After a couple of hours being unsure if I was in the right place I eventually found the famed Rubicon Trail on Tuesday morning. All variety of websites didn’t describe it enough for me to actually find it easily. Although it seemed like I was on the right path, the signage is non-existent. Part of the challenge probably comes from the time of year. There is simply nobody around here after Labor Day, and of course it’s also a weekday. Not a soul on the trail or in the campground. A quick trip onto the trail to see what it was like got me 2 miles (out of a total of about 12) before the KTM disapproved of the slow speeds by spitting radiator fluid on the ground. The trail is tougher than I anticipated. Copious numbers of basketball sized and larger boulders make it very slow work and exceptionally bumpy and tiring. The trick is to maintain speed but when there is rare relief in the way of a clear path that’s tough to do. Average speed is about 8 mph. My well-worn street tires on the bike don’t help much – I’ll definitely need a new rear before Moab. It’s been another beautiful day. I haven’t seen any rain for over a week. Camped overlooking Loon Lake. At 6450’ it will likely get chilly. It’s 5.30pm now and already I feel a breeze. I’ll get dinner going before sundown and probably be in bed by 8pm.
Rubicon Day 2
Practice has helped. Started around 11am, got the first 4 miles done in about 30 minutes. That’s when the bike overheated again. It has a radiator but no fan. I got as far as a huge pile of rocks called Little Sluice and decided it just wasn’t worth destroying the bike. It’s amazing how you get used to bouncing over rocks, just letting the bike find its path. After waiting about 30 mins for the bike to cool down I headed back. Arriving at camp around 2pm, the warm sun with a cool lake breeze, the only choice was to take a nap. An hour or so later I headed off to find some more ice. I’ll play on the trail back toward Wentworth Springs later. Maybe it won’t be so rocky. Back now from getting ice. What should have been a 20 minute drive turned into a 47 mile ordeal due to lack of signage and stores being closed for the season. I ended up stopping at a place that said closed and going in anyway. Lucky they were there and still had ice. There’s still nobody else around so enjoying the mountain quiet.
Rubicon Day 3
Went out early to try and avoid the heat. Heavily overcast it seemed perfect. Did about 7 miles on less rocky trails but never did find the campground that's supposed to be on the trail. Had fun exploring though. Couldn’t resist taking the truck a little way up the Rubicon. I went until the first time I had to use the diff lock and boulders threatened more damage than just ripping off one of my mudguards. Funnily enough, it happened as I was trying to make a U-Turn to leave. I got all of about 1/10th of a mile. It seemed further than that. It’s about noon now and I’ve had a leisurely breakfast. It’s getting much colder now and windy so I’ll head down the mountain and toward the east side of California, past Yosemite and along the Sierra Nevada’s toward Death Valley.
Rubicon Day 2
Practice has helped. Started around 11am, got the first 4 miles done in about 30 minutes. That’s when the bike overheated again. It has a radiator but no fan. I got as far as a huge pile of rocks called Little Sluice and decided it just wasn’t worth destroying the bike. It’s amazing how you get used to bouncing over rocks, just letting the bike find its path. After waiting about 30 mins for the bike to cool down I headed back. Arriving at camp around 2pm, the warm sun with a cool lake breeze, the only choice was to take a nap. An hour or so later I headed off to find some more ice. I’ll play on the trail back toward Wentworth Springs later. Maybe it won’t be so rocky. Back now from getting ice. What should have been a 20 minute drive turned into a 47 mile ordeal due to lack of signage and stores being closed for the season. I ended up stopping at a place that said closed and going in anyway. Lucky they were there and still had ice. There’s still nobody else around so enjoying the mountain quiet.
Rubicon Day 3
Went out early to try and avoid the heat. Heavily overcast it seemed perfect. Did about 7 miles on less rocky trails but never did find the campground that's supposed to be on the trail. Had fun exploring though. Couldn’t resist taking the truck a little way up the Rubicon. I went until the first time I had to use the diff lock and boulders threatened more damage than just ripping off one of my mudguards. Funnily enough, it happened as I was trying to make a U-Turn to leave. I got all of about 1/10th of a mile. It seemed further than that. It’s about noon now and I’ve had a leisurely breakfast. It’s getting much colder now and windy so I’ll head down the mountain and toward the east side of California, past Yosemite and along the Sierra Nevada’s toward Death Valley.
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