Long Lake Connector Trail - FINISHED

The SBTS trail crew completed the Long Lake Connector Trail before old man winter had a chance to blast a deep blanket of snow across the Sierra. The trail is located in the Lakes Basin Recreation Area, Plumas National Forest. Restoration work began in Summer of 2009 when SBTS received grant funding from the Plumas County RAC, using Title II funds. The project focused on making the trail more sustainable and protecting the nearby watershed. Work consisted of widening the trail to 30”, removing root wads and brush, installing rolling dips and drains, constructing rock walls and steps, drilling and blasting large obstructing rocks, and off-sloping the tread to 2%. The majority of trail work was finished in Fall of 2009, however a quarter mile section of steep and heavily eroded tread would require a realignment. As part of the realignment process, the Beckwourth Ranger District conducted a NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) study to make sure that no resources would be harmed with the proposed alignment. The study required “specialists” (archaeology, hydrology, botany, wildlife) to conduct site visits and provide input to the project. The NEPA was finally completed the first week of October 2010. The SBTS trail crew began work that same week, knowing that a major snowstorm could shut us down. To help get us jump started, twelve great people from Patagonia in Reno, NV came out to lend a hand. The team worked alongside our crew for the entire day; clearing deadfall, removing brush and constructing a section of new tread. Most of the Patagonia folks had never been to the Lakes Basin, but were willing to pitch in and sweat for a good cause. The group loved the trail so much, they decided to adopt the trail by raising $500 amongst themselves and having Patagonia match their funds with another $500. This is an annual commitment and will guarantee the long-term maintenance of Long Lake Connector Trail. Thanks Patagonia People! The realignment required a ton of drilling (48 hours), blasting (24 charges) and shear grit to get through the rock fields, which were hidden by the tall and extremely thick Manzanita brush. When the route was initially flagged we were walking on the tops of the Manzanita and we could see SOME rocks below, but had no idea of what we were up against until the brush was cleared from the corridor. Thankfully we have high tech equipment to make the work a little easier- the Pionjar and Magnum Buster were key to the success of this project, along with good old sweat and tears and a couple digging bars. Towards the end of the project the temperatures were in the teens and we were getting snowed on almost everyday, which made working with steal digging bars and removing ice-cold rocks from frozen ground a bit torturous on the knuckles, but we got it done and now Long Lake Trail is one of the gems of the Lakes Basin.