RUBICON TRAIL : The Newly Transformed Little Sluice

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
For approximately 20 years, the Little Sluice was the premier obstacle on the world famous, Rubicon Trail. Filled with enormous slick nasty boulders, it was respected, feared and something many hoped to conquer someday. Unfortunately, as of Friday, September 28, 2012, El Dorado County Supervisors proceeded with their plans, broke up many of the largest boulders within the Little Sluice and level out the rest with tons of fill rock flown in by helicopter. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, we headed back out to the Little Sluice to see first hand what was done and, to run it in Moby, our white EVO built 4-Door Jeep JK Wrangler. In this short video, you will get to see raw footage of what the Little Sluice looks like today and just how much easier it is to run as well.


If you're unhappy about what you've lost and want to find out how you can help prevent more alterations from being made to the Rubicon Trail or, even help prevent its potential closure in the future, I would invite you to visit the following websites:

http://www.rubiconfriends.com/
http://rubicontrail.org/
 
Thanks for posting that up. Amazing to see the before and after shots transposed. Nice music choice there too. :)

Did I understand that correctly that Moby had never done the little sluice before?
 
Wow, Moby breezed through it. Too bad they made those changes, I never got to run little sluice before the changes.
 
MTG said:
Thanks for posting that up. Amazing to see the before and after shots transposed. Nice music choice there too. :)

Did I understand that correctly that Moby had never done the little sluice before?
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you understand correctly. typically, we are leading a large group and it would suck for everyone if we were to break so early on the trail.

Robar said:
This is disappointing to see. :naw:
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it is but, i suppose it could have been much worse.

jasjeep said:
Wow, Moby breezed through it. Too bad they made those changes, I never got to run little sluice before the changes.
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in all fairness, moby isn't your basic jeep. depending on how built up you are and what line you take, it can be a lot harder.
 
Linebacker said:
Dynamite + helicopters flying in crushed rock = environmental improvement?:thinking:
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in all fairness, i think it was either that or the closure of the entire trail. the central valley water control board was forcing the issue...

The clean up and abatement order (CAO) issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board April 23, 2009 cited concerns regarding the contamination in the area and required it be*re-mediated...

...The county determined to clean up the legalities by applying for an easement from the Forest Service and that easement was granted and accepted on August 14, 2012. Part of the easement process was the settlement of the appeals filed in objection to the easement. During that process the reduction of the rocks in Little Sluice was brought as being*necessary*to obtain agreement to remove certain appeals and it was confirmed that we would fulfill the direction of January 26, 2010.

- El Dorado County Board of Supervisors ​
 
wayoflife said:
in all fairness, i think it was either that or the closure of the entire trail. the central valley water control board was forcing the issue...

The clean up and abatement order (CAO) issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board April 23, 2009 cited concerns regarding the contamination in the area and required it be*re-mediated...

...The county determined to clean up the legalities by applying for an easement from the Forest Service and that easement was granted and accepted on August 14, 2012. Part of the easement process was the settlement of the appeals filed in objection to the easement. During that process the reduction of the rocks in Little Sluice was brought as being*necessary*to obtain agreement to remove certain appeals and it was confirmed that we would fulfill the direction of January 26, 2010.

- El Dorado County Board of Supervisors ​
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I guess it's better than them closing the trail for good! :eek:

I saw Mel's video when it came out and WOW what a change. Comparing the before and after video Sluice is almost not a challenge for you guys with SUPER jeeps!:doh:

Hopefully the County won't destroy the trail any more before I have a chance to mod my jeep enough to get through! Which might be a few years since I am still a newbie in my first Jeep.:rock:

Thanks for the great video!!
 
Doknocker said:
I guess it's better than them closing the trail for good! :eek:
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agreed. the rubicon is first and foremost a beautiful trail. we've always looked at the challenging nature of the trail to be a perk.

Hopefully the County won't destroy the trail any more before I have a chance to mod my jeep enough to get through! Which might be a few years since I am still a newbie in my first Jeep.:rock:

Thanks for the great video!!
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tragically, more changes have been made to the rubicon in just the last 5 years than i would have preferred. unfortunately, the changes have been on obstacles that don't have an official name and so, most of them were made with little to no resistance. i will start a new thread about this later today.
 
