The 2019 Roco 4x4 Adventure took us from Las Vegas, NV to Lake Tahoe, CA. Along the way we hit some of the top destinations for offroad enthusiasts. The photos we have do not do this adventure justice.
Day 1
Day one of the trip went from 0 – 100 real quick when Carlos surprised us with the plan to go skydiving. Due to the lack of time to mentally prep, everyone was feeling a little anxious, but all in all everyone really loved that the event kicked off that way. Quickly following our rapid descent from 13k feet, we rushed next door to the “Off-Road Hall of Fame” where we received a private tour of some really cool history. From there, we made our way north of town to a state preserve called, “Big Dune”. You never would have guessed that in the mist of all these rocks and mountains would be this adult size sandbox. After spending some time there we continued our journey north to “Leadfield Ghost Town” which is accessed by traveling through “Titus Canyon”. We finally ended day one at another ghost town called “Cerro Gordo” where we were surprisingly welcomed with 34 degree temperatures and 20 plus mph winds.
Day 2
Day two started out just as cold as the night before, and also with the need to swap the passenger front tire on our JLU for the spare due to it receiving a nail in the sidewall sometime the day before. the BDS JLU wasn’t the only one to suffer a wound from the day before, as a couple of the other Jeeps had issues with either cracked oil pressure sensors or failed differentials. Once everyone was mechanically sound again we spent the majority of this day gathering supplies and making the long drive to Topaz Lake where we stayed for the night.
Day 3
Day three began our trek around Lake Tahoe, where we finally reached the destination we had all been looking forward to, “The Rubicon Trail”. The Rubicon is arguably the most famous trail in the world; Jeep even named a trim level of the Wrangler after it for goodness sake. After hearing all the stories of how challenging it is to make it from one side of the park to the other, you can’t help but feel a bit of anxiety when entering this trail for the first time, but shortly after doing so it’s sheer beauty just takes over your mind and all nervousness you may have had is like it never existed. With everyone wanting to have the time to take in every inch of this surreal setting, it was thought that it would be best if we took 2 days to complete the 22 miles of trail and spend one night camping by “Buck Island Lake”.
Day 4
Day four’s primary focus was that we complete the remaining miles left as efficiently as possible, in the hopes of making our way out of the park before the 300 plus expected Toyota enthusiast and their rigs over took the trails. Marlin Crawler was hosting an event that weekend and as much as we would have loved to see all the different Toyotas, the congestion on the trail would not be good. On our way up Cadillac Hill we actually got in a bit of a bind when a group of Toyotas met us head on caused a bit of a traffic jam. After a bit of time getting their rigs located in certain positions, we were able to make a path wide enough that would allow all 9 of us to pass and continue moving up the trail. The real MVP in that situation though was our very own, Miles Henderson, as he was quick to jump into action and walk the trail almost all the way out to the entrance letting everyone know to make room for all of us coming up.
Day 5
Day five was our last and final to go wheeling as a group. We all met in the parking lot of a hotel in Reno, NV. From there we headed north of town to a recreation area called “Moon Rocks”. As much of the trails we have experienced during this trip, this particular location is truly one is in Harry Wagner’s backyard. When you first pull up to this location you don’t think much of it in regards to being a place you could spend much time wheeling at. It just looks like some simple rock formations surrounded by a bunch of dirt. Well it didn’t take long to realize that this place is no joke, and has some real technical lines that if not followed properly could result in major damage real quick. With the guided assistance of Harry and his 2 comrades everyone was able to accomplish the majority of the difficult obstacles on site without any vehicle damage.
We were all thankful to be able to end this trip with neither any major vehicle damage or bodily injuries, and we could all sit down together that evening for one last dinner to discuss the close calls we had during the week – that was usually replied back to with “but did you die???” It’s those simple moments, along with the bonds made, that cause you to put an almost priceless value on an event such as this.
