Sunday, June 24, 2007

Rubicon Trail

Last weekend, my friend, Justin, took me to one of the best 4-wheel truck/Jeep trails in the West. The Jeep company has named a line of Jeeps after the trail, The Rubicon". Dictionary.com defines the word:

Ru·bi·con (rōō'bĭ-kŏn')
n. A limit that when passed or exceeded permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment.

The trail is a tough 4x4 trail from the West side of the Sierra Nevadas to Lake Tahoe on the East. It is actually on old trail used since the California fourty-niner goldrush. Go to this site for some history.

The trail was FUN! We took Justin's Jeep Unlimited with a lift, large tires, and other things that make it very capable in tough terrain.



The actually difficult section of the trail is only 17 miles long, but it can take up to two days for a group to make it through. We left Sunday night and camped near a creek a little ways into the trail. The next day, the Gold Hills 4x4 Club met with us to run the rest of the trail. We went over some tough terrain that day, the toughest of the trip. I was tired and dirty when we stoppped to camp at Buck Island Resovoir high up in the Sierras.


We were happy to get to camp that evening. Justin and I headed down to the lake for a swim/bath after setting up camp. I grabbed a beer and sat wroung the camp site listening to stories and realxing.

The next morning we hit the trail. That day we went through Big Sluice, Rubicon Springs, and over Cadillac Hill. When we all got off the trail, but some had some boddy damage and other broken parts. We started with eleven Jeeps, but only seven made it through.

I loved it...Thanks Justin for taking me along.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Camping!

Here in the Sacramento, CA, when the summer comes, we go to the Sierra Nevada mountains for relief. When it's 90 degrees in the valley, the mountains may be 10 to 15 degrees cooler.

Sarah and I went camping this weekend along the South fork of the Yuba River. To get to the camping spot, we have to 4-wheel my truck in and cross a river. The camp site sits along the river, secluded from most of civilization.



Our tent along a creek:



We camped for 3 days and had a great time swimming, fishing, and four-wheeling.

For breakfast the last morning, we had Zoe the Cat pancakes...


Sarah and Paul eating breakfast: