Every year, Mother Lode Unit (MLU) gets a request for pack support from the Tahoe Rim Trail Association (TRTA) to support trail crews working in Desolation Wilderness near Lake Tahoe on two major trails. Usually, MLU receives four or five trip requests annually, but the COVID restrictions in 2020 and the fires in 2021, reduced that to two each year.
The Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) share trail tread near the top of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range as the trails pass through multiple forests near Lake Tahoe. The Tahoe Basin Management Unit integrates the management efforts of the various forest managers. The TRT and PCT Associations coordinate their volunteer maintenance crews and request special assistance from other trail support groups in the area, like BCHC Mother Lode Unit.
The 2021 request focused on a 1.5-mile section of trail between Echo Lake and Phipps Creek. This portion of the two trails is about 6,400 to 8,100 feet elevation and is popular, so it gets heavy usage. The trail crew reconstructed trail tread using native stone for a long-lasting and effective solution to the deleterious effects of high use and erosion on the trail. They improved or replaced water bars and drainages, plus built several more check steps.
The MLU packer contribution was to haul the crew’s heavy gear and sup- plies to their campsite, one trip in July and one in August. This allowed the trail crews more time and energy to work on the trail tread. When the planned work was done, the trail crews hiked out with their much lighter backpack loads of only personal gear.
Packer travel expenses were partially mitigated by a grant from the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance.
- by Lucy Badenhoop
Photos courtesy of Tahoe Rim Trail Association
To see the Back Country Horsemen of California news magazine for Winter 2022, CLICK HERE.
The Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) share trail tread near the top of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range as the trails pass through multiple forests near Lake Tahoe. The Tahoe Basin Management Unit integrates the management efforts of the various forest managers. The TRT and PCT Associations coordinate their volunteer maintenance crews and request special assistance from other trail support groups in the area, like BCHC Mother Lode Unit.
The 2021 request focused on a 1.5-mile section of trail between Echo Lake and Phipps Creek. This portion of the two trails is about 6,400 to 8,100 feet elevation and is popular, so it gets heavy usage. The trail crew reconstructed trail tread using native stone for a long-lasting and effective solution to the deleterious effects of high use and erosion on the trail. They improved or replaced water bars and drainages, plus built several more check steps.
The MLU packer contribution was to haul the crew’s heavy gear and sup- plies to their campsite, one trip in July and one in August. This allowed the trail crews more time and energy to work on the trail tread. When the planned work was done, the trail crews hiked out with their much lighter backpack loads of only personal gear.
Packer travel expenses were partially mitigated by a grant from the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance.
- by Lucy Badenhoop
Photos courtesy of Tahoe Rim Trail Association
To see the Back Country Horsemen of California news magazine for Winter 2022, CLICK HERE.
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