To think of taking a Subaru to the Rubicon Trail in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains would be frowned upon in the 90s. Deep in the mountains, elevations are well in excess to 5,000 feet. The Trail is paradise, but maybe a nightmare to others. It was August 18th, 2003 when QMAN, EZAP, MUDRAT, and LUMPYCAM, part of the Oregon Off-Road Subaru Club and HATCH PATROL from the USMB Ultimate Subaru Message Board made a trip of a lifetime. Earlier in July, Jeeper’s had already celebrated their Jeeper’s 50th Anniversary. Mark Smith was first to run the Rubicon in 1951. He said, “You could do the whole thing in a day.” Today in 2003, it is much more difficult than it ever used to be. A lot of that’s because of vandalism, people rolling big rocks down the trail. The Rubicon Trail is a 22-mile-long route. Originally, it was a Native American trail connecting the Sacramento Valley and Lake Tahoe. It was rediscovered by European immigrants in the 1840s. By the 1890s, the trail had become an actual road and was used to reach the Rubicon Mineral Springs Resort and Hotel. Eric EZAP filmed the entire trip and jogged most of the 12 miles over three days with a camera, tripod, and blown out ACL. The footage will never do justice of the angles as it was a constant uphill climb. The crew was annoyed at Zap for making them wait until he could run ahead and get the next shot. He had to reassure them they would be happier if they got to watch it later. They were treated on the very last day with a beautiful sunset and had cheered them up after four rough days and nights. Thanks to Eric for documenting this entire episode. This video was so inspirational that it was one of the reasons Scott Raper with SJR Subaru Lifts started offroading Subarus.
