Rubicon Re-Route Issues

The Rubicon trail Foundation (RTF) just put out a pretty good video answering a lot of questions about the Rubicon Trail reroute. I was very happy about the video…until the last two minutes.

Let me start by challenging the title of the post, something about rerouting the last 7/10ths of the Rubicon Trail. From the Tahoma staging area, you’ll need to drive about five or six miles to get to the “reroute”. With the entire trail running about 22-miles, I’m thinking that reroute is more in the middle of the trail. Remember, FOTR, the R stands for Rubicon, was established to fix and keep open the section of trail within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU). That’s from the residential area to just before Miller Lake: the old car wash, staging area, 28-rolling dips, etc. You’ll need to drive another two or three miles to get to the reroute. It’s not at the “end” of the trail.

Construction is scheduled to begin around mid-August and be completed around mid-September. There’s a lot of information about how RTF got involved, who’s doing the work and how that contractor was picked. I’m good with all of that and RTF made it very clear and transparent about what’s going on. Well worth watching.

The kicker came right after the great news that the Forest Service (FS) will not be formally abandoning the original route. The formal abandonment is a long, costly, legal nightmare that could get the FS sued. So, yea, not abandoning. But the plan is to block both ends of the original that is being bypassed. I took that as eliminating any future use of the original route, even though it is not formally closed. Not cool.

Here’s a question, will the original route still be printed on the Tahoe National Forest’s Motor Vehicle Use Map?

If it is, I’m driving it. If it’s not, maybe we should go after the TNF for denying us of the use of our public lands, without due process.

Link to RTF Facebook page with the latest video

The Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR) annual meeting is this Saturday. It might be very eventful. Join me…

10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at:

American Legion Post 119
4561 Greenstone Rd
Placerville, CA 95667

.

Doug Barr