Top Gear (US) s06e01 Episode Script
Rubicon Trail
- Listen.
It's very important that we protect the camera, so make sure you send me on the right line.
- Copy.
- That one felt good.
I just need to get a little more gas.
- That's it.
That's it.
This way.
Go.
- Oh-- - Ah! - The Google Street View car.
By now, almost all Americans have seen one on the street.
Since its launch in 2007, Google Street View has photomapped 7 million miles of roads in 65 countries on 7 continents.
That's 75% of the planet.
But with their global domination almost complete There's still one road so challenging, it remains out of reach for the Street View cameras: The Rubicon Trail.
This is the most infamous and challenging 4x4 route in America.
It's 22 miles of rock crawling hell that snakes through California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, just west of Lake Tahoe.
Every year, thousands of vehicles attempt the journey.
Many fail to finish.
It's up to us to map the unmappable.
We're meeting in Georgetown, California, an old gold mining town, and we're each driving a used 4x4 we bought online.
Now, there's plenty of vehicles you could choose to attptem the Rubicon Trail, but if you actually want to finish, you got to bring the right car.
That's exactly what this is.
I can't wait to see what the other guys brought, because I just know in my heart that they brought the wrong vehicle.
- This is the perfect vehicle.
It's light.
It's got enough power to do what it needs to do.
Short wheel base, short approach and departure angles.
It's perfect.
- The average speed on the Rubicon is gonna be 2 miles an hour at best.
It's gonna be all about torque, libivality, survivability, and just brute strength.
Yeah, I'd take the Bronco.
- Oh, wow, look at this.
- This is cool.
- Yeah, here's good.
Yeah, hey.
What's up? Yeah, and people think I'm a redneck.
Am- erica.
- What is this? - This is a big, red brute of a truck.
Built Ford tough.
We're going down the dang Rubicon, son.
I went with the '85 Ford Bronco because it's a beast.
New, it had 29-inch tires.
Now it has 37-inch tires with a 4-inch lift, and with 210 horses, it can power over any rock in its path.
- This thing is ginormous, man.
This thing is so heavy.
- I do know that you've made a mistake here.
- How you figure? These things are known around the world for their reliability and how good they are off-road.
- They're known around the world for flipping over.
- The 1990 Toyota 4Runner.
It's the most dependable 4x4 in the world, so it should hold up for three days on the Rubicon, but Tanner does have a point.
When SUV popularity exploded in the '90s, accidents involving rollovers tripled, which is precisely why I chose to add a custom-made exoskeleton.
- Is that a PA? - I thought that would be good.
That way we can, you know, talk to each other.
- So you could tkal to us, you mean? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, l don't need to hear you.
- Oh, this is gonna be easy.
- Wow.
- Eh? - Where's the truck you're actually taking? - This is the perfect rock crawling vehicle.
'92 Geo Tracker.
The Geo Tracker resulted from an unlikely partnership of General Motors and Suzuki.
It looks like a baby SUV, but it's really built on a light truck chassis.
I know this light weight and small size will help me get in and out of tight places all along the Rubicon.
- That's got to have, what, 80, 90 horsepower? - The horsepower was sufficient.
That's all I'll need.
You need horsepower 'cause of the weight.
Your head alone weighs more than thishi tng.
- So this is it.
It's time we hit the Rubicon Trail.
- Mount up.
- Adamar, e you still back there? - I'm here.
- We're only doing, like, 25 miles an hour uphill, and you can't keep up.
- It's like a little mosquito.
Everybody laughs at the mosquito until they get malaria.
- Normal photomapping gear can't hack it on the Rubicon, so we're using a super tough high-tech camera originally designed for the military, and we're picking it up on the last stop before the trail head.
- This says 5 miles per hour.
Huh? - Did you not see the 5 mile an hour sign? - No.
- Plus, you parked in front of a sign that says if you park here.
" - Whatever.
Let's go get the package.
- I'll be in my office.
- Nature's calngli, huh? - I believe this is what you're looking for.
- That would be it, actually.
- Yeah, that'll do it.
- It looks fancy.
That's awesome.
- The NCTech iSTAR camera has four lenses that work together to capture a full 360-degree image every five seconds, but we only have this one camera, and all our photos will be stored on it.
So if it's damaged or destroyed, our mission ends in failure.
Look, the fair thing to do is for each of us to put it on our truck and take turns carrying it.
I mean, it's gonna take us about three days.
There's three of us.
That makes total sense.
- Let's say last one to the trail has to go first with the camera.
- You guys are children.
Let's go.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- I don't even know why you're rushing.
It's a V8.
I'm gonna just tear out of here.
- Uh-huh.
- What the hell? - I'm out of here.
- Oh.
- Sorry about the dust.
- That's not gonna help you, Adam.
Cheating is not the right way.
- That is done.
That's on there tight.
- Where'd Tanner go? - I chained the Bronco to a tree.
- The little fella will catch up to us, but he's gonna be angry.
- At first glance, it really feels like Adam has brought the worst possible vehicle to this, but the more that I think about it, I realize it's Tanner.
The Bronco will somehow show how incredibly unreliable they are, 'cause once he drives li hkeimself and he starts breaking stuff, then he's gonna ask me to fix it, and I'm gonna say no.
- The fact is, those guys are just gonna take the road.
This is an off-road machine, and that means a shortcut.
Go, baby, go.
Oh my God.
I don't see 'em.
I don't see 'em! Oh, there they are.
- Nice entrance.
- I hate losing.
- I just did a total fear pause.
I just-- l just couldn't move.
I was so genuinely frightened, I just froze up.
- All right, you cheaters.
Give me the camera.
That thi lngooks-- - Expensive.
- And fragile.
- Yep.
- In its history, Google has used boats, snowmobiles, and even cams elto photomap, but they haven't used anything as badass as this Bronco.
We have three days and three trucks to get this thing to the end of the Rubicon, so if the lead vehicle breaks down, the next one in neli takes the camera.
What could possibly go wrong? I cannot believe we're doing this.
Here we go.
- This is exciting, guys.
Welcome to the Rubiconra Til.
- Rubicon.
- Do you know this was originally the road to the Rubicon Springs Hotel, which was sold for $10 in gold coins in a $2,000 mortgage? Back in 1889, the Rubicon was a well-traveled road.
A woman named Sierra Nevada Clark built a 2 1/2 story hotel that drew tourists to the area for decades, but when the hotel closed in the '20s, nature reclaimed the road, and the Rubicon Trail was born.
Gentlemen, welcome to the gatekeeper.
Less than a quarter mile in, we hit our first major obstacle, the notorious gatekeeper.
They basically say if you can't get through this, you should turn around and go home, 'cause you will not survive the Rubicon Trail.
- I hear that loudspeaker again, and you're not gonna survive the Rubicon Trail.
- Interesting tidbit, this is not the only gatekeeper.
A lot of trails-- - I hope we find a giant boulder that I can lift just so I can crush that speaker.
- Pretty exciting stuff.
Okay.
- I do take this as a pretty serious responsibility, and I certainly don't want to damage the camera.
That could just ruin the entire mission.
I mean, seriously? This is not making me very comfortable.
This is gnarly.
Yeah, Tanner.
Get that big ass up in the air.
- Gentlemen, the Rubicon has posed a challenge, and the Bronco has been seen worthy.
- Good job not breaking the camera, Race Boy.
- Hard left.
Hard left.
Hard left.
Go to your left.
- Oh.
- Oh! Good girl! - Damn it, that Geo Tracker makes it look easy.
- That's my Mosquito, baby.
- You all right there, Rut? - Ow.
That's gonna leave a mark.
It's all about smooth on the clutch, and the gas and the tires and the-- Whoo! - Rut, I can hear you screaming from here.
Are you all right? - Never been better.
If that's just the first thing we have to get through, this trail is way harder than any of us tughoht.
Gentlemen, the gate's wide open.
- Let's keep this average up over 1 mile an hour if we can.
- Okay, Rut, we're gonna play a game called "Who Do You Think Is Being Impatient?" - Holy crap.
