I made my first trip on the Rubicon Trail 2 weeks ago. I lived up in the Sacramento area for a while and went up to Lake Tahoe dozens of times, but I knew nearly nothing about the trail.
There are a bunch of videos online talking about the trail and the obstacles, so this will be a little different. I'll cover a brief outline of what we did, some things I will do different next time, and then some photos of the scenery.
1) Getting to the trail
I didn't even know where the trail began. I expected it would be off one of the main roads, but I was wrong. I trailered my Jeep from Riverside, just in case I broke anything on the trail. The drive took almost 12 hours going up the 395. We did make a 2-3 hour stop at the Reward Mine near Manzanar . The mine is about 10 miles off the highway down a dirt road. It was a very cool experience and worth the detour.
We arrived at South Lake Tahoe a little after sunset and went to the Golden Nugget for the night. At this point, we didn't know where we would leave the tow vehicles for the 3-4 days.
I hear that most people run the Rubicon Trail from Loon Lake to Tahoma. So you have basically 3 options on where to park the tow vehicles. But no matter where you park, there is a 2-3 hour drive on paved roads to get back to the tow vehicle (unless you run the Rubicon in both directions). Here is a Map:
We left the vehicles at the Golden Nugget Parking lot. Drove to Loon Lake. Completed the Trail. The Drove back to the Golden Nugget.
One other person in our group left his vehicle at Loon Lake, then completed the trail and drove all the way back to Loon Lake (then back down to HWY 50).
We planned to stay at the Golden Nugget again at the end of the trip, but they were fully booked. They let the tow vehicles with the Jeep/Samurai out of the lot for 1 day of parking each ($50 plus Tax)
Lots of options with where to park and where to stay. i would EASILY park at Golden Nugget or Harrahs again on the next trip. The thought of leaving the tow vehicles at either end of the trail for 3-4 days did make me worried. I can't tell you they were any safer at the casino, but it seems better?
2) On the trail
I had VERY little to do with the planning of the trip. I tried to look for digital maps, but in the end I liked the printed map from Eldorado County the best
https://www.eldoradocounty.ca.gov/Land-Use/Parks-Trails/Rubicon-Trail/Rubicon-Trail-Map
If there were mile markers for each Point of Interest, then this paper map would be just about perfect.
Other people in the group had ONX and something else, but in general the trail is super obvious.
I had enough food and water for 5+ days. But I was almost out of ice by the end of day 3. Better management could have easily bought me an extra day.
My buddy had a 12v refrigerator FULL of beer. His dual battery setup seemed to run fine. Charge the battery during the day and it runs all night. As he ran through the beer, it made room for other peoples food when the ice ran out.
My LJ easily had room for all my camping gear and 2 people with the back seat removed.
Day 1 -
We had a total of 5 vehicles in our group, see if you can spot the problem child
1) My 2004 LJ on 35s
2) OLD ASS Samurai on 35s
3) 2000ish TJ on 35s
4) Newish JL 4 door on 35s
5) 2020 Gladiator on 37s
We only made about 2.5 miles on day 1. We got an early start, but ran into traffic and road closure on Icehouse Road. Then it took a while to unload and load the TJ, JL and Gladiator.
We camped just before Walker Hill. Nice spot in the trees with a toilet near by.
Also on Day 1, the Gladiator literally ripped one of the Rear Sway Bar Links off the side of the tub. So we removed that...
Day 2 -
We made MUCH better progress on Day 2. We got all the way to Buck Island Lake a couple hours before sunset. We found a cool campsite right next to the lake. Everything was going great... UNTIL
The Gladiator was struggling on the last little obstacle before camp. A slightly tight uphill rock just after the dam.
First the Driver Front Tire popped. We aren't even sure how/why
Stupidly, we tried to get up those last 10' on the blown tire
Then the Driver Side front U-Joint blew up.
We backed down the hill and evaluated the damage. Tire, Wheel, U-joint and Antirock Sway bar link severely bent.
