That was a running line on this trip, every time the wood grain on Keith’s FJ62 was in danger. Keith owns a beautiful blue 62 that has the factory wood grain in mint condition.

He did great, in his garage building his rig, and on the trail. And his wife Julie, looked like she was having the time of her life.

Weather:

We had a lot of rain and a little snow, in a way I think it made trail conditions better. This late in the season I think the rocks would have been coated in the talc dust and slicker than they were wet. It started raining Saturday morning before we broke camp and kept it up off and on the rest of the trip.

Saturday we camped in the private section of Rubicon Springs. We got to meet one of the owners, he told us we shouldn't be there then told us to go ahead and stay since we all had our camps set up. The trees gave a lot of shelter in that camp. I hit some snow going over Mt Rose summit but it didn't wipe the grin off my face. I am going to install seat heaters in the forty when I re-upholster them this winter. Temps were in the 60's during the day and the high 30's low 40's at night. It dipped almost to freezing going over Mt. Rose.

Carnage:

There were a few scrapes to the painted ladies put nothing to bad. No breakage that I know of to any of them. Doug Johnson managed to bend his drag link, but with a little help from Rick Cortez, that was solved really quick. I managed to break my anti-wrap bar somewhere between the last obstacle on Cadillac and the observation point. To much skinny pedal and a little wheel hop on a tiny little rock ledge  That will get some serious upgrading.

Trail conditions:

The switch back in Big Sluice is totally changed. We all walked right through it. And the pucker spot after that has been improved so it's not bad anymore. All in all Cadillac is now tougher than Big Sluice IMHO.

Between the cold and our Friday start day the yahoo factor on the trail was way down on this trip. There was a big group at the good camping spot by Buck Island, but we were at the first spot after the slabs and you could barely hear them. We drove past them while they where still sleeping from the big party they had the night before. Their campsite looked like a ghost town.

General:

This was my first outing with the Norcal Wagons guys. Over the years I’ve read their trail reports and heard stories from others. Now I know what it’s like. Dining was everything I had heard it would be and the company was stellar. I'd go with those guys again anytime anywhere. And not just for the food. Everybody had a great attitude which always makes things more fun. Plus the sense of humor kept me grinning the whole trip. The experience level among the group kept things moving along at a faster pace than I would have expected. Lots of great spotting and coaching for the newbies and very skilled driving by the veterans. And they didn't make me stay in the back of the line the whole trip, just the last day.

It was a great way to end the season.

You can view the photos of this trip here

__________________

Dan Johnson

Fight like a freaking freight train with crazy hoboes driving it. - yooper

Battle Born Cruisers

Rust Never Sleeps