We're back on the same page now - Eagle Lakes Rd turns into Carlyle Rd which turns into the trail.  Grouse Ridge veers off to the left not too long after getting on Carlyle and, according to the second link you sent, is where the Sierra Trek staging area is.  I was looking at the map and trying to find roads and trails right at the Eagle Lakes.  That's why I was confused.

I did hear that parking at Cisco costs a little, like $5-$10/day, but that it's worth it because they actually do look after your vehicles, not just take money to use the asphalt.  That's probably what I'm going to do; partly for the security aspect since I may have other stuff on my trailer, and partly for the sheer size of the parking area.  My tow rig with trailer is over 50' long so I can't just park anywhere.

I was just in the process of typing out a long expanation about why I was going to stick with my original plan of going in Monday.  But then it dawned on me that even though I'm worried about unforseen issues causing delays in my departure back home by going Friday, if I have someone with me I'll have a better chance of getting them resolved quickly.  Plus it'll be a weekend so there will surely be other people around to help in case of catastrophic issues.  So as I type this, my thought is now that I will take you up on hitting Fordyce Friday & Saturday if you end up still able to go.  If you think you can do that, let me know and let's start hashing out some details.  Any idea how long it'll take me to tow from Rubicon to Fordyce; Loon Lake/Ice House Rd to Cisco Grove I guess?