We’re getting kicked out of our house this summer - remodel / demo and likely may spend it tooling around the west coast. Reno, NV or San Jose. Planning on running the Rubicon in the late June or early July timeframe - after the snow melt but before it gets mobbed with the Jamboree or other big events.
If anyone is game for making the trek you’re welcome to join. Will post updates here as things firm up.
That would be awesome. I have signed up for the jeep Jamboree but I would rather go earlier with you.
Updates: plan change - my wife may accept a job here in DC (most of summer in DC) so this is now just a pure Rubicon trip.
Not as much snow pack this year so right now the weekends in play are June 14-16, or 21-23, or 28-30. If melt is happening faster then mid June is better / less crowded.
Atm I plan on shipping the Jeep and flying to save some tread. Will post again once dates narrow.
I haven’t shipped before (with 40s) and IIRC some of you guys looked into that or maybe went through with it for Moab so definitely any pointers are welcome.
I’m open to these dates. I’m going to drive/tow, so just need a few week notice when they are confirmed. I will probably hit Moab and/or Colorado on the way back.
Great- will try to narrow them down soon. Was quoted $1295 to ship one way. If I can will see if I have the time to drive back with you vs shipping back.
Update (@Jeepride)— this still on but the dates are still being worked out (likely one of last three weekends in June).
My wife accepted a job so no fam summer in CA. This is a solo trip for me. I’m leaning towards driving vs ship. When you ship it has to be empty and I don’t want to try to deal with getting camping stuff on a plane.
Sounds good. I have a wedding on 6/15 that I cannot miss, but can get on the road the next day or 2. I’m good through 7/15, but I need to know ASAP to cancel the Jeep Jamboree for a refund.
OK – new update after wrangling through I think the dates are set:
Rubicon Trail
June 28-30
We’ll hone in on whether to start the morning of the 28th (Friday) or the 29th (Saturday) as we get closer to the date.
I plan on driving from DC starting maybe Sunday the 23rd to take my time. @Jeepride let me know if you want to meet up here or somewhere along the way and caravan.
I don’t know if I’ll drive all the way to San Jose first (where the other people in our group are)… its like 4hrs.
Either way the day before we’ll head to somewhere on Ice House Road a few miles from the trailhead to camp near Loon Lake:
Its only a few miles from there to the West trailhead – next morning. There are a bunch of boat ramps that head down to the lake and you can just camp off to the side. If you are trailering a vehicle we may need to figure out where best to leave it. My buddy Russ may have some ideas.
A few random things just FYI, you probably know this:
Bring some cash because we need to pay at the ranger station in Rubicon Springs to camp (halfway point). Its not much – $25 or something.
There are bears. If you have a fridge, make it seals. We need to tie trash up in a tree at night. You may or may not want a bear box. You don’t want to sleep in the vehicle when it has food in it out in the open. You can pick up some bear spray if you like.
Temp range can be all over the place so good to have layers of warm stuff at night but during the day it could get hot.
Bring swimsuit / towel – we can chill in the water at Rubicon Springs
GMRS or HAM is fine – whatever you’ve got
That works for me. I prefer to caravan and leaving on 6/23 gives us 5 days to get there.
Yes, I will need a place to leave my truck/camper/trailer. I was going to stay at a campground in Lotus, CA, which is close to the Jeep Jamboree office and pay for the nights we are on the trail, but I’m open to your friend’s suggestions.
So you plan to start at Loon Lake?
I have bear spray and plan to have a bear canisters/bags. I have GMRS radios.
I will probably stay in Denver a couple of days on the way back to Virginia.
Thanks, JP
I’ll ask Russ what he recommends re the trailer. Maybe that Lotus campground is good. Loon lake start is the usual path - from West to East - and it dumps you out onto Lake Tahoe at the end.
Some people run it the other way - not as challenging east to west since you descend Cadillac Hill and Little Sluice later on - but IMO if you do your asking for it if go this way. When I did the Jamboree near the end one of those Barlow’s Adventures rubicon tour groups was coming the other way (east to west) and they couldn’t advance around the stream of vehicles and probably had to turn around and bail hahaha 
I’m good going West to East. Would you be interested in throwing Fordyce in the mix?
If there’s time afterward we can go see how it looks - its just on the north side of the lake near Truckee.
The best time to do Fordyce (when I did it) is in August with CAL4WHEEL’s Sierra Trek because they work with PG&E that day to stop up the dams during the event so that the water crossings are passable. In June there’s still a lot of snowmelt so its likely we’d only get a mile in before encountering one that’s over the roof. Its hit or miss when you go on your own. Obviously, Fordyce is more challenging than the Rubicon and I think it would just be you and me - you really need to be on 40s+ for some of the winch hills and the rest of the group is on 37s or 35s.
I’m thinking of taking my JKU (on 37s) as it has much more room than my TJ. Especially if we don’t do Fordyce.
Definitely up to you - JKU may be more flexible for camping. I confirmed Thursday afternoon (27th) is when we meet up at Loon Lake. Head out on the trail Friday morning.
(Minor note - if you care about getting a Jeep BoH - we’ll stop about 15 miles away so you can check in. Loon Lake - no cell service before you even get close)