Two feet of fresh snow and it’s still snowing…
Posted: February 27, 2023 Filed under: Access, Travel | Tags: plowing, snow Leave a comment2-27-23 Narrow streets. The plow guys are working their asses off and can barely keep up. The roads were well plowed considering the amount of snow that the Basin has received this winter, specifically, this latest storm. the Rubicon trailhead is straight ahead. That’s a private plow operator, up on the right, clearing berms and driveways.
It doesn’t look like any vehicle has tried recently. Two more feet of snow expected over today & tomorrow. At least the notch is holding up so we know where to make access, once the snow allows.
It might be redundant, but I’ll post up after the storm passes.
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Rubicon Ronin
Quick update…
Posted: February 23, 2023 Filed under: Access, Travel Leave a commentFeb 23rd, sort of the middle of the storm. Six feet tall at the notch, eight feet tall either side.
It does appear that someone recently tried to drive up the trail, before the recent snow fall.
But the tracks only appear on top of the berm. I think the driver had second thoughts and backed out.
The Tahoma area is expecting more than four feet of snow over the next week. My suggestion is to let the storm pass and the snow settle and come out and play in two or three weeks.
Travel safe; travel prepared.
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Rubicon Ronin
Rubicon Trailhead Conditions, Tahoma 2/17/23
Posted: February 17, 2023 Filed under: Access, Travel | Tags: snow, snowwall, winter Leave a commentI did a quick drive by of the Tahoma trailhead today.
No evidence that a wheeled vehicle has been up the trail for some time. But maybe a few snowmobiles.
Surprisingly, the trailhead does not have the typical dip, so the wall is about the same height all the way across.
Once on the trail, there may have been wheeled vehicles on the trail.
The trail is as wide as a vehicle. The surface seems hard from melting and refreezing but I’m not sure it will support a 4000 pound rig.
The trail did look inviting but I was in my truck after skiing.
Right now, the roads are clear and the walls are steep.
Don’t go alone. And there are a few storms coming in next week.
Enjoy.
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Rubicon Ronin
Rubicon Trail Collaborative Council (RTCC)
Posted: February 15, 2023 Filed under: Access, Maintenance, Travel | Tags: closure, maintenance, management, users Leave a commentOn Monday, February 13th, a public meeting was held at the Cal4 office in Sacramento. There were probably 20 people in the room and just as many on Zoom. The topic was a new way to get more user input regarding the management and maintenance of the Rubicon Trail.
Amy Granat (CORVA & Tread Lightly) and Roger Salazar (OHMVR Commissioner & CORVA/Cal4 life member) presented a new idea for managing the Rubicon Trail: the Rubicon Trail Collaborative Council.
The idea is to build off the example of the Rubicon Oversight Committee (formerly held by El Dorado County). This new group would bring together the users and get the users a seat at the big table along-side of the governing agencies that currently manage the Rubicon Trail.
The establishment of this new group goes along with the establishment of a new Rubicon Trail management process. The idea is to manage the Rubicon Trail as one trail from Wentworth Springs to Lake Tahoe. This could (and should) include the Ellis Creek Intertie. One of the bigger changes is the Forest Service (FS) will be represented by Region-5; that’s the FS headquarters in Vallejo, CA. The individual forests (El Dorado National Forest ENF, Tahoe National Forest TNF & Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit LTBMU) will not each have a seat at the new table.
The new ‘table’ will have El Dorado County, Placer County, US Forest Service, Ca State Parks OHMVR and the new Rubicon Trail Collaborative Council (RTCC).
The current MOUs between ENF, TNF, LTBMU, ElDo Co, Placer Co, CA St Parks and various law enforcement agencies will be amended to include RTCC and to establish a consistency in management and maintenance across the trail.
The make-up of the Rubicon Trail Coordinating Council will include five types of stakeholders: landowners, businesses, state OHV organizations, trail management ‘non-government organizations’ (NGOs) and OHV clubs. Each category will have two seats. It will be up to each category to determine their representatives. (That will be fun.)
The Rubicon Trail Collaborative Council will be housed as a non-profit under the CA Outdoor Recreation Foundation, which will also act as facilitators and representatives for RTCC. Amy & Roger will be those facilitators and representatives for the RTCC board.
If you are wondering if this will ever actually happen, I believe that it will. Amy stated that the larger agencies have already agreed to the idea, verbally, not yet in writing. The hard part is amending the current MOUs to get everyone to agree to the new wording. Again, those large government agencies have already agreed on the idea.
Similar agreements are already in place for other types of recreation and trails. In our world, The Dusy-Ersham Trail has a multi-MOU agreement and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) has a very similar agreement with all of the forests and counties that it crosses. Nothing on the PCT gets done without user input and approval.
This new management agreement will lift the decisions above any one agency, group or individual.
Moving forward, there is a plan to hold an organizational meeting of the RTCC this month. This meeting will probably include the first set of discussions about who will represent each of the five groups within RTCC.
Helpful links:
Roger Salazar – https://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=22606#salazar
Amy Granat – https://corva.org/board_of_directors; https://treadlightly.org/meet-the-team/board-of-directors/
California Outdoor Recreation Foundation – https://outdoorrecreationfoundation.org/
If you didn’t catch it, Amy & Roger will be the two user representatives at the new ‘big table’. The RTCC will provide them with guidance to follow as they talk with the ‘agencies’.
This new management arrangement should prevent illegal or unnecessary closures of the Rubicon Trail due to wildfires 20 miles away, because of possible snow fall heading toward the trail or any other arbitrary situation that may arise.
I’m extremely hopeful.
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Rubicon Ronin
Rubicon Trail back open
Posted: February 2, 2023 Filed under: Access, Travel | Tags: agreements, closed, snow Leave a commentFrom the El Dorado County website:
“The closure of the Rubicon Trail initiated with Resolution 017-2023 has been lifted effective immediately.
The County waited until the frequent heavy storms that started with the December 30, 2022 atmospheric river event were over before attempting site inspections. During the temporary closure the storms that hit the region consisted of additional atmospheric river events with heavy mixes of rain and snow. Multiple days (1/18, 1/24, and 1/27) were necessary for staff to access and assess the trail. Those assessments show that the trail is currently covered in a substantial amount of snow providing resource protection. After reviewing those assessments, the Director, in consultation with County staff, has determined that no repairs are needed at this time and that the trail is safe for ordinary use.
Be advised that the Rubicon Trail is for year-round public use but users should be prepared for adverse conditions during winter season and during storm conditions. The road may be unpassable during winter/storm conditions and rescue services may be difficult. The County encourages users be mindful of trail conditions and practice appropriate safety measures. The County will continue to monitor trail conditions for the remainder of the 2023 winter season into spring as required per the USFS easement document. If users have any questions on this notice, please feel free to contact the County at 530-621-7538 or 530-621-5554.”
Ok, it’s open but there are many questions…
So, we’re back to water quality as the reason for the closure. But I don’t believe that the County ever visited the proper, if any, sites to determine water flow conditions BEFORE the closure. El Dorado County completely ignored the agreed upon requirements in place in order to close trail. They did it just because they wanted to, and it was not based on any science.
We, the users, need to push back on what happened, how it happened and who made it happen.
Who is “The Director”? Was one single person able to close the Rubicon?
If past signed agreements can be ignored, can we trust any future agreements? If El Dorado County doesn’t play by the rules, the law, should we?
I’m not happy. And I won’t be happy until all of this is settled. I guess I won’t be happy for a long time.
Do you have questions? Call the county at the above-mentioned number. I’m sure they’d love to be swamped by calls.
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Rubicon Ronin
The 'Other' Rubicon 