Rubicon, Fordyce and others

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R3

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Advanced planning is beginning for a west coast trip. Two bucket list trail are The Rubicon and Fordyce. Why so early? distance trip like that require planning for time off and funds to execute. If you start early neither will be an issue.

When: Depart early August Time frame . 02 Aug depart
Duration: 16-19 days
Depart Most will be driving out it is a hard 5 day run there will be a stop in Rawlins WY for a down day on the way out. My Son has invited the group to drop by and enjoy some Smoked Brisket as one he can make. The group is one their own for accommodations several hotels available in Rawlins.
- Rubicon thinking 3 days with a down day half way to camp swim hike just enjoy.
- Fordyce Couple thoughts here a long 1 day run or break into a two day run camping on the trail.
- Dusy Ershim is a days run from the Rubicon Fordyce area to do this trail it would add likely 3 days to the stay in Cali. (Optional)
Return;
- Thinking a stop in Colorado make the holy cross run. This will likely add two day to the return trip.
Over all 5 day out, 5 days in Cali, 6/7 days back.

Plan is to drive out camp along the way. This worked very well on the South Dakota run. It will be a long ride out , great salt lake might be a good distraction then it is off to Nevada.... The hardest part of the trip will likely be the trek across Nevada. Recommend we convoy across Nevada out and back

Required:
- Teamwork and a great attitude. This will be a Band of Jeepers run.
- Jeep well prepared If your reequipment is 50% or less look to upgrade or replace before the trip
- Minimum of 35 inch tires Rubicon will not require this but Fordyce the recommendation is at least 35s.
- Winch mandatory Good working order with good cable or line.
- Recovery gear
- GMRS radio. Many of us run VHF comms can support either.
- Camp gear for trail side camping
- Spare parts to include fluids

Interested parties:
1) @R3 Rob & Arleen
2) Tally Ho Bill V
3) @3VOLVE Joe P
4) @granitecreep JP.
5) @RattleTrap55 Garner
6) @Fearless Elise
7) @Spaz Marc
8) Dani B PA Jeeps

Red Jeep out
 
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The Rubicon was a great experience and the trail lives up to the hype.

My initial thoughts:
Always check the outhouses for snakes
I wish we had planned on taking 3 days on the trail instead of 2
Bring way more water than you think necessary
Pack a swimsuit and some watershoes, there are several swimming holes
Lake Tahoe is a great place to hang out for a bit afterward to let your brain recharge

Enjoy your trip!

I am currently brainstorming how/when to get out to Moab in 2025. My next trip to CA might be for Dusy Ershim.

IMG_3474.jpeg
 
I’m definitely interested. This summer I’m planning on doing the Rubicon again with friends in late June before it gets mobbed.

Fordyce is a bigger challenge- I’d recommend min 37 for that vs min 35 for Rubi. Even with that you may need to bypass some winch hills. Its easiest to run in Aug with Cal4Wheel’s Sierra Trek event because they work with PG&E to limit the water levels at the dams. Otherwise it can hit or miss at water crossings (might swallow you, might not). I’ve run it once on 40s. None of my friends did (mix of 35s/37s).

Dusy looks grueling lol. None of us were ever up for 30mi of getting pinned between a rock and a tree (over and over and over). Anyway you can do that here!! :D
 
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I’m definitely interested. This summer I’m planning on doing the Rubicon again with friends in late June before it gets mobbed.

Fordyce is a bigger challenge- I’d recommend min 37 for that vs min 35 for Rubi. Even with that you may need to bypass some winch hills. Its easiest to run in Aug with Cal4Wheel’s Sierra Trek event because they work with PG&E to limit the water levels at the dams. Otherwise it can hit or miss at water crossings (might swallow you, might not). I’ve run it once on 40s. None of my friends did (mix of 35s/37s).

