Woke up bright and early and quickly broke camp. Today was the day we would start on the trail! We made a brief pit stop at Loon Lake (water replenishment and washing) and were soon on our way. Deciding to make better time and avoid being shaken up in a 4x4, Sue and Marion walked ahead of us on the trail. It didn't take long before the dusty trail became interesting. There were lots of big rocks and twists and turns that made for enjoyable fourwheeling. I was impressed at how clean the area was. The first named obstacle we reached was Walker Hill. It was pretty straightforward for the locked 4x4s but Gord had to choose his lines carefully because of his open diffs and relatively low ground clearance. John Barron, running with his ARBs turned off, had a better time of it due to the shorter wheelbase, greater ground clearance, and more aggressive tires.

Finally! We're back on the trail.	This would've been interesting if there was some recent rain.	The first rocks of the day.
Walker Hill	Jonathan's TJ	Mmmm...more rocks.
10 psi was a perfect balance between maintaining traction and a good air seal. I normally use less pressure but the Jeep was fully-loaded so 10 psi worked great.	The great thing about this trail was that there was ALWAYS some kind of obstacle.	The trail never got boring.
Ron's torquey 401 had some heat issues. He ended up running with the hood propped open at the back.	Getting close to the Little Sluice.	John, our trail guide.

The second named obstacle we saw was the Soup Bowl. No one made a concentrated effort to climb it since it clearly demanded lots of ground clearance, huge tires and a long wheelbase.

Shortly after that, we reached the infamous Little Sluice. Sue and Marion, who got there first, told us that some Jeepers who were attempting to do the section from the opposite direction and decided against it because the dust on the rocks made them too slippery. They were in the process of taking the bypass and would be attempting to go through Little Sluice in the same direction that we were going to try it. One by one, the rest of our group arrived, parked and walked around the Sluice, discussing the options and possible lines. In the distance, on the other side of the rocks, we could hear the rumble of the two Jeeps' motors. After about 15 minutes, the first Jeep rounded the corner. It was the same one we had seen back at the Icehouse Resort. A brief conversation with the driver informed us that he and his buddy drove down to Rubicon Express and spent a WAD of money on springs, Revolver shackles, an ARB freezer and some other goodies. US$3000 poorer, they then returned to Icehouse and installed the parts (and freezer) on the Jeep and went up the trail.

The Jeep was a CJ7 on 38" Swampers with stock AMC20 and D30 axles and was driven by a guy named Rich. It had a spring-over with Revolvers and was locked front and back with lots of lift. The rear fender was heavily trimmed for maximum clearance. Rich's first attempt at climbing into the Sluice followed the most likely possibility: approach one of the walls at an angle and let each wheel climb one at a time. I don't recall the details, suffice it to say that the attempt didn't work and he spent some time making spiral marks in his drive shaft. He then made a more direct attempt by climbing up the huge, under-cut rock that formed the main wall. At one point, the CJ did a pirouette and just about flopped over on its side. After another half hour of rock stacking, pushing, and sweat, he finally got into the Sluice. It was a tough obstacle and he certainly earned the victory. Rich was clearly elated and got out for a victory pose on the rock. But it wasn't over yet. It took some more effort and skill to get past three huge rocks before he finally got out of Little Sluice. I was very impressed by this obstacle.

His buddy, Kevin, came next. He had a CJ5 with 36" tires and wasn't as tall as the first Jeep. He also tried the diagonal line first and to our surprise, he got most of his Jeep into the Sluice before catching his rear diff. He definitely caught the right line. A bit of pushing freed his diff and got him into the Sluice. Like his friend, he also let out a loud holler and posed for a photo on the rock. He attributed his success to the narrower and shorter CJ5. Hmm...not good for me since I was next and my YJ was more similar to the CJ7 except it was lower and had smaller tires and less aggressive tires.

I had one last look at the approach and saw a line that looked like it would be a good choice for my Jeep. I was a bit nervous walking back to Project YJ but I figured that the worst that could happen was that I wouldn't make it. I had no intention of beating on my Jeep to conquer the Little Sluice. About this time, Kevin's CJ5 broke an axle shaft, spindle and knuckle on the last rock in the Sluice. Not a big surprise when you consider the size of the Dana 30. We decided that I could still make my attempt at Little Sluice since it would be pretty easy for him to winch out of the way. I slowly crawled Project YJ to the entrance and got Rob to spot me along the line I had chosen. I didn't expect to do very well but I crept forward, my eyes glued to Rob Bryce's hand signals. Before I knew it, I had three of my tires above the wall and the left rear tire was mashed into the under cut of the biggest rock, trying to climb up the ledge. But then the rear diff hung up on a rock. I looked at my driver's side rear tire and cringed when I saw how badly the sidewall and fender flare was deformed. The fender flare was mashed completely flat against the rock and the tire's sidewall was folded over. Rob called some of the rest of our group over to push and I carefully gave it a little more throttle. To my surprise, the Jeep again continued its forward motion. The motion was accompanied by the sickening sound of scraping steel as my recently built and installed rocker armour did its job and protected the sheet metal. Amazingly, I was now past the ledge and in the Little Sluice. I was pumped with excitement! What really surprised me is that we were able to get up there with very little rpm, Project YJ inched its way up without resorting to heavy throttle use.