- Now, see, this is a perfect amexple of why Tanner breaks stuff.
He just thinks, "Oh, I don't see any big boulders; I'll just hit it.
" That's why we can't have nice things.
- Feeling pretty good about the Bronco.
198--ooh.
Yeah, could've bent mesothing.
Ooh, that hurt a little.
- That was a little snug, wasn't it, Tanner? - It's got a little junk in the trunk.
What can I say? I think the hardest part about the Bronco is seeing over the hood.
- Why don't you sit on a telephone book? - That was clever.
- Guys, I got, like, serious steering problems here.
- Oh.
- That didn't sound good.
- Holy crap, did you heathr at? - Great, stuff's flying off the Ford already.
- I think something's wrong with your truck.
- Did it mention that in the ad? - Oh, my gosh.
Well, the leaf springs have all twist oedut.
Leaf springs are strips of curved metal clamped together to hold up the truck.
Without the clamp, the leaf spring will tear open the tire.
Because the leaf springs are twisted out, I can't turn, 'cause the tires are touching the leaf springs.
- Seriously? - Yeah.
- Whoa.
This is gonna sound crazy.
From here, it looks like - Oh, my gosh.
The leaf springs have all twisted out.
- Seriously? - Yeah.
- Whoa.
- Will you hold that for a second? - I certainly will.
- Is this where you're gonna ask me to do all this-- - Do you mind jacking it up real quick though? - You don't know what you'rdoe ing.
- What are you worried about? He's got duct tape.
- And zip ties.
- You've got to undersndta.
He's used to a crew chief.
- Yeah, normally you're like, "Hey, guys, uh, leaf pack's messed up.
I'm gonna get a coffee.
I'll bbae ck in 20.
" - "Something wrong with the steering.
I'm gonna be inside and eat my Caesar wrap.
" - On the Rubicon Trail, you're on yourwn o.
The nearest auto parts store is a two-day drive away, so I'm working with what I have: Zip ties with 250 pounds of tensile strength and good old-fashioned duct tape.
Duct tape? - Coming in.
- And people said you couldn't work on a car.
Hey, that'll hold a couple hundred pound spring back together.
- That's why I got these beefy zip ties here.
Not sure what you're worried about.
These two idiots can talk trash all they want, but they need me.
If the Bronco bites the dust, the camera moves on to one of their trucks, and then ty'here stuck mapping the rest of the trail.
Thanks for the help, guys.
The Bronco lives on.
- So are you being careful up there, or are you just, you know, driving like Tneanr? - I'm just rolling; rolling around.
This thing just floats over stuff.
- See, if you go fast and you break stuff, you got to duct tape your leaf springs like a fl.
oo - Let's go, Duct Tape.
- The next obstacle facing us? Walker Hill.
It's named after off-road enthusiast Chuck Walker, who loved to stand at the summit and congratulate the few survivors who actually made the climb.
Holy crap.
- Okay.
I think we need to change the word "hill" To "extremely steep incline.
" - This is the first shelf.
Then there's a rock ddlaer around this corner, and then up over the hill is the third shelf.
So basically it starts off with that nasty thing there - Yeah.
- And gets worse and then gets worse.
It's the only thing between us and dinner, though.
- Grip's important.
Momentum's important.
- Don't say it.
- Power's important.
- You said it.
- I'm sorry.
- I'm going down.
I'm going down! - Yeah, can you imagine when you bring 6,000 pounds up here what this is gonna be like? - Yeah, and wait till you get in your car.
- That's not funny.
I have a glandular disorder.
- Hey, no pressure.
If you roll and crush that camera, that's more than your house is worth.
You'll be fine.
- The Bronco just has tonsf ogrip.
- The Mosquito--going uphill, it's not its favorite thing.
Get on up, girl.
There you go.
Come on, baby.
That's it.
Crawl on up there.
There's a good girl.
- No way.
Well, if Adam got up, I'm fine.
Come on, independent front suspensi.
on Don't fail me now.
He's got it, folks.
The Toyota is amazing.
We're behind schedule, but so far, Walker Hl ilisn't all it's cracked up to be.
As Adam and I clear the first shelf, Tanner makes short work of the final shelf.
- Oh, the power is doing its work now.
Yeah.
Bronco power, baby.
Whoo! - Yeah, I knew that was coming.
- How's it going back there, Adam? - Adam, are you stuck on another Geo Tracker? What is that? - It's a rock the size of your head.
Oh, boy.
That's a big rock.
- Keep her at a constant throttle.
Not high, just constant.
- Will you shuupt ? I already have a wife! - Yeah, there you go, Tanner.
Stack a few rocks in there, huh? Friendly trail maneuver.
Do you have anything that would add, like, 40 more horsepower? 'Cause that would do the tri.
ck Don't-- - This'll probably go through your windshield.
- You want to keep talking? - Don't do it.
Apparently, the radio's starting to get to these guys.
- Go for it again.
Let's see what happens.
- All right.
- I think those rocks there are gonna help.
- But let's be honest, that's why I put the PA on here, is to annoy those guys.
- So we have, like, 30 minutes of sun left.
Go.
Go, go, go, go.
Ok ay, okay, okay, okay, okay, you made it.
You made it.
- Oh, come on, don't push him.
- Wasn't pretty, but we made it.
- Ooh, ooh, watch your hd.
ea - There you go, there you go.
- Not too close to him.
- Get on up? There it is.
- Oh, my God.
- Jesus.
- Let's go.
- He smells dinner.
- He just smells.
- Overcoming Walker Hill takes longer than expected, and the sun starts to set on us.
- All right, I'm turning my lights on.
It's too dark.
Night otphos of the trail are unusable, so we're forced to stop.
- Oh, man, that was a long day.
- Can't believe we put Adam in charge of the camping gear.
- Looks like he brought some good stuff though.
- What a day, huh, fellas? - There's your b.
ag - Thank you.
- Pretty sweet tent.
- Yeah, that's a big one.
- Are we all staying in that one? - No, no, this one's mine.
- Where's ours? - Where's our tents? - Why does mine say "For ages 8 and unde"r? - It goes by height.
- Wow.
That looks like about the size of a hat for you.
- I was in charge of housing.
We all have housing.
You're Baltic and Mediterranean, and I'm Park Place.
- That's a Monopoly reference.
See, what he's trying to say is that-- - I get it.
- How am I supposed to fit in here? - Amazing grace Oh, lord - We're burning daylight.
- How, how sweet - What? - Morning.
Look at that.
That's beautiful.
- It's tiny.
- Speaking of tiny, how are you? Look, you shed your skin.
All right, we got this Google meeting in two days, so we got to make up some ground, and this is the most dangerous part of the trail, so be careful with that camera, Rut.
- Day two of our the-reday journey is much tougher than day one, but lucky for the other two, today it's my turn to carry the camera and lead e thway.
Follow the leader, gs.
uy - Oh, my gosh.
- Follow the leader.
- It's gonna be a long day.
- Oh, man, this is exciting.
Now, see, this-- this right here, this is why l chose the Toyota.
'Cause it's strong.
It's nblime.
Oh.
Oh, oh, it's going over.
- Looking a little top-heavy, Rut.
- Hold on, I have to adjust my body weight.
If I don't make it, l love you guys.
- Come on, Rut, come on.
- Oh, don't die.
Oh, good.
- Got it.
Oh, there it is.
- Nice work, Mr.
Wood.
- Whoo! This is maybe the most stressfulhi tng I've ever done in a car.
- More power.
More power.
There you go.
- Oh my--oh! - There you go.
Don't die.
Don't die.
Don't die.
That's my Mosquito! - That was amazing.
- Oh, I saw that coming.
- You got some pretty big stuff up here.
I think I'm gonna put on my shoulder harnesses.
- You need us to come spot for you? - Yeah, that might be a good idea.
Our first big challenge of the day is Arnold's Rock, a dangerous maze of jagged rocks unlike anything we've seen yet.
Whoo! There it is.
I'm gonna go over that? - A little to your right would be probably good.
