Rubicon in 8 hours

[cbassett]

Dan and I hit the Rubicon this weekend.

Started from the Tahoe side at 6:30pm Friday. Setup camp at the slabs over Little Sluice at 11:30 that night.

From the rest of that night, until Sunday morning we partied, swam in Spider, partied some more, watched some of the Pirates, some of the Creepers, and some other complete Yahoos inflict copious amounts of carnage on their rigs in the Box.

We went to run Old Sluice Saturday afternoon, but just as we were heading in from the top, a rig coming up the slabs warned us that a rig was broken down (steering) and diagonal on the trail at the bottom. We thought about running down to him, then back up... but due to the volume of rigs on the trail we didn't want to risk getting into a clusterf*ck of a traffic jam coming back up; Old Sluice is largely a one-lane section of the Rubicon, with very, very few turnoffs. So we kicked around on the slabs between Old and Spider for a while, then headed back to camp and for more swimming.

Sunday we broke camp mid-morning, then headed for Wentworth Springs. We ran down Wentworth Springs, then took Ice House over to Loon Lake.
We hit the spillway at Loon Lake at about 1:30pm, and topped Cadillac Hill at 9:30pm. We weren't in a hurry, and were fairly suprised with how fast we ran the trail...particularly with me in 2wd Lo from Buck Is Lake to Rubicon Springs (more on that below).
Aired up the tires then headed for Tahoe. Traditional post-trip breakfast at Shoreline Cafe in Tahoe Monday morning, dropped a few $ in the slots, then headed for home.

Link to pics of this run: http://home.off-road.com/~bassettsbe...uly12-14_2002/

Lessons learned on this run:
-I Need to build a retainer for my rear springs. Even with the tower extensions, I still dropped a rear coil a few times; once during the day descending Walker, the other in the dark climbing Cadillac. I'll either put a plate on the bottom of the tower I added, or I'll put limit straps that will keep me right below the bottom of the towers. I like the usable flex I get right up to that point
-I really need to get kicking on the cage, and cut off some of the rear of the body. Other than the subframe and tire carrier, my ZJilla bumper looks like pile of twisted metal. Thanks to Dan's momentary lapse of reason, I now have no undented body parts... and I have more incentive to get building on the front grill/headlight assembly. Thanks Dan!
-Communication is key. Due to some miscommunication, and combined assumptions, I drove from Buck Is Lake to Rubicon Springs in rear wheel drive only. At the Springs I relocked my passenger hub and 4wd'd up and out Sunday night... D'OH!
-ALOT of trash still gets left on the trail. ALOT. I picked up at least a half rack of bud light cans, four Gatorade bottles, some energy drink containers, a sh*tload of TP (wearing gloves but still gross duty), and some misc. [rig] body parts. Were it not for the policing within the wheeling community, jackass littering f*ckers would have us locked out of everywhere. Please, PLEASE, help out and pack out anything you see left behind by some thoughtless asshole.

[William]

Originally posted by cbassett
-ALOT of trash still gets left on the trail. ALOT.

I wonder why people don't pick up after themselves?

At least other people (ala YOU) pick it up. To bad we couldn't load up a few dumptrucks and drop it on thier lawns...

[ScottyY2K]

cbass - sounds like a great trip! Good job oin the trash patrol. We do the same. It is believable that "something" falls off once in a while but inconceivable that people throw their crap on the trail. I checked out your pics. Nice shots.

BTW - Are you guys using a Rubi-"can" to take out your human waste? I have not done an overnight trip on the 'con this year. I have not put together a Port-a-potty but that is going to become the "norm."

[cbassett]

Hi Scott,

We utilized the "facilities" at Spider Lake for our dung.
There's a newer (but still shot-up with shotgun blasts, grrrrr) outhouse on top of the slabs over the Little Sluice; walk through the little tree-lined ravine, watch your step- this is a favorite dumping place, and you'll find the shiny can.
There are also outhouses at the Springs.

For the in-between outhouses occasions, I used a construction-grade garbage bag and good aim. I'm planning on building a 5-gal bucket with toilet seat for my girls, but when it's just me the bag works fine.


Oh yeah, and the misc. body parts were of the bashed into something variety, not the fell off variety, so no excuse for being left behind.

[TJRON]

Ughhh, Gaggg, P-Ucka...........
OK Chris, if you can glove up and do toilet paper, I'll give it a try. Costco sells gloves dirt cheap and I use 'em in my garage a lot.
I like the "big" garbage bab also. I can do that too.

[Dan-H]

Looks like alot of fun. Good to see your bus back on the rocks.

what's the story behind idiotone and idiotspal?

[cbassett]

Hey Dan,
Glad to be rolling again. This run definitely told me what to work on next though.

Idiot One and his pal... I'm going to post a new thread on them, stay tuned...

[Paradiddle]

http://www.bumperdumper.com/

the title says it all - they actually have one of these at the Sport Shalet on Jamboree in Irvine.

Glad you pick up the trash - I have no idea why people find it acceptable to litter.

Jeff

[Chris L]

Nice shots Chris.
Why is it that most of us true jeepers have to bring home more trash than we take in? I will always pick up trash that I see, and will always voice my unpleasant opinion when seeing some jackhole through his trash on the ground.

[TJRON]

Waiting for the story about the idiot from Nevada.
???

[cbassett]

Yes, there are plenty of commercial solutions available. All $$ IMHO, and none more convenient than just crapping in a bag, throwing that bag in my garbage bag, and throwing it all away at the end of the trip. For the girls, something to sit on will be appreciated.

The Restop? 2 Solid Waste Bag

toilet in a box

Briefcase Toilet.

Bucket Toilet and tent

another Briefcase unit.

More

Inflatable potty...

[cbassett]

Originally posted by TJRON
Waiting for the story about the idiot from Nevada.
???

http://www.jeepbbs.net/forums/showth...&threadid=2489

Didn't want to pollute this thread with the likes of those a-holes.