So you want to run the Rubicon Trail… And who wouldn’t… But what does it mean to survive the Con? For us it meant two long hard days on off-road trail with some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. It also meant a little carnage, a lot of fun and an experience we’ll never forget.

One thing to remember about running the Rubicon Trail is that the trail is one rig wide most of the way.  No matter how many rigs are in your group, If you get stuck… It is only you, the rig in front of you and the one directly behind that can help.  Think about that if only one or two rigs are set up for recovery.

Until the day before this off-road adventure the only skids on our rig were the paper thin factory gravel guards. Luckily Mark saw that and found an old front skid that could be bolted into place. This skid was by no means a thing of beauty, but it was 1/4 inch steel and would protect the engine as well as keep a nice approach angle. Mark made me deal… The skid was free, but each scratch would cost $10… I think that turned out to be a $1,000 skid… But we worked out a fair trade… Remember the 90w we poured into the 80 Series day 1 on the Rubicon… well guess where it came from?  The rest of the crew sported full skids and were able to slide over boulders that hung Hula Betty and I up.  So yes… You should have a full set of skids.

A big part of negotiating large tight obstacles is to plant your sliders on the rock, give it some gas and pivot around.  More often than not I would hear one of the spotters yell, “Ok your slider is working for you…  come on around”.  Additionally, more than once the sliders were the only thing between our door sills and the granite.  Without our Metal Tech sliders, we would be spending time in the body shop, a lot of time.  Sliders are another must for the trail.

All the rigs were sporting a winch.  And all the rigs used their winch at least once.  Ours in fact only had one use in it before giving up the ghost but that one use was what it took to get off a big rock we had high centered on…  Without full skids, there is a nice open hole around the transfer case that will sit nicely on a rock.  Once you have a boulder wedged in your frame you have all the traction of a turtle on it’s back.  The winches and tow straps were a big plus especially when we got to Big Sluice…  Boulders, more boulders and a few really big boulders thrown in for fun.  Getting high centered is not all it is cracked up to be.

All but one of the rigs were sporting 33″ tires.  And when Nick walked over everything with his 35″ tires…  We all had tire envy!  We made it with 33″ tires but Nick’s extra clearance defiantly gave him an edge.  Of course it didn’t hurt that he’s a good driver who knows how to wheel what he brung.

The FJ Cruisers in our group could be divided into two groups.  Standard 3″ lifts and those sporting Total Chaos 2″ long travel kits.  The long travel certainly gave us the extra reach that allowed our tires to maintain traction and forward momentum when the 3″ lifts fell a little short.  The extra travel also gave us a bit more  confidence when it came to swinging high without any trouble in the off camber stuff.

The Toyota Trails Team has taken a stock rig through the Rubicon…  ONCE…  and they also got completely shut down another time…  You just don’t know what you will find year to year.  We saw plenty of Jeeps with 6″ lifts and 37″ tires…  They didn’t have trouble on the big rocks.  But than again they didn’t have as much fun as we did playing chess with our lines in the boulders.

You hear about how weak the IFS front end is.  And yes if you turn the wheel…  punch the gas and start hopping on a rock…  you will brake a half shaft.  We carefully worked the skinny peddle and picked our lines accordingly…  NO ONE broke an axle…  Of course we had several spare half shafts…  we just didn’t need them.  We also were able to use the IFS’ off camber abilities to negotiate the rocks in ways the solid axle guys can’t.  Not that IFS is better…  it is just different and don’t let anyone tell you an IFS rig wont make it…  You will just have to work a line differently than the solid axle guys.

Some in the group did pick up a few body panel dings and the under side of our rig was polished up nicely by the granite.  We even managed to shed those self ejecting rear bumper corners coming down off a tall shelf, but all in all everyone of the FJ Cruisers performed well.  If you think that is no big deal than let me tell you about the guy we met on Cadillac Hill.  He had been waiting on the side of the trail for two days.  He blew up his steering box and his partner had gone out for to find another.  His Jeep was well built and he was prepared but the Con shows no mercy.

We survived the Rubicon trail.  Not because we were the most built rigs out there.  Not because we had more experience than the rest.  Not even because we better prepared…  We survived because we had a good trail boss (Mark and LT) and we kept our heads no matter how crazy the trail got.  The best mod for your off-road adventure rig on any trail is a smart  calm driver and a good attitude.  Everyone in our group had it all together.

We survived the Con…  and that is saying something.

We have way too many photos to publish alongside this story and you can see them all on our Flicker Rubicon Trail Adventure day pictures.

100 yards into this off-road adventure and we’re breaking out the hi-lifts…  Welcome to the Rubicon Trail! We’d heard tales, read about it on-line and seen pictures… But until you are facing down the Rubicon Trail’s boulders, it is hard to understand the knot that wells up in your stomach as you realize… this is wheeling… on the big stuff.

