Placerville, CA to the Rubicon Trail and Coffee from a Helicopter - Part 3 of Ultimate Adventure 2016
Sleep? We don’t need no stinkin’ sleep on Ultimate Adventure! What do you do when you spend most of the night making repairs in your hotel parking lot? That’s right – you get up bright and early before the sun is up
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MotorTranscript
00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 - So it's morning, day four, Ultimate Adventure 2016.
00:12 I had the whole group get up for a 5.30 drivers meeting.
00:16 We were on the road at six.
00:18 Why half an hour between drivers meetings,
00:20 six when we're trying to get here fast?
00:22 - So it's about 5.15.
00:24 Unfortunately, Keith Bailey, yesterday,
00:26 he thought his tranny was a little bit overfilled,
00:28 so he drained a little bit of fluid out.
00:30 To do that, he pulled one of the transmission lines.
00:33 Well, in the process of doing that,
00:34 disturbed the transmission cooler and put a crack in it.
00:37 (drill whirring)
00:40 All right, we just finished up the drivers meeting.
00:45 We got about 10 minutes 'til we roll.
00:47 Keith got his transmission cooler off
00:48 and we've kinda come up with a game plan.
00:50 I think the plan right now is to basically
00:52 pull one of the tubes out and basically
00:55 cut off all the fins around it,
00:57 stab the hose on it, and hopefully it'll hold.
01:00 But that's really the only option now
01:02 because the parts stores don't open for a couple more hours.
01:05 We're gonna be long gone by then.
01:07 - The ultimate adventure waits for no one,
01:09 but you can't keep a good crony down.
01:12 The ability to MacGyver a field fix
01:14 is just one of the things that makes UA Crony
01:17 some of the most capable off-road enthusiasts in the world.
01:26 In no time, Keith got himself fixed
01:28 and the group was climbing out of Placerville
01:29 to Ice House Road and the entrance
01:31 to the most famous trail in the world.
01:34 - We're on the trail ahead of everyone else.
01:36 We got our foot in the door, gatekeeper's right there.
01:39 Rubicon Trail starts now.
01:42 - The Rubicon Trail is actually a road
01:44 built during the late 1800s.
01:47 It was originally the stagecoach route
01:49 between Georgetown and Lake Tahoe
01:51 and service to resort that was built
01:53 at the Rubicon Springs.
01:54 El Dorado County maintained the road
01:56 to keep access to the Rubicon Springs Resort
01:59 until the Great Depression caused its closure in the 1930s.
02:02 After World War II, returning GIs with surplus chiefs
02:06 began running the now disrepaired county road
02:08 and in 1953, the first Jeepers Jamboree
02:11 was held on the Rubicon Trail.
02:13 - Now this is our first trip to the Rubicon.
02:20 We just got the truck together.
02:22 Basically the day we left to come up here on Saturday.
02:26 So this is the first trip for the truck
02:28 and first trip for us to the Rubicon.
02:29 So we're learning as we go,
02:31 getting this big full-size Chevy through the trail,
02:34 sitting on a full long bed wheelbase, 130 inches.
02:37 So we're doing all right so far.
02:40 - Every off-roader has heard of the Rubicon.
02:44 For most, it's the first bucket list trail
02:46 they wanna check off.
02:48 And whether you're running it for the first time
02:50 or the 20th time, being there is always something special.
02:54 - We are on the Rubicon Trail.
02:57 For a lot of us, this is a place where we consider
03:01 a bit of a pilgrimage that we show up here.
03:05 I've been here three, four times.
03:07 I tend to do it about every 10 years.
03:09 And it's always great to come back.
03:12 It's a beautiful trail.
03:14 Still challenging.
03:15 When we first came here, it was CJ5s and 33 inch tires
03:19 and it was fun.
03:21 And even with the heavily modified vehicles today,
03:24 it's still challenging and it's still fun.
03:26 So weather's great.
03:28 And glad to be back here.
03:31 And hopefully I'll be back in 10 years
03:33 with my kids or something.
03:35 - This trail is probably the most world-famous trail.
03:39 It is an epic Jeep trail,
03:41 but we have full-size trucks running.
03:43 We have a little mini truck Toyota behind me.
03:46 It's been a great day so far.
03:47 We got up bright and early,
03:49 which was nice 'cause we drove out here
03:50 and it was nice and cool.
03:51 Everybody's creeping and crawling along,
03:53 having a good time.
03:53 Our Falka tires are getting us over the obstacles.
03:57 My Jeep's running cool.
03:59 Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and have a good time.
04:01 - So this is the trail
04:07 and this is the optional route we're gonna take.
04:09 That requires a little more finesse.
04:15 Almost three and a half miles into the trail
04:18 is Soup Can Rock,
04:19 but some people call it Soup Bowl or Super Bowl.
04:22 Whatever you call it, you better pick the right line
04:24 or you'll pie center on your rocket.
04:26 As I will now demonstrate.
04:30 - Turtled up really good.
04:32 Looks like he's bellied up.
04:33 May have to use that worn winch again.
04:34 - Worn winch time.
04:37 Never fails.
04:39 Gotta have them worn winches.
04:41 Get the job done.
04:43 (engine rumbling)
04:46 - It's been a long time since I've been on that obstacle.
04:51 So long, I don't remember what the line was.
04:52 So you have to be in exactly the right spot
04:55 so that the tires aren't all trying to climb
04:58 everything at once.
04:59 So I made it up, so can't complain.
05:01 - I got rid of my nervous peas earlier,
05:08 but I'm sure I'll have them again soon.
05:11 (engine rumbling)
05:14 - You're like a ballerina.
05:25 - He just danced up the face of that thing.