Here's one of the CJs we saw back at the Icehouse Resort.	During one of his attempts to get into the Little Sluice, he got caught on the rock and pirouetted until he was sideways. Pretty cool although unintentional.	The Canadian rock monkeys watch their southern cousins.
My first line worked pretty well until I got my rear diff hung up on the rock.	The recently-installed TJ flares gave me enough room to allow the 35" Pro Comp MTs to stuff into the fenders.	With a little help from my friends, I climbed into the 'Sluice.
Of course, now that I was in, there was the matter of these big frickin' rocks that I had to get past.	Fortunately, Rob was there to spot for me.	And Jonathan was my Bumper Monkey TM.
I always have time to smile for the cameras.	I'm feeling crowded.	Almost out!
This is pretty much the end of a VERY LONG 20 meters.	We watched Dave make a few attempts but the Bronco just couldn't get either of its rear tires over the ledge.	Armin came up next and took the same line as me and also got into the 'Sluice.
	As you can see, just getting into the 'Sluice is only the beginning of the battle.
More Jonathan-help.	Armin climbs over the last rock before officially leaving the Little Sluice.

Dave was going to try next so Rob kept spotting me through the Sluice to make way for Dave. We ran the driver's side up the "Can Opener" rather than try to squeeze past it. I'm not sure which would have been the easier line but I was already kind of positioned to drive over it so that's what we did. The front passenger side caught a lot of air but the Jeep felt stable so we kept crawling. Everyone in our group was helping out, watching the drive shafts and pinions, making sure that I wasn't going to do any serious damage. With lots of cheering, the Jeep came down off the Can Opener and I parked it behind the CJ5. I owe a big tip of the hat to Rob Bryce who did his usual fantastic job of spotting. Dave and Armin thought so too, because they both wanted Rob to spot them through Little Sluice, as well.

Dave tried next in his Bronco with its 36" Swampers. Unfortunately, the weight of the Bronco was just a bit much, preventing him from getting his driver's side rear tire up and over the ledge. He made a valiant effort but gave up before he broke something. Then it was Armin's turn. He had pretty much the same situation as me, requiring a bit of a push to get over the ledge but he did it and now he was also in the Sluice. He had a better line crawling over the Can Opener and was soon parked right behind my Jeep.

Once the CJ5 was winched out of the way, we handled the last part of the Sluice. I chose to high side the right side of a large rock that was in the middle of the trail and very nearly dented my driver's side sheet metal. Some judicious rock stacking saved the body and I drove out. I immediately removed the rocks to preserve the trail's integrity. Armin took what turned out to be the better line by driving over the rock, although I'm not sure if my 35" tires were up to the task anyway. Although his CJ had about 8" of lift and Revolver shackles, Armin's CJ was remarkably stable. It handled the off-camber sections with aplomb despite its high altitude. Total damage from Little Sluice? Scratched up drive shaft and rocker armour on Project YJ, a 1" long shallow tent on the CJ plus similar rocker armour scratches and bent front and rear bumpers.

The bypass also proved interesting. It began with a slightly off-camber rock face which you had to climb on to and then turn right as you climbed. It has a fine sprinkling of dust to make things interesting. Sliding the front end sideways could result in a nasty rollover. Fortunately, everyone made it through without incident. And once again, Gord impressed us all with his near-stock Cherokee. The great thing about the Rubicon, though, is that once you've finished the "big obstacle," there is still lots more entertainment to be had.

