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RUBICON: Read this -- Rules of the Road and Info

8K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  cruzila 
#1 · (Edited)
READ THIS from the Rubicon Moderator

We're here to save the Rubicon.
This forum is an extention of the Friends of the Rubicon.
Learn ALL you need to know about the Rubicon Trail on the Rubicon Trail Home Page:
http://www.delalbright.com/Rubicon/rubicon.htm


We're here to talk about ways to keep the trail open, solve trail problems, and get us involved in the management of our public lands.

NO cussin' and f words and such allowed here. Clean it up before you post it.

This is not the place to talk about rig buid ups or trip diaries.

Also, we've got kids reading this forum, so please keep that in mind when you get all heated up and want to throw a few cuss words around. It'd be best done in private. SEE BELOW

You should visit the Friends of the Rubicon web site to really get involved and learn more about what's up with the Rubicon.
Be sure to visit the stuff on sanitation, law enforcement, ohv's and ATV's on the trail, etc. found on that web site. You can get there this way too: www.delalbright.com/Rubicon/rubicon.htm

Thanks for joining us.
Del
 
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#2 · (Edited)
How Can You Best Help the Rubicon?

Best thing to do is visit my web site and decide how you can best help. Joining clubs and national groups is ALWAYS a help (like the BlueRibbon Coalition). Writing letters to your congressman helps.
Donating a few bucks to your favorite group helps. Visit:
www.delalbright.com/ for more

Thanks and write anytime,
Del
 
#3 · (Edited)
#4 ·
Rubicon Oversight Committee (ROC)

Just wanted to let all of you know there's a new committee overseeing the future of the Rubicon Trail. It's called the Rubicon Oversight Committee (ROC). Cool name, huh?

ROC is charged with managing the Rubicon into the future. It's composed of government, private property owners, vendors, USFS, Board of Supervisor reps, both counties, and users (I represent the Friends of the Rubicon and users in general).

I have also been appointed the group facilitator (you can see more about meeting facilitation at www.delalbright.com/facilitation.htm)

This committee will be asking for help in many sub committees to deal with things like sanitation, trail signing, surveying the trail, trail use, etc. If you wanna be in the game to some extent, drop me a note.

If you have any questions, please let me know.
Thanks, Del
 
#5 · (Edited)
Trail NEWBIES and First Timers READ THIS

Note from fullmonty, a POR BBS subscriber, with additions by me (your Rubicon Moderator):

The Rubicon's reputation is well deserved. For mortal wheelers the Rubicon is VERY hard, even in a well equipped rig, without doing the Little or Old Sluices.(both optional)

The guardian (gatekeeper) obstacle is quite challenging indeed, and can result in major damage. While a bit harder then most of the trail, it is a good primer of things to come. Challenge is one thing, misery, exhaustion and destroyed equipment are another.

The High Sierras are tough geologicaly, from glacial boulders, as well the high altitude mixes with amazingly hot temperatures to get that engine temp up. Bouncing (jumping) rigs over the Loon Lake slabs (bowl) have broken many parts even here.

My reccomendations for High Sierras trail equipment are:
1. No less then a 31" tire SWB, 33" LWB.
2. Rocker Protection REQUIRED.
3. Heavy duty skid plates.
4. Back up electric fan wired for backup(A/C fans work fine)
5. Heavy duty bumpers, or kiss the stock ones good bye.
6. Tow Hooks of course.
7. Lead vehicle MUST have a winch.
8. Trail Leader idealy should have run the trail once before.(Trust me, on a hard trail like this things go smoother for a group)
9. CB radio and first aid kit needed.
10. GPS optional but helpful
11. Trail map (or Rubicon guide book) so you know where you are.
12. Low gears or 4.1 transfer case very nice to have.