We put the spare on the Gladiator and used my winch to get him up the hill to the campsite.
LONG story short, we found someone with a Dana 44 U-Joint that matched close enough to get the Gladiator up and running again on 4 WD.
Day 3 - We just stayed at Buck Island Lake for the day and played in the water
Both nights had clear skies and enough darkness to see the Milky Way
The Park Fire was burning off in the distance, probably 100 miles away
This was a great campsite, its 100% rocks and no shade, but you can't beat the view and easy lake access
Day 4 -
When the Gladiator was broken; EVERYONE told us to go back to Loon Lake
With the Gladiator fixed (?) we decided to push forward. Taking extra care to route the Gladiator on the easiest possible path.
We made amazing time on Day 4 and arrived at Rubicon Springs by Lunch. This would be another great place to camp, but I guess there is a bear that wonders through all the camps every night.
We decided to push to the end of the trail on Day 4. Cadillac Hill was NOT as scarry as everyone made it sound.
We got to the North East Trailhead about 5 PM and back to the Hotels about 7 PM
I did have a little body damage. I'm not even sure how a rock slipped between the tire and the bumper like this:
I feel bad for the Gladiator. His Overlander Rig just wasn't set up for this trail. His vehicle was LOADED.
His rocker guards had side steps that got caught up on everything.
His rear bumper was dragged on dozen and dozens of rocks.
Tire, Wheel, Front Sway, Rear Sway, hit the driver rear corner, and who knows what else.
He had a great attitude about the whole thing.
Overall I had a great time. I was super happy with the LJ. It has some rash on the rims and the rockers, but the only real problem was MY stupid bumper. I knew the trade off with moving the tire to the bumper. But I wanted the tow hitch AND to get the weight off the rear door. I will need to consider getting a rear bumper like the GenRight one with the receiver and the MORryde hinges.
The TJ and Samurai guys both want to run the trail again next year. If we only bring similar vehicles, then we can probably do some of the harder stuff we bypassed and also do the short leg to Wentworth Springs.
Thanks for reading if you got this far
There are a bunch of videos online talking about the trail and the obstacles, so this will be a little different. I'll cover a brief outline of what we did, some things I will do different next time, and then some photos of the scenery.
1) Getting to the trail
I didn't even know where the trail began. I expected it would be off one of the main roads, but I was wrong. I trailered my Jeep from Riverside, just in case I broke anything on the trail. The drive took almost 12 hours going up the 395. We did make a 2-3 hour stop at the Reward Mine near Manzanar . The mine is about 10 miles off the highway down a dirt road. It was a very cool experience and worth the detour.
We arrived at South Lake Tahoe a little after sunset and went to the Golden Nugget for the night. At this point, we didn't know where we would leave the tow vehicles for the 3-4 days.
I hear that most people run the Rubicon Trail from Loon Lake to Tahoma. So you have basically 3 options on where to park the tow vehicles. But no matter where you park, there is a 2-3 hour drive on paved roads to get back to the tow vehicle (unless you run the Rubicon in both directions). Here is a Map:
We left the vehicles at the Golden Nugget Parking lot. Drove to Loon Lake. Completed the Trail. The Drove back to the Golden Nugget.
One other person in our group left his vehicle at Loon Lake, then completed the trail and drove all the way back to Loon Lake (then back down to HWY 50).
We planned to stay at the Golden Nugget again at the end of the trip, but they were fully booked. They let the tow vehicles with the Jeep/Samurai out of the lot for 1 day of parking each ($50 plus Tax)
Lots of options with where to park and where to stay. i would EASILY park at Golden Nugget or Harrahs again on the next trip. The thought of leaving the tow vehicles at either end of the trail for 3-4 days did make me worried. I can't tell you they were any safer at the casino, but it seems better?