Now straight ahead.
Now straight ahead.
Oh--nope, that w iast.
- That hurts.
- I think that was Japanese for "ouch.
" - Lienst.
It's very impoanrtt that we protect the camera, so make sure you send me on the right line.
- Copy.
- Straight ahead.
Yeah, give it some-- give it some wood.
- That one felt good.
- That's it.
That's it.
- Uh, guys? - We're photomapping the Rubicon Trail, and now it's Rut's turn to carry the camera on his 4Runner.
- That's it.
That's it.
Uh, guys? - Just hold tight right there.
Right there.
- Don't move.
Keep your head still.
- Holdn.
o I don't like ts.
hi This isn't-- - You're good.
We're gonna-- - I've made a mistake.
- You're fine.
- Back up.
Back up.
Don't do--don't do it.
Were you guys gonna flip me ov? er - No, we were pulling you.
- We got to protect the came.
ra - I just need to get a little more gas.
- That's the last thing you need is more gas.
- Ow! - This way, Rut.
More.
Go.
There it is.
- That's it.
- Oh! - Oh, the camera! - I think I went too far, guys.
- That's good there.
- Did I say protect the came, ra or did I say protect the camera? Oh, the blood's rushing to my head.
- Are you okay? - My face hurts.
- The exoskeleton is heavy enough to actually cause a rollover, and it's ugly, but with Rut driving, it was actually useful.
- From this angle, it looks like you're being born.
- Hey.
- Welcome to the world, little Rut.
- Hey, the camera's fine.
- That's good.
- Okay, okay, okay.
- Rut and Tanner think my Tracker doesn't have enough power, which it doesn't, but it does have a winch.
Mosquito! - Oh, cr.
ap I bet I can't get the door open.
- "Dukes of Hazzard" that thing.
- How did the "Dukes of Hazzard" do this? Ow! - Okay.
- Son of a biscuit.
- This is the moment of truth right here.
- Come on, brother.
You got this.
- Unbelievable.
- Oh, oh, oh, oh! It will not die.
- Really? Looks like he elected a pope.
- Yeah, 4Runner! - We need to get bac k on the road quic.
- Yeah, let's go.
There are some noises coming from underneath that are not good sounds.
It sounds awful, but she's getting through everything.
- Rut's damaged 4Runner is putting us even further behind, but while he limps along up front, it's giving me plenty of time for payback.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
You didn't see me? - My bad.
- This is why we can't have nice things.
- Ju ast-- - Don't.
Don't.
Don't you-- - Oh, no.
He's gonna get out of his car.
- Why? - He's full New Yorker now.
- Why do you feel the need to do this stuff? - That's for the chain, Adam.
The tent payback will come back later.
- What do we got up ahead? - Oh, I have a treat for you.
Boys, we found the water.
Cutting through a creek is a nice change of pace But wet tires and smooth rocks is more slippery than Tanner's driving record.
AyOk, guys, I think we're gonna have to get out and oklo at this.
This is Silby Rock, l read.
It's pretty vicious here.
- It feels impersonal when you talk through the PA system.
- Yeah, I just want to make sure you can hear me.
- Time's up with me and this megaphone.
- We're not even halfway through the trail when we hit a wall called Silby Rock.
It's all about figuring out the fastest line up and over.
- I see scrape marks here.
- That would make you believe that this is the line.
Since we got wet tires, that makes this rock even more slick, so I'm gonna claw my way right on up here.
- Like you clawed the other e, on and we had to pull you back up on your wheels? - That's not fair.
See, you guys gave me bad guidance.
This time, it's all me.
- Fair enoh.
ug This time, you give yourself bad guidance.
- You and me, Bana.
na We got this.
Ow.
- Perfect.
- Almost got it.
There it is.
There it is.
Yes.
Yes.
Okay.
- Okay.
Dig in-- oh, wet tires.
Come on.
Ow.
It's just the belts are getting just my right testicle.
- Come on, get up there.
- Oh, comen.
o - Whoo! - Yeah! - There we go.
Oh, I think l blew my nut t.
ou Now, if you can, just add about 100 more horsepower and then try the rock.
- Oh, come on, Adam.
That's the line you're taking? - Yep, there it-- you know what? A little more gas.
A little more gas.
Wide open.
- I got you.
- Hammer down! Drop the hammer.
Let's hammer down.
- I'll help you out.
I'll help you out.
- Oh, I knew he was gonna do that.
- Coming up - Mosquito, we gonna get baptized.
Oh, the water's coming in! - There weo.
g - We're photomapping the Rubicon Trail for Google Street View, a feat that's never been done before.
We only have a day and a half to finish America's toughest off-road route before we present our images at Google headquarters.
- Little more gas.
Wide open.
- Once again, the Tracker's lack of wepor is slowing us down.
Luckily, the Bronco's here to help.
- I'll help you out.
I'll help you out.
- Don't you-- - Oh, I knew he was gonna do tt.
ha - He's so violent.
- Gas it.
There it is.
Keep going, yeah.
Oh, my gosh, there we go.
- Bronco power! - I mean, you owkn, you don't want to see him do well, but that was impressive.
- I know, - Oh, gosh.
- Boys actually used to call this Buck Island, 'cause up here you used to swim all the way out here.
- Oh, good, the loudspeaker's back.
- You know, once the tires areet w, it makes it a little bit tricky here.
- What is he talking about? - He's not talking about anything.
He's just talking.
- You guys will notice that a constant throttle application helps a lot.
- You all right, Big Daddy? - Sorry about the smoke, you guys.
- I'm sure that gear grinding and smoke is nothing to worry about.
Hammer down.
You gosmt oke pouring out of the exhaust.
- Hey, guys.
Was that the camera? Hello? Hello? Hello-- the PA doesn't work! - Thank God.
- Luckily, the camera is fine, but my beloved PA is toast, and I'm not getting any sympathy from the haters.
Just put this in my truck.
- Come on, boys, let's go.
- So much easier when it's attached to a vehicle.
- The Google camera's okay, right? - Yeah, the camera's fine.
- Well, that's all that matters.
- Once again, the sunset forces us to stop because night photos of the trail are useless.
- We're falling behind schedule, fellas.
I can't believe it's dark already.
- I'm smelling antifreeze back here.
- Wait, is it leaking something? - Yeah, it's like a combination of burnt oils and transmission fluid and maybe just a pinch of burning antifreeze.
- What happened? - We, lll got good news and bad news.
- What's the good news? - Tons of great pictures today when the 4Runner was leading.
I mean, really, really solid stuff.
The bad news is, I may have sheared a motor mount, and because of that, the engine is moving around, and I'm leaking fuel.
So, Tanner, I'm gonna ride with you.
- Oh.
- Give me the camera.
- Hey, you know, you're gonna love this.
This is gonna be a great experience.
We'll just leave the reliable one here broken down.
I'll get you a nice place carved out next to your spare tire.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, I got you.
- You know, the 4Runner had a ton more storage.
- You know what it didn't have? Motor mounts, brakes, an axel.
- Don't mess up the camera, Adam.
No pressure.
We got it this far.
On day three, the trail brings us to the Rubicon River.
Just like its namesake, the legendary river in Italy that Julius Caesar crossed to invade Rome, the moment you cross thi s, there's no turning back-- If you can make it.
The water's risen after recent rain, so we have no idea how deep it is.
- This is gonna suck.
- thl ink he's got about 5'9", 6' Till he damages the camera.
- Oh, you're not thinking about the Tracker.
You're just thinking about the camera.
Fair point.
- Yeah.
- I don't know how deep it is.
I can't see the bottom, so that's not good.
And if I do get stuck, l don't know if I can get out and walk it, and I don'knt ow if there wl ilbe enough depth for Tanner to come in to push me.
- Is there a third seat back here? - Your spare tire.
- Shotgun.
- All right, come on.
Mosquito, we gonna get baptized.
Here we go.
- Okay, we're rolling.
We're rolling.
- Steady throttle.
- Looks pretty good.
Oh, oh, he's bouncing that-- Oh, that's deep.
