Loon Lake |
Airing Down |
Jimmy at Gatekeeper |
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John at Gatekeeper
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Locking the Hubs
After
waiting a little bit for a Jeep to winch through Gatekeeper,
we were through the obstacle with relatively few hassles. I
don't think anyone had to backup or got stuck (except for
Jimmy showing off). I was a little cocky on pinch rock and got
really off camber since the tire climbed the rock instead of
pivoting me around it. |
Progress
was pretty good but my pump was spewing fluid from the gatekeeper
on. We stopped for a bit on the slabs but I battled the steering
wheel most of the way in. There was a lot of traffic and an
overheating Ford, but we regrouped at the base of Walker hill. It
was smooth sailing on into our campsite right before the Little
Sluice. The only snag was Don's rear driveshaft being sheared in two
on a rock that he was trying to clear. This happened about 200 yards
short of the campsite and we were setting up camp around 5:30.
After
dusk, we were wondering what was Keeping Mark, Dave, and Travis. We
figured they were caught in traffic or had a breakdown on the trail.
When 10 PM rolled around, we were getting kind of worried. I went
over to my truck and was suprised to hear JB on the radio. He was
about a mile down the trail and told us he hooked up with the main
group at gatekeeper where there was a traffic bottleneck. We also
learned about Mark's rollover on CA-50. Twenty minutes later, Dave
came down the trail and promptly lodged himself on a giant tree
stump while smashing into one of the many trees around the campsite.
It took some tugging from Don to get him free and everyone else
rolled in to setup camp and chat.
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Friday Night's Camp
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Saturday
morning broke clear and pleasant. The weather throughout the
weekend was just right for fourwheeling. Temperatures on the
trail hung around the upper 70s and low 80s. Initially, we
planned to do the entire trail. Most of the group saw that
going through even tougher obstacles over the next two days
would punish their vehicles even more. Travis and Don were
both on spare drivelines and Dave's rear end was bowed at an
ugly angle. Mark was on a spare tire and had to drive the EB
all the way back home after the accident. Around 10 AM Bill,
Damon, JB and I decided we were going to see the trail through
since we were still in pretty good shape. My PS lean had
abated some and it was only a hassle on downgrades where I
needed to turn. |
Our
group of 4 got started a little after 1 PM on Saturday
afternoon. We had some time to hang out at Spider Lake and
watch some people attempting the Little Sluice. We took the
long bypass and Bill managed to pop out his window while
taking the narrow line between two trees. The squeeze was just
a little too tight.
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Spider Lake, Always Beautiful
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Bill Heads Down Million Dollar Hill
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Action at the
Little Sluice
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Going Down
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I Took an Alternate Route
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This
time we spent considerably less time compared to last year. We
only had to wait about 10 minutes while some Jeeps slide down
the hill in front of us. This would be the last time we would
have to wait for traffic on our trip. |
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Damon Several Feet From Where I Broke
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No Sweat
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The
hard switchback U-turn after million dollar hill was fairly
easy when we came upon it. I was bringing up the rear and got
hung up on a rock. Trying to free myself in reverse, I blew a
front axle U-Joint in part of my axle that is retained by a
C-clip. It was a less than ideal place to repair it and I made
it through to a good level spot in 2WD with spotting help from
JB. |
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Bill Took a Wrong Turn
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Lending a Hand
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My
repair necessitated the removal of the third member. This
meant stripping out the front axleshafts and pretty much
everything down to the I-Beams. After over three hours of
work, we were on our way again, but running short on daylight.
We set off across another massive granite slab section that
precedes Buck Island Lake. |
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The Missing Window
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Drooping Suspension on the Way to Buck
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Damon's Articulation
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After
feeling our way down the trail, we found some flat real estate that
looked out over Buck Lake. It was now pitch dark and we were glad to
get some food in us and freshen up a little bit. Some hot water was
a nice touch to help clean off the coat of trail dirt (espicially I)
we had accumulated in fixing my rig. After cleaning up, everyone
voted on getting to bed early, waking up early, and hitting the
trail early. We were 1/2 way through the tough sections of the trail
and had a lot of ground to cover. We left camp around 9 AM and the
going was slow but steady as we worked through some extremely tough
terrain. There were lots of hillcimbs and lines that are perfect for
Jeeps. Not being Jeeps, we had to climb. Soon we were heading down a
long chute that dropped us smack into the Big Sluice box. The
approach to it was just as hairy as the actual obstacle. The biggest
boulders on the trail litter the trail before you must make a
sweeping 270-degree left turn and drop off the actual ledge.
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Steering Box Replacement
At the Lookout
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With
rock sliders, this was no problem. What was challenging still
lay ahead. A tree seemed to grow out of a giant boulder
exactly in the middle of an already narrow part of the trail.
It was here that Bill broke one and then both front axle
shafts. Not the U-joints, but the actual shafts where their
diameter necks down on the stub shafts. After working down the
trail outside of Rubicon Springs, we stopped to fix the front
shafts. After some more hard work through smaller sluices, we
reached the realatively easy stretch of trail and soon crossed
the Rubicon Springs Bridge. We pressed on towards Cadillac
Hill and were heading up a large granite outcropping when Bill
lost his steering box. The bolts simply sheared off.
It
took some time until we were on our way. The rest of us parked
up in the shade where we scouted out Cadillac Hill. The first
part of the climb was only about 100 yards ahead. The bottom
of the hill was the toughest part, without a doubt. Steep,
sometimes off camber, and loose, this shelf road climbs
steeply up towards the observation point. After giving Damon
some time for his transmission to cool, we were again on our
way to the shores of Lake Tahoe. Several miles of dirt roads
delivered us at the proper end of the trail just after dark. |
After
everyone was aired up, we headed north towards Truckee and Highway
80. We gassed up and had a nice, real meal in Truckee before setting
out for the Bay Area a little after 11 PM Sunday night. JB, Damon
and I snaked through the mountains and I finally arrived home around
1 AM on Monday mourning. I had a blast and look forward to next
year's trip. My only gripes were an ailing power steering pump and
my camera malfunctioning, making me miss out on a lot of good
pictures. Another trip with spectacular scenery, good company, and
lots of rocks. What a way to spend three early autumn days...
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