Last month, one of the SUBURA/IMBA Trail Crews visited the area. These trail crews have been traveling coast to coast since 1997 teaching trail users, mountain bikers, clubs, retailers an land managers how to design, build, maintain and manage trails that are environmentally sound and fun to ride, walk or run. JOEY KLEIN was the “Imba crew” on this trip, hailing from Montezuma Colorado, where he designed the Keystone (Colorado) mountain bike trail system and has traveled the world in pursuit of trail construction.

His visit started with four days in Tahoe with the US Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin’s Management Unit. The first day was spent fixing a section on the popular MR TOADS WILD RIDE in South Lake. One section was eroding so badly, it was estimated the hundreds of cubic feet of silt was entering the drainage system, eventually ending in Lake Tahoe. An innovative “ladder” system was devised to curtail the problem. The next two days were spent on a section of the TAHOE RIM TRAIL, just off the Truckee River access at Tahoe City. This section was not designed to accommodate bikes, and the project involved in making the hiker switchback, with steps, into a ride able switch back. This switchback needed a five high crib wall to meet minimum construction requirements!

The following Monday was spent exploring the options for the Sawtooth Ridge Trail, a proposed trail following the ridgeline from Truckee to Tahoe City above the Truckee River.

Later that week on Friday, Joey was invited by Lynda Nelson of Washoe County Parks, and met with the USFS, Washoe Country parks rangers and invited individuals representing a variety of user groups at Ranch San Rafael's Ranch House. A brief slide show covered trail construction and management solutions, and visited a number of places throughout the country currently involved in real neat trail projects. In the afternoon we visited the Keystone Canyon and Tom Cooke Trail, where a falline short cut trail has been forming and the switchbacks are starting to deteriorate.

The following day brought us to the Whites Creek Trail, were a steep section of trail was eroding because the trail was becoming a drainage path. Then up to Galena Creek,Park, ranger Colleen Wallace pointed out to a new trail being formed by dowhnhill mountain bikers going through private property above and eventually into the park.