Volunteers work to improve Tahoe Rim Trail

The backcountry camp to improve the Tahoe Rim Trail this past weekend was a big success.

"Bill the Ranger" invited Muscle Powered to help with the construction of the Hobart Link Trail, or Bill Champion Trail, and allowed us vehicle access to the Marlette Peak Campground.

The Bill Champion Trail will be an important addition to the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park trail system. Linking Hobart Reservoir to the Tahoe Rim Trail, this new trail will provide a much easier ascent to the trail by bypassing "Sunflower Hill."

With 2,300 feet of trail already completed, Saturday's trail work focused on finishing touches the new trail needed, e.g., maintaining proper tread out-slope, proper radius to maximize the flow of climbing turns, flattening lumpy sections of trail, and removing overhead snags.

We started off Sunday morning with a little more finish work, moving forward in the late morning to constructing new trail. We then set up a fire line, where the first person establishes the line removing the organic layer while the next person takes a little more, and so on until the the last person with the tamp completes the line. This method provides a great feeling of satisfaction, both of teamwork and of accomplishment.

Cliff Bar added a delightful surprise to the weekend by donating three cases of delicious Cliff Crunch Granola Bars. Thank you Cliff Bar!

Thanks also to the Muscle Powered volunteers who donated 90 hours to this project: Jason and Natasha Gardner, Oliver Lieder, Amanda Garcia, Toby Welborn and Jean Bondiett.

We have another backcountry camp scheduled for Sept. 18 and 19. So mark your calendars and come out and join us for a trail building weekend.

• Jeff Potter is a member of the Muscle Powered Board of Directors. Read more of his work at musclepowered.org or bikecarson.com.