"I think I blew a head gasket, but I'll run the trail anyways"
2011 Rubithon
- Thread starter TRT2
- Start date
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All 400something photos uploaded finally, video next!
https://picasaweb.google.com/115197161907695868393/Ruithon2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKLLq4W_nNqtDg
https://picasaweb.google.com/115197161907695868393/Ruithon2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKLLq4W_nNqtDg
alvarorb
Color Geek in Charge
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2003
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- 1,847
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- Sacramento, California
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Very cool pics.
I have some that are still on my camera. Maybe tonight I'll start playing with them.
I have some that are still on my camera. Maybe tonight I'll start playing with them.
Has anyone heard from Alabama Tom and son? They were in the 80 behind us going up Cadillac. He was having some air intake issues or something and wasn't running that well all the way to the staging area.
I know he had his trailer at Loon, but he mentioned to me about trying to find a mechanic in the area to have a look at it.
I know he had his trailer at Loon, but he mentioned to me about trying to find a mechanic in the area to have a look at it.
alvarorb
Color Geek in Charge
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2003
- Threads
- 110
- Messages
- 1,847
- Location
- Sacramento, California
- Website
- www.instagram.com
Got a bit of shaky video uploaded to photobucket.Rubithon 2011 pictures by douglashuft - Photobucket
A moment of shame coming down big sluice. Not a good line.
click on the video.
click on the video.
Last edited:
bottom of Cadillac, rolling rock.
click on the video
click on the video
Last edited:
Our Epic Californian Adventure
Well since the memories of this past Rubithon seem to be fading fast, I'll copy over my somewhat concise trip report/observations.
We left home on Sunday the 10th, and drove to Eugene Oregon for the night. Monday was some shopping in that lovely tax free state, I just wish we had more room in the 81 after stopping in at Cabela's. Monday afternoon we drove across to the coastal town of Florence Ore, and spent two nights there enjoying the beautiful ocean side town. We left there on the Wednesday and drove towards Rubicon, where the adventure was to really start.
We pulled into the Icehouse Resort late, I think it was around 11. They had left the light on and the door open in the cabin we had booked. It was cozy, 2 beds, a shower, and a little musty, but comfortable.
Thursday morning we awoke to the sound of Land Cruisers heading towards Loon Lake, and we ventured onwards. We pulled into the Loon Lake staging area while I gawked at all the crazy built machines and they gawked at my diesel. Our trail boss Glen was concerned about the 4 80's he had in this run of 16 trucks, and had us spread out a few apart. Our destination that night was to camp at Buck Island. Many of the groups do the run in one day, but it is a very long day. It had been suggested that I remove my sway bars, not for more articulation, but if the front broke off it would (and has) taken the brake lines with it. Becky thought this prudent, so I did as I was told I started to remove the rear as well, but put it back together after braking a bolt off one of the mounts, this would haunt me later. We left the staging area at around 10 I think, and into Buck sometime around 5. This I was told later was the easy part of the trail, which left me wondering as I had already had 2 flares and one good scratch along the door by now. We had stopped for a bit of a break in the slabs, and I managed to catch the tail end of some of the action in Little Sluice (that's the 2 pictures looking down on the black 40 pivoting around a rock).
As we neared Buck Island, we caught up with what I think was the earlier group fro that morning, Pismo Jim and company. It was then that the grey 4Runner behind me thought I had broken my rear sway bar. After looking it it seemed okay, but closer inspection showed that the bracket where I had broken the one bolt off had bent down, allowing the sway bar to drop out whenever the suspension dropped. So while not technically broken, I removed before further carnage ensued, and strapped it to the roof cargo with the front one.
After a couple fairly deep water crossings, we pulled into Buck Island and set up camp for the night. We were warned there was a bear in the area, so be to sure to be "bear smart". We found out the next day that the bear had visited Mike (the green Taco) and had casually opened his action packer, damaged his cooler, and stolen all his food. Luckily he had some friends along who kept him and his wife fed, so all was good. Mike was also informed later he had camped right below a rattlesnake den as well. His wife did not get much sleep that night. We also heard a story about in some other group, that same bear had gotten into another action packer and eaten the food, but had also punctured the oil containers he had. Luckily the action packer contained the ensuing ecological disaster, but who keeps oil with their food anyways?