In particular, there is the "Old Sluice!" More rocks were served up for our entertainment. Old Sluice is a narrow shelf road that gets narrower as you get closer to the bottom. Rocks are liberally strewn about all the way down. The centre piece, however, was almost at the bottom where a four foot rock was parked in the middle of the trail. The popular way to deal with this rock was to drive off the trail to the left, do a bit of a three point turn, and then get back on to the trail, lined up just perfectly to pass on the downhill side of the rock. That's what everyone was doing until I got there. Rob was spotting and he had a special treat in store for me. As I approached the rock, Rob kept motioning for me to keep coming forward. Meanwhile, I kept waiting for him to tell me to turn left up to the pull out. His plan, as I soon discovered, was for me to squeeze the front of my truck past the rock and when I couldn't go much further, to crank the wheels hard to the right and pivot on the rocker armour. And that's exactly what I did. It worked marvelously except I went too far and got in a position where I was about to damage my drive shaft so a rock or two was required to provide enough clearance. It was a cool maneuver and excellent spotting by Rob.

On the way to the Old Sluice.	As you neared the bottom, turning around was no longer an option.	Armin is about to take the standard route around the rock which entailed doing a hundred-point turn off the trail and back on to the trail, just a bit below the rock.
Rob directed me to pivot on my rocker panels against this boulder that was in the middle of the trail.	It worked!	I dragged half of my Jeep against that rock.
Rob's next dupe was Dave, whom he guided OVER the boulder.	Once again, it worked!	Because Ron had limited travel in the front, due to a front drive shaft problem, he also took the "great circle" route around the rock.

Dave came next and he took the big line, driving OVER the rock. It was nicely done. He also made use of his rocker armour and sustained no damage. Gord and the walkers (Sue and Marion) were waiting for us at the bottom. Gord had taken the more scenic bypass which was a good idea because his XJ would have taken some serious body damage on that trail.

Before I go on with more trail talk, let me just stop here and tell you that the scenery on the trail was gorgeous. Several times we'd come around a corner and stop dead in our tracks to admire the arresting vistas. Everyone also commented on how clean the trail was. Astoundingly clean, when you consider the fact that this was a very popular and well-used trail, and that we were here in peak season. Hmm...that brings me to a topic that was first mentioned by John Barron. And that is "white fish," those dainty white splotches of toilet paper that mark the presence of a human (don't forget, bears use rabbits) pee pee or poo poo deposit. Although there was almost no litter on the trail, walking 20 yards off the trail would virtually guarantee that you'd see a school of white fish taking shelter in the shade of a mighty fir tree, or perhaps holding a silent vigil beside a pile of poo poo. Remember folks, it only takes ten seconds of your precious time to dig hole and cover it, so please do so. ALL our trails would benefit from this etiquette. So let's stamp out white fish!

We pushed on, planning to camp at Buck Island Lake. We were in a bit of a rush because Pam had to be home by Saturday morning to play in a baseball tournament and she was their star player. After discovering a huge ant nest at one campsite, we finally settled on one right beside the lake. It was a mosquito haven but we were near water which meant that we could use John's on-board shower which meant that the mosquito bites were worth it! We also found a pink snake slithering around the camp but Rob quickly grabbed it and threw it into the bush. Well, he tried to throw it into the bushes but it landed right beside Ron's and Dolores' tent, much to Dolores' dismay. Odd...he had no problem with the snake but didn't like ants.

Driving around Buck Island Lake.	It was getting late and we had to set up camp.
But even though we were in a rush, I found time to pull stupid stunts like high-siding on this rock before noticing that the back of the Jeep was starting to unload and tip over.	Fortunately, Pam was there to record my embarrassment.

Later that night, around 2:00am, someone opened our Action Packer. At least I was hoping it was someone. Sue also heard it and also heard "someone" rustling the food wrappers and munching on food. After waking me up, we decided it must be a bear so she started banging on a pot which she brought to the tent for this very purpose. We were both surprised and disturbed to find that the metallic noise didn't cause the bear to leave. That left me with Plan B (which, as well all know, universally sucks when compared to Plan A). I donned my boots, grabbed my flashlight (which had almost dead batteries) and my Bowie knife, and proceeded to make a fool of myself in my underwear. I got out of the tent and yelled, "Get outta here!" Since we were in the USA, it was logical to assume the bear was conversant in colloquial English. I was instantly relieved to hear something running away. I walked over to where the Action Packer was and as expected, the lid was off and some of the food (including my Cheddar-flavoured rice cakes which are the ONLY low-cal snacks I enjoy!!) was scattered near by. Inside the box, I found a huge muddy smear on the roll of paper towels, along with generous amounts of drool. One of the coolers had also been opened. Armin and Marion were awoken by my yelling and Armin came out to see what happened. Aside from seeing me in my underwear, he missed the excitement. We couldn't see any paw prints but were fairly certain it must have been a bear. We closed the containers and I poured gasoline on some of the ripped bags of food to dissuade further interest. It seemed to work because we weren't disturbed for the rest of the night, although Rob reported hearing bears (i.e.: more than one) grunting around 5:00 am.

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