Forest Road 03-06-02
Posted: June 26, 2016 Filed under: Access, Travel | Tags: access, camping, TNF Leave a commentSo I bought a dual sport. A 2009 Kawasaki KLX250s. Well, this past Saturday I finally got some decent time on it. Earlier, I took the bike up the Rubicon but didn’t get too far. This time it was two and a half hours. I went out exploring the OHV trails around the Barker Pass area.
This writing is specifically about forest road 03-06-02. It is the trail that ventures the furthest west past Barker Pass. At one time, this trail looped around to the south and hooked up with forest road 03. Then came the Granite Chief Wilderness area.
But it almost makes it better for camping because nobody goes out there!
The drive/ride along forest road 03 to get to 03-06 and then 03-06-02 gives you some great views of the valley that runs from Rubicon Springs to the Hell Hole reservoir. That’s the valley of the Long Lake Trail, 16E12, another trail to check out.
There are a few trees down towards the end of the trail. This is only the first.
A short hike down the trail, past the first tree blocking the trail, which I am sure if far from the end of the trail, you get a glimpse of Hell Hole Reservoir through the trees.
With a 50 yard hike from the trail you get some great views of Hell Hole. You might not be able to tell but you can see evidence of the King fire on the far bank of the lake.
Further down the trail there are more trees.
This is where I think the trail officially ends. It is not pictured well but there is an unnatural dirt berm attempting to block the trail.
Past the official end of the trail there are still more trees blocking the trail.
We’ll see if I can work with the Tahoe National Forest and get an accurate GPS of the end of the trail and then clear any trees blocking access to the true end of the trail.
I suggest that you get out and explore sections of our public lands you haven’t seen before. Here’s a hint, look for the trails that dead end far away from other trails.
Traveling 03-04 early in the season
Posted: June 13, 2016 Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: education, maintenance, Rubicon, TNF Leave a commentOn June 12th, at 7am, I headed out from the cabin in Carnelian Bay.
It’s not a long drive around the west side of the lake, only 15-20 minutes, but it was early and there was a chill. Trips like this are why I always have my old ski jacket with gloves and a hat in the Jeep.
Although I was looking forward to the drive time alone on the Rubicon and Forest Road 03-04, it was a work trip. As a volunteer with the Tahoe National Forest (TNF), I have agreed to place trail markers along the Rubicon and on the side trails in the area of Forest Road 03-04. That’s the road from the Rubicon, past Bear Lake that goes to Barker Pass at the top of Blackwood Canyon.
Today, I had a new mileage sign for the intersection of 03-04 and the Rubicon, a no outlet sign for 03-04 (did you read my last post?) and two 03 markers for Barker Pass Road where is meets 03-04.
Using a post hole digger in the Sierra Nevada mountains is not a straight forward process. I start one hole and got about 20″ down when I hit granite. I filled that one in and started another; only got ten inches down. Started a third; eight inches. I went back to the first hole and dug it out again. I figured I’d place a bunch o0f rock around the base to make up for the short hole. I was hoping to get them down at least 24 inches. That was the mileage sign.
I moved up 03-04 to start the “No Outlet 11/6 – 6/14”, the granite rock in the hole were smaller and the center of the hole kept shifting to get around the rocks. But the sign is up.
The day before, I had driven as far north as Bear Lake with the Tahoe Donner 4wdc. Today I would go further and by myself. Yes, I’m setting a bad example. But I had food, drink, shelter, fire starter stuff and a working ham radio.
Just north of Bear Lake, in a downhill section on a northern aspect, there was a sizable snowdrift. I went down it no problem but I knew I’d have trouble on the way out, even if I wasn’t pulling a trailer like I was that day.
I drained a few puddles along the way and had to cut two trees off the trail. The snow drifts were narrow and thus fun to pop over. There were a few longer ones that posed a small challenge but weren’t a problem.
The dirt at the intersection of 03-04 and 03 was very soft for digging but didn’t pack to well after placing the posts.
As predicted, on the way out, I had trouble in the large snow drift. Let the winching scenario begin. Of course I wanted to go straight up the trail, there are no trees right in the middle of the trail. So I winched a little to the right and then a little to the left and then once more to the right. But it worked.
The plan was to turn left on 03-04-12 and place some carsonite markers as well but there was a very large drift a short distance up that trail. Maybe in a week or two I’ll try again.
The LTBMU fails to get any OHV funds
Posted: June 9, 2016 Filed under: Access, Maintenance, Travel | Tags: access, FOTR, grant, Hi-Lo's, LTBMU, maintenance, OHV grant, OHV State Parks, Placer, TNF Leave a commentThis OHV season, the CA State Parks OHV Division made available almost $11 million dollars for OHV issues, projects, maintenance, law enforcement, education, etc.
The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) failed to obtain a single penny of it. In comparison, the Eldorado National Forest (ENF) received $438k and the Tahoe National Forest (TNF) received $650k.