We pulled out of Buck bright and early at 8am and headed for the Rubicon Springs, where the real wheeling would start I was informed by one of the Knorr brothers. Boy was he right, but with great spotting from Glen,, and many helping hands through some VERY tight spots, I avoided any damage.
We pulled into Rubicon Springs at I think 2:30, and what a beautiful place. We camped out on the slabs near the river, as everything closer to camp was full. If you plan on drinking heavily at the Marauder bar, that is one nasty drunken walk to your tent. Luckily I don't remember a thing from my walk I was informed later that Pismo Jim gave me safe escort through the minefield of ledges, crevasses, and boulders from the bar to my camp. Thanks Jim!
The springs area is simply gorgeous, nice grassy area where all the festivities are held, a little beach at the river and a couple very nice swimming spots. The water was a little cold, but not as cold as I expected it to be, refreshing would be a good word. We just hing around and checked things out the Saturday, dinner was at 5pm followed by a moment of silence in memory of Gary Bjork, and then the raffle commenced. Dinner was great, with a choice of very tasty chicken or beef, chili, salad, rolls, and drinks, very good. The raffle was great, I had my eye on the Tembo Tusk fridge slide, but sadly did not come home with it. The grand prizes were a complete Stihl chainsaw package (pants, gas..everything!), a Power tank, and a Marlin Crawler rebuild of a standard transmission, by Marlin himself.
Sunday was exit day, and while in the past they have had exit strategies, this year was essentially a free for all. The family we camped with, Doug Shuft, his wife Michelle, and son Dominic, decided we should head out together up Cadillac hill. We also gathered up Alabama Tom and his son in their 80 and headed on out at 8 am. We were told by Pismo Jim to avoid going a certain way in the mud hole that soon came up, and their were 3 routes through it and we had forgotten which way he suggested. Apparently the route Doug took was the way not to go, has he promptly got buried. I tugged him out, watched Doug easily go through the path on the left, and took that route. I promptly got stuck, but on a log that Doug had rolled in. Tom winched me out, and we both took the far right path, which was the one that Jim has sugggested.
Right after the mud began the infamous Cadillac hill, and this is where we had the most trouble out of the whole trip. As I was rounding a corner, I was told to take it high and wide around the rock on my right to set up for the next rock. I apparently took high and wide a little to literal, as I stopped for a moment, all the crap on the dash and seats slid off, then I slowly started to flop over onto my side. Luckily Pismo Jim was right there to once again keep me from falling. Thanks Jim!
We eventually made it up, and had to winch Tom up as his front locker was not working anymore, and by this time we had a long line of trucks behind us as we were the first up the hill. Even leaving at 8, we still did not get into the staging area until 2:30. It would have been faster, but Toms truck was having some issues and was not running very smooth, so we toodled along keeping him in sight. After the staging, we headed into South Lake Tahoe and had our only McDonalds meal of the trip, then more driving down to Anaheim and got into the hotel there at around 2:30 am. The next adventure was Disney Land, but that is a tale for another day...........
Since fuel and mileage is such a concern these days:
Roughly, as I lost the paper I started recording mileage on , we left home with about 3/4 of a tank and drove (we had to have stopped once for fuel, but that receipt I'm missing) to Eugene (662km), drove a little bit here and there in Eugene shopping, then off to Florence (99km). A little bit of driving around the Florence area, then off to Sacremento (got lost looking for fuel and food)/Placerville/Loon Lake/Icehouse Resort (955km). The Rubicon trail is approx. 22 miles (35km) and I used about a 1/4 of fuel (a little less actually). Then from Tahoma (nearest town from the exit of the 'con) straight through to Anaheim is 855 km. Then from Anahein to home is 2077 km.
Total mileage travelled approx. 4683, or lets call it an even 5k!
Going through my fuel receipts, I think I am only missing perhaps one or two receipts that I can think of.
Totals from the fuel receipts I have are $631.18
All the receipts from fuel purchased in California only show a total dollar amount, as their pumps don't accept our credit cards (they ask for a zip code as a security feature) and most did not recognize my debit card either, so I had to pay inside and guess how much a fill up was going to cost.
There was one station in Placerville that actually had a B99 bio pump, but again card issues, and you could only pay at the pump as the store attendant had no control over them, so I couldn't even pay cash.