- Oh, the water's coming in! - Don't stop.
Don't stop.
- It's bubbling up! - We're photomapping America's roughest off-road trail for Google Street View.
It's Adam's turn to carry the cerama on his tiny Tracker, so he's first to cross the Rubicon River.
- Oh, the water's coming in! Okay, thers e'water in the Mosquito.
- Don't stop.
Don't opst.
- Oh, this is-- come on, come on.
Come on, Mosquito.
- Don't stop.
Slow and sadtey.
- You're giving me a head-- - Slow and steady.
- Easy, I got to concentrate.
- You'reic sk.
- Mosquito.
Mosquito.
Come on, Mosquito.
That's it.
Come on, Mosquito.
Yes, you're a water mosquito.
A swimming mosquito! Oh, my feet are wet.
- We already lost one vehicle, and if another one goes down, it'll be at the next major obstacle, Cadillac Hill unless Tanner breaks something first.
- You need a push, da Am? - I do not.
- Oh, man.
- Oops.
- What part of "I do not" didn't you understand? - I didn't mean to do that.
Sorry.
- You drilled him, man.
We takoue r first look at the infouams Cadillac Hill, so named because two teenagers drove their daddy's Cadillac off it back in the '50s.
Hopefully our story will have a happier ending.
This is the start of Cadillac Hill right here.
This is the last big obstacle before Observation Point.
- Cadillac Hill? That's Cadillac Mountain.
- I don't think I can push you up that, Adam.
- Cadillac Hill towers 6,120 feet above sea lelev, and the route to the top is a narrow cliffside ledge and a series of tightwi stchbacks.
If you make a mistake, it's a long way down.
Just a few years ago, a 4x4 rolled 250 feet down the hill, resulting in a tragic car fire that claimed a life.
- Those drop-offs on the sides-- That's for real.
This is the only way out.
- So we have no choice, gentlemen.
That's what the Rubicon is.
The Rubicon was a river in Italy.
They told Caesar, "If you cross the Rubicon, that's the point of no return.
That's a civil war.
" You know what Caesar said? - Oh my God.
- Caesar said, "Bite me," And he built an empire.
- He had a great salad, that guy.
- He did.
- Let's go map this thing.
- Come on.
That's g aood girl.
- It's straight up.
- Oh, man.
- Adam, I'm not trying to scare you, but this isn't the worst part yet.
- Oh my God.
- Okay, there's my face.
Hello, door.
- Nice and easy.
Okay.
- There you go.
There you go, Adam.
There you go.
- Oh.
We need a better angle on it.
- Yes.
Now right.
- Now right? Now ghrit? - Okay, great.
Great.
Yep.
Now right.
- Oh my gosh, we're gonna keep him from rolling off the cliff, okay? - Oh, we're gonna go over.
- Oh.
- Holy crap, Adam.
- We're photomapping the Rubicon Trail, and this is the most dangerous part of our mission.
- Oh.
- Holy crap, Adam.
Adam's carrying the mecara with all the images from our journey, and he's balancing between success and total destruction.
- Turn right.
Hard right.
- Hard right.
- Hard right--no, no.
Forward and hard right.
- It's like having two wives.
- Hey, I'll come give you a push.
Easy.
Don't throw me off a mountain.
If I die, I'ma come back and haunt you.
It's not that l don't trust them.
It's that l don't trust them.
- There you go.
There you go.
Great.
- Thank you for the assistance, my brother.
All right, bring it up, Bronco.
- Adam's tiny truck is out of our way, but the trail's looking a little tight for Tanner's Bronco.
Okay, easy, easy, easy.
This is a bad idea.
Oh, come on.
Oh.
- How close am I to the edge? - Maybe a foot.
- That's too close.
- Yeah, I agree it's too close.
It's on my side.
- Rutledge, if we roll, l apologize.
- Oh, okay, if we roll, you apologize? Tell you what.
You just hang tight; I'm just gonna go check it out.
- You're leaving me in the trenches, man.
- No, you're good; I'm gonna go spot.
Or just nobet in there when it rolls.
Either one.
- Sorry, girl.
- I'm not gonna lie, this is very ominous.
A nasty feeling, that drop-off right erthe.
- Yep, there you-- oh, oh-- - Sure feels like it's gonna flip over.
- Turn--other way, other way, other way! Yeah, there yogou.
There you go.
Holy crap.
- Like a glove.
- Whoo! Man, I miss my 4Runner.
That would've been awesome.
- Come on, boys, we're almost there.
- Whoo-hoo! - Yeah! Yeah! - Oh, my goodness.
- Wow.
- We madite.
- Finally, Observation Point.
The toughest part of the Rubicon Trail is behind us.
- Look at this.
We are the first people to ever photomap the Rubicon Trail.
I mean, we're like Lewis and Clark.
- And Sacagawea.
- The guide.
The backbone of the expedition, just like the Bronco.
So fine, I'll take it.
- You know what's weird? I can almost--l think I can see where I left the 4Runner, which is good because it-- you know, it's so bright, when I go back and get it, l know right where it is.
- You need to go to the Google office first.
I mean, the clock is still ticking.
- You turned the camera on this morning, right? Well, take a deep breath.
Let's get to Google.
For the first time ever, the Rubicon Trail is photomapped.
The rest of our journey is an easy drive down a dirt road back to civilization and onward to present our work in San Francisco.
Let's hope we didn't screw it up.
- After three days of driving 2 miles an hour and crashing into me, Tanner's back to racing cars and crashing into other peleop, so it's up to Rut and I to complete the mission.
- Look, this is one of the original Street Maps cars right here.
- How do you know? - 'Cause it says it right there on the side.
- When Google stock went public, 900 of their employe es became millionaires overnigh, and another 1,000 became millionaires since.
That's a lot of millionaires in their 20s.
- Hi, fellas.
- Nice to meet you.
- How you doing? - Nice to see you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Thanks for having us, fellas.
- Thanks for being here.
- We made it.
- Yeah.
- Shall we dive right in? Let me show you these beautiful pictures.
- Sure, let's take a look.
- Look at that.
Bo y, is that a postcard right there? - Is the truck gonna be that large in every one of your frames? - Um - We can crop it out.
This is us at night.
Look at this.
We gave you day and night.
- Is that gonna cut it, Charles? - Yeah, that is definitely not gonna make it in.
- So you know what we do? We just--we keep moving.
- This is gonna be problematic.
- Did the car fall over here? Or was this a problem with your camera? - Can you rotate around? No.
- w'Hos that? - No one's gonna want to look at your photospheres with their head cocked.
- You know, we call them photobas.
ll.
.
- Mm-hmm.
- Where we're from, and we're all about just connecting the balls and giving people a good tour.
- So how densely did you capture these photospheres? - Very, very densely.
- Dense was-- - What does that mean? - What does that mean to you? - Every 3 meters? Every 10 meters? - You know, in the U.
S.
, meters isn't as popular as yards, feet.
- Ah.
- Okay.
- Now, this is a very nice picture.
- Because this one was on my truck.
- Oh, I see.
- Let's go to the next one.
What do you say? - There we go.
- This is Observation Point, the end of the trail that no one has mapped except you guys because of us.
- If you'd used the Street View app with this camera, this would've been a lot easier.
- Like you could just use-- - It's a little too little, too late now, but yeah.
Anybody--you can just connect these spherical cameras and capture photospheres on the go.
- With an app? - With an app.
With the Street View app.
- Did you know that? - But regardless, there's a treasure trove here, and we'd be excited to share those with our users.
- Did you by any chance--did you Google before we didhi ts if there was, like, an app to do-- - It wasn't up to me to Google it.
- Guys, thanks, guys.
- Thank you, fellas.
- Thanks a lot.
- Thank you.
- Thanks for coming in.
- What a treat.
- Good to see you.
- What a treat.
- Congratulations.
- Uh, also, do you guys validate? - No, but we have a snack bar we can hook you up with.
- Snack bar.
Good enough.
I wonder how the 4Runner's doing.
It's very important that we protect the camera, so make sure you send me on the right line.
- Copy.
- That one felt good.
I just need to get a little more gas.
- That's it.
That's it.
This way.
Go.
- Oh-- - Ah! - The Google Street View car.
By now, almost all Americans have seen one on the street.
Since its launch in 2007, Google Street View has photomapped 7 million miles of roads in 65 countries on 7 continents.
That's 75% of the planet.
But with their global domination almost complete There's still one road so challenging, it remains out of reach for the Street View cameras: The Rubicon Trail.
This is the most infamous and challenging 4x4 route in America.
It's 22 miles of rock crawling hell that snakes through California's Sierra Nevada Mountains, just west of Lake Tahoe.
Every year, thousands of vehicles attempt the journey.
Many fail to finish.
It's up to us to map the unmappable.
We're meeting in Georgetown, California, an old gold mining town, and we're each driving a used 4x4 we bought online.
Now, there's plenty of vehicles you could choose to attptem the Rubicon Trail, but if you actually want to finish, you got to bring the right car.
That's exactly what this is.
I can't wait to see what the other guys brought, because I just know in my heart that they brought the wrong vehicle.
- This is the perfect vehicle.
It's light.
It's got enough power to do what it needs to do.
Short wheel base, short approach and departure angles.
It's perfect.
- The average speed on the Rubicon is gonna be 2 miles an hour at best.
It's gonna be all about torque, libivality, survivability, and just brute strength.
Yeah, I'd take the Bronco.
- Oh, wow, look at this.
- This is cool.
- Yeah, here's good.
Yeah, hey.
What's up? Yeah, and people think I'm a redneck.
Am- erica.
- What is this? - This is a big, red brute of a truck.
Built Ford tough.
We're going down the dang Rubicon, son.
I went with the '85 Ford Bronco because it's a beast.
New, it had 29-inch tires.
Now it has 37-inch tires with a 4-inch lift, and with 210 horses, it can power over any rock in its path.
- This thing is ginormous, man.
This thing is so heavy.
- I do know that you've made a mistake here.
- How you figure? These things are known around the world for their reliability and how good they are off-road.
- They're known around the world for flipping over.
- The 1990 Toyota 4Runner.
It's the most dependable 4x4 in the world, so it should hold up for three days on the Rubicon, but Tanner does have a point.
When SUV popularity exploded in the '90s, accidents involving rollovers tripled, which is precisely why I chose to add a custom-made exoskeleton.
- Is that a PA? - I thought that would be good.
That way we can, you know, talk to each other.
- So you could tkal to us, you mean? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, l don't need to hear you.
- Oh, this is gonna be easy.
- Wow.
- Eh? - Where's the truck you're actually taking? - This is the perfect rock crawling vehicle.
'92 Geo Tracker.
The Geo Tracker resulted from an unlikely partnership of General Motors and Suzuki.
It looks like a baby SUV, but it's really built on a light truck chassis.
I know this light weight and small size will help me get in and out of tight places all along the Rubicon.
- That's got to have, what, 80, 90 horsepower? - The horsepower was sufficient.
That's all I'll need.
You need horsepower 'cause of the weight.
Your head alone weighs more than thishi tng.
- So this is it.
It's time we hit the Rubicon Trail.
- Mount up.
- Adamar, e you still back there? - I'm here.
- We're only doing, like, 25 miles an hour uphill, and you can't keep up.
- It's like a little mosquito.
Everybody laughs at the mosquito until they get malaria.
- Normal photomapping gear can't hack it on the Rubicon, so we're using a super tough high-tech camera originally designed for the military, and we're picking it up on the last stop before the trail head.
- This says 5 miles per hour.
Huh? - Did you not see the 5 mile an hour sign? - No.
- Plus, you parked in front of a sign that says if you park here.
" - Whatever.
Let's go get the package.
- I'll be in my office.
- Nature's calngli, huh? - I believe this is what you're looking for.
- That would be it, actually.
- Yeah, that'll do it.
- It looks fancy.
That's awesome.
- The NCTech iSTAR camera has four lenses that work together to capture a full 360-degree image every five seconds, but we only have this one camera, and all our photos will be stored on it.
So if it's damaged or destroyed, our mission ends in failure.
Look, the fair thing to do is for each of us to put it on our truck and take turns carrying it.
I mean, it's gonna take us about three days.
There's three of us.
That makes total sense.
- Let's say last one to the trail has to go first with the camera.
- You guys are children.
Let's go.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- I don't even know why you're rushing.
It's a V8.
I'm gonna just tear out of here.
- Uh-huh.
- What the hell? - I'm out of here.
- Oh.
- Sorry about the dust.
- That's not gonna help you, Adam.
Cheating is not the right way.
- That is done.
That's on there tight.
- Where'd Tanner go? - I chained the Bronco to a tree.
- The little fella will catch up to us, but he's gonna be angry.
- At first glance, it really feels like Adam has brought the worst possible vehicle to this, but the more that I think about it, I realize it's Tanner.
The Bronco will somehow show how incredibly unreliable they are, 'cause once he drives li hkeimself and he starts breaking stuff, then he's gonna ask me to fix it, and I'm gonna say no.
- The fact is, those guys are just gonna take the road.
This is an off-road machine, and that means a shortcut.
Go, baby, go.
Oh my God.
I don't see 'em.
I don't see 'em! Oh, there they are.
- Nice entrance.
- I hate losing.
- I just did a total fear pause.
I just-- l just couldn't move.
I was so genuinely frightened, I just froze up.
- All right, you cheaters.
Give me the camera.
That thi lngooks-- - Expensive.
- And fragile.
- Yep.
- In its history, Google has used boats, snowmobiles, and even cams elto photomap, but they haven't used anything as badass as this Bronco.
We have three days and three trucks to get this thing to the end of the Rubicon, so if the lead vehicle breaks down, the next one in neli takes the camera.
What could possibly go wrong? I cannot believe we're doing this.
Here we go.
- This is exciting, guys.
Welcome to the Rubiconra Til.
- Rubicon.
- Do you know this was originally the road to the Rubicon Springs Hotel, which was sold for $10 in gold coins in a $2,000 mortgage? Back in 1889, the Rubicon was a well-traveled road.
A woman named Sierra Nevada Clark built a 2 1/2 story hotel that drew tourists to the area for decades, but when the hotel closed in the '20s, nature reclaimed the road, and the Rubicon Trail was born.
Gentlemen, welcome to the gatekeeper.
Less than a quarter mile in, we hit our first major obstacle, the notorious gatekeeper.
They basically say if you can't get through this, you should turn around and go home, 'cause you will not survive the Rubicon Trail.
- I hear that loudspeaker again, and you're not gonna survive the Rubicon Trail.
- Interesting tidbit, this is not the only gatekeeper.
A lot of trails-- - I hope we find a giant boulder that I can lift just so I can crush that speaker.
- Pretty exciting stuff.
Okay.
- I do take this as a pretty serious responsibility, and I certainly don't want to damage the camera.
That could just ruin the entire mission.
I mean, seriously? This is not making me very comfortable.
This is gnarly.
Yeah, Tanner.
Get that big ass up in the air.
- Gentlemen, the Rubicon has posed a challenge, and the Bronco has been seen worthy.
- Good job not breaking the camera, Race Boy.
- Hard left.
Hard left.
Hard left.
Go to your left.
- Oh.
- Oh! Good girl! - Damn it, that Geo Tracker makes it look easy.
- That's my Mosquito, baby.
- You all right there, Rut? - Ow.
That's gonna leave a mark.
It's all about smooth on the clutch, and the gas and the tires and the-- Whoo! - Rut, I can hear you screaming from here.
Are you all right? - Never been better.
If that's just the first thing we have to get through, this trail is way harder than any of us tughoht.
Gentlemen, the gate's wide open.
- Let's keep this average up over 1 mile an hour if we can.
- Okay, Rut, we're gonna play a game called "Who Do You Think Is Being Impatient?" - Holy crap.