2) On the trail
I had VERY little to do with the planning of the trip. I tried to look for digital maps, but in the end I liked the printed map from Eldorado County the best
https://www.eldoradocounty.ca.gov/Land-Use/Parks-Trails/Rubicon-Trail/Rubicon-Trail-Map
If there were mile markers for each Point of Interest, then this paper map would be just about perfect.
Other people in the group had ONX and something else, but in general the trail is super obvious.
I had enough food and water for 5+ days. But I was almost out of ice by the end of day 3. Better management could have easily bought me an extra day.
My buddy had a 12v refrigerator FULL of beer. His dual battery setup seemed to run fine. Charge the battery during the day and it runs all night. As he ran through the beer, it made room for other peoples food when the ice ran out.
My LJ easily had room for all my camping gear and 2 people with the back seat removed.
Day 1 -
We had a total of 5 vehicles in our group, see if you can spot the problem child
1) My 2004 LJ on 35s
2) OLD ASS Samurai on 35s
3) 2000ish TJ on 35s
4) Newish JL 4 door on 35s
5) 2020 Gladiator on 37s
We only made about 2.5 miles on day 1. We got an early start, but ran into traffic and road closure on Icehouse Road. Then it took a while to unload and load the TJ, JL and Gladiator.
We camped just before Walker Hill. Nice spot in the trees with a toilet near by.
Also on Day 1, the Gladiator literally ripped one of the Rear Sway Bar Links off the side of the tub. So we removed that...
Day 2 -
We made MUCH better progress on Day 2. We got all the way to Buck Island Lake a couple hours before sunset. We found a cool campsite right next to the lake. Everything was going great... UNTIL
The Gladiator was struggling on the last little obstacle before camp. A slightly tight uphill rock just after the dam.
First the Driver Front Tire popped. We aren't even sure how/why
Stupidly, we tried to get up those last 10' on the blown tire
Then the Driver Side front U-Joint blew up.
We backed down the hill and evaluated the damage. Tire, Wheel, U-joint and Antirock Sway bar link severely bent.
We put the spare on the Gladiator and used my winch to get him up the hill to the campsite.
LONG story short, we found someone with a Dana 44 U-Joint that matched close enough to get the Gladiator up and running again on 4 WD.
Day 3 - We just stayed at Buck Island Lake for the day and played in the water
Both nights had clear skies and enough darkness to see the Milky Way
The Park Fire was burning off in the distance, probably 100 miles away
This was a great campsite, its 100% rocks and no shade, but you can't beat the view and easy lake access
Day 4 -
When the Gladiator was broken; EVERYONE told us to go back to Loon Lake
With the Gladiator fixed (?) we decided to push forward. Taking extra care to route the Gladiator on the easiest possible path.
We made amazing time on Day 4 and arrived at Rubicon Springs by Lunch. This would be another great place to camp, but I guess there is a bear that wonders through all the camps every night.
We decided to push to the end of the trail on Day 4. Cadillac Hill was NOT as scarry as everyone made it sound.
We got to the North East Trailhead about 5 PM and back to the Hotels about 7 PM
I did have a little body damage. I'm not even sure how a rock slipped between the tire and the bumper like this:
I feel bad for the Gladiator. His Overlander Rig just wasn't set up for this trail. His vehicle was LOADED.
His rocker guards had side steps that got caught up on everything.
His rear bumper was dragged on dozen and dozens of rocks.
Tire, Wheel, Front Sway, Rear Sway, hit the driver rear corner, and who knows what else.
He had a great attitude about the whole thing.
Overall I had a great time. I was super happy with the LJ. It has some rash on the rims and the rockers, but the only real problem was MY stupid bumper. I knew the trade off with moving the tire to the bumper. But I wanted the tow hitch AND to get the weight off the rear door. I will need to consider getting a rear bumper like the GenRight one with the receiver and the MORryde hinges.
The TJ and Samurai guys both want to run the trail again next year. If we only bring similar vehicles, then we can probably do some of the harder stuff we bypassed and also do the short leg to Wentworth Springs.
Thanks for reading if you got this far
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