The Tahoe Rim Trail, which encircles jewel-like Lake Tahoe,
will be honored Saturday as one of the West's great hiking
routes.
Appropriately, the announcement of "National Recreation
Trail" status for the loop through some of the nation's
most dramatic, varied and scenic land comes on a day celebrated
as National Trails Day.
Nationally sponsored by the American Hiking Society, the
celebration on a stretch of the Rim Trail near Tahoe City
has been put together by the Tahoe Rim Trail Association
and the Pacific Crest Trail Association. It marks the first
time that the hiking day has been officially celebrated
jointly by the two associations.
The celebration will be equal parts enjoyment and work.
Hikes will be taken and speeches delivered, and volunteer
trail-maintenance crews will clear brush and fallen trees.
They also will reroute part of the trail.
Shannon Raborn, associate director of the TRTA, said National
Trails Day offers a fine forum to celebrate the National
Recreation Trail designation as well as the recent purchase
from Sierra Pacific Industries of 629 acres of land through
which the trail runs.
The land, purchased for $875,000 with money approved by
Congress and conveyed to the U.S. Forest Service, is at
Barker Pass on a stretch of trail shared by the Tahoe Rim
Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail. In total, the two trails
share about 50 miles.
"The National Recreational Trail designation came from
the Pacific Southwest Region of the Forest Service and is
the highest designation that a trail can receive," Raborn
said. "It honors outstanding recreational values of the
trail system and makes us part of the national trails system."
Angela Ballard, a spokeswoman for the Pacific Crest Trail
Association, said the designation is "a big deal."
"We really wanted to celebrate," she said.
Ballard said that because the PCT shares such a significant
stretch of trail with the TRT, it is appropriate to have
a joint effort to bring attention to the 165-mile loop that
rises from an elevation of 6,200 feet to a high of 10,333
feet.
"We definitely want to work together to protect and preserve
both trails," said Ballard, who in 2000 hiked the 2,650
miles from Mexico to Canada on the PCT, which is designated
a National Scenic Trail. "Both are really important parts
of the trail network in general."
Ken Miller from Carmichael is a member of the Tahoe Rim
Trail Association board and a former vice president for
trail use. He has been on trail-maintenance crews and knows
the TRT well. He said the TRT, along with providing hikers
tremendous views of California and Nevada wilderness, is
a well-built and -maintained trail.
"I have a tremendous appreciation for a good trail," Miller
said of the trail that was started in 1984 and completed
in 2001. "I became aware of the (TRTA's) trail building,
and that made an impression. The effort it takes to build
a simple trail, using nothing but hand tools for the most
part, is amazing."
He said he became accustomed to the relative comfort afforded
by the Tahoe Rim Trail -- 24 inches wide and cut at a grade
of no more than 7 to 10 percent on ascents and descents
-- and considers the West Coast prime hiking territory.
"I was appalled by the condition of parts of the Appalachian
Trail," Miller said of the famed path that runs about 2,160
miles from Maine to Georgia. "I got used to the comfort
of the trails out West."
He said the scenery and opportunity to experience the mountains,
streams, lakes and wildlife along the trail are rewarding.
"Plus, it's free to use," he said.
Activities Saturday will begin at the Truckee River Recreation
Access parking lot, one of several trailheads along the
Tahoe Rim Trail. It is the lowest point on the trail, and
the snowmelt has cleared enough of the path to allow the
planned hiking and maintenance.
Participants must register in advance, Raborn said. About
100 people are expected to participate.
"There are so many reasons to draw attention to the Tahoe
Rim Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail," she said. "The one
major benefit is that it allows people access to wild places
and the wilderness. It helps people appreciate those places
and increase a desire to preserve and enjoy them."
Other sponsors of Saturday's event are the U.S. Forest
Service, the Trust for Public Land and the Tahoe City Public
Utilities District.