There is a 30 day grace period for the agency requesting funds to ask that their grant be reviewed and rescored but don’t hold your breath. This is the second straight year the grant writers and administrators at the LTBMU have fallen short. I think it’s safe to say the LTBMU needs a new grant writing staff.
Here’s the problem, even though the LTBMU didn’t receive CA State Parks grant funding, they are still required to manage OHV on their forest. It’s just going to be that much more difficult without specific funding for OHV.
I’m using this lack of funding problem to push the LTBMU to reinstate the Adopt-A-Trail program they dumped two years ago.
If you or your club, group, business or organization would like to adopt an OHV trail within the LTBMU, email them, call them, hound them, do not take no for an answer, Right now I only know of the Twin peaks Trail in South Lake Tahoe, the Buck Lake Trail off the Rubicon and the Middle Fork Trail up Blackwood Canyon (just north of the Rubicon) that historically have been adopted.
That list doesn’t include the pre-Placer County Rubicon when the Lake Tahoe Hi-Lo’s had the entire east side of the trail adopted. For adopting a section of the Placer side of the Rubicon Trail, contact the Rubicon Trail Foundation.
Here is a list of OHV trails within the basin from the LTBMU website. Not all trails are listed. Check the Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) for more trails.
Lake Tahoe – East Shore
- Genoa Peak Road 14N32
- Kingsbury Stinger 18E39.3
- Logan House 14N33
Lake Tahoe – North Shore
- Kings Beach 18E18
- Mt Watson 73E
Lake Tahoe – South Lake Tahoe
- Corral Trail 18E14
- Hellhouse Road 12N01D
- High Meadows Trail 18E33A
- Power Line Road 12N08
- Sand Pit 12N08
- Sawmill Pond 12N30
- Twin Peaks 12n30
Lake Tahoe – West Shore
- Buck Lake Road – 14N40
- McKinney / Rubicon Trailhead
- Noonchester 14N34A
Please step up, adopt a trail, push the LTBMU to work with the users!
OHV trail markers
Posted: December 21, 2015 Filed under: Maintenance, Travel | Tags: education, Rubicon, TNF Leave a commentOne of my goals for the 2015 summer OHV season was to start marking every side trail along the Rubicon Trail and Forest Road 03-04 within the Tahoe National Forest (TNF). The US Forest Service (USFS) uses carsonite markers for most of these types of markers. These are the brown, three four foot long and four inch wide, fiberglass stakes.
Below is the marker for the Long Lake Trail that I didn’t get around to installing:
Having a USFS Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) in hand while drive through our forests is great, it doesn’t help much if the intersections are not marked as to which trail is which. On the east end of the Rubicon Trail, you need three MVUMs to navigate the area: Tahoe National Forest (TNF), Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) and the Eldorado National Forest (ENF).
My flier combines the essential trails near the Rubicon Trail. See flier here
Working closely with Susanne Jensen of the TNF, we were able to put up thirteen markers along the Rubicon and Forest Road 03-04.
Next summer, we plan on completing the installation of trail markers on the TNF. I hope to work with the LTBMU and the ENF to ensure all trails in the area are properly marked.
Adopt-A-Campsite Update
Posted: December 15, 2015 Filed under: Maintenance | Tags: access, camping, maintenance, TNF Leave a commentAdopt-A-Campsite Update
This past OHV season marked the beginning of a new Adopt-A-Campsite program on the Truckee District of the Tahoe National Forest.
For the first year of the program, it went well. We had six different campsites adopted by five individuals or groups.
Here is the list of current volunteers:
- Jon & Jan Briggs
- Tahoe Donner 4 Wheelers Club http://gerb58.wix.com/td-4-wheelers-#!
- Doug Barr www.TheOtherRubicon.comThe Other Rubicon
- Sierra Stompers http://www.sierrastompers.org/
- Dominic Bruno
While working with the Forest Service (FS) to get the paperwork straight for each particular site, we discovered that the FS had miss marked the three ‘new’ sites near Miller Lake. So, one of the adopted sites is not yet an official site, as is another that has yet to be adopted.
Hopefully, the FS will get these sites added to the MVUM very soon. My understanding is that the FS is not asking for these sites to be blocked off to motor vehicle access at this time.
For those of you interested in adopting a site, click the link on the right side of my website and look around for a site you’d like to maintain. There is a well shaded site along Miller Lake available as is Observation Point itself. Please email me (TheOtherRubicon@charter.net) if you’d like to adopt on of these two or any of the sites listed.
Duties are much less than adopting a trail. You need to complete the appropriate paperwork to adopt the site and then ensure that paperwork is done for each individual helping you maintain your site. An email letting me know, and I will let the FS know, what you have planned in the way of maintenance and a report at the end of the year is the rest of the paperwork required.
Basic on the ground duties include visiting/maintaining the site at least twice a year to pick up trash, clean out the fire pit (if there is one) and ensure that the site is not growing using logs and boulders to define the borders.
The 'Other' Rubicon 