VIEW FROM THE RIM
Business Members TRTA Business Members are essential partners that help us fulfill our mission. These partners help ensure the Tahoe Rim Trail remains just as phenomenal in the future as it is today and help us inspire the next generation of environmental stewards. For more information on becoming a Business Member, contact Veronica at veronicap@tahoerimtrail.org. FREEL PEAK $10,000+
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t was a myth. Urban legend to 50-foot bridge spanning the maybe. When I started work at entire conduit would have been the TRTA there were rumblings of ideal for trail users, the cost and an elusive bridge needed to cross short season it is needed made a raging torrent at Echo Summit. I that a less ideal solution for EID. found it odd as my recollection of A shorter span keeping trail users the trail near Echo Lakes included above the waterline would get no such water crossing in which the job done. We also needed to a bridge, sometimes described ensure this relatively small issue as needing to be 40 to 50 feet by Morgan Steel for EID but larger issue for trail in length, would be warranted. Executive Director users didn’t fall off the radar Making the issue sound even less and fade into obscurity. Over the plausible was the gem of information that past couple of years when the deadline for the someone else was on the hook to fund the bridge installation came and went then was construction of the bridge. Fast forward nearly extended we, along with our partners at the nine years and not only have I discovered the Pacific Crest Trail Association, kept persisting. origins of this tale but, in 2020, this torrent is tamed! With everything else that had transpired in 2020, the outlook didn’t look good that this After diving into this issue with our volunteers, would be the year that the bridge was finally partners, and land managers, I eventually built. Fortunately, to our surprise, it got done. discovered the details. Every year after the Thanks, EID! The TRTA has work to do next Labor Day holiday festivities have wrapped season on the approaches but EID built a up and the crowds in the area quiet, the water fantastic bridge. in Echo Lakes is released from the damn and heads downstream. On its journey westward, In the end, I see the bridge as an analogy the water from the lake scoured out and of our 2020 trail season. It didn’t look like it widened the banks of the normally dry conduit. was going to happen but, with hard work, it Most years this is a substantial amount of water was a massive success. Our effort pushing for and creates a significant hazard. The danger the bridge is also indicative of the role our was significant enough that most trail users organization plays in the Basin as advocates chose to cross private property and walk on for trail users, recreational infrastructure, Johnson Pass Road rather than navigate the and the landscape along with our dogged water crossing. I also learned that, somewhere dedication to our projects. along the line, the El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) had agreed to foot the bill for the bridge. Thank you for making this work and all our efforts around the trail possible in 2020! With a clear picture of the details, the TRTA With Gratitude, dove in. Our charge was to implement an appropriate solution for the land managers, water purveyors, and trail users. While a 40-
MT. ROSE $5,000-$9,999
MT. TALLAC $2,500-$4,999
MT. BALDY $1,000 - $2,499
TRAIL BLAZER | Winter 2021 | Tahoe Rim Trail Association
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