It is almost that time of year, the end of the Summer Wheelin’ Season. Of course the Rubicon is still open but there are more things to consider when planning your next adventure.
There has been a lot of work on the trail from the County and clubs to keep the Rubicon in great shape, showing no spills and making sure that all trash is picked up. Do your part and if you see anything that needs to be picked up Pack It Out.
Please keep these tips in mind when going out-
Prepare your rig with all weather clothing and footwear. You never know when it could rain or start snowing.
Be prepared with plenty of food and water in case of emergencies; also consider any medications you may need
Tell those you love where you are going and when you plan to return
Know the trail and or walk ahead and see any obstacles that could change your driving.
Always carry WAG Bags- there are a few restrooms on the trail but with more people coming to this destination and season changes you may need
Always carry a Spill Kit
Help keep the Rubicon beautiful- pick up any trash that you see and pack it out to a trash can.
You can get Spill Kits and WAG Bags at the Kiosk from the County or by calling us at 888-678-2426 or [email protected].
Mission: To enhance the future health and use of the Rubicon trail, while ensuring responsible, motorized,year-round trail access.
Vision: To be the trusted stewards of the Rubicon Trail, ensuring sustainability for the experience of the users.
There has been lots of work down on the Rubicon Trail to make it the sanctuary that it is. The County, the Rubicon Trail Foundation Board and many volunteers have been out there spreading the word of Pack It In/Pack It Out.
What does Pack It In/Pack It Out mean? This common saying is a simple yet effective way to get visitors to take their trash home with them. There is no reason why people cannot carry out of the backcountry the extra food packaging materials, and human waste that they carried in with them in the first place.
Trash and litter ranks high as a problem in the minds of many visitors.
Trash and litter are human impacts that can greatly detract from the naturalness of an area.
We must all be mindful of even the smallest effects we have on land. That is why the Rubicon Trail Foundation advocates Pack It In/Pack It Out. We must all be good Stewards to the Rubicon Trail.
If you need WAG Bags please contact us at 888-678-2426 or [email protected].
Mission: To enhance the future health and use of the Rubicon trail, while ensuring responsible, motorized, year-round trail access.
Vision: To be the trusted stewards of the Rubicon Trail, ensuring sustainability for the experience of the users.
By Vickie Sanders
There has been a lot of discussion about spills recently. The County wants to remind everyone spills were part of the cleanup and abatement order from 2009. The county developed an educational program commonly called the 4’s, sanitation, spills, sedimentation and safety.
In 2011 spills were the focus of the year and with state grants the county has provided spill kits ever since at the kiosk free of charge. This is your green sticker money at work for you. You have already paid for them.
In the past RTF staff under contract with the county have been at the kiosk to hand these out. This year the county hired staff to be at the kiosk. Staff is there Friday thru Monday from 12-6. If you miss staff or need a kit you can always contact Vickie Sanders and come by the office. The County office is located in Placerville by the fairgrounds.
There is a group addressing the recent spills in the bowl. Thank you once again to a community that takes care of the resources and each other. Without your help the county could not do the work needed for the Rubicon.
In addition, RTF has 2 mid-trail staff on trail, Glenn near Buck Island and Mike near Spider. Both of these awesome gentlemen gladly will hand out spill kits provided by the County.
Play is the highest form of research.-Albert Einstein
This past weekend a few of our board members went to the Rubicon Trail and provided some education about the trail, gave out WAG Bags & Spill Kits, and had fun meeting and greeting users of the Rubicon Trail.
One of the main goals of the foundation is to provide education and help answer any questions about the trail. We all met so many new wheelers who had never been before, to also seeing old faces who had to be on the trail even though Cantina for the Con was not happening.
We taught a whole group of brand new trail users all about WAG Bags, locations on the trail and then also some on how to use a Spill Kit.
It was great to see families having family time and unplugging from devices that are all too time consuming-
Hopefully everyone had a safe and fun Labor Day!
If you are interested in volunteering and making a difference on the Rubicon Trail please contact us at 888-678-2426 or email us at [email protected].
All kit contents were bought by the Rubicon Trail Foundation and our generous donors.
Mission: To enhance the future health and use of the Rubicon trail, while ensuring responsible, motorized, year-round trail access.
Vision: To be the trusted stewards of the Rubicon Trail, ensuring sustainability for the experience of the users.
One unique thing about the Rubicon Trail is there are pumpable toilets. However, whenever you camp you should always be prepared and carry the basic neccessities to make your trip enjoyable. It is always suggested to carry WAG bags and a Spill Kit in your vehicle/backpack as you never know when you will need them. You would not leave home without clothes, would you?
If you are heading up to the Rubicon Trail you can always contact us to get these items. We can be reached at 888-678-2426.
Dump A Load On RTF
What is a WAG bag kit? Each kit contains an outer zip-close disposal bag, a waste collection bag preloaded with waste treatment powder, toilet paper and a hand sanitizer towellete. The WAG (Waste Alleviation and Gelling) Bag contains enough gelling powder for 3-4 uses. The double bag system is made from a puncture resistant material.
To dispose seal it up, pack it out and when home dispose in trash.
What is a Spill Kit?
What is a Spill Kit? This is a kit designed to absorb any spills from fluids of a vehicle. Each kit contains zip-close disposal bag, Bio Response, absorbent pad, and RTF rag.
Directions: Absorb as much oil as possible with the absorbent pads included in the spill kit. Apply Bio Response liquid on remaining spill, just walk away, bacteria will biodegrade what is left.
* Please do not apply to asphalt.
First step is to control or stop the leak. Next contain what was spilled by using the absorbant pad and Bio Response. Place all materials back in the zip-close disposal bag including any soil that was saturated.
