Approximately 100 feet in length and filled with enormous boulders that offer little in the way of traction, the Little Sluice has stood for decades as being the premier obstacle on the world famous Rubicon Trail. Unfortunately, as of Friday, September 28, 2012, it will also cease to exist as we’ve come to know, love, respect and fear it. In spite of significant efforts made over the last 2 years by organizations such as The Rubicon Trail Foundation and Friends of the Rubicon to prevent this from happening, El Dorado County Supervisors have decided to proceed with their plans to break up many of the boulders within the Little Sluice and level out the rest with tons of fill rock that’ll be flown in by helicopter.
With this knowledge in hand, Mel Wade of Off Road Evolution asked us to join him on the Rubicon Trail to give this iconic obstacle, one final run. And, on Saturday, September 22, 2012, that’s exactly what he did, completely unassisted and in the very same 4-door Jeep JK Wrangler that he used to conquer it 3 years before. In this short video, you will get to see raw footage of his run with limited edits and no music so that you can get the full experience of just how challenging the Little Sluice really was.
If you’re unhappy about what you’re losing and want to find out how you can help prevent more alterations from being made to the Rubicon Trail or, even help prevent its potential closure in the future, I would invite you to visit the following websites:
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