I will post up a basic trip report and try to keep some tech going so please bear with me on this.
Met up with Matt and Michelle outside of Portland for the drive down. We left with full tanks, clean trucks and a bit of nervous energy.
In the days leading up to the trip I had done my int/exh, power steering pump, and build a new rear bumper with better qtr protection.
When we arrived in Sac I had noticed a pretty bad diff leak and found a blown FF axle seal. I did my best to slow the leak and we headed to the trailhead. Along the way I picked up my brother at the airport and bought some supplies and food.
Plan on needing at least 2 cases of cold ones and 4 bags of ice.
Driving to the trailhead takes some time and Matt's 502 started putting put some heat. We pulled over and let it cool a bit.
Here is my 60 with the qtr protection on Icehouse Rd:
Eve pic on the spillway at Loon Lake:
We camped at the trailhead on a huge granit rock. Sorry for the blurry pic my brother has a better one and I post it soon:
After airing down, tech inspection, drivers meeting we hit the trail:
First part of the trail leads to the "Slabs". Very cool place and pics of course do no justice. Dylan and Mike heading down:
I will have to get the pics from my brother this week of the sections in between here. I was busy driving and have very few.
I will post more here later but this is first night camp at Buck Island and us lining up for the next morning:
Andy (Cruiserdrew) was kind enough to let the 60 wags lead the charge the next day. Very cool but tough as the front guys get to try the lines, stack the rocks and spot the obstacles. Most fun I have had on a trail run in a long time!
Tight sections, cool shot of Dylan next to an Alpine lake, and Matt on Million dollar drop!
I will dig up some more pics of the Big Sluice but this section was a clincher as the 80's had eaten some doors on this rock earlier. They were great and stacked rocks for 45 mins for us 60's and the other 6 or so 80's on the wagon run:
Andy was the coolest. Laid back, genuinely concerned for our safety and one heck of a spotter. All of us got through here without a scratch!!
After this section was a pretty cool rock garden with a bunch of drops. The rear bumper, rock sliders and qtr panle protection is needed here unless you really like body damage. We rolled into camp at the Springs after a cool section where most of us had to grind a bit on a rock face:
Camp was beautiful and for the most part people are fun. However we ended up sleeping next to a poor guy the first night that had really bad sleep apnea, the next night was sleeping next to the "Dirty Dozen" party, and the last night a group of 18 year old asses parked their minis on top of our tent and drank all night. I am not even joking that I had a total of 7 hrs sleep for 4 days of wheeling. There are people and trucks everywhere and no repreive fron noise or chaos at any hour. The Rubicon is unfortunately a freeway.
There was no exit strategy this year but Drew and the rest of the group took pity on our wagons and said they would help us out of the trail up Caddillac Hill on Sat.
The first corner was a challenge to say the least. This is where low gears, automatics (or AUTOMATICAS as the Argentenians would say) comes in handy. Most the group could crawl this slippery slope and make it but I used my winch:
After that some tricky sections but otherwide a great drive out. We met the rest of the group at the top and were rewarded with a awesome view and cheers from Crruiserdrew and the group!
Some more cool water crossings, views and a cool tree hanging out on a sweet looking granite cliff:
Overall it was a great trip. Carnage report:
Dylan: long side axle.
Mike: nothing but a few scrapes on sliders and bumpers
Matt: 1 front diff plug, some scrapes on a fender flair.
Clint: 1 slider bent, 1 rain gutter, rain gutter crome strip.
If you are going to take this trail your truck must be in good shape, go with someone who has gone before, get some protection or as Pighead would say " whatever gets bent or smashed it shouldn't have been there anyways so just cut it off"
I will post up more as I weed through the pics.
Thanks to all the spotters and especially Cruiserdrew for your leadership. Truely one of the best people you will ever meet!
Clint