(THIS NOTE IS ADDITIONAL ADVICE ON CHOOSING A TRAIL)

Trail guides for the Sierra Nevadas are flooding the market, and if you can get away from the big north-south connecting trails (Dusy-Ershim, Rubicon and Fordyce,) there does appear to be many fine opportunities. You could consider the longer, but a bit easier Dusy/Ershim system first, and go North to South to avoid going up Thompson Hill, done in that direction it might be doable for you, but VERY challenging, and great solitude and far better scenery then the Con. It is my favorite trail, followed by Fordyce, then the Con. Hope all this helps. Bottom line, dont underestimate the challenge of the Rubicon.
********

For more on the trail, visit www.delalbright.com/Rubicon/rubicon.htm
Del
 
#6 ·
BEARS: What to do about them.

BEARS: and Camping with Them:

There are plenty of bears on the Rubicon Trail. The Rubicon Springs area is really an attractant to bears. These are all California Black Bears (although some are cinnamon colored).

BE PREPARED.

1. Hang your food (see photo).
2. Use cayene pepper around anything that smells.
3. Don't put food or smelly stuff in your tent.
4. Don't try to shoot at or near bears -- you'll do more harm than good and you might hit your neighbor.
5. Use Bear Pepper Spray -- if they get this close, spray em and they'll not like the taste one bit. Hopefully it'll help sway them for raiding camp sites and eating out of ice chests.
6. Don't put food in your rig. They'll get in.
7. Keep a clean camp.
8. Hang trash as well as your food (high up).
9. Make plenty of noise when one comes around -- although some bears don't care.
10. Dogs help with some bears and not others. But if you love your dog, keep it close and let it bark. One swat from a big black bear and your dog may be a memory.
11. Don't think a camp fire will keep it away. Bears used to people and camp sites, are not afraid of fires.

Del
 
#9 ·
STEALTH CAMPING

If you talk to folks that have been hiking for a long time, they'll pretty much agree on one thing about bears - you see them at CAMPS, not while you're stealth camping.

Meaning that if you avoid the places common to people, you'll likely avoid the bears. Bears follow humans that feed them.

Find a spot off the beaten path, seal up the SMELLY stuff(food, toothpaste, everything that smells) in a canister or up, up, up.

Just passing on good advice given to me by a long-time hiker, who never saw a bear stealth camping, only at established sites.
 
#10 ·
Bear Cheese

Bears like food. They have an incredible sense of smell, so if you have toothpaste or Pepto Bismol laying around, they're coming for it.

The bears that venture the Rubicon are black bears and while there has never been a case of anyone being killed in California by one, you should be cautious, especially when a cub is involved. Never, ever let your dog chase a bear, especially one with a cub. If you have food, the best deal around is like Del said, hoist it up on a limb. Usually those huge barrel bags that you can cart hockey equipment around in are the best as you can fit a cooler in one and have it hoisted up. You have to make sure that the stuff is hanging away from the tree though, because they'll climb and grab it if it's close enough to the trunk of the tree. Don't bring food in your tent either, they'll come sniffing around.

If you have a dog, they are probably your best bet, LEASHED. A guard dog at camp with a high pitched bark (Labs and Rotts have a deeper pitched bark and aren't as scary to bears) are the best. No not a dust mop dog yippy dog...Dogs are very sensitive and are actually distantly related to bears, so they're your best bet for an ALARM!

Never leave trash around as they will come to camp and start feasting. AND if I find you feeding a bear, I'll personally spank you. The reason bears often attack is that they have become accustomed to being fed and are now 'food conditioned'. This removes the fear of humans and therefore, they'll see you as an equal. The problem we have here in Tahoe is that people that are in the 'civilized' areas are feeding them like chickens and then calling the BEAR League scared because now the bear is trying to get in their house. In short, sometimes they are killed because ...well we won't go into that!

Nonetheless, I'll bet you if you yell and throw rocks at it, it'll run. There is a bear spray, CounterAssault that is specifically for bears and can deter an attack. While this works great when you spray it in their face, don't spray in on surrounding areas as it begins to age and you'll find them rolling in it! You can get this stuff at REI or any other outdoor store. Also, they make canisters in which bears cannot get into for stuff like toothpaste and cologne, but I don't know why you would want to wear cologne on the trail~

Go Bears!

