The Rubicon Trail...

[newracer]

Taking both is a good idea. My buggy alone weighs more than the Rubi can tow.

[FINOCJ]

open_circuit previously posted:

[FINOCJ]

Here is some video that shows what most of the trail miles look like between the bigger named obstacles....the is part of the long climb from Ellis Creek up to Walker Rock and little sluice (morning of day 2 for us...and one of my favorite sections). As usual, the vid doesn't give good perspective on steepness, but the general section is a steep climb, and all of the step-ups are just that much more. The small rock slab in the middle of the vid was quite steep....not in the video, but the last rock slab on this climb is Walker Rock - the guide book says 45 degrees. I am the jeep just in front of the video jeep with the blue water can on the rear tire.

[Jim]

Thanks for post'n pix and vids - that's the most I've seen of the trail.

[Rocrawlr]

Dinner break in Park City UT

[FINOCJ]

Looks like you'll have no problems with the trail on that LJ on 40s? Go for the big lines...have fun

[Rocrawlr]

I recommend taking the buggy. There are a few optional obstacles along the trail such as Soup Bowl and True Big Sluice that would be a lot of fun in your buggy.

Dusy Ershim is a great trail too, but its a long drive south from the Rubicon. If you want to make the most of of your trip out west I would suggest running Fordyce Creek Trail just east of Truckee CA on I-80. It's a relatively short drive from the Tahoe side of the Rubicon Trail. It has 5 winch hills (your buggy won't need winching) and 6 water crossings. We drowned an FJ40 at the 1st water crossing a few years back. The best time to go is right before or after the CA 4WD Association Sierra Trek run as Pacific Gas & Electric cuts back on the flow of water for the run.

[Rocrawlr]

FINOCJ previously posted:

[FINOCJ]

Rocrawlr previously posted:

[FINOCJ]

Okay...so not specifically Rubicon trail related, but part of the trip from our travels on the way home. And for some, hopefully a way to encourage more to make the drive to the Rubicon...there is a lot of great country to see out there along the way. We planned a few days in Cedar City, UT to visit some of the classic red rock areas such as Bryce Canyon and Zion NP and Cedar Breaks NM etc and get some sightseeing and hiking in. A couple pics of that here:





But the truly unexpected and most memorable part (we had been to the other places before)...on the drive across the desolate Nevada desert on the extra terrestrial highway, we saw a BLM sign for Oak Springs Trilobite Site. As Jen and I are both geologists (although neither of us are actively employed in the field anymore, we still enjoy the subject), and at 70 mph, it was a 'what did that say' kind of moment. After spinning a u-turn jeep in tow and all, we wandered down a short dirt road and got more details at the trailhead. A short walk out to a open and free dig site...there was even a claw hammer and chisel left at the trail head registry (not the most ideal tools for this, but better than nothing - hard to believe neither of us geologists had a rock hammer ). So we spent a very hot 1hr in 100F temps digging around cambrian aged sediments finding Olenellus trilobites...I think the last ones of those I had seen were in my college invertebrate paleo class 20+ years ago...For us structural and oil geologists, we don't spend too much time chasing fossils, but its still a pretty big deal to find a perfect trilobite fossil. Well, we didn't quite find a perfect one (although we still have some slabs to clean off now that we are home - couldn't waste water at the time), we did find some cool ones.

Not the most exciting looking rocks until you get up close...



The best ones we found so far...we may still get lucky on the remaining samples we brough back, but guessing these will be the best: