We stood around the breakfast truck and sipped our coffee while we watched the first Jeeps pick up their lunch bags and rumble up the trail -- the Rubicon Trail that is. There were some very impressive vehicles, clearly capable of the challenge ahead. To my surprise though, there was also a good number of what looked like nearly bone-stock TJs and YJs. I wondered if they really knew what they were driving into. The Jeepers Jamboree is considered the oldest, toughest, and largest organized event of its type in the world. On a 1 to 10 scale of difficulty, it's a 10. This was the 53rd Annual Jeepers Jamboree, and the vehicles that filed past did say Jeep on the hood, so of course they were suited for this event, right? Hmm?
We were riding with Jim Piatt, owner and inventor of the HoodLift for Jeeps. His '84 CJ-7 was as well set up as any on the road, with custom air suspension designed to work with a Rubicon Express long-arm kit, ARB lockers front and rear, Dana 44 axles with disc brakes all around, and 35-inch Goodyear MT/R tires mounted on aluminum beadlocked rims. A fuel-injected Chevrolet 350 turned a 700R4 overdrive automatic tranny and Advance Adapters 3.8 transfer case. Of course, Jim had an R&M Hot Water Shower and a Premier Power Welder with a 110-volt outlet.
In addition to being a highly accomplished four-wheeler -- winner of the Top Truck Challenge in 1993 and a judge of that event for several years -- Jim also knew the trail. It was dusk when we crossed the dam at Loon Lake. Jim aired down the MT/Rs, set his air suspension to "trail," flipped on the arsenal of PIAAs, and gracefully maneuvered through the apparently impossible labyrinth of boulders and differential-snagging rocks otherwise known as the Gate Keeper. It had been a few years since I had been over the Rubicon, and my thoughts as we entered the first obstacle were something like, "Holy #@*$!!! You can't drive through this!"
As we watched the nearly stock Jeeps roll by the breakfast wagon the next morning, I wondered if some first-timers would have the same reaction. It was interesting to see the changes in vehicles over the years. Certainly the engineered suspensions have made the trail more manageable. Lockers of some sort keep more traction to the ground.
By getting through The Gate Keeper the previous evening, we had avoided the huge backup, as one by one, participants were pushed, shoved, and winched through the maze. The rock rollers were kept busy. There was no place to pass here, so it doesn't do much good to have a super crawler if the guy in front of you has open diffs and poor clearance. You simply wait. Things break and people get hung up.
Little flatfenders like this one had an advantage getting through the narrow spots on the trail. | 
During the day, there was time to explore. We found the perfect waterfall to stand under, and deep crystal pools to swim in. | 
There were even a few non-Jeep 4X4s that snuck in, but that doesn't change the name of the Jeepers Jamboree. |
Maybe waiting isn't so bad. It gave folks a chance to get to know each other and look around. We wound our way across the glacial carved slabs called Granite Bowl. We traversed Devils Postpile, motored by Spider Lake, and took a lunch break at Buck Island Lake. Trail spotters and rock rollers were positioned at every difficult stretch, and much to my surprise, it seemed everyone made it to camp before dark.
While Jim had driven the Rubicon many times, he had never been on a Jeepers Jamboree. We figured that with the bulk of 500 people behind us, we'd get a good campsite for the weekend. We were right -- sort of.
The Rubicon Valley is as spectacular a place as any in the Sierras. The crystal-clear stream runs through the valley, creating numerous waterfalls and pools. Our camp was an easy Frisbee toss from one of the nicer swimming holes, and we set up our tents on the glacial polished granite (thank God for Therm-a-Rest sleeping pads!). Then the inevitable started to happen. Hordes, and I do mean hordes, of Jeepers started to straggle in, tired and dusty from hours of wheeling and waiting. Every possible square foot of the slab rock that was even close to flat or level became a campsite.
The Gate Keeper took its toll on rocker panels, differentials, and driveshafts. This is the introduction to the Rubicon Trail, but not the most challenging. | 
There were equipment displays at the main camp from companies like PIAA, Dynatrac, HoodLift, Power Tank, and Extreme Off-Road. | 
It was a festive scene at the main camp every evening. A volunteer Mariachi band showed up one night, complete with a piata full of goodies. |