Peppered throughout our trail ride was Brian Busch’s locker trouble. Brian’s friend, Drew, who flew out from Tennessee to make the run, helped investigate the problem of a blown fuse. So they robbed the horn fuse for the lockers and blew that too. From then on, after every difficult obstacle had been conquered, Brian wryly remarked, “Oh yeah, no lockers!” And guess who had all the spare fuses for Brian after that — yep, Ryan!
By lunchtime we unpacked our chairs on the slabs of the swimming hole of Rubicon Springs, then around the corner for a campsite in the trees. This proved a quieter place to camp, away from the drunken festivities of those who enjoyed noise till the wee hours of the morning. Kevin, the manager of the property for the summer, entertained us with card tricks and tall tales of off-highway adventurers on the Rubicon. But when you talk to Kevin, beware; you never know when truth overlaps fiction. You may just end up believing in the local brown bear, Cinnamon!
The leisurely pace of days 2 and 3 helped us enjoy God’s country. Without a rush, we enjoyed our Jeeps and nature all in the same trip.
That night, preparing for bed, my wife and I admired a great ARB adventure light hanging from the tree of the campsite beside ours. We had to ask about it. And of course, it was Ryan’s (now I need to get one of those!).
Day 3:
After breaking camp the final morning, we got caught behind a train of brand new stock JKs. Up Cadillac Hill we followed, finding it to be not nearly as difficult as expected.
Observation Point finished off our last bits of digital film. We posed our Rubicons and our new friends round about.
Then out on Tahoe we sprang, welcomed by the deep glacier blue and pieces of civilization. We caravaned to Tahoe City for a farewell lunch and then bid one another adieu. Off we scattered to Washington, SoCal, Tennessee, Vancouver and Colorado. A band of bothers and sisters landing in one place to make memories on the Trail of the Summer.
- Special thanks to Dale Fincher of Rubiconownersforum.com for his contribution of text and photos to this article.
Related – To The Top of Texas and Back
* Published by JPFreek Jeep Adventure Magazine – The leader in Jeep and adventure enthusiast publications.