05:27 No problem.
05:28 Real elegant.
05:29 No throttle, just idled up.
05:31 Never slipped a tire.
05:32 Pretty impressive.
05:34 (engine rumbling)
05:37 - That's definitely a place
05:45 where some vehicle control comes in.
05:47 That's what low gearing is all about.
05:54 Being able to go slow, keep the tires stuck,
05:56 and let the suspension do its job and not hurt things.
05:59 (engine rumbling)
06:02 - It was awesome.
06:11 Had a great spot from Keith Bailey.
06:13 Coming up there, I had to hop it a little bit,
06:14 warm up the tires, get them extra grippy,
06:16 but we were able to climb a line
06:19 that nobody's climbed yet.
06:20 So it was great.
06:21 - I tell you, that was quite the rush.
06:27 I wasn't sure if it was gonna go over,
06:29 but they kept saying, "Turn this way,"
06:30 and I just trusted my spotter,
06:32 and that was quite a rush.
06:33 That was great.
06:34 - I reckon radios are working out great.
06:42 'Cause even the handhelds are working,
06:44 so the spotter can tell the driver what to do.
06:47 Pretty neat.
06:48 Having the race radios is a lot better than the CBs.
06:55 Most of the time with the CBs,
06:56 you can't even hear each other.
06:57 - Wow, well that was super.
06:59 That was the first time I'm doing it
07:01 since the new modifications.
07:02 Tires were hooking up good.
07:04 I just don't think I picked the right line.
07:06 Almost had to pull out that Warren winch,
07:08 but managed to just hit it in second gear
07:10 and just power through it.
07:11 - I guess Cooper's driving style
07:16 could be described as elephant elegant.
07:19 The dude definitely knows how to drive,
07:21 but sometimes he hits it like a 300-pound ballerina.
07:24 All the right moves, but something's gotta give.
07:27 This time, Cooper wisely decides
07:29 to hook up the Warren winch to keep from breaking.
07:32 - Well, I just got done winching up that obstacle.
07:34 I guess I didn't put that really good winch on there
07:37 just to look at, but did my best.
07:40 Thought it would be in the best interest
07:41 of my front axle and the group,
07:44 not having to wait for me to repair things
07:46 to winch on over the obstacle.
07:48 I made it as far as I wanted to push it.
07:50 I'm happy with the way everything is working,
07:52 and I live to keep wheeling.
07:55 Thank you, Warren.
07:57 - So we've got a couple rigs to go through this obstacle.
08:00 The Bubba Rope guys, they made it.
08:02 They did a heroic fix yesterday.
08:04 Got up here in time to make the trail.
08:27 - Start with peel out.
08:28 We gotta get to camp.
08:29 The rest of the other people in the trail
08:37 are catching up to us.
08:39 We just wanna get to camp so we can pick a good spot,
08:41 and we don't wanna block up anybody else.
08:43 So now that our group is dwindling down to the end,
08:46 we gotta keep on trucking.
08:47 (upbeat music)
08:49 - We made for our camp at Buck Island Lake,
09:08 but several famous obstacles lay in our path.
09:11 The first of which was Little Sluice.
09:13 Not long ago, Little Sluice was a minefield
09:16 with huge boulders that made for a very challenging obstacle.
09:19 - During the Great Depression, the springs were abandoned,
09:36 and it wasn't until after World War II,
09:38 when it was in its peak decay,
09:40 that returning wheelers, well, returning soldiers
09:44 became wheelers with their surplus jeeps.
09:46 - So the Rubicon Trail is actually a road.
09:49 There's sheriffs that run up and down it in jeeps
09:51 to make sure everything's okay.
09:53 There used to be a resort in here at the Rubicon Springs,
09:58 and you could drive in there and relax in the springs.
10:01 And then after World War II,
10:03 with the influx of surplus jeeps and the returning soldiers,
10:09 it became a recreational area as a trail
10:12 to go four-wheeling.
10:14 There's lots of different organizations.
10:16 Friends of the Rubicon, Jeep Jamboree USA,
10:21 Jeepers Jamboree.
10:23 You may recall Mark Smith,
10:25 who was voted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.
10:28 He and a lot of his friends helped turn this area
10:32 into the trail that it is today.
10:35 And it's pretty awesome.
10:36 It's probably the most world-renowned trail.
10:38 It's obviously Jeep has embraced it
10:41 with their Rubicon Jeep Wranglers.
10:44 Up here in the high Sierras, lots of rocks,
10:47 lots of lakes up here that people can go swimming in
10:50 once they get to 'em.
10:51 Beautiful pine trees.
10:53 It's through the summer.
10:55 This trail is busy almost every weekend
10:58 and during the week at times.
11:00 But that's what we're all out here to do.
11:02 We're all out four-wheeling.
11:03 So even if you run into other people,
11:05 you just kinda work your way around other groups,
11:08 keep on truckin'.
11:09 We're gonna head on in here and find a place to camp.
11:12 But if little sluice lost some mojo,
11:17 old sluice is just as mean and nasty as ever.
11:20 It's a rocky, tight descent to Buck Island below.
11:25 And just when you think you're almost clear, bang!
11:28 You're in Flatbender Alley.
11:30 Rubicon Trail, I've never ran it before
11:36 'cause I'm from the East Coast.
11:38 It's completely different from our East Coast wheeling.
11:40 We're used to a lot of wet, slick mud.
11:43 We slide around.
11:44 There's so much traction out here.
11:46 The Falken tires just grab on everything.
11:48 It's unbelievable.
11:50 And now that I actually put my Off-Road Design Doubler in,
11:53 it makes it awesome that I can do it.