Ok, so let's finish this. Hopefully, haven't forgotten too much.
Day 3 - This was definately a day that we all had decided "it was time to get out of here." After going to bed at around 2am, most everyone was awake by 7:30 or so and breaking what little camp was setup - just tents
. I'm not sure if anyone really ate much, but I had hot chocolate and toast - the kids had the same. After visiting the morning "bucket-in-a-tent," we set off. We had essentially stayed within 100 yards of the "bridge over the rubicon." That's why H2F got those great daylight pics....Yeah, if you remember right, we actually drove over the bridge at 2 in the morning. We headed off to Cadillac Hill and Observation point which would be the "end of the major rough stuff." I thought to myself, this can't be too bad. Most Hummer owners that come here in groups usually run this end of the trail, and they make it fine. So, we set off. The scenery was a bit of a change from the prior two days, a lot more trees and level ground...reminded me of the pacific northwest. Some narrow points between trees and only a few narrow boulder areas. We end up at the Rubicon Springs area...numerous honey buckets (outhouses) show up scattered all over the terrain. Quick potty stop for some of the others, and we're off again. As the terrain starts to go uphill again, we are suddenly stopped. Of course, never a great sight to see while on a trail, noone ever deserving, but considering the encounter from the previous night, I couldn't help but feel the "see, that's what you get" feeling...
The rude jeeper from the previous night's encounter was found trying to right his rig. It looks like he came off of a 20-30 foot dropoff and ended up with his rig belly-up. He asked us for help, and we did. Drty served as anchor point for the front of the righ, as they tried rolling it to the passenger's side. Then, later, Rox was used as another anchor point.
After he got himself flipped back over, Bebes offered an oil spill kit that we hope was used and we set off on our way. The climb into Cadillac Hill was not bad at all, a couple of switch backs though, and then we're stopped again. We hit probably the most difficult part of Cadillac Hell. It was a right turn on the switchback, going through a rather narrow, boulder-infested area, and then over a slap that tipped your rig downhill. To make matters worse, a bypass was located right at that point, and it had eroded away part of the trail, making it more narrow with a higher chance of sliding off the side of the trail. After about an hour or so working at it, we finally got everyone through. The rest of the trail continued through switch backs, a few wet areas with water flowing down the trail, and some more squeezes through trees. Finally, we ended up at Observation Point at about 1:30pm. I can't even describe the sense of accomplishment at reaching that point in our trek. It felt great! We all lined up for some ceremonial pics, H2F's wife broke out some asian style noodle lunch and the kids played. The view was great! Although, we really didn't have a clue about where we had just come from.
We chatted with some other jeepers that showed up, and after hanging out for about an hour, we headed off. The rest of the trail was rocky so made for slow-going, but was essentially un-eventful. Near the tail-end of the trail, I ran into the red jeeper again, and his passenger came over to say thanks again. He was sincere in telling me to make sure that everyone knew that they were grateful that we stopped to help. We were at the staging point for the Rubicon. We drove a couple of more miles down gravel road that then changed to paved. And file met up with the front group. We started airing up at about 4:30pm. That was about it. A great group shot, constant monitoring of the gas tank level (mine was dinging for half the day), and we set off to Lake Tahoe area to gas up and head out. I think I have the record...it took me 31.25 gallons to fill'er up.
Thanks again to Drty and everyone else who made this trip happen. Thanks for the great spotting from everyone, even my co-pilot (who, by the way, had no prior experience with spotting
), and great food!
Damage count: 1 tie-rod, 1 popped-bead, a few doors with rock rash, many beat up rock rails and ucp, pin-striping.... Is that it?