Closure dates changed, not communicated

Posted: May 11, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Due to the weather over the Sierra these past few days, El Dorado County has pushed back plans to use a helicopter to fly in material to be used to maintain the Rubicon Trail. The new closure dates are May 11th through May 15th. That includes the upcoming weekend of the 14th and 15th.

A photo from a previous helicopter delivery to the Rubicon Trail:

From the El Dorado County “Parks” page:

https://www.edcgov.us/Government/Parks

Rubicon update: Due to the upcoming weather on Sunday and Monday the maintenance project has been pushed to May 11th.  Unfortunately we will need to close the Rubicon Trail through the weekend. The trail will be closed May 11th -May 15th.  We are sorry for the inconvenience, and are working diligently to get this project done before Memorial Day Weekend. Thank you for your cooperation.

Here’s my problem with this change, it was not properly communicated down to the actual users that need to know this information.

El Dorado County has a Rubicon Trail page on their website. At the time of this writing, that page has absolutely no information on the change of the closure dates. In order for the users to find the closure information, users must go to the ‘Parks’ page of El Dorado County, as quoted above.

https://www.edcgov.us/Rubicon/

For the record, it is also not posted on the website of the one Rubicon Trail specific advocacy group, the Rubicon Trail Foundation.

https://www.rubicontrailfoundation.org

Users should not have to search to learn about the current conditions of the Rubicon Trail. Major changes, such as temporary closures, and even minor pieces of information, should be sent out by the agency closing the trail, not just posted. OHV advocacy groups should latch on to those press releases and forward them to local clubs and post the information on OHV forums, let alone post them on their own website.

Every year, tens of thousands of dollars are donated to OHV advocacy groups. If those groups and agencies fail to inform you of critical information about your local trail, specifically the world-famous Rubicon Trail, are you getting your money’s worth?

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Rubicon Ronin

Tahoma Bathrooms to OPEN!

Posted: June 11, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Access | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Okay, after the downer news of the lack of paperwork between agencies in my last post, I’m now happy to report some great news.

The bathrooms at the Tahoma staging area have not yet opened. I put it to all of the agencies and organizations who have anything to do with the Rubicon to come up with a solution. I offered several solutions.

The line from the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) was that they had not yet hired their seasonal staff who normally perform bathroom duties. My counter was that the users except the toilets as the bathrooms on the other side are open and the toilets ON the trail are open, both El Dorado County controlled. If the users can’t use the toilets, they will do their thing in the woods.

On Friday the 12th, the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit will contract with an outside company to service and open the two pit toilets at the Tahoma staging area. The contractor will continue to service the toilets every Friday unit such time that the LTBMU seasonal staff is in place to take over the duties.

Thank you to the LTBMU for getting this done!

Hopefully, we can work with the LTBMU in the future to utilize either this contractor or volunteers or a combination of both, in order to open the toilets as soon as users can get to the staging area towing their trail rig.

I know you guys like photos so here are some Rubicon toilet photos:

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Rubicon Ronin

Rubicon Update 4/22/20

Posted: April 22, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Access, Maintenance, Travel | Tags: , | Leave a comment

With all this Covid-19 thing going on and the ‘stay-at-home’ orders, you would think I’d have a lot of time to post about the Rubicon Trail. Well the truth is there isn’t a whole lot going on right now.

Sure there was a rescue of a few people from the Loon Lake area last week. And the snow berm issue has not been settled, but there’s not much snow at the Tahoma Trailhead right now. And anyway, we’re not supposed to be doing any unnecessary travel.

There was going to be a big Rubicon meeting in Reno to talk about everything Tahoe side in March but that got cancelled due to the Corona virus.

Vickie Sanders of El Dorado County has posted a document that has many of the answers that were going to be shared at the Reno Rubicon meeting.

Here is the normal Rubicon page on the El Dorado County website: http://www.edcgov.us/Rubicon/

By clicking on the ‘Click Here’ link under Placer County Trail Update at the top of the page, you will be taken to the newly released document.

Here is a direct link to the document: http://www.edcgov/Government/Parks/Documents/Rubicon%20Update%20Placer%20County%20%281%29.pdf

Maintenance will happen this summer. Helicopters will be flying in rock to Cadillac Hill. Hopefully, volunteers will be able to help.

Stay home, stay safe, work on your rig, get out your camping gear. Summer will come and we will get back out on the Rubicon Trail!