- Now, see, this is a perfect amexple of why Tanner breaks stuff.
He just thinks, "Oh, I don't see any big boulders; I'll just hit it.
" That's why we can't have nice things.
- Feeling pretty good about the Bronco.
198--ooh.
Yeah, could've bent mesothing.
Ooh, that hurt a little.
- That was a little snug, wasn't it, Tanner? - It's got a little junk in the trunk.
What can I say? I think the hardest part about the Bronco is seeing over the hood.
- Why don't you sit on a telephone book? - That was clever.
- Guys, I got, like, serious steering problems here.
- Oh.
- That didn't sound good.
- Holy crap, did you heathr at? - Great, stuff's flying off the Ford already.
- I think something's wrong with your truck.
- Did it mention that in the ad? - Oh, my gosh.
Well, the leaf springs have all twist oedut.
Leaf springs are strips of curved metal clamped together to hold up the truck.
Without the clamp, the leaf spring will tear open the tire.
Because the leaf springs are twisted out, I can't turn, 'cause the tires are touching the leaf springs.
- Seriously? - Yeah.
- Whoa.
This is gonna sound crazy.
From here, it looks like - Oh, my gosh.
The leaf springs have all twisted out.
- Seriously? - Yeah.
- Whoa.
- Will you hold that for a second? - I certainly will.
- Is this where you're gonna ask me to do all this-- - Do you mind jacking it up real quick though? - You don't know what you'rdoe ing.
- What are you worried about? He's got duct tape.
- And zip ties.
- You've got to undersndta.
He's used to a crew chief.
- Yeah, normally you're like, "Hey, guys, uh, leaf pack's messed up.
I'm gonna get a coffee.
I'll bbae ck in 20.
" - "Something wrong with the steering.
I'm gonna be inside and eat my Caesar wrap.
" - On the Rubicon Trail, you're on yourwn o.
The nearest auto parts store is a two-day drive away, so I'm working with what I have: Zip ties with 250 pounds of tensile strength and good old-fashioned duct tape.
Duct tape? - Coming in.
- And people said you couldn't work on a car.
Hey, that'll hold a couple hundred pound spring back together.
- That's why I got these beefy zip ties here.
Not sure what you're worried about.
These two idiots can talk trash all they want, but they need me.
If the Bronco bites the dust, the camera moves on to one of their trucks, and then ty'here stuck mapping the rest of the trail.
Thanks for the help, guys.
The Bronco lives on.
- So are you being careful up there, or are you just, you know, driving like Tneanr? - I'm just rolling; rolling around.
This thing just floats over stuff.
- See, if you go fast and you break stuff, you got to duct tape your leaf springs like a fl.
oo - Let's go, Duct Tape.
- The next obstacle facing us? Walker Hill.
It's named after off-road enthusiast Chuck Walker, who loved to stand at the summit and congratulate the few survivors who actually made the climb.
Holy crap.
- Okay.
I think we need to change the word "hill" To "extremely steep incline.
" - This is the first shelf.
Then there's a rock ddlaer around this corner, and then up over the hill is the third shelf.
So basically it starts off with that nasty thing there - Yeah.
- And gets worse and then gets worse.
It's the only thing between us and dinner, though.
- Grip's important.
Momentum's important.
- Don't say it.
- Power's important.
- You said it.
- I'm sorry.
- I'm going down.
I'm going down! - Yeah, can you imagine when you bring 6,000 pounds up here what this is gonna be like? - Yeah, and wait till you get in your car.
- That's not funny.
I have a glandular disorder.
- Hey, no pressure.
If you roll and crush that camera, that's more than your house is worth.
You'll be fine.
- The Bronco just has tonsf ogrip.
- The Mosquito--going uphill, it's not its favorite thing.
Get on up, girl.
There you go.
Come on, baby.
That's it.
Crawl on up there.
There's a good girl.
- No way.
Well, if Adam got up, I'm fine.
Come on, independent front suspensi.
on Don't fail me now.
He's got it, folks.
The Toyota is amazing.
We're behind schedule, but so far, Walker Hl ilisn't all it's cracked up to be.
As Adam and I clear the first shelf, Tanner makes short work of the final shelf.
- Oh, the power is doing its work now.
Yeah.
Bronco power, baby.
Whoo! - Yeah, I knew that was coming.
- How's it going back there, Adam? - Adam, are you stuck on another Geo Tracker? What is that? - It's a rock the size of your head.
Oh, boy.
That's a big rock.
- Keep her at a constant throttle.
Not high, just constant.
- Will you shuupt ? I already have a wife! - Yeah, there you go, Tanner.
Stack a few rocks in there, huh? Friendly trail maneuver.
Do you have anything that would add, like, 40 more horsepower? 'Cause that would do the tri.
ck Don't-- - This'll probably go through your windshield.
- You want to keep talking? - Don't do it.
Apparently, the radio's starting to get to these guys.
- Go for it again.
Let's see what happens.
- All right.
- I think those rocks there are gonna help.
- But let's be honest, that's why I put the PA on here, is to annoy those guys.
- So we have, like, 30 minutes of sun left.
Go.
Go, go, go, go.
Ok ay, okay, okay, okay, okay, you made it.
You made it.
- Oh, come on, don't push him.
- Wasn't pretty, but we made it.
- Ooh, ooh, watch your hd.
ea - There you go, there you go.
- Not too close to him.
- Get on up? There it is.
- Oh, my God.
- Jesus.
- Let's go.
- He smells dinner.
- He just smells.
- Overcoming Walker Hill takes longer than expected, and the sun starts to set on us.
- All right, I'm turning my lights on.
It's too dark.
Night otphos of the trail are unusable, so we're forced to stop.
- Oh, man, that was a long day.
- Can't believe we put Adam in charge of the camping gear.
- Looks like he brought some good stuff though.
- What a day, huh, fellas? - There's your b.
ag - Thank you.
- Pretty sweet tent.
- Yeah, that's a big one.
- Are we all staying in that one? - No, no, this one's mine.
- Where's ours? - Where's our tents? - Why does mine say "For ages 8 and unde"r? - It goes by height.
- Wow.
That looks like about the size of a hat for you.
- I was in charge of housing.
We all have housing.
You're Baltic and Mediterranean, and I'm Park Place.
- That's a Monopoly reference.
See, what he's trying to say is that-- - I get it.
- How am I supposed to fit in here? - Amazing grace Oh, lord - We're burning daylight.
- How, how sweet - What? - Morning.
Look at that.
That's beautiful.
- It's tiny.
- Speaking of tiny, how are you? Look, you shed your skin.
All right, we got this Google meeting in two days, so we got to make up some ground, and this is the most dangerous part of the trail, so be careful with that camera, Rut.
- Day two of our the-reday journey is much tougher than day one, but lucky for the other two, today it's my turn to carry the camera and lead e thway.
Follow the leader, gs.
uy - Oh, my gosh.
- Follow the leader.
- It's gonna be a long day.
- Oh, man, this is exciting.
Now, see, this-- this right here, this is why l chose the Toyota.
'Cause it's strong.
It's nblime.
Oh.
Oh, oh, it's going over.
- Looking a little top-heavy, Rut.
- Hold on, I have to adjust my body weight.
If I don't make it, l love you guys.
- Come on, Rut, come on.
- Oh, don't die.
Oh, good.
- Got it.
Oh, there it is.
- Nice work, Mr.
Wood.
- Whoo! This is maybe the most stressfulhi tng I've ever done in a car.
- More power.
More power.
There you go.
- Oh my--oh! - There you go.
Don't die.
Don't die.
Don't die.
That's my Mosquito! - That was amazing.
- Oh, I saw that coming.
- You got some pretty big stuff up here.
I think I'm gonna put on my shoulder harnesses.
- You need us to come spot for you? - Yeah, that might be a good idea.
Our first big challenge of the day is Arnold's Rock, a dangerous maze of jagged rocks unlike anything we've seen yet.
Whoo! There it is.
I'm gonna go over that? - A little to your right would be probably good.
Now straight ahead.
Now straight ahead.