So for the amount of distance travelled, I'm pretty happy with the overall cost. Fuel sure seemed more expensive than here though. Price per US gallon ranged from $3.729/G to $4.89/G.
There were two biostations we stopped at in Oregon (Pheonix and Portland). Southern Washington (Vancouver area) had some bio stations listed as well. We googled stations on the way home (didn't think of it on the way down) using the wifes netbook and an international webstick we got for a month. It came in handy as the hotels free wi-fi's sure seemed slow.
My last video is finally done and uploaded, all the others can be easily fond on my youtube channel as Rubithon 2011.
Again, thanks Tony and all the event staff, a truly wonderful experience.
And thanks to Doug and his family for the great company throughout the trail.
Well since the memories of this past Rubithon seem to be fading fast, I'll copy over my somewhat concise trip report/observations.
We left home on Sunday the 10th, and drove to Eugene Oregon for the night. Monday was some shopping in that lovely tax free state, I just wish we had more room in the 81 after stopping in at Cabela's. Monday afternoon we drove across to the coastal town of Florence Ore, and spent two nights there enjoying the beautiful ocean side town. We left there on the Wednesday and drove towards Rubicon, where the adventure was to really start.
We pulled into the Icehouse Resort late, I think it was around 11. They had left the light on and the door open in the cabin we had booked. It was cozy, 2 beds, a shower, and a little musty, but comfortable.
Thursday morning we awoke to the sound of Land Cruisers heading towards Loon Lake, and we ventured onwards. We pulled into the Loon Lake staging area while I gawked at all the crazy built machines and they gawked at my diesel. Our trail boss Glen was concerned about the 4 80's he had in this run of 16 trucks, and had us spread out a few apart. Our destination that night was to camp at Buck Island. Many of the groups do the run in one day, but it is a very long day. It had been suggested that I remove my sway bars, not for more articulation, but if the front broke off it would (and has) taken the brake lines with it. Becky thought this prudent, so I did as I was told I started to remove the rear as well, but put it back together after braking a bolt off one of the mounts, this would haunt me later. We left the staging area at around 10 I think, and into Buck sometime around 5. This I was told later was the easy part of the trail, which left me wondering as I had already had 2 flares and one good scratch along the door by now. We had stopped for a bit of a break in the slabs, and I managed to catch the tail end of some of the action in Little Sluice (that's the 2 pictures looking down on the black 40 pivoting around a rock).
As we neared Buck Island, we caught up with what I think was the earlier group fro that morning, Pismo Jim and company. It was then that the grey 4Runner behind me thought I had broken my rear sway bar. After looking it it seemed okay, but closer inspection showed that the bracket where I had broken the one bolt off had bent down, allowing the sway bar to drop out whenever the suspension dropped. So while not technically broken, I removed before further carnage ensued, and strapped it to the roof cargo with the front one.
After a couple fairly deep water crossings, we pulled into Buck Island and set up camp for the night. We were warned there was a bear in the area, so be to sure to be "bear smart". We found out the next day that the bear had visited Mike (the green Taco) and had casually opened his action packer, damaged his cooler, and stolen all his food. Luckily he had some friends along who kept him and his wife fed, so all was good. Mike was also informed later he had camped right below a rattlesnake den as well. His wife did not get much sleep that night. We also heard a story about in some other group, that same bear had gotten into another action packer and eaten the food, but had also punctured the oil containers he had. Luckily the action packer contained the ensuing ecological disaster, but who keeps oil with their food anyways?
We pulled out of Buck bright and early at 8am and headed for the Rubicon Springs, where the real wheeling would start I was informed by one of the Knorr brothers. Boy was he right, but with great spotting from Glen,, and many helping hands through some VERY tight spots, I avoided any damage.
We pulled into Rubicon Springs at I think 2:30, and what a beautiful place. We camped out on the slabs near the river, as everything closer to camp was full. If you plan on drinking heavily at the Marauder bar, that is one nasty drunken walk to your tent. Luckily I don't remember a thing from my walk I was informed later that Pismo Jim gave me safe escort through the minefield of ledges, crevasses, and boulders from the bar to my camp. Thanks Jim!
