ENF delays trail openings
Posted: March 26, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: access, closure, snow, Travel Leave a commentProbably to no one’s surprise, the Eldorado National Forest has delayed the opening of it’s OHV trails from April 1st to April 16th. This doesn’t effect our side too much except for the Richardson Lake Trail 14N39.
Although some of the more built rigs will be able to get to the 14N39 trailhead before April 16th, most of us will have no chance to get to the trailhead let alone run that trail to higher elevations.
Please stay off this trail until the trail officially opens. Below is the Forest Service press release regarding the subject…
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Seasonal road and motorized trail closure extended to April 15
PLACERVILLE, Calif. – Based on recent precipitation, the seasonal closure of native surface roads and motorized trails (commonly known as dirt roads) in the Eldorado National Forest has been extended to April 15. Rainfall, soil moisture, road and trail conditions, and weather forecasts are factors that trigger extending the seasonal closure beyond March 31.
“My goal is to have these roads and trails open as soon as possible for public use,” said Forest Supervisor Laurence Crabtree. “However, there has been a lot of precipitation in the last several weeks. Given current conditions, many of these roads could be badly damaged.”
The seasonal closure is designed to protect roadbeds and watersheds from damage and to protect water quality. A minimum three month closure period from January 1 through March 31 was designated for the core part of the wet season in the Eldorado National Forest Travel Management Plan. This plan also allows the seasonal dirt road closure to start earlier or be extended based on actual conditions in a given year.
Roads and trails subject to seasonal closure are marked with a “Seasonal Designation” on the current motor vehicle use map that is available free-of-charge at all Eldorado National Forest offices and on the web at: www.fs.usda.gov/eldorado. The seasonal closure does not affect routes in the Rock Creek Area near Georgetown, which has its own wet weather route closure process.
When the roads open, there will still be wet areas at higher elevations for some time. Many routes change in elevation over several miles. Visitors are encouraged to be aware of changes in the conditions of the roads they are using, and to adjust travel plans when they reach a wet section as they will be responsible for any resource damage caused by inappropriate use.
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Rubicon Ronin
Spring is here…
Posted: March 22, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: snow, spring, Travel, winter Leave a commentNow that Spring is here, we’re all thinking about getting out on our trails. Well I stopped by the Rubicon this morning and the trail is calling.
The berm is actually quite manageable. The top of my shell is about six feet tall. So, the berm is about seven feet tall. I was there in the morning and it was frozen solid as the temperature was about 34 degrees.
Over the top of the berm, you drop down a little bit. I tried to dig my heel in to the snow to see how hard or soft the snow was and I couldn’t.
I walked up the trail a bit and the snow was just as hard and calling for wheelers.
If you go, please go prepared. Be ready to spend the night as things could go wrong. Food, shelter, clothing, recovery gear, etc.
Enjoy and be safe!
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Rubicon Ronin
Motorsports Expo is OPEN!
Posted: March 14, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentDoors opened at 11am. And open every day at 11am through Sunday.
This year I got a corner booth spot and room to bring the Rubicon Trail Foundation’s (RTF) trailer. It’s one of six for trail maintenance.
I’ve got help from the Lake Tahoe Hi-Lo’s who are promoting their (our) Gambler’s Poker Run, coming this August 17th.
Scot Hansen volunteered to place his rig in the show. This is one of the more built, if not the most built rig, in the Lake Tahoe Hi-Lo’s.
There is a good turn out of Off-Road groups and organizations. As well as a boat show, home show and pet show.
Of course, I’m set up to talk about the Tahoe Side of the world famous Rubicon Trail…
Come out and visit us. Thu 11-5, Fri 11-5, Sat 11-9, Sun 11-5.
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Rubicon Ronin
Breaking Sparks’ Code
Posted: March 9, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: code, maintemance, sparks Leave a commentI’ve probably mentioned it before but the City of Sparks has a code in place that makes it illegal to work on your own car on your own property.
You can change fluids and brake components but not swap carburetors, engines or axles.
Well, I needed to break the rules…
You see, I locked up the rear diff three months ago and the Jeep’s been parked in front of my house that whole time. My neighbors love me so it didn’t get ticketed.
Rather than just doing the diff work, I decided to swap springs and axle all together.
In less than three hours, I had the old axle/spring combo out and the in unit installed. Okay, it doesn’t have brakes and the spring perches are not welded to the axles. But everything was tight enough for me to back it in to the driveway.
Keep Jeepin’
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Rubicon Ronin
Newbies in the snow
Posted: January 13, 2019 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: rescue, snow, weather Leave a commentLet me start by thanking my friends who are getting out on the Rubicon Trail much more than I am. They keep me informed of trail conditions and occasionally pass along a good story. Here is the latest story.
So, last week my good friend got with one of his friends and they headed out for a day of snow wheeling on the Rubicon. My friend is on 38’s with lockers front and rear. I’m sure his friend was running something similar. I do need to teach them to take pictures.
They came across another guy at the Rubicon trailhead they didn’t know who was thinking about heading out on the trail. This guy was less equipped but they dragged him along anyway.
I guess it got interesting when they got to the intersection of the Rubicon and Forest Road 03-04. That’s the road to Barker Pass. As my friend and his buddy turned left down the Rubicon, they turned the lesser rig around and sent him back to the staging area.
Their thought was not to let this guy wheel downhill as it would be too difficult to get him back up that hill later in the day as the snow melts and gets really slick.
My friend, and his buddy, wheeled past the narrow section that looks down on Miller Creek and then another maybe ¼ mile. It was getting late, no reason to take chances, so they both turned around.
They reached the intersection where they turned around the lesser rig and headed to the staging area. Just a few hundred yards from the intersection, there was the lesser equipped rig they had turned around. While my friend and his buddy had wheeled about a mile out and another mile back, this guy had only gone a few hundred yards.
With one rig in front, again breaking trail and occasionally using his tow strap, of the lesser rig and the other behind (not easily done in the snow), they headed out to pavement.
Near the turn for Richardson Lake, they came across a few rigs also out to play in the snow. They had no shovels, no winches, no tow straps, no gear to spend the night. And they were stuck.
What should have been a quick drive out, turned into quite the exodus. Again, there is no room to maneuver one rig around the other to be able to pull rigs through tough spots but these guys made it happen. Five hours after my friend thought he’d be home in his warm house, he finally got there.
The question is, how do we educate these people about the seriousness of the conditions when you go snow wheeling? The unequipped rigs did well to get in as far as they did but it’s a four mile hike out from the Richardson Lake Trail. In deep snow, with out snowshoes, if they had tried to walk out, someone might have died or lost toes or feet to frost bite.
So I have a thought. What about yet another sign…
I don’t know what it will take to get this sign out there but I’m going to try. Even if I turn one rig around who isn’t equipped, it would be worth it.
Rubicon Ronin
The 'Other' Rubicon 