Oh--nope, that w iast.
- That hurts.
- I think that was Japanese for "ouch.
" - Lienst.
It's very impoanrtt that we protect the camera, so make sure you send me on the right line.
- Copy.
- Straight ahead.
Yeah, give it some-- give it some wood.
- That one felt good.
- That's it.
That's it.
- Uh, guys? - We're photomapping the Rubicon Trail, and now it's Rut's turn to carry the camera on his 4Runner.
- That's it.
That's it.
Uh, guys? - Just hold tight right there.
Right there.
- Don't move.
Keep your head still.
- Holdn.
o I don't like ts.
hi This isn't-- - You're good.
We're gonna-- - I've made a mistake.
- You're fine.
- Back up.
Back up.
Don't do--don't do it.
Were you guys gonna flip me ov? er - No, we were pulling you.
- We got to protect the came.
ra - I just need to get a little more gas.
- That's the last thing you need is more gas.
- Ow! - This way, Rut.
More.
Go.
There it is.
- That's it.
- Oh! - Oh, the camera! - I think I went too far, guys.
- That's good there.
- Did I say protect the came, ra or did I say protect the camera? Oh, the blood's rushing to my head.
- Are you okay? - My face hurts.
- The exoskeleton is heavy enough to actually cause a rollover, and it's ugly, but with Rut driving, it was actually useful.
- From this angle, it looks like you're being born.
- Hey.
- Welcome to the world, little Rut.
- Hey, the camera's fine.
- That's good.
- Okay, okay, okay.
- Rut and Tanner think my Tracker doesn't have enough power, which it doesn't, but it does have a winch.
Mosquito! - Oh, cr.
ap I bet I can't get the door open.
- "Dukes of Hazzard" that thing.
- How did the "Dukes of Hazzard" do this? Ow! - Okay.
- Son of a biscuit.
- This is the moment of truth right here.
- Come on, brother.
You got this.
- Unbelievable.
- Oh, oh, oh, oh! It will not die.
- Really? Looks like he elected a pope.
- Yeah, 4Runner! - We need to get bac k on the road quic.
- Yeah, let's go.
There are some noises coming from underneath that are not good sounds.
It sounds awful, but she's getting through everything.
- Rut's damaged 4Runner is putting us even further behind, but while he limps along up front, it's giving me plenty of time for payback.
- Oh, I'm sorry.
You didn't see me? - My bad.
- This is why we can't have nice things.
- Ju ast-- - Don't.
Don't.
Don't you-- - Oh, no.
He's gonna get out of his car.
- Why? - He's full New Yorker now.
- Why do you feel the need to do this stuff? - That's for the chain, Adam.
The tent payback will come back later.
- What do we got up ahead? - Oh, I have a treat for you.
Boys, we found the water.
Cutting through a creek is a nice change of pace But wet tires and smooth rocks is more slippery than Tanner's driving record.
AyOk, guys, I think we're gonna have to get out and oklo at this.
This is Silby Rock, l read.
It's pretty vicious here.
- It feels impersonal when you talk through the PA system.
- Yeah, I just want to make sure you can hear me.
- Time's up with me and this megaphone.
- We're not even halfway through the trail when we hit a wall called Silby Rock.
It's all about figuring out the fastest line up and over.
- I see scrape marks here.
- That would make you believe that this is the line.
Since we got wet tires, that makes this rock even more slick, so I'm gonna claw my way right on up here.
- Like you clawed the other e, on and we had to pull you back up on your wheels? - That's not fair.
See, you guys gave me bad guidance.
This time, it's all me.
- Fair enoh.
ug This time, you give yourself bad guidance.
- You and me, Bana.
na We got this.
Ow.
- Perfect.
- Almost got it.
There it is.
There it is.
Yes.
Yes.
Okay.
- Okay.
Dig in-- oh, wet tires.
Come on.
Ow.
It's just the belts are getting just my right testicle.
- Come on, get up there.
- Oh, comen.
o - Whoo! - Yeah! - There we go.
Oh, I think l blew my nut t.
ou Now, if you can, just add about 100 more horsepower and then try the rock.
- Oh, come on, Adam.
That's the line you're taking? - Yep, there it-- you know what? A little more gas.
A little more gas.
Wide open.
- I got you.
- Hammer down! Drop the hammer.
Let's hammer down.
- I'll help you out.
I'll help you out.
- Oh, I knew he was gonna do that.
- Coming up - Mosquito, we gonna get baptized.
Oh, the water's coming in! - There weo.
g - We're photomapping the Rubicon Trail for Google Street View, a feat that's never been done before.
We only have a day and a half to finish America's toughest off-road route before we present our images at Google headquarters.
- Little more gas.
Wide open.
- Once again, the Tracker's lack of wepor is slowing us down.
Luckily, the Bronco's here to help.
- I'll help you out.
I'll help you out.
- Don't you-- - Oh, I knew he was gonna do tt.
ha - He's so violent.
- Gas it.
There it is.
Keep going, yeah.
Oh, my gosh, there we go.
- Bronco power! - I mean, you owkn, you don't want to see him do well, but that was impressive.
- I know, - Oh, gosh.
- Boys actually used to call this Buck Island, 'cause up here you used to swim all the way out here.
- Oh, good, the loudspeaker's back.
- You know, once the tires areet w, it makes it a little bit tricky here.
- What is he talking about? - He's not talking about anything.
He's just talking.
- You guys will notice that a constant throttle application helps a lot.
- You all right, Big Daddy? - Sorry about the smoke, you guys.
- I'm sure that gear grinding and smoke is nothing to worry about.
Hammer down.
You gosmt oke pouring out of the exhaust.
- Hey, guys.
Was that the camera? Hello? Hello? Hello-- the PA doesn't work! - Thank God.
- Luckily, the camera is fine, but my beloved PA is toast, and I'm not getting any sympathy from the haters.
Just put this in my truck.
- Come on, boys, let's go.
- So much easier when it's attached to a vehicle.
- The Google camera's okay, right? - Yeah, the camera's fine.
- Well, that's all that matters.
- Once again, the sunset forces us to stop because night photos of the trail are useless.
- We're falling behind schedule, fellas.
I can't believe it's dark already.
- I'm smelling antifreeze back here.
- Wait, is it leaking something? - Yeah, it's like a combination of burnt oils and transmission fluid and maybe just a pinch of burning antifreeze.
- What happened? - We, lll got good news and bad news.
- What's the good news? - Tons of great pictures today when the 4Runner was leading.
I mean, really, really solid stuff.
The bad news is, I may have sheared a motor mount, and because of that, the engine is moving around, and I'm leaking fuel.
So, Tanner, I'm gonna ride with you.
- Oh.
- Give me the camera.
- Hey, you know, you're gonna love this.
This is gonna be a great experience.
We'll just leave the reliable one here broken down.
I'll get you a nice place carved out next to your spare tire.
- Thank you.
- Yeah, I got you.
- You know, the 4Runner had a ton more storage.
- You know what it didn't have? Motor mounts, brakes, an axel.
- Don't mess up the camera, Adam.
No pressure.
We got it this far.
On day three, the trail brings us to the Rubicon River.
Just like its namesake, the legendary river in Italy that Julius Caesar crossed to invade Rome, the moment you cross thi s, there's no turning back-- If you can make it.
The water's risen after recent rain, so we have no idea how deep it is.
- This is gonna suck.
- thl ink he's got about 5'9", 6' Till he damages the camera.
- Oh, you're not thinking about the Tracker.
You're just thinking about the camera.
Fair point.
- Yeah.
- I don't know how deep it is.
I can't see the bottom, so that's not good.
And if I do get stuck, l don't know if I can get out and walk it, and I don'knt ow if there wl ilbe enough depth for Tanner to come in to push me.
- Is there a third seat back here? - Your spare tire.
- Shotgun.
- All right, come on.
Mosquito, we gonna get baptized.
Here we go.
- Okay, we're rolling.
We're rolling.
- Steady throttle.
- Looks pretty good.
