The Trail Care Crew returns to visit our friends at Patagonia's Reno facility for a trail building clinic. Patagonia CEO Ron Hunter (second from right) jumped in to help.
After the TCC-led trail building clinic, volunteers worked to open a new passage of the Whites Creek Trail.
Roadside art on the "loneliest highway in America."
The Trail Care Crew pays a visit to the infamous Shoe Tree (look closely and you'll see why it's named the Shoe Tree).
Joey, Mogli and Nicki of TCC2 take a relaxing soak at a roadside hot spring.
Another land craft ready for Burning Man (note: Burning Man is a big, uhh... festival held in the Nevada desert).

Nevada IMBA State Representative, Dale Beesmer invited the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew back to the Silver State for a trailbuilding clinic, this time at the Patagonia global center in Reno. More than 25 people attended our slideshow including people from the Lake Tahoe Rim Trail Association, Bureau of Land Management, Kirkwood Ski Resort, Patagonia staff, the Reno Wheelman and other interested trail junkies. We discussed many trail issues in the Reno and Lake Tahoe area, sharing possible solutions from other places we had seen.

The next day we joined Colleen Wallace of Washoe County Parks for a trail work project. On our last visit to Reno, Colleen pointed out several trail problems in the area and found exact property locations to begin a re-route on the White's Creek Trail. 20 volunteers spent two half-days in the hot Nevada sun, breathing life into this new section of trail and restoring the old, eroded, fall-line section to its natural state. Our work got immediate use from several local trail runners and walkers who were pleased with the playful new section.

Dale took us on a tour of several great areas in and around Reno. Like many cities in the West, the open spaces that surround Reno are disappearing fast. Once a forest is developed it is usually gone for good. Trails are the best way for us to preserve open spaces near metro areas. Trails can give people access to nature, giving them an appreciation for these natural places. Properly designed trails direct people to appropriate areas and keep impact to sensitive area to a minimum. Partnerships between trail users and land managers ensure that trails are designed to protect the future of these open spaces. It was great for us to see there are people in Reno devoted to these fine trails.

We were really impressed with the Biggest Little City in the World and look forward to enjoying more Nevada single track in the future. Now it's time for us to continue our journey, back towards the Rockies on the legendary Highway 50, through the hot Nevada sun. The "loneliest highway in America" has many bizarre roadside attractions that we couldn't pass up. We hope you enjoy these photos from the road.

Until next time,
Joey, Nicki and Mogli
TCC2