Early Peek at the Rubicon (Wentworth Springs)

[alvarorb]

Guys,


We had heard that a foot of new snow had fallen on it last weekend
and we were a little concerned that we might no be able to make it
through all the way. The run consisted in entering the Rubicon trail from the Wentworth Springs side and exiting from Loon Lake.

The trail is fine. Lots of deep water at this moment.
It should be all gone by the time June comes along. However, there's going to be lots of mosquitoes.

We did not use CBs on this trip. We used HAM radios and the
communications were stellar. Early in the morning Ernie was waiting
for us on the on ramp at Hazel on Hwy 50. Using our 2M radios and our
small antennas, we were talking to him from 10 miles away. Once on
the slabs, over the Alligator Pit, we had a nice conversation with
Big JIM (FJ40 Owner in Mud) via the El Dorado repeater. Very nice.

I've posted some photos of our Early Wentworth Springs run on our
website:

http://www.tlcwagons.org

Regards

Alvaro

 

[Ducks]

Nice pics. Just a little deep, huh? Nice lunch.

 

[NorCalCruiser]

Melted cheese

Hey Alvaro, great trip yesterday, nice oven on your rig!

 

[alvarorb]

Lunch was great.
I have a friend who owns a great little bakery (Old Soul) here in Sac.
He'd promised focaccia but overslept and when I got to the bakery yesterday morning before the run, he was not there yet. Anyway, I got one of their wonderful croissants, filled it with italian prosciutto cotto and some aged gruyere cheese. Then wrapped it in foil and half an hour before lunch, I placed it in the engine compartment. It was delicious.

Alvaro

 

[OGBeno]

Great pics as usual Alvaro.

You guys do it up right indeed!

Safe travels.
-onur
Corrales, NM

 

[surfpig]

I passed you guys on the freeway...

Subaru with snowboards on top.

 

[mickey_rubicon]

Thanks for the invite. See if you guys come to my parents lake cabin before and after rubithon this year

 

[NorCalDoug]

it sucked missing that, but I had too much to do on Sunday.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

The water was pretty deep in spots-thanks Alvaro for posting that perfect bow wave pic of my truck!

The real story of the trip though, is that there isn't any snow to speak of. We traveled all the way up the old Wentworth approach to the Rubicon trail proper at Ellis Creek. From there, we ran backwards, through that second bit of Loon Lake, then across the Granite Bowl, up the steps and down into the Alligator Pit, then out through the blasted Gatekeeper and out through Loon proper. The trail is in excellent condition, very clean, and no snow on any of the trail sections at all. I was surprised, since normally these are the conditions we see in late May. We also only met about 5-6 other trucks all day.

The other story of the trip was NorCalCruiser. He's a newbie to 80 series wheeling but not to wheeling, and so didn't cry over the "improvements" the trail made in his rocker panels. He has a great attitude and a great truck, so I hope he'll continue to hang with us.

The other interesting tidbit, was the biggest truck, on 6 inch Slee springs, got stuck the hardest. A moment of inattention, and he was turtled about 50 feet down the trail from the old Gatekeeper. Funny, this run got organized at the last moment, and all 4 of us thought someone else would have the hi-lift. Guess what, when Ernie got high centered, we all looked at each other--DOH!!!

I hope it's OK with Alvaro, but here is the direct link to his pictures:
http://www.tlcwagons.org/Norcal Wagons/Early Wentworth Springs.html

 

[CaliCruiser]

pictures look great guys!
Still trying to get the 60 ready for the real deal otherwise I'm gonna tag along.

Dylan