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Rubicon Ronin

Rubicon Oversight Committee meeting

Posted: February 22, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Last Thursday, 2/20/20, El Dorado County held a Rubicon Oversight Comittee meeting in South Lake Tahoe. Here are my notes…

Rubicon Oversight Committee meeting

February 20, 2020                         South Lake Tahoe

Vickie Sanders & Justin Williams El Dorado County Parks & Trails

Nineteen in attendance: eight users (six Hi-Lo’s & two Tahoe Donner 4-Wheelers) the rest were agency representatives

Not being a professional secretary, I’m just going to type out the notes I took:

Adopt-a-trail

16 segments within El Dorado County, one available for adoption, Buck Lake area

Holding off on adoptions of the Placer side until the major fixes have been completed

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Many agencies have come together to agree to support management and maintenance of the Rubicon Trail:

El Dorado County Placer County
Eldorado National Forest Tahoe National Forest Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit CA State Parks – OHMVR Division

Vickie Sanders is THE point of contact for all things Rubicon. She will get you in touch with the right person for you question/concern.

Rubicon Trail Foundation

RTF has donated $32,000 for ten hours of helicopter fly time to fly rock in to the trail where it is needed:

Cadillac Hill (gabions to be built on site) Swamp area near Miller Creek Hardening of rolling dips

Grants

Grants are to be written as if the trail is under the management of a single agency. This year CA State Parks wanted letters from each agency but in the future the MOU will prevent that need.

Reroute & Cadillac (not the same issue)

Plans are in the works to reroute the Rubicon Trail away from the section where the trail is about to fall off in to Miller Creek. There are old logging roads that will be used for the reroute. Part of the current grant is to do the studies needed to make this happen. This year is planning, next year is approvals, maybe to be completed in 2022.

A historical analysis of the Placer County section of the trail is just one of the studies that will need to be completed before the reroute and before ANY major work on the trail.

El Dorado County’s system is to do “major” work on the trail every other year. This give the county time to plan for future major projects and to catch-up if a “major” project drags out. 2020 is a “major” year as Cadillac Hill will see “major” work.

The Staging Area

The LTBMU received a grant to pave the staging area four years ago. That grant expires in Sept of 2020 and wasn’t enough to cover the cost of paving. With the new MOU, the Basin has reached out to El Dorado to get more money to fully complete the work. This will include expanding the size of the parking area. It also means the taking down of the trees currently within the parking area.

To Do’s: El Dorado & Placer

There is a small to do list on the El Dorado County website. Anyone, any group, can sign up to complete any of those projects.

Winter issues

There have been talks to pave the quad rental parking/staging area. This could lead to a snow removal contract (paid for with OHV funds) to access that parking area all winter long. Just talking right now.

Placer is still working on addressing the snow berm in Tahoma.

Outhouses

El Dorado County is having an F550 built to be the new Poo Pumper. RTF will no longer be contracted to do poo removal. The County has a poo pumping trailer as a back-up.

Ham

The Spider Lake repeater has been down off and on for some time. Tim Green has a separate repeater on his property that uses the same frequencies.

Tim Green also runs the “Rubicon Gazette” Facebook page. That page seems to be THE place to go for updates regarding the Rubicon Trail.

Jeepers Jamboree events

Jeepers Jamboree must now permit with the Tahoe National Forest and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit as Placer is now not managing the Rubicon. This could lead to possible closures and/or restrictions of the trail within Placer County.

Please contact Joe Chavez is you have any comments, questions or concerns about these possible restrictions.

Maintenance levels

The TNF is also looking for input about the maintenance level the Rubicon will receive. That could be in the form of what type or level of rig should the trail be maintained. As an FYI, the Fordyce Trail is maintained to a level that a competent driver, in a rig on 35” tires and one locker will face a ‘challenge’ but be passable.

Again, contact Joe is you have an opinion.

I tried to do the best I could but I’m sure I missed something or made an error. Please contact me or Vickie is you have questions or see a mistake.

Thanks,

Doug

Rubicon Oversight Committee (ROC) meeting minutes from RTF

Posted: January 28, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Rather than re-post the minutes, I’m just going to post a link to the RTF Blog page. Check out the rest of the website while you’re there.

RTF blog on ROC minutes

These meetings have been going on for years. More recently, Vickie Sanders, of El Dorado County Parks, has varied the meeting times so more people can attend. She has even moved the meeting locations so those out of the Placerville area can more easily attend.

Hopefully more meetings will be held in the South Lake Tahoe area (she’s already held some there). Tahoe City should be also be considered. This March 28th, there will be a meeting prior to the opening of the Reno Off-Road Motorsports Expo about all things Rubicon at the Reno Convention Center.

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