Adopt – a – trail (water bar)

The Rubicon Trail Foundation has recently released information about the ability to ‘adopt’ a section of the Rubicon Trail within El Dorado County:

Okay, you’re asking, “I thought this website was about the Tahoe side of the Rubicon Trail?” Well, it is. Let me twist the story a little bit.

RTF has again stepped up to better organize getting maintenance done on the Rubicon Trail.  They have worked out a plan with El Dorado County to have different clubs/groups/organizations to adopt a section of the world famous Rubicon Trail.  Basic, routine maintenance and clean-up will be done by club members.  Any major projects that come up will be led by the club but put out to FOTR for additional support as needed.

So, the Tahoe side twist is this, what about an “Adopt-a-water bar” program?

There were 28 ‘rolling dips’ (we all refer to them as water bars) built on the Rubicon Trail within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) in 2001.  Over the years they have received some annual maintenance but they could use a little more love. This summer, Placer County will use OHMVR funds to create more rolling dips and drains (like 35 of them) along the Rubicon Trail between Miller Lake and the turn at Barker Pass Road (Forest Road 03).

Why not ask OHV clubs to ‘adopt’ one water feature, be it a water bar, a rolling dip or a drain?  All that would be asked of these clubs would be to do maintenance on their one water feature once a year.

Dozens of clubs, from all over the western United States, organize an annual club run to the Rubicon Trail.  It would be a simple addition to that trek to stop at the clubs’ one “Adopt-a-water bar” and spend an hour or so clearing the drain, digging out any sediment and re-covering any bare spots with rock.

As FOTR steps up to help Placer with labor and thus ‘matching finds’ for the OHMVR grant, the clubs involved could volunteer to adopt whatever water feature they were working on.  This would establish ‘ownership’ from the beginning and instil pride in creating and maintaining each feature.

There would be some details to work out, namely, a Tahoe side local might be needed to scout the water feature to determine if any materials would be needed for any maintenance effort each year and then get those materials dropped off prior to the maintenance effort but easily overcome.