Last days of 2019 Trail Work
Thanks to everyone who joined us for trail days last month. Here’s a bit of what we accomplished in November before the snow came:
Stanford Rock
TAMBA volunteers continued work on Stanford Rock until the last minute and pulled out the tools just ahead of the storm. It was another amazing year of trail building on Stanford Rock. This year, TAMBA crews:
- Built 2.4 miles of new trail
- Built a new mountain top singletrack
- Pushed the trail to amazing new views
- Completed two meadows restoration projects
- Built an 85-foot-long log ride
- Completed prep work for another mile of trail in 2020
It was exciting to see stoked people riding the trail every day. When TAMBA started work on Stanford Rock in 2015, it was one of the least popular trails in Tahoe – you could ride it all summer and not see anyone. It was all logging road with large sections of hike-a-bike. Since 2015, TAMBA has created nearly five miles of purpose-built recreational singletrack on Stanford Rock, with about two more miles to come!
None of this would have been possible without our amazing volunteers and donors. A particular thank you to crew leaders Sandor Lengyel, Jeff Coulter, Mike Wells, and Helene Drumm, and super volunteers Eric Clement and Tim Clement. They showed up day after day to craft beautiful hand-built singletrack. In addition, we had generous financial support from Tahoe Trail Bar and the Swan Family to cover the costs our paid trail crew this fall.
In 2020, TAMBA plans to build nearly two more miles of trail and add more berm, pump, and flow along with some advanced lines.
Lily Lake
The Lily Lake Trail work is finished for the year and it’s a bittersweet occasion. Sweet because of the progress we made through one of the most challenging terrains for any Tahoe trail – with help from the U.S. Forest Service, TAMBA volunteers spent 1,450 hours over 45 days to create 500 feet of trail through the talus field at the bottom of the trail and about 1,000 feet at the top. Sweet because of the friends we made and the camaraderie we built under challenging but beautiful conditions. But bitter because we won’t see each other for trail days until next season.
We’re looking forward to 2020, when we’ll continue our volunteer efforts and use an additional $70,000 of funds raised for the Lily Lake Trail project to hire U.S. Forest Service and other professional crews to finish the remaining 1.5 miles of trail.
TAMBA’s Plans for 2020
2020 is looking to be a big year for TAMBA trail work. We’ll be focusing on three big projects next year:
- Stanford Rock Trail Reconstruction: We made great progress this year, and in 2020 we look forward to building some more amazing singletrack and wrapping up this project.
- Lily Lake Trail Construction: We almost made it through the technically-challenging talus field, and next year we’ll be hiring a professional crew to support our efforts to complete this new trail.
- Armstrong Connector/Corral System Trails: In partnership with the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, we’ll perform some much-needed maintenance on these very popular trails. Work will include tread armoring, retaining wall construction, and fixing erosion issues.
In addition to the above, we’ll also have several maintenance projects throughout the Tahoe Basin next year. We’ll start announcing volunteer days in the spring.
End-of-Year Donations
As 2019 comes to an end, please consider making a tax-deductible year-end donation to TAMBA so we can continue to build and maintain beautiful Lake Tahoe trails like the one below.
We have big trail plans for 2020 and rely on your support to make it happen. TAMBA is a not-for-profit registered 501(c)(3) organization and your donations are tax-deductible.
Click here to donate to TAMBA. Thank you for your support!
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