The night before our 2010 Project-JK Rockin Rubicon Run, I asked my friend Tom why he wanted to run this trail and he casually responded that, “if you want to be an accomplished four wheeler, there are a few places in this world you have to go and one is the Rubicon.” Crossing through the El Dorado National Forest up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Rubicon is truly one of the most beautiful trails I’ve been on, bar none. Of course, its unrelenting 22 miles of boulders that need to be crawled, steep ledges that need to be climbed, narrow trees that need to be squeezed between, deep muddy water crossings that need to be forded and tippy off camber terrain that needs to be carefully negotiated is ultimately what makes the Rubicon Trail so legendary and famous around the world.
RUBICON : A Legendary Jeep Trail & Off-Road Adventure – Part 1
Originally made as a single half hour video, RUBICON : A Legendary Jeep Trail & Off-Road Adventure has been broken down into a 3 part series, each approximately 10 minutes long and done so that it could be broadcasted on YouTube. In this first episode, you will see where our adventures began in South Lake Tahoe, our road trip down to the Loon Lake Staging Area, our crawl through the Gatekeeper, descent into the Granite Bowl and climb up Walker Hill and all before tragedy strikes.
To watch Episode 1 now, simply click on the screen or link below:
RUBICON : A Legendary Jeep Trail & Off-Road Adventure – Part 2
In episode 2, we pick-up the pieces of Inyo-JK’s Jeep, brush off the dust and continue our trek to Rubicon Springs. Along the way, we pass by the Soup Bowl, take in the impressive views across Spider Lake, descend the off camber granite slabs, tackle the rock obstacles at Buck Island Lake, negotiate our way down the very challenging Big Sluice, add a couple of stock Canadian Jeeps to our group, cross the historic Rubicon Bridge and then, just as we we pull into camp, we hear a call coming in over the CB… it’s Trail Bud.
To watch Episode 2 now, simply click on the screen or link below:
RUBICON : A Legendary Jeep Trail & Off-Road Adventure – Part 3
In this final episode, we kick start our morning at the crack of dawn and with a welder in hand. Once repairs are made to Trail Bud’s broken front axle housing, we head over to the cool waters of Rubicon Springs and spend some time cleaning up and having some fun. Packed up and ready to roll again, we slowly climb our way up the last real challenge on the Rubicon Trail – Cadillac Hill. At the top, we take in the awesome view, pose for pictures, assess the condition of our Jeeps and then make our way back to civilization down in South Lake Tahoe.
To watch Episode 3 now, simply click on the screen or link below:
If you would like to see a detailed photo essay from our epic adventure on the Rubicon Trail, click on the link below:
Project-JK Rockin Rubicon Run 2010 Photo Essay
A big thanks goes out to everyone who joined us on this trip and for making it as memorable as it was. As far as everyone else goes, we hope that you enjoyed watching our videos. Be sure to check back again as you know there are more adventures coming your way soon!
Very nice.
Can’t wait for the next.
I’m glad to see your giving yourself credit cindy.
Way to go!!
very nicely done…looking forward to part 2
Ah…reliving the dream 🙂 I can’t wait to run the ‘Con again. Nice work on the video, Cindy. Looking forward to the next installments.
Great Location, great Video! Fantastic Jeep & Jeepers!!
…looking forward to part 2
WOW.. got goosebumps watching that. Its been several years since I ran the Rubicon in my 97 TJ. Only mod at that time was some 31×10.5 tires, so I can relate to the guy in the video that ran it the first time in a stock Jeep.
Can’t wait for part 3. Convincing me of the need for a bigger lift.
It looks like Trail Bud had Magnum 44’s installed on that front axle. Is that what pretty much saved him when the axle tube cracked? Any ideas on how it happened?
ken, trail bud did not have magnum 44’s, if he had, you wouldn’t be seeing what you’re seeing. for whatever it’s worth, blazer4949 ended up breaking his front axle housing too but, he didn’t know about it until he was well on his way home. why? because he had magnum 44’s.
Awesome videos… i noticed some of you guys had lights under your jeep while crawling, were those just lights you guys added on or is their a kit for it? Ready for Part 3!!
hey shane, they are just some cheap walmart lights that we’ve rigged up for situations just like this 😉
I have watched these videos at least ten times now, just looking at the gear you have and just loving the offroading. Like you all said you have to get to Rubicon at least once in your life.
Now to get my JK and build it out. In this video are you running 40’s or 37’s?
thanks james – we are running 40’s in this video. a couple of others were running 37’s but the rest were running 35’s.
I told myself that I would not run the Rubicon again without 37’s but I think the reality is we’d go again tomorrow if this same group went. We had a great time and now that we have “real” sway bar links and a new rear bumper, we are ready to do it again!
R&R
LOL!! funny how that works 😉
Honestly, you guys did great and if you had more articulation, you would have done better. the new links should help out a lot and i do hope you join us again 🙂
Man, I can’t wait until next summer!! I ran the rubicon with my dealer plates on a month after I got my first jeep. Got stuck in the first 5 mins!! Second year upgraded to Toyo 33’s with no lift and made it unscathed!! That is so much fun. My Jeep has changed my life!!!
i am working on getting my JK ready for next run. wayoflife and the rest of the project jk crew are truely a incredible group to go out with. Can’t wait to get back into the dirt and rocks with ya all.
So she rolled or set the jjep on its side then??? Where is the damage pictures or vid.? I take it she was ok then??
Great vid. looks like ya boyz and girls had a blast!!!!
Chad
there are a few after shots on the photo essay. for the most part, visible damage was minimal.
Amazing video series. Kudos to Cindy. I’ve been editing TV commercials and music videos for 15 years now and I know what it takes to make something look this cool. Outstanding work!
Scott
Great video, you guys all did a great job filming up here. Hope you guys come back soon. The trail kicks your butt, I know but its awesome to crawl on. Thumbs up from the Truckee Urban Tactical Medics Jeep crew!!
That first section in part one with that track by sunlounger is just a work of art! Being involved with various film projects over the years that just blows my mind. The way you melded that incredible music with the passion of jeeping is just awesome… all I can say is this has inspired me more than you can imagine and that whole video creation was incredible, Hat’s off to all parties involved with the trip and the film and thank you for making my day a little brighter and showing others just how amazing the JEEP community truly is…
Question: most of the Jeeps in the (awesome) videos are Rubicons. What percentage of those are Manual transmission?
with the exception of 3 jeeps, the rest were autos. here in america, most JK’s are made with autos. however, up in canada, the exact opposite is true.
I viewed this video in IRAQ. Being so far away can be hard, however when you see a video like that it makes the dream inch it’s way that much closer. I can’t wait to join the jeeping world and traverse the con as well.
Thank you.
videos look amazing 🙂 is there any way to get the whole trip on a dvd or download? just watching the videos makes me cant wait to run the rubi looks exciting and fun. thanx for the awesome video footage to watch
sorry but the series is not available on dvd. we are looking into other options to host the entire video uncut online and hope to figure out something soon.
Another vote for (paid) HD download or DVD. You put great work into it and I would be happy to support it.
I grew up and went to Junior/High School in Placerville, CA, and your videos are hands down the best and make me miss living in Northern California, the old days of Icehouse Reservoir, Lazy Days of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and being a member of E.C.V. all things that I value quite a bit in life. The reason I enjoy your videos, is the simple reason of purely saying, it seems not everything is bigger in Texas, they have plenty of mud here, but when it comes to actually going big or going home, I guess the Texan’s have to stay at the house, lol. Keep up the good work guys.