Oh my! What a trip!!
The real purpose of this trip was to visit the famous (infamous) Rubicon Trail and try out The Black Pearl on the holy grail of Jeep trails. More on this later…
Then, disaster struck. As we approached the gatekeeper, we paused to lower the tire pressure and noticed a passenger rear shock was dangling beneath the Jeep. With no replacement bolt, the decision was made to remove the shock, completely, but with all the trouble we had encountered to make it this far, we were starting to believe that God just didn’t intend for us to make this trek.
Along comes a fella in a stoutly built Toyota FJ40 and announces to us that he is a trail chaperone of sorts and lives mid-way on the trail. He asks if we have brought camping gear and where we plan to stay for the night. When we reply that we are starting a day trip (it is getting late in the day), he informs us that the Rubicon Trail takes 2-3 days to complete if you have never been there. He eyeballs our baby Jeep on 31” tires and gives us a trail map and some advice. Then, he flags down another Rubicon visitor and secures a shock bolt for us.
James walks the first two hundred yards of the trail (The Gatekeeper) and returns with a broken ego and enough humility to forego this trip. It was a difficult decision because who knows when we may be this way again with the Jeep.
TheAdventureChronicles 