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 Adventures on the Rubicon Trail
"You don't have to be crazy but it sure helps"

An unusual combination of driving school & adventurous trip over one of the craziest county roads in California.
 

Sunday Arrival in Georgetown. If you fly into Sacramento I can arrange to pick you up and shuttle you to Georgetown. A small town founded during the hectic and wild Gold Rush days. Today it's a quiet, romantic town. We'll stay at the Hilltop Motel. A simple but comfortable and quiet little place. Over dinner I'll tell you what to expect of the adventurous trip ahead. After dinner we might visit one of the local bars and join the gold miners and lumberjacks for a drink.


Monday Last "civilized" breakfast at Buffalo Hill Cafe. We'll leave around 9.30. After about 30 miles we'll reach Uncle Tom's Cabin, a bar, were trappers and gold miners already hung their hats in the 1860s. Let's have a coffee or beer there.

Around noon we'll arrive at Loon Lake where we'll set up for lunch. I'll prep you how to survive the Rubicon Trail without damaging the vehicles or even worse: your ego. The "road" ahead is so unbelievably rough, you'll rub your eyes. But no previous experience is required, just take it easy and enjoy the adventure. I'll guide you through.

We won't get far on our first day, maybe 1/2 mile. Yes, you read right. Half a mile.
Because the secret of survival in this labyrinth of boulders is to drive very slow and very careful. Some of the obstacles seem unconquerable, and this is only a warmup for what's ahead for tomorrow. You might start to doubt your sanity. Camp underneath a clear star-lit sky close to Pleasant Lake. Dinner Old West Style: Beans, steak and coffee.

Tuesday Prepare your own breakfast. The brave will take a swim in the lake. The ice-cold water is quite a shock. But still better than the shock that awaits you on the trail. It is the most unbelievable road you can put the wheels of a 4x4 on. The pictures you have seen in various magazines are only a mild impression of this challenge. The real thing is many times more exciting and adventurous. You will for sure tell your grandchildren about this one! We start off with a rocky impudence called Walker Rock. And after this the Rubicon Trail has at least another dozen challenges waiting for you. One of them is Little Sluice Box. Infamous and dangerous. We will have to take the bypass. We'll travel over giant granite slabs, stop at peaceful ponds covered with water-lilies and pass majestic pine trees on our way to Buck Island Lake. Lunch at around mile 2.

The Rubicon is exhausting !

We plan to cover almost 5 miles - and we'll need most of the day for this distance. With every overcome impediment of this wretched road your self-confidence gets an enormous boost. Your skills improve so dramatically, that after surviving this adventure, not even boulders the size of a single family home could possibly scare you anymore.

Camp at Buck Island Lake. Back country dinner: Hearty and simple. At the campfire we'll have enough stories to tell about the day gone by.

Wednesday Same as yesterday: Campfire breakfast. Big Sluice is a major surprise waiting for you. Have your camera ready. We are heading down into Rubicon Valley. The rocky obstacles are a true roller coaster. But not to worry. You'll do just fine. Lunch break and time for a cool dip in the pools of the Rubicon River. In the 1800s, right here at Rubicon Springs, next to a small meadow a two story hotel welcomed it's guests. The mineral springs that attracted these people are still bubling up soda water (It tastes a little like Alka Seltzer). The hotel is gone now - destroyed decades ago in a winter blizzard. Rather than continuing towards Lake Tahoe, we will take an even more challenging route: Back the same way we came in. In the afternoon we'll head back up to our previous camp at Buck Island Lake to spend the night. We should arrive early enough in camp so you can go exploring and hiking in the area.

Thursday Campfire breakfast. We need to get going early as we have to cover more than 5 miles on the trail plus 40 miles back to Georgetown. Stop somewhere along the trail for lunch. Dinner at Camp Virner Restaurant, a few miles outside Georgetown. Depending on our progress we should arrive in Georgetown around 8pm.
We'll spend one more night at the comfortable Hilltop Motel.

Friday Breakfast at Buffalo Hill Cafe and then it's time to say goodbye. I'll either shuttle you back to Sacramento airport or you leave directly from Georgetown. Maybe we'll meet again on one of my other exciting adventure trips.

Most guests leave as good friends, many come back.