Dusy looks grueling lol. None of us were ever up for 30mi of getting pinned between a rock and a tree (over and over and over). Anyway you can do that here!! :D
Thanks for the input. from the research I am starting to do a larger tire on Fordyce looks to be more advantageous. The water crossings look Killer too. I hear ya on the flow rate. Had to rescue a rig some years back that began to get carried away and the driver panicked. Hate to drive all the way cross country to have the rig washed away. I want to touch base with the club out there too. Maybe the event is the way to go or maybe just before or right after for a quieter run. All good input.
 
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The Rubicon was a great experience and the trail lives up to the hype.

My initial thoughts:
Always check the outhouses for snakes
I wish we had planned on taking 3 days on the trail instead of 2
Bring way more water than you think necessary
Pack a swimsuit and some watershoes, there are several swimming holes
Lake Tahoe is a great place to hang out for a bit afterward to let your brain recharge

Enjoy your trip!

I am currently brainstorming how/when to get out to Moab in 2025. My next trip to CA might be for Dusy Ershim.

View attachment 8298
Thanks for the trail report. I understand the trail is rock from start to finish. Camping along the trail? are there established sites or just as you find them?
 
So the trail is full of granite slabs, there is also the occasional spot of dirt and several good places for camping.

Here are the areas the foundation recommends for camping

If you look at the trailsoffroad page for the trail, they note which waypoints are good for camping with a tent icon.

Rubicon Soda Springs is a private camp ground and has tons of great camping spots. It is also deceptively long, you cross the bridge into the area and you might still have 40-60 minutes of rock crawling to your camping area. I believe you fill out the form online, then maybe a month or two later you'll get an email confirming. And then there is another confirmation phone call some time later. Check out their site.

We started early (departed ~6am) from south shore, aired down at Loon Lake (~8am) and ate lunch just down the hill from soup bowl, crossed the rubicon soda springs bridge about 5:15, found our campground well after 6pm. I was mentally drained. Splitting this long day into two days would have been more enjoyable and allowed for more time to play on the obstacles and a chance to take the harder routes.

I've also seen some people turn it into a 5+ day trip by running it one way, turning around and then running it back the other way.
 
So with three trail on the list:
- Rubicon (2 day) 22 miles
- Dusty Ershim (3 Day) 30 Miles
- Fordyce (1 Day) 12 miles

Question arises is where to drop tow rigs and trailers central to all three trails?. These are point to point runs as well which dictates Street licensed rigs.
Looking at the Rubicon trail my Off road trailer would likely make that and maybe Dusty as well. Fordyce looks like a killer trail 9-10 out of 10.

Thinking either take on Fordyce first or last.... being the hardest of the three.
 
I don’t have a trailer - for the Rubicon IIRC people who do drop them at / near Tom’s Cabin campground area. We usually camp about 1mi from the trailhead down one of the many boat-ramp trails that lead to the lake. It’s awesome.

Fordyce has a staging area near the highway but the Sierra Trek grounds are all the way around about an hour away. Easier to drop them, drive and camp at the trailhead.

Dusy- I’ve been near it. There’s all sorts of random camp spots nearby.
 
Rob, add me as a strong tentative. Will be able to confirm once dates are set.

Joe
 
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Right now the list looks like:
Rob
Bill
Joe P
JP.
Garner
Elise
 
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Thinking of running the Rubi and Dusty with my off road trailer
 
Just my recommendation- I think you’ll have more fun without it. Or if you leave it and come back around later.

For the Rubicon first half is more open but you’ll probably have to bypass stuff like Little Sluice. Cadillac hill has lots of tight cutbacks with obstacles in weird places in the middle of the trail. Usually it’s not that hard but it might be annoying with a trailer.

Dusy- I can’t speak from experience but my sense of it from footage and comments from people who have done it is, again, lots of being squeezing off-camber between a rock and a tree. I think the trailer is may stuck a lot after the vehicle clears and slow everything down — and it’s like 30mi of that.