Karin
 
#11 ·
#12 ·
Rubicon run calendar

CALENDAR: POST YOUR RUN HERE!!!
Rubicon Calendar:
there is no one good calendar of activities for us to use to plan our trips. There are several scattered around, but not one good one (that I know of).

We're going to use the POR calendar up above to post our runs and big events. PLEASE POST YOUR BIG EVENT/RUN UP ABOVE[\B]where it says CALENDAR.

Also you can check:

http://www.jeepersjamboree.com/
http://www.jeepjamboreeusa.com/

thanks, Del
 
#13 ·
WATCH your language

WATCH Your Language HERE!
Kids read this site; kids we're trying to teach to become future four wheelers and Rubicon Trail users.

Please WATCH your language on this Forum.

I don't care how you quack at each other on other forums here on POR, but I don't allow bad mouthing or cussin' here.

If I have to edit too many of your posts, you'll not be welcome here. I'm sure this won't apply to you; but I am laying the rules out so there's no confusion.

The future lies in what we leave behind. Our young wheelers and someday to be wheelers, need examples of how to do it right. That includes how we talk to each other on forums like this that they might be reading.

thanks, Del
 
#14 ·
Land Use Folks and Editors Read This

If you're a land use/conservation person for your club, or a newsletter editor, be sure to email me and get on my land use and access mailing list (for many topics, not just the Rubicon).
I do a monthly (roughly) column and send out articles for club newsletters that you're welcome to use.

REMEMBER: it's not just about the Rubicon; it's about access.

Del
 
#15 · (Edited)
TahoeKarin said:
if I find you feeding a bear, I'll personally spank you.
**Looking for bear to feed** :p


TahoeKarin said:
Nonetheless, I'll bet you if you yell and throw rocks at it, it'll run.
Don't count on this, I have seen bears take a flying brick to the head and not even look up from my garbage can.

Has anyone here used the bear spray? I'd like to hear a first-hand account. I've seen pepper spray disable people a few times, but never dogs or bears.

EDIT:This thread is 6 months old! :eek:
 
#17 ·
jeff i dont think i would go that far. we get a-lot of crap simply cause the name. as far as the rest of the clubs, they better be on there best behaviour too. cause now with my digital camera i will show the rest of the world, that there are bad apples in everyclub. i wont name names here. the rubicon is a public road and drinking and driveing is still illegal. so i am going to make it a point to videio all these people and there plates.turn them over to the proper authoritys.if it comes down to it citizens arrest then so be it. regardless if they are are members, or just plain folks trying to have a good time. it sucks that actions such as this have to take place, but it should help us redeem our name. so beware just cause ELDORADO SHERIFS wont drive are tax payer money built rig in, then i will hike in and do there job for them. i have allready talked to some CHP and we would be in our rights to perform citizen arrest. as long as we have a ham operator to get out to get them in and let them perform the DUI check. if they choose to resist arrest they will have to deal with that as well.we would be allowed any means neccesary to detain subjects till the officers got there.as long as del agrees. if not then i am open to more suggestions besides what del has already posted.the CHP offered up breathalizers as well
 
#18 ·
GearMan said:
i have allready talked to some CHP and we would be in our rights to perform citizen arrest. as long as we have a ham operator to get out to get them in and let them perform the DUI check. if they choose to resist arrest they will have to deal with that as well.we would be allowed any means neccesary to detain subjects till the officers got there.as long as del agrees. if not then i am open to more suggestions besides what del has already posted.the CHP offered up breathalizers as well
We're setting up a law enforcement/trail patrol meeting June 23rd. See the other forum here in high profile FOTR.
We're going to make a plan on how we handle volunteers helping patrol the trail.
FOTR has determined not to be involved in confrontational situations. But we will Observe, Educate, and Report. I have this outlined on the Rubicon Trail Home Page: www.delalbright.com
Del
 
#20 ·
FOTR (New) Brochures Available (downloadable)

You can download and print out FOTR brochures right now, on line, at:
www.delalbright.com/Rubicon/downloads.htm.

Print out what you need and take them on the trail for handouts.
thanks, Del
 
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