Beavers and we’re not talking Oregon State
Posted: September 6, 2014 Filed under: Travel Leave a commentOkay, so I’m sitting here waiting for the college football games to start…
But there is wildlife at Rubicon Springs and that includes beavers. Last year, I took part in trying to bring down a HUGE beaver dam on the south end of the private property. Here it is returned this year:
Jimmy Martin had welded up a large grappling hook that we placed on the end of a winch cable. There were two brave (and cold) soles who were placing the hook in the dam. The vehicle with the which was owned and run by a member of the Lake Tahoe Hi-Lo’s. We were successful that day but we knew the dam would be back.
The beavers in the area have high hopes. Here are a few pictures of the trees the beavers have tried to bring down over the years. We’re not sure but we think they might start early enough in the year that they are still on snow pack when trying to bring these down.
Highway 80 road work
Posted: August 23, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentOff topic, but not off trail…
CA DOT is planning a few MAJOR projects along highway 80 between Sacramento and Truckee.
The plan is to raise the height of nine overpasses to allow taller rigs (16′ 6″) on the highway. This could effect your travel plans to the Rubicon if you’re traveling Highway 80. The highway will be open but you will probably face delays.
Placer to start work on Monday, August 25th!
Posted: August 22, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentPlacer County has announced that they (their contractor) will start working on the Rubicon Trail on Monday, August 25th. The report is they plan to work Monday through Friday for the first two weeks and then maybe Monday through Thursday and ten hour shifts after that.
There are several aspects to this work and the details of what is getting done and when that work is being done has not been released.
You’ve all seen the HUGE pile of fill dirt in the staging area. That dirt needs to be strained for large rock and then delivered to the low spots along the trail between Miller Lake and the turn at the intersection of the Rubicon and Barker Pass Road (Forest Road 03-04). This means there will be heavy equipment all along the trail. They might even be using Blackwood Canyon and Barker Pass Road (Forest Road 03-04) to access the Rubicon.
The contractor will also be creating 35 water features, rolling dips/water bars/drains, from Miller to the turn. These will need to be hardened with rock. Volunteers will be needed to place the rock on these features. The rock will be delivered by the contractor.
The contractor will be delivering rock to the Potato Patch and the old mud hole about a mile west of the intersection mentioned above. This will be done by the Mooroka tractor. That is a tracked, four yard, dump truck, on loan (lease?) from El Dorado County. Rumor has it, that operation (moving rock to fill the hole) will take a month on its own, with 3-4 trips a day.
Expect delays as the tractor above and the HUGE haul trucks will take up most of the trail. See more images in the Photojournal “Filling the Holes”. Please be patient as they work to help us keep our trail open.
I believe that the goal is to finish the work by October 15th.
100mph Meadow
Posted: August 5, 2014 Filed under: Travel | Tags: history, TNF Leave a commentLong before I started running the Rubicon (I first drove the Tahoe side in 1985) there were a few special spots along the Tahoe side that no longer exist today. In 1984 a tremendous amount of work was done by the FS and volunteers. Mud holes were filled in (bottom dollar hole), a bridge was built over McKinney Creek (eliminating the “Car Wash”), gabions were installed (users added a “pet rock prison” sign), etc. I’m not sure when the reroute happened but “100mph Meadow” went away.
100mph Meadow cut the corner of the intersection of the Rubicon and Barker Pass Road (Forest Road 03). The story goes, that after crawling up Cadillac at one mile per hour, the Jeeps would reach the ‘meadow’, switch in to high range and open up the throttle. The meadow floor was of such a consistency that it did not develop bumps and you could really clean out the carburetors.
Here is where the trail broke out of the forest and headed across the meadow. With the current S&G100 issues, I’ve learn a little about meadows. They have a built in way to ward off other plant/tree species. So when the Jeeps stopped driving on the trail the trees moved in. They didn’t move in to the meadow, which can protect itself, they moved on to the Jeep trail that had nothing living on it, it was dirt. So, the trees grew ON the trail from seeds probably left by Jeeps.
Here is a shot looking across the meadow and then south to Sourdough Hill:
The second half of the meadow and evidence that I was on the trail, an old Jeep rim.
Trees growing ON the trail on the east end of the meadow and the trail disappearing in to the forest.
It was cool to get out and walk around and check things out. I found another old logging road that would be cool to reopen but don’t hold your breath.
Who Decides?
Posted: July 26, 2014 Filed under: Maintenance Leave a commentWho Decides?
It has recently come to my attention that an alteration has been made to Cadillac Hill. Although I’m good with individuals and groups doing trail maintenance “as needed”, it should only be done “when needed”.
Although I have not seen it for myself, it is reported that the ‘alteration’ to Cadillac Hill was the removal of the rock in the middle of the trail just below V-Rock. This rock had caused the Sheriff’s, in their Razor, to negotiate the obstacle on the low side. Very dangerous as the soil is loose just off the trail and it’s a long way down if you go over. The rock in question is hidden in the shadow in the picture below.
The rock was tall enough that you would scrape your axle or get hung up if you straddled it. It was surrounded by smaller rock and thus had not grown over the years due to erosion. It had been there forever. Going up Cadillac Hill, the common line was to put your low (right) side tires on the rock and allow the left side to climb the granite slab. Those with narrow axles didn’t experience much lean. Those will full width axles had to climb further up the slab and would experience much more lean. This rock was part of Cadillac Hill and although not a ‘named’ obstacle it added to the experience that was Cadillac Hill and added to the ‘stories’ of Cadillac Hill being one of the tougher obstacles on the way out.
I’m disappointed that a group or individual made the decision to remove this rock. My concerns are how do we prevent this type of thing from happening in the future?
2nd Update (9/16)
Here is a good “before” photo:
UPDATE:
I was out there yesterday and took these photos.
It looks like they topped the rock and flipped the top over in to the middle of the trail. I guess this is better than pushing the entire rock of the edge of the trail but still not cool.
Last month, I came across a new bypass further up Cadillac Hill. It went around the tree at the rock out cropping / creek crossing with the log anchored to the ground as a water bar:
From a few conversations I’ve had, it was concluded that the side-by-sides didn’t like the clearance issues going over the step right about where my trailer hitch is in the pictures. So, they drove off trail, going around the tree and dropped back on to the trail above the tree.
I took the time to block the new illegal bypass:
I’m not holding my breath that this block will last. Volunteers will have to go back and drag some larger trees and either tie them together with bailing wire or anchor them to the ground with rebar.
It’s disappointing that there is still an educational gap. How do we educate those wanting to ‘help’ out on the trail before they make alterations? How do we prevent people from going rogue and pioneering new trails? With two counties, three forests and numerous 4wd organizations overseeing the Rubicon, who should be leading this effort? Can we get one organization to step up and lead?
I don’t know.
The 'Other' Rubicon 