The springs area is simply gorgeous, nice grassy area where all the festivities are held, a little beach at the river and a couple very nice swimming spots. The water was a little cold, but not as cold as I expected it to be, refreshing would be a good word. We just hing around and checked things out the Saturday, dinner was at 5pm followed by a moment of silence in memory of Gary Bjork, and then the raffle commenced. Dinner was great, with a choice of very tasty chicken or beef, chili, salad, rolls, and drinks, very good. The raffle was great, I had my eye on the Tembo Tusk fridge slide, but sadly did not come home with it. The grand prizes were a complete Stihl chainsaw package (pants, gas..everything!), a Power tank, and a Marlin Crawler rebuild of a standard transmission, by Marlin himself.
Sunday was exit day, and while in the past they have had exit strategies, this year was essentially a free for all. The family we camped with, Doug Shuft, his wife Michelle, and son Dominic, decided we should head out together up Cadillac hill. We also gathered up Alabama Tom and his son in their 80 and headed on out at 8 am. We were told by Pismo Jim to avoid going a certain way in the mud hole that soon came up, and their were 3 routes through it and we had forgotten which way he suggested. Apparently the route Doug took was the way not to go, has he promptly got buried. I tugged him out, watched Doug easily go through the path on the left, and took that route. I promptly got stuck, but on a log that Doug had rolled in. Tom winched me out, and we both took the far right path, which was the one that Jim has sugggested.
Right after the mud began the infamous Cadillac hill, and this is where we had the most trouble out of the whole trip. As I was rounding a corner, I was told to take it high and wide around the rock on my right to set up for the next rock. I apparently took high and wide a little to literal, as I stopped for a moment, all the crap on the dash and seats slid off, then I slowly started to flop over onto my side. Luckily Pismo Jim was right there to once again keep me from falling. Thanks Jim!
We eventually made it up, and had to winch Tom up as his front locker was not working anymore, and by this time we had a long line of trucks behind us as we were the first up the hill. Even leaving at 8, we still did not get into the staging area until 2:30. It would have been faster, but Toms truck was having some issues and was not running very smooth, so we toodled along keeping him in sight. After the staging, we headed into South Lake Tahoe and had our only McDonalds meal of the trip, then more driving down to Anaheim and got into the hotel there at around 2:30 am. The next adventure was Disney Land, but that is a tale for another day...........
Since fuel and mileage is such a concern these days:
Roughly, as I lost the paper I started recording mileage on , we left home with about 3/4 of a tank and drove (we had to have stopped once for fuel, but that receipt I'm missing) to Eugene (662km), drove a little bit here and there in Eugene shopping, then off to Florence (99km). A little bit of driving around the Florence area, then off to Sacremento (got lost looking for fuel and food)/Placerville/Loon Lake/Icehouse Resort (955km). The Rubicon trail is approx. 22 miles (35km) and I used about a 1/4 of fuel (a little less actually). Then from Tahoma (nearest town from the exit of the 'con) straight through to Anaheim is 855 km. Then from Anahein to home is 2077 km.
Total mileage travelled approx. 4683, or lets call it an even 5k!
Going through my fuel receipts, I think I am only missing perhaps one or two receipts that I can think of.
Totals from the fuel receipts I have are $631.18
All the receipts from fuel purchased in California only show a total dollar amount, as their pumps don't accept our credit cards (they ask for a zip code as a security feature) and most did not recognize my debit card either, so I had to pay inside and guess how much a fill up was going to cost.
There was one station in Placerville that actually had a B99 bio pump, but again card issues, and you could only pay at the pump as the store attendant had no control over them, so I couldn't even pay cash.
So for the amount of distance travelled, I'm pretty happy with the overall cost. Fuel sure seemed more expensive than here though. Price per US gallon ranged from $3.729/G to $4.89/G.
There were two biostations we stopped at in Oregon (Pheonix and Portland). Southern Washington (Vancouver area) had some bio stations listed as well. We googled stations on the way home (didn't think of it on the way down) using the wifes netbook and an international webstick we got for a month. It came in handy as the hotels free wi-fi's sure seemed slow.
My last video is finally done and uploaded, all the others can be easily fond on my youtube channel as Rubithon 2011.
Again, thanks Tony and all the event staff, a truly wonderful experience.
And thanks to Doug and his family for the great company throughout the trail.