Ultimately you are the best positioned to decide but IMO you’ll have the most fun in the Sierras if you travel light, no trailer, just camping and recovery gear. Keep it simple.
 
When I go I sleep in the vehicle with a thick folding mattress and carry essentials. Oh one other thing — bears.

We generally don’t have to worry about them here. It’s easy to forget. Get a can of bear spray and buy a bear box for your food. Mine’s a big orange thick plastic container with no seams. For refrigerator - make sure it seals tight. Bring some nylon line to tie trash etc up in a tree at night.
 
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FWIW my plans are firming up for '24 (understand that this thread is about '25 planning).

June 28-30 (Rubicon)

This is with some of my friends / coworkers in San Jose. I think Julio from BG may go too. Its usually fun with a small group and may be less crowded that weekend before July 4 (when it will be mobbed).

Driving from DC on June 23rd, may go into SJ to hang out in advance of the run. My buddy Emmanuel plans on wheeling for about 2-3 weeks around this time. There could opportunities to do things beyond the Rubicon but none of that is nailed down yet.

If you have an interest in joining in this year just ping me.
 
FWIW my plans are firming up for '24 (understand that this thread is about '25 planning).

June 28-30 (Rubicon)

This is with some of my friends / coworkers in San Jose. I think Julio from BG may go too. Its usually fun with a small group and may be less crowded that weekend before July 4 (when it will be mobbed).

Driving from DC on June 23rd, may go into SJ to hang out in advance of the run. My buddy Emmanuel plans on wheeling for about 2-3 weeks around this time. There could opportunities to do things beyond the Rubicon but none of that is nailed down yet.

If you have an interest in joining in this year just ping me.
I would love to join the group this year but too much on my plate right now.
 
Advanced planning is beginning for a west coast trip. Two bucket list trail are The Rubicon and Fordyce.
When looking at 2025 Aug/Sept. Thinking 8-10 days travel, and 8- 10 days of the trails and Cali sites.

Just starting to research and looking for a good tight crew. Plan is to drive out camp along the way. This worked very well on the South Dakota run.
It will be a long ride out , great salt lake might be a good distraction then it is off to Nevada....

I know of three that are up for this...if you are interested... Jump on the thread. Reached out to JP (West coaster) for some good info...

Big thing to watch with Fordyce is the water crossings and timed damn release... While I would like to avoid a event run, it might be the best way to experience this trail.

Required:
Jeep well prepared
Minimum of 35 inch tires
Winch mandatory
Recovery gear
VHF GMRS radio.

Spare parts.

I know @CookieMonster and @granitecreep have explored the area before. Initial thought is a week+ in Cali with 4-5 days transit each way.

If interested chime in and we can begin laying out a plan

Red Jeep out
With all the madness and mayhem settling down time to focus on some long range plans.
List of folks right now is starting to look like:
- Red Jeep Crew
- R3
- Rattletrap55
- Tally hoe
- Dani B
- NVJA folks
- @3VOLVE
- @granitecreep
- @Spaz

Trails for this run

- Rubicon planning 2 Day
- Dusy Ershim 3 day
- Fordyce 1 day
- Down Day TBD

Red Jeep is on the Rubber for the run out. Thinking a straight run out on interstate 80. We are planning a day layover in Rawlins WY. Smoked Brisket and good tequila is on the menu for that stop. That is a 2,631 mile drive from Arlington VA That mean to do this in 4 days that means 660 mile days. Lots of time in the Jeep seat. at 10mpg that is $2000 in fuel round trip. South Dakota Run the group camped our way out and back to save hotel costs. It worked out well for us. Cost of a camp ground spot averaged $35.00 per vs $200+ for brick and mortar. Meals were on us. We each brought food for breakfast lunch and dinner to further cut down expenses of traveling.

The trails we are running are challenging and a well prepared rig with spare parts is required for this run. This is a solid group with lots of experience. If you looking for a Bucket list runs. Come join the fun.

Cheers
 
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