Until now most of the off-road trails we’d run have their obligatory little rock garden you can play on or easily by-pass.  The Rubicon Trial is one giant rock garden…  and that is the by pass.  Gate Keeper is just that, originally designed to stop tourists and all but the most heavily built rock crawlers.  These days, after a little dynamite a while back, its a bit more friendly allowing us to pass in our puny 33″ tires and 3+ inch lift long travel.

We drove 798 miles down from Seattle just to wheel 6 miles of rock and dirt the entire first day.  The Rubicon is a giant granite mountain basin, and when I say off-road trail, think some dirt holding boulders in place and a cliff edge thrown in every once in awhile to pit your survival instincts against your desire to keep the body panels off the high side ledges.  Never the same, each year the snow and ice of the Eldorados erodes the soft dirt away exposing more of the granite chunks and changing the trail so it is never the same.  But the the Rubicon Trail’s history is rich and stead fast with names like Gate Keeper, Little Sluice, Walker Rock, The Slab…  marking our progress on day one.

The sound that metal and granite make when they occupy the same space in time can be a bit disheartening…  On the one hand there is the KATHUNK as the rig crashes down on the granite bashing skid plates and frame against the boulder below or your diff stopping your forward progress as it fails to clear the rock…   The other sound is the scream of metal as sliders rip along the boulders leaving paint and steel behind.  Like flesh being scraped from your chin as you slide across the gravelly tarmac face first leaving the faint hint of blood behind the sliders mark your forward progress.  All day long these sounds echoed down the canyons and announced our presence on the trail.

Running second in the group was both a blessing and a curse…  Following Mark, our trail leader, gave me clear visibility of the lines he skillfully choose as he picked his way through the fields of boulders… However within moments Mark would be around the corner and onto the next line while I was left to focus on where in the mine field I was and how I was going to move on without loosing an appendage.  Mark made it look easy…  I was just glad to make it.

At the trail head the 80 series, our support rig, was a little low on diff fluid so it was topped off.  On the trail the 80 series dropped its differential drain plug spewing out every drop of its 90 weight.  Following the blood trail back to the diff plug and sopping up the mess took a little time.  Add to that the plug taken a beating on the rocks before coming loose and we were into this repair an hour or so before finally adding more diff fluid and buttoning it all up.

Picking through boulders which opened up onto vast granite slabs and shelves followed by narrow walled passes defined the day.  And what a long day…  Loon Lake to Buck Island Lake is only six miles, yet it wasn’t until sunset that we pulled onto the granite slab we would call home for the night.  Exhilarated and exhausted we pried our hands from the steering wheel and unpacked our gear to set up camp by the light of our headlamps.

Around the camp lantern we ate and chatted…  We didn’t talk much about the day’s ordeal, instead sharing what brought each of us to this place in life and comparing mountain biking scars.  At 6,700 feet the night falls hard and by 10:00 p.m. we were retiring to our tents to recover from the long day and hide in our sleeping bags from the cold.

As I stared up at the stars from by bag, I was reminded of just how small we are in the universe and how lucky I was to be on this Rubicon Trail off-road adventure.  Few people are given the opportunity to chase their dreams and fewer still do…  Oh My Hell…  I’m on the Rubicon Trail and loving it.

Want more pictures from day 1…  You’ll find more on 2009 Rubicon Trail off-road adventure day 1 photos on Flickr…  There are a lot of good photos that couldn’t all fit here.

That was the the message I received back after I let Mark (those of you who remember the tail of the Blue Bunny understand Mark’s affection for the nick name) know I would be able to join him on Metal Tech ‘s Rubicon Trail adventure planned for the end of summer.

As off-road adventures go, the Rubicon Trail (Rubicon Trail Map) is perhaps one of the most well known off-road 4×4 trails in the world. With claim to the birthplace of rock crawling and a rich history that dates back to the 1950’s.   The Con combines breath taking scenery with extreme off-road challenge.   Most of the trail consists of large boulders and rocky terrain. When the rocks abate, the trail go across huge granite slabs which have steep inclines and sharp drop offs. This trail is not for the faint at heart! Did I mention it is rated a ‘Most Difficult’ 10.

Mark’s plan is for the group to meet up in Sacramento and spend the night in a hotel (so far I like his plan)…  Head up the Rubicon Trail on Sunday spending the night under the stars at Buck Island Lake and than Monday wind our way through Rubicon Springs, up to Lake Tahoe and back to Sacramento.

This will be a small group of Toyota FJ Cruisers with folks coming in from Texas, Colorado and now Poulsbo… This trip will put my skills and the rig’s IFS Long Travel to the test.  And while I’m not counting on much help from Hula Betty (although she has a great view from the dash) I know Mark’s experience, patience and ability to fix just about anything I break will make this an adventure to remember….  Curious about the trip?  Keep reading Rubicon Trail the ultimate 4×4 adventure.