it through the Old Sluice and to Buck Island Lake. The next problem occurred around this time. Nelson’s starter went out. With an occasional bump start from Arron, he managed to make it to the camp site. Luckily, Ed Carolan just happened to have a spare starter that fit Nelson’s Jeep. A quick change and his Jeep was ready for tomorrow’s jaunt up Cadillac Hill.

The trail between Buck Island Lake and Rubicon Springs was not without other mishaps. At one point, I came around a corner and up in front of several rigs and myself, I spotted something that just didn’t look quite right. Through the rigs in front of me I could see the spare tire on the back of a yellow rig and as I got closer, I could see two other tires in the air. Sure, enough, when I got close enough to tell what was going on, I seen several people running over to the little yellow Jeep that was lying on its side. By the time I got there, the spectators had grabbed the Jeep and lifted it back on its wheels. Yes, it was Jim Frasier’s rig. With everything checked out and finding very little damage (a small dent in a fender), the Jeep was back on its way. I guess that this means that Jim can join the ranks of the LC4x4’s roll over club. This makes 4 members so far as I know of.

The rest of the day went well, and we made Rubicon Springs by 6:30. After a leisurely dinner and a recount of the days events, we hit the sack. Up at 07:30, Sunday morning we ate breakfast, broke camp and hit the trail for Cadillac Hill. It was a cold morning, but not near as cold as Ice House.

I’m not sure where, as I’ve only seen the picture, but it seems as though Nelson seemed to have had another little problem. The picture I’ve seen shows a winch cable out pulling him off a rock. He may need to fill in the rest of that story.

We had a little hold up heading out as there was a Land Cruiser in the middle of the trail with a frozen up rear end and a broken drive line. After a little work and some winching, he was pulled off the trail enough to let others get by. I received an e-mail from him Tuesday night thanking our group for supplying him with some refreshments and positive comments.

Great job guys. This is what makes runs like this successful.

We arrived at the top of Cadillac Hill in plenty of time to take our regular group pictures. From here we went up the rest of the trail and on to the highway. We went back to the Ice House to pick up the trucks and trailers for those that towed and on toward home for the rest. Oh, I did forget to mention that while I was behind Ed on Cadillac Hill, I noticed that he seemed to be having a problem climbing a fairly tough spot. I did let him know that his Jeep would work better in 4-wheel drive, so he got out and put in his hubs. I was right; it did work much better.

We were off the trail, aired up and on Highway 89 by 12:45. We were back at the Ice House, loaded and on our way home by 3:15. We had made it through the Rubicon in excellent time.

This turned out to be another great run. I think that everyone enjoyed it immensely, and we survived the trail with very little damage. The run was done in, approximately 14 hours of driving time and this included sticking around the Little Sluice for an hour or so watching some rigs get body damage. The Sluice is even rougher than ever as someone managed to blast the rocks and drop a few more huge boulders in the way.

Ted did get in line for the Sluice, but after watching the damage done to the other rigs that attempted it, he decided to back out. I think that this was a smart move since he was sure to bend up something in the attempt to negotiate this section of trail.

If I haven’t mentioned someone in this tale then they must have driven right through the Con with no problems at all, at least none that I heard about. It sounds like most of the participants are already planning for the next major trip, whether it will be the Con or the Dusy, so they must have enjoyed the trip. I know that I surely did, and I want to thank everyone who went and made it so much fun.

Carl Brandt