Meeting with the LTBMU Supervisor
Posted: July 6, 2015 Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: access, education, law enforcement, LTBMU, Middle Fork Trail Leave a commentThis afternoon, I sat down with Jeff Marsolais, the forest supervisor of the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, for a half an hour. When I say half an hour, I mean 30 minutes, almost to the second. I got 30 minutes in the seat in his office. I had three typed pages of notes to get through so I talked fast. But that’s easy for me.
Although he didn’t have time to respond to all the issues I brought up, he said he’d get back to me. So, what did I bring up? Here’s a brief outline of topics:
Who is the OHV lead for the LTBMU?
Should be full time and year round but not 100% OHV focused.
Needs to be pro-OHV not just someone doing the job.
We need consistency and quicker responses from the LTBMU.
AAT agreements and paperwork
The Forest Service needs to be quicker and proactive on approaching and supporting clubs willing to adopt
Rubicon Trail
Limbs cut off years ago need to be removed or chipped
The main sign at the staging area
Staging area maintenance
Recreational Opportunity Guide – finish it or drop it
General signage along the trail, paved and dirt sections
Other trails
Buck Lake Trail
Twin Peaks
Middle Fork Trail
Funding
CA State Parks – start writing next years now, include more people in the process
Recreational Trails Program (RTP)
Foundation Grants
How did the Corral Trail get a full time, eight person crew to work that trail since the OHV grant fell through?
He did say he might be interested in a ride out on the trail to see first hand what’s going on. That would be a great education for him!
This one meeting won’t end these issues but now we all know the main guy at the Basin has been told how all those underneath him have dropped the ball over the years.
CA State OHV grants awarded
Posted: June 25, 2015 Filed under: Maintenance | Tags: access, education, grant, maintenance Leave a commentEarlier, I reported that the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit had failed to apply for any funds for four wheel drive trails. They had only applied for a motorcycle trail that is frequented by mountain bikes. (The project is being lead by TAMBA – Tahoe Area Mountain Bike Assoc.) Then I reported that the Basin had failed to received any funding due to a technical error.
Well the results are out regarding who actually got the money.
Here is a link to the page with the results of those awards. There are several catagories of grant funding so let me cut to the chase for you.
Planning – this would include Placer County’s plan to GPS the east half of the trail:
Placer County: $51,000 (they had asked for ($89,000)
Tahoe National Forest: $90,000
Tahoe National Forest: $488,000
Tahoe National Forest: $623,000
Eldorado National Forest: $591,000
El Dorado County: $590,000
All I can say it that’s a lot of green stickers being bought!
A day on the trail…
Posted: June 22, 2015 Filed under: Maintenance | Tags: Cadillac Hill, education, maintenance Leave a commentJune 16, I was lucky enough to have time to spend a day on the Rubicon Trail.
For me, a day on the trail includes trail maintenance. This day was no different. I was out to enhance what I had started 6/4-5. On that day I moved a few trailer loads of rock on Cadillac Hill. So, I moved a few more loads to the same area of the Upper Hairpin and to a spot just a little up the trail. The upper hairpin turn is behind me in the photo below.
I also worked the puddle above the upper creek crossing. It didn’t take much, but it had a huge impact.
This small amount of rock solved two issues. The first was erosion. As rig drove through this ‘puddle’ before, small amounts of dirt were removed and the ‘puddle’ was growing deeper. Erosion is bad everywhere but when it happens at a creek, that sediment gets flushed down stream and the anti-OHV crowd gets bent out of shape. That will no longer happen here.
The second issue solved is that of users driving off trail. Although not a challenge to most, a few side-by-sides had gone to the effort to drive off trail and go around the very large tree on the right side of the photos because they would bottom out due to their wheelbase and low clearance. That bypass was blocked last year and since has been respected by the users. Now, due to the filling of the hole on the uphill side of the step, there is no reason for users to drive off trail.
The other area addressed that day was a root section well west of Observation point. It is a root section that had been eroding over the years creating a very off-camber trail. This spot also lead to users driving off trail to avoid the off-camber section.
Although I didn’t have time to move much rock, it is a start. After taking the picture below, I drove through the obstacle and still found it to be well off-camber. So, I spent another 15 minutes moving more rock in to the low spot on the trail.
This area will need more rock. I look forward to finding more time to spend on the trail, doing trail maintenance.
