Tahoe National Forest’s Maintenance Plan for the Rubicon Trail
Posted: August 24, 2020 Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: Chavez, TNF Leave a commentHere is a link to the Power Point put out by Joe Chavez of the Tahoe National Forest describing the upcoming maintenance opportunities for the Rubicon Trail.
https://1drv.ms/p/s!AraBCZVDUEo0ahROeAtFqF3kB5w?e=PDYq7H
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Rubicon Ronin
Official Rubicon Bypass – update
Posted: August 1, 2020 Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: maintenance, mud, reroute, TNF Leave a commentThe Tahoe National Forest has been back out on the trail to look at the mud hole and the legal and illegal bypasses. Here is a note from Joe Chavez about what was discussed and decided on his latest look at the issue:
On July 29 myself, Will Harris (CA Geological Survey), Vickie and Justin from El Dorado Co. and the Tahoe NF Hydrologist (also the Forest’s Water Quality Act compliance lead and Water Quality Control Board liaison) reviewed the mudhole and bypass, among other items on Cadillac Hill. The Tahoe NF Hydrologist recommended not reopening the mudhole routes and said that it would be better for the wet meadow wetland ecosystem adjacent to the mudhole area to keep the trail out of the wetter flat area containing weak soils and recommended that the mudholes be restored in a certain way to eventually restore the watertable dynamics negatively impacted by the deep trenches. El Dorado Co. mentioned that their OHV Restoration Grant could be used to restore the mudholes if that was determined to be the future course of action. The Forest Hydrologist also recommended adding some specific drainages to the bypass and to add some rock in a few spots. It was also discussed in the field that the Truckee District Ranger will be making the determination on what course of action it will take regarding which route the trail will follow in this area in the short-term, mid-term and long-term (including considering a reroute that would avoid the mudhole area altogether and avoid the potential landslide area above Miller Creek, via an El Dorado Co. OHV Planning Grant). Carol, please correct me if I misrepresented what you said.
Bolding and italics are mine
So far we do not have a timeline for any work being done in that area. The possible major bypass is years away due to studies and paperwork.
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Rubicon Ronin
Long Lake Trailhead Sign
Posted: June 29, 2020 Filed under: Access, Maintenance, Travel | Tags: Hi-Lo's, long lake, map, signage, TNF Leave a commentSeveral years ago, the Lake Tahoe Hi-Lo’s installed a trailhead sign at the entrance to the Long Lake Trail (16E12). It’s the left turn just before the graves on the Rubicon Trail.
Well, over those years the sign was a little neglected. That changed this past weekend at the Hi-Lo’s returned and installed new posts for the sign and updated the information on the sign.
It was truly a team effort. I provided the signage, Michael brought a power auger, Gary brought hand and power tools (and the trailer to haul all this stuff), Scot provided the cement, Carlos was do everything man of the day. Kade served as the finisher making sure everything was squared away at the end.
Hopefully, fewer people will take a wrong turn there as they head to Cadillac Hill and Lake Tahoe as probably six rigs did while we were there! I do want to add a small “Dead End” sign.
The post and sign are not going anywhere with the concrete, pipe and brackets used!
It needs paint and a piece of plexiglass but it looks great.
I personally want to thank everyone that had a hand in this project. It was really a team effort and with so many people stepping up, it didn’t take a whole lot of effort. The hard part was getting our act together before hitting the trail to make sure we had everything.
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Rubicon Ronin
Rubicon Oversight Committee meeting
Posted: February 22, 2020 Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: access, El Dorado County, ENF, Grant funding, LTBMU, maintenance, Placer, TNF Leave a commentLast 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
ROC Meeting in SLT 2/20/20
Posted: February 11, 2020 Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: El dorado, grants, Placer, TNF Leave a commentEl Dorado County will be holding the February Rubicon Oversight Committee (ROC) meeting on Feb 20th in South Lake Tahoe at the California Conservation office at 6:30pm. It’s located at 1949 Apache Ave.
Here’s the agenda…
AGENDA
I. DISCUSSION ITEMS:
• Annual Report
• Rubicon MOU
• Grants
o New audit requirements
• Maintenance Activities for 2020 Season
• County Seasonal Help
• County Pumper Truck Update
• Jamboree 5 Year Parade Permit
• Upcoming events
II. AGENCY/ORGANIZATION UPDATES/NEW INFORMATION
Vickie Sanders has been trying to move the meetings around, outside of Placerville, in order to get more participation from the users.
If you have any questions about the Rubicon and how it’s maintained and/or managed, please get to the meeting.
El Dorado County will be involved with the management and maintenance of the Placer County section of the Rubicon along with the Tahoe National Forest.
The 'Other' Rubicon 