154 9901 Rubicon Jeep Fest - granite Bowl And White Jeep - Photo 30744502

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Crossing the Granite Bowl requires that you pick your way across some deep cracks that can lift tires to the sky. While the glacially scoured basin looks smooth from a distance, quite a few vehicles have rolled on these ridges, which stray away from the main trail.

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Crossing the Granite Bowl requires that you pick your way across some deep cracks that can lift tires to the sky. While the glacially scoured basin looks smooth from a distance, quite a few vehicles have rolled on these ridges, which stray away from the main trail.

Snow melting during the spring is usually a sign that there'll be a fairly dry time on the trail, with few serious water crossings. This year, the snow was still around and melting fast in the middle of July. That caused large pools and bogs that had to be carefully negotiated. Piling all the gear on top of a rack keeps the floorboards ready to accept the wet stuff.

Minor modifications to the axles, such as adding locking diffs, help on this trail, and the spring-over-axle suspension conversion shown on this Jeep is increasingly popular. The extra clearance from larger tires and the elimination of springs and hangers under the axle make for less scrapage on the bottomside.

Not the typical paint scheme for the Rubicon, but these Scandinavians built this CJ-5 Jeep in pieces in the far North, then air-freighted it over for the Jamboree. It worked great on the trail, with a combination of coil springs in the front and regular leaves in the rear.

Jeeps of every description tackle the trail, and more and more Grand Cherokees are being spotted. The Rubicon was originally the exclusive domain of little Jeeps, but now even built, fullsize Jeeps can safely travel the trail.

With an average speed below 3 mph and over 500 vehicles, it takes quite a while to safely negotiate the trail. Without traffic and in an appropriately modified rig, the entire trail can be done over a two-day period, but it's more fun to move slower and enjoy the scenery.

Trail breakage is a common occurence regardless of a vehicle's condition. Repair stations are manned at Buck Island and Rubicon Springs, with expert mechanics available to fix nearly any problem. Parts are even in stock at somewhat reasonable prices, and helicopters fly parts and supplies in throughout the weekend.

Even the main trail has steep sections that test driver and machine. Some of the more difficult sections have bypasses around them. The major obstacles, such as the Big Sluice, offer no go-arounds, which makes the entire trip a great challenge.

The constant sound of choppers lent a surreal aspect to the Jamboree-especially when they set down, with parts, people, and equipment onboard, in the middle of nowhere. The helicopters are indispensible for rapid transportation during the event, since the ten miles of trail can take all day to drive, even at a fast clip. Evacuation of injured people or the flying in of parts and supplies can be expeditiously handled only by choppers.

The Old Sluice is also known as the True Sluice-and is also avoided by the Jamboree trail. In fact, few people are aware it exists. Unless you're ready to rock crawl and roll, it isn't advisable to attempt it. We caught Steve Springborn of Airflex Suspensions gliding down the rocks in their TJ, which sported the Airflex bolt-on replacement airbag spring suspension.

The Little Sluice is an obstacle that changes constantly, and it's usually avoided during the Jamboree. Ned Bacon of Mountain Motors conquered the cliff side of the Sluice with his coil-sprung flatfender. We've seen (and winched) others out of this spot who weren't so fortunate, but even the easy way through the Sluice remains a formidable challenge.

With a host of modifications to make driving easier, speciality rigs like this CJ3B are common on the trail. Many a stock Wrangler can also make it, and the Jamboree "Rock Rollers" are always posted at the difficult obstacles to help guide the newbies through the treacherous terrain.