Cool Video, I'll have to check out Little Sluice this weekend when I'm up there. Seems doable for my Jeep now, but I guess that was the point of their changes. ;)
 
wayoflife said:
in all fairness, i think it was either that or the closure of the entire trail. the central valley water control board was forcing the issue...

The clean up and abatement order (CAO) issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board April 23, 2009 cited concerns regarding the contamination in the area and required it be*re-mediated...

...The county determined to clean up the legalities by applying for an easement from the Forest Service and that easement was granted and accepted on August 14, 2012. Part of the easement process was the settlement of the appeals filed in objection to the easement. During that process the reduction of the rocks in Little Sluice was brought as being*necessary*to obtain agreement to remove certain appeals and it was confirmed that we would fulfill the direction of January 26, 2010.

- El Dorado County Board of Supervisors ​
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Of course, being from another state and not yet having wheeled "The Trail", it is difficult for me to understand how making the trail more accessible will remediate "the contamination in the area". It is my understanding there have been many groups working hard to preserve the trail for all of us to wheel and enjoy. What have they missed or failed to do that caused the trail to be on the brink of closure? I so hope I'm wrong, but I have a dark feeling the trail's future has been pre-determined.
 
Linebacker said:
Of course, being from another state and not yet having wheeled "The Trail", it is difficult for me to understand how making the trail more accessible will remediate "the contamination in the area". It is my understanding there have been many groups working hard to preserve the trail for all of us to wheel and enjoy. What have they missed or failed to do that caused the trail to be on the brink of closure? I so hope I'm wrong, but I have a dark feeling the trail's future has been pre-determined.
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well, we live in the state and wheel the con often and still have a hard time understanding how making a trail more accessible will remediate "the contamination in the area". seems to me, the easier you make it, the more people will come, the more people who don't know anything about responsible wheeling will come and add to the problem. of course, that's just my opinion.

having said all that, it would only be fair to note that the little sluice had become a destination for yahoos who just wanted to get out there, get drunk, party and tear up their rigs. the rocks inside the sluice box were slick from spilled vehicle fluids and often strewn with beer cans and trash. the whole area is solid granite and, while there had been a real push to encourage the use of wag bags, you could still find tons of shit and shit stained toilet paper clinging to bushes as they blew in the wind. i am by no means saying that everyone was doing this but, it only takes one to screw it up for everyone and, there were a lot more than just one screwing things up. the el dorado county bos stated

Usage in that area has created many problems that have had bad*effects on the environment. *Efforts to resolve those effects have included an effort to close the whole trail. *Efforts to educate users and to resolve the problem appear not to have been successful as the problems persist. *​

and, as much as i hate to admit it, there is some truth to what they're saying. the whole thing is really frustrating.
 
wayoflife said:
tragically, more changes have been made to the rubicon in just the last 5 years than i would have preferred. unfortunately, the changes have been on obstacles that don't have an official name and so, most of them were made with little to no resistance. i will start a new thread about this later today.
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I'll keep my eye out for that new thread!

Thanks!
 
Nice video wol! Hopefully one day I'll get on the rubicon! Looked like moby had an easy time with it.. Not like the last run evo did..
I love your older video when evo1 was black and u guys did it!
 
wayoflife said:
having said all that, it would only be fair to note that the little sluice had become a destination for yahoos who just wanted to get out there, get drunk, party and tear up their rigs. the rocks inside the sluice box were slick from spilled vehicle fluids and often strewn with beer cans and trash. the whole area is solid granite and, while there had been a real push to encourage the use of wag bags, you could still find tons of shit and shit stained toilet paper clinging to bushes as they blew in the wind. i am by no means saying that everyone was doing this but, it only takes one to screw it up for everyone and, there were a lot more than just one screwing things up.
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That's just sad in many aspects! What's wrong with people? :thinking:

Can't fix stupid!
 
Doknocker said:
That's just sad in many aspects! What's wrong with people? :thinking:

Can't fix stupid!
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no, you sure can't fix stupid. unfortunately, until or unless we can find a way to at least help mitigate stupid within our own ranks, we'll always be on the losing end of the battle.
 
unfortunately, until or unless we can find a way to at least help mitigate stupid within our own ranks, we'll always be on the losing end of the battle.
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Sigh! You have my best wishes for keeping it open, hopefully until I can make the pilgrimage. BTW, Maple Honey is also my favorite of your vids. Great bunch of guys.
 
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