Major Project Updates

Reroute Your Trail Plans, Smoke and Closures Ahead

by Kristine Koran Trail Ops Manager

This field season we overcame many unforeseen obstacles. While the field season’s start was delayed due to the pandemic, once we had a plan for how we would adapt to working in the era of COVID, our team hit the ground running and had an incredibly productive year.

Maintenance work is a massive task every year for our organization and 2020 was no exception. In small, socially distanced teams, we cleared downed trees that had toppled over through the winter, brushed back overgrown trails, rebuilt trailhead infrastructure, cleared and added drainages, repaired stream crossings, and improved trail tread. As our teams of two were able to expand during the summer, our maintenance work ventured further into the backcountry. We successfully and safely hosted two wilderness work camps in Desolation Wilderness to build steps and drainages between Middle Velma and Fontanillis Lake. With inconsistent air quality and looming thunderstorms in the distance, we built 37 new rock steps in eight days. All of the miles of brushing, new trailhead staircases and approaches, stream crossings, and tread repair we completed this season are a testament to the dedication of TRTA volunteers.

In addition to our massive maintenance workload throughout the 200- mile trail system, four reroutes were also completed this season thanks to our team of dedicated TRTA crew leaders. These trail reroutes moved the trail off unsustainable alignments and were crucial for improving the trail experience and preventing erosion.

The 1.3 mile Echo Summit reroute, which took three years to construct, was designed to move the trail away from the noisy Highway 50 corridor. The work involved moving and blasting boulders to build a sustainable trail and took over 10,000 volunteer hours to complete. This year, the final year of construction, focused mainly on finishing highly technical rock work. The new section of trail winds through boulder fields, requiring winches and rigging equipment to move material and ensure the tread is wide enough to meet equestrian trail standards. The retaining walls, rock steps, and views of Lake Tahoe and Desolation Wilderness are a huge improvement on this collocated section of the Pacific Crest and Tahoe Rim trails.

Two reroutes in Nevada State Parks were opened this season as well. The parks remained open during the large-scale shutdown of National Forests in our region, allowing work to continue there when other projects were put on hold. While some workdays were cut short due to hazardous air conditions resulting from massive wildfires throughout the west, our volunteers were committed to getting out there when air quality allowed. In Van Sickle Bi-State Park the initial portion of the lower K to K trail, previously a social trail mostly following a dirt road, was completed. The TRTA led the project and worked in collaboration with the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA). Volunteers worked side by side (6-feet apart) to build about 3,600 feet of new trail. Our other reroute in Nevada State Parks is located along the Tahoe Rim Trail near the Marlette Peak Campground. This trail was badly eroded and was often snow-covered well into the summer due to its shady exposure, leading to braided muddy trail. The completed rerouted trail now routes along the west side of Marlette Peak proving fantastic views of both Marlette Lake and Lake Tahoe on sustainable single-track.

Finally, work was nearly completed on a reroute near Watson Lake. The new route replaces a dusty, popular OHV road with quiet and enjoyable single track trail that meanders through trees and boulders. We look forward to completing the finishing touches on this section of trail next season.

A BIG thank you to all TRTA volunteers for their hard work during this complicated season. It is incredible how much work we accomplished despite the challenges we were presented with. A trail worker’s job is never done and we look forward to projects both big and small that we will tackle next field season.