For those who think this is paving the trail and that we should just let it go, I obviously have a different view. The anti-OHV crowd has used ever eroding trails against us and will again in the future. Not only has the Rubicon been used, twice, first within the Lake Tahoe Basin and second in the Eldorado but we had 42 trails closed (most wrongfully) due to lack of maintenance in areas near meadows.
I prefer that we get out in front of the anti-OHV crowd and perform some preventative maintenance. A little bit goes a long way.
Adopt-A-Campsite: Miller Lake
Posted: June 19, 2015 Filed under: Maintenance | Tags: education Leave a commentYesterday I went out with the Tahoe Donner 4 Wheel Drive club and we worked the campsite at Miller Lake and repaired the sign there. There were only five guys from the club but they came to work.
I showed up with the new sign painted and ready to install. The old sign is in the background with multiple holes in it from years of abuse.
![DSCN2509[1]](https://theotherrubicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dscn25091.jpg)
To say these guys had there act together would be an understatement. The first guy pulled out the full set of DeWalt battery operated tools. Not to be outdone, the next guy pulled out the Ryobi set. Then the Makita set came out and finally the Milwaukee set.
![DSCN2511[1]](https://theotherrubicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dscn25111.jpg)
One guy used the impact driver to remove the old screws, while the next was cutting the new 2x6s to length with the battery operated circular saw. Once on the ground, the next guy pre-drilled the new 2x6s using the old 2×6 holes as a template.
![DSCN2513[1]](https://theotherrubicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dscn25131.jpg)
The old sign was cut in half and thrown in my trailer for removal. While that was going on, the gas powered weed whacker was fired up to clear around the fire pits and sign.
The finished sign is lacking signage. We have plans to stop by the Tahoe National Forest to pick up the signage they would like displayed.
![DSCN2514[1]](https://theotherrubicon.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dscn25141.jpg)
Later with logos of OHV partners and FS signage:
We were done in record time. So, we sat down and enjoyed lunch at the edge of Miller Lake.
My thanks go out to the Tahoe Donner 4 Wheel Drive Club for adopting this site and getting out there and getting this sign back to looking good.
Cadillac Hill maintenance
Posted: June 6, 2015 Filed under: Maintenance | Tags: Cadillac Hill, camping, erosion, maintenance Leave a commentSo, last week (June 4/5), I finally got out on the trail with the ability to focus on trail maintenance. Unfortunately, it didn’t go quite as planned.
The plan was to wheel in to the upper hairpin on Cadillac Hill, set-up camp, moving a bunch of rock to stop erosion, re-trench the upper creek crossing and evaluate what the lower hairpin needs.
The drive in was fine. I got a little hail at Observation. Light sprinkles from there down to the upper hairpin on Cadillac Hill. It stopped just as I started setting up camp. I wanted to make sure I had a dry camp before the predicted thunderstorm rolled in.
The first task was to harden the actual upper hairpin turn. As you can see, over the decades, there has been a little erosion taking place here. There are now a few differential busters that have ‘grown’ up out of the ground.
I took my ‘trusted’ trailer up the trail and collected rocks from off the trail. (No reason to weaken one section of the trail in order to harden another area.) On my third trip with the trailer loaded with rock, I noticed a bad noise. I stopped and checked the trailer connection.
For those of you not familiar with the “Lock-n-Roll” hitch, it provides full articulation in ALL directions. But after a few jack-knifes (on previous trips) and once running the hitch upside down, the hitch has seen a lot of abuse. This time, I took it a little too far.
I spent over an hour trying to re-bend the middle piece back in to position to give me full articulation. I had the trailer tongue strapped to a tree and my winch pulling on the hitch trying to straighten it out. Not too successful.
Update note: I called Great Basin Forge and explained my issue. Even though they don’t list parts for sale, they sold me only what I needed and got it shipped out the same day! Thanks guys.
So, I called it a day on hauling rock with only three loads delivered. As you can see, I did get a little done. At least the diff busters are minimalized.
I hiked up to the upper creek crossing and trenched the crossing a little deeper and further away from the log ‘water bar’. This almost immediately stopped any flow of water down the trail.
The growing puddle/hole above the step just above the creek crossing was also addressed but not completely. I hauled quite a few half full five gallon buckets of rock and dumped them in the hole. It will need more but I was running out of fuel for the day.
The next morning, before heading out, I walked down to THE hairpin turn and worked there for about an hour. Again, the flowing water was trenched away from the route that would let it flow further down the trail. This area will also need some follow up.
Once I get the trailer rebuilt, I’ll head back out and continue the projects.
The 'Other' Rubicon 