To dispose on the Rubicon the storage shed on the west end is next to the Kiosk at Loon Lake. On the east end, the shed is located next to the restrooms in the parking lot.
Mission: To enhance the future health and use of the Rubicon trail, while ensuring responsible, motorized, year-round trail access.
Our vision is to be the trusted stewards of the Rubicon Trail, ensuring sustainability for the experience of the users.
In the past few years we have taken families on a hike from Rubicon Springs to the Stone Cabin during Camp Rubicon. We always share the History of the Rubicon Trail while exploring the great outdoors. This year quite a few kids found Arrowheads. It was such a fun hike and we had more participants than ever. Another fun part of the hike is getting to chat with the families and find out why they came on the trip and learning from them.
Rusty Folena lead the hike.
The stone cabin is less than a 1/2 mile from the Rubicon Springs campining area. There are many things to look for on the way to the cabin. The cleared meadows were once hay fields and also had trout ponds. The harvested fish from the ponds were wrapped in the meadow grass to keep fresh for the Hunsucker family to sale.
There are tall fir trees, willow trees and also gooseberries. When there has been a ton of snow the beavers often gnaw on the trees. You will also see trees and a stump in particular that were made by the Pileated WoodPeaker.
Rusty showed us where there are a few spots where blast marks from black powder and dynamite was used at some point in time to make room for wagons. There look like a spider on the Granite. There is also a spot right before the green gate that was blasted out for the wagons.
It is always a highlight for me when I get to work with kids and get their interpretation of why the Rubicon is important to them. On August 1-4, the Rubicon Trail Foundation had the pleassure to organize the Jeep Jamboree Camp Rubicon. Colton Folena was one of the lucky participants that got to attend the Jeep Jamboree Camp Rubicon. Since his dad, Rusty Folena, Past President of the Rubicon Trail Foundation, was on cook crew we were in Rubicon Springs early. Jason Warden, was leaving to go rock roll for the participants that were attending the event. He just happened to ask Colton if he would like to go rock roll with him. Colton was very excited to be asked and go hang out with the guys. Off he went. On his return, I asked him if he would mind writing me a small paragraph of why he wanted to go rock roll.
Colton stated, “The reason I agreed to be a rock roller was first for the experience and second, I was there for the weekend to do anything the Jeep Jamboree Crew needed me to do. As long as I knew that I was doing my part to keep the Rubicon open. Also, to enlighten kids like myself that we will one day have the responsibility to take care of the Rubicon and to educate the next generation to keep it alive. I wanted to do anything that was needed, that is why I wanted to go rock roll.”
This was a quick response and he needed no assistance coming up with this statement.
This is why we do what we do for the Rubicon Trail Foundation.
On August 3, 2019, the Rubicon Trail Foundation sponsored and organized the Jeep Jamboree Camp Rubicon. This is a special segment of Jeep Jamboree that is held in Rubicon Springs that is just for kids 6 to 17 years of age. Jeep Jamboree Camp Rubicon’s mission is to motivate and encourage the next generation of off road and outdoor enthusiasts where children learn outdoor ethics and stewardship practices. Jeep Jamboree Camp Rubicon aims for children of all backgrounds to enjoy the natural surroundings and learn how to preserve the area for years to come.
This year we had 96 participants, with at least 15% of the children never having been on the Rubicon before. Our ultimate goal was to spark a new pursuit of knowledge of the outdoors. There are a few basic fundamentals in development and each were reached with the activities that we planned. Entrepreneurship- providing a vision, change and creation of the outdoor world; Cooperation; Failure as a necessity; Creativity (thinking in unconventional ways) to take initiative and risks.
The Rubicon Trail Foundation focused on providing the following skills through the following activities:
• Provided basic skills of outdoors
• Critical Thinking
• Troubleshooting skills
• Being a moral and good person
• Provided each participant with an activity booklet that contained the History of the Rubicon Trail, how to get a Ham Radio license, activities, information on Wag bags & Fire Extinguishers
• Backpack filled with snacks, notebook/pen, magnets, stickers, beach towel, and light saber
• Sanitation demonstration with kid volunteers – Providing options
for proper human waste disposal and the importance of it.
• How to use and maintain a Fire Extinguisher
• Hike to Stone Cabin with verbal awareness of snakes, bears etc.
Education on how the Indians used trail to travel, first vehicles on the trail, important dates on trail, kids found Arrowheads
• Provided each child with a Ham Radio programed to allow them to
hear communication of crew and communicate on their own channel with others. Explained
the importance of this commination and understanding of appropriate things to
say. Encouraged families to get licensed for safety on the trail.
• Crawdad Catching competition. Competing by making a plan with a limited amount of time to accomplish winning of smallest crawdad, largest crawdad, and most caught. Some kids had never caught crawdads and the kids worked together to show each other how to do.
• Kids were able to be on their own and work in groups doing all the activities.
The Rubicon Trail Foundation is federally recognized, non-profit organization dedicated to the future health of the Rubicon Trail. The Rubicon Trail Foundation acts as the support for Rubicon work projects, Friends of the Rubicon, and as a liaison with local government organizations. This support can range from getting approval for projects from the appropriate agencies, to feeding the volunteers, to buying the supplies needed to maintain the trail. We also fight the efforts of others to close or restrict use of the Rubicon Trail System. All funds raised help to enhance the future health of the Rubicon Trail, while ensuring responsible motorized year-round access. Our vision is to be the trusted stewards of the Rubicon Trail, ensuring sustainability for the experience of the users.
Our Officers and Directors represent a wide variety of Rubicon Trail users and supporters. These include trail users, land owners, county representatives, manufacturers, and Rubicon event organizers. For more information on getting involved or supporting the Rubicon Trail Foundation please call us at 888-678-2426 or visit our website at www.rubicontrail.org.
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