Oh, oh, he's bouncing that-- Oh, that's deep.
- Oh, the water's coming in! - Don't stop.
Don't stop.
- It's bubbling up! - We're photomapping America's roughest off-road trail for Google Street View.
It's Adam's turn to carry the cerama on his tiny Tracker, so he's first to cross the Rubicon River.
- Oh, the water's coming in! Okay, thers e'water in the Mosquito.
- Don't stop.
Don't opst.
- Oh, this is-- come on, come on.
Come on, Mosquito.
- Don't stop.
Slow and sadtey.
- You're giving me a head-- - Slow and steady.
- Easy, I got to concentrate.
- You'reic sk.
- Mosquito.
Mosquito.
Come on, Mosquito.
That's it.
Come on, Mosquito.
Yes, you're a water mosquito.
A swimming mosquito! Oh, my feet are wet.
- We already lost one vehicle, and if another one goes down, it'll be at the next major obstacle, Cadillac Hill unless Tanner breaks something first.
- You need a push, da Am? - I do not.
- Oh, man.
- Oops.
- What part of "I do not" didn't you understand? - I didn't mean to do that.
Sorry.
- You drilled him, man.
We takoue r first look at the infouams Cadillac Hill, so named because two teenagers drove their daddy's Cadillac off it back in the '50s.
Hopefully our story will have a happier ending.
This is the start of Cadillac Hill right here.
This is the last big obstacle before Observation Point.
- Cadillac Hill? That's Cadillac Mountain.
- I don't think I can push you up that, Adam.
- Cadillac Hill towers 6,120 feet above sea lelev, and the route to the top is a narrow cliffside ledge and a series of tightwi stchbacks.
If you make a mistake, it's a long way down.
Just a few years ago, a 4x4 rolled 250 feet down the hill, resulting in a tragic car fire that claimed a life.
- Those drop-offs on the sides-- That's for real.
This is the only way out.
- So we have no choice, gentlemen.
That's what the Rubicon is.
The Rubicon was a river in Italy.
They told Caesar, "If you cross the Rubicon, that's the point of no return.
That's a civil war.
" You know what Caesar said? - Oh my God.
- Caesar said, "Bite me," And he built an empire.
- He had a great salad, that guy.
- He did.
- Let's go map this thing.
- Come on.
That's g aood girl.
- It's straight up.
- Oh, man.
- Adam, I'm not trying to scare you, but this isn't the worst part yet.
- Oh my God.
- Okay, there's my face.
Hello, door.
- Nice and easy.
Okay.
- There you go.
There you go, Adam.
There you go.
- Oh.
We need a better angle on it.
- Yes.
Now right.
- Now right? Now ghrit? - Okay, great.
Great.
Yep.
Now right.
- Oh my gosh, we're gonna keep him from rolling off the cliff, okay? - Oh, we're gonna go over.
- Oh.
- Holy crap, Adam.
- We're photomapping the Rubicon Trail, and this is the most dangerous part of our mission.
- Oh.
- Holy crap, Adam.
Adam's carrying the mecara with all the images from our journey, and he's balancing between success and total destruction.
- Turn right.
Hard right.
- Hard right.
- Hard right--no, no.
Forward and hard right.
- It's like having two wives.
- Hey, I'll come give you a push.
Easy.
Don't throw me off a mountain.
If I die, I'ma come back and haunt you.
It's not that l don't trust them.
It's that l don't trust them.
- There you go.
There you go.
Great.
- Thank you for the assistance, my brother.
All right, bring it up, Bronco.
- Adam's tiny truck is out of our way, but the trail's looking a little tight for Tanner's Bronco.
Okay, easy, easy, easy.
This is a bad idea.
Oh, come on.
Oh.
- How close am I to the edge? - Maybe a foot.
- That's too close.
- Yeah, I agree it's too close.
It's on my side.
- Rutledge, if we roll, l apologize.
- Oh, okay, if we roll, you apologize? Tell you what.
You just hang tight; I'm just gonna go check it out.
- You're leaving me in the trenches, man.
- No, you're good; I'm gonna go spot.
Or just nobet in there when it rolls.
Either one.
- Sorry, girl.
- I'm not gonna lie, this is very ominous.
A nasty feeling, that drop-off right erthe.
- Yep, there you-- oh, oh-- - Sure feels like it's gonna flip over.
- Turn--other way, other way, other way! Yeah, there yogou.
There you go.
Holy crap.
- Like a glove.
- Whoo! Man, I miss my 4Runner.
That would've been awesome.
- Come on, boys, we're almost there.
- Whoo-hoo! - Yeah! Yeah! - Oh, my goodness.
- Wow.
- We madite.
- Finally, Observation Point.
The toughest part of the Rubicon Trail is behind us.
- Look at this.
We are the first people to ever photomap the Rubicon Trail.
I mean, we're like Lewis and Clark.
- And Sacagawea.
- The guide.
The backbone of the expedition, just like the Bronco.
So fine, I'll take it.
- You know what's weird? I can almost--l think I can see where I left the 4Runner, which is good because it-- you know, it's so bright, when I go back and get it, l know right where it is.
- You need to go to the Google office first.
I mean, the clock is still ticking.
- You turned the camera on this morning, right? Well, take a deep breath.
Let's get to Google.
For the first time ever, the Rubicon Trail is photomapped.
The rest of our journey is an easy drive down a dirt road back to civilization and onward to present our work in San Francisco.
Let's hope we didn't screw it up.
- After three days of driving 2 miles an hour and crashing into me, Tanner's back to racing cars and crashing into other peleop, so it's up to Rut and I to complete the mission.
- Look, this is one of the original Street Maps cars right here.
- How do you know? - 'Cause it says it right there on the side.
- When Google stock went public, 900 of their employe es became millionaires overnigh, and another 1,000 became millionaires since.
That's a lot of millionaires in their 20s.
- Hi, fellas.
- Nice to meet you.
- How you doing? - Nice to see you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Thanks for having us, fellas.
- Thanks for being here.
- We made it.
- Yeah.
- Shall we dive right in? Let me show you these beautiful pictures.
- Sure, let's take a look.
- Look at that.
Bo y, is that a postcard right there? - Is the truck gonna be that large in every one of your frames? - Um - We can crop it out.
This is us at night.
Look at this.
We gave you day and night.
- Is that gonna cut it, Charles? - Yeah, that is definitely not gonna make it in.
- So you know what we do? We just--we keep moving.
- This is gonna be problematic.
- Did the car fall over here? Or was this a problem with your camera? - Can you rotate around? No.
- w'Hos that? - No one's gonna want to look at your photospheres with their head cocked.
- You know, we call them photobas.
ll.
.
- Mm-hmm.
- Where we're from, and we're all about just connecting the balls and giving people a good tour.
- So how densely did you capture these photospheres? - Very, very densely.
- Dense was-- - What does that mean? - What does that mean to you? - Every 3 meters? Every 10 meters? - You know, in the U.
S.
, meters isn't as popular as yards, feet.
- Ah.
- Okay.
- Now, this is a very nice picture.
- Because this one was on my truck.
- Oh, I see.
- Let's go to the next one.
What do you say? - There we go.
- This is Observation Point, the end of the trail that no one has mapped except you guys because of us.
- If you'd used the Street View app with this camera, this would've been a lot easier.
- Like you could just use-- - It's a little too little, too late now, but yeah.
Anybody--you can just connect these spherical cameras and capture photospheres on the go.
- With an app? - With an app.
With the Street View app.
- Did you know that? - But regardless, there's a treasure trove here, and we'd be excited to share those with our users.
- Did you by any chance--did you Google before we didhi ts if there was, like, an app to do-- - It wasn't up to me to Google it.
- Guys, thanks, guys.
- Thank you, fellas.
- Thanks a lot.
- Thank you.
- Thanks for coming in.
- What a treat.
- Good to see you.
- What a treat.
- Congratulations.
- Uh, also, do you guys validate? - No, but we have a snack bar we can hook you up with.
- Snack bar.
Good enough.
I wonder how the 4Runner's doing.