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3 Let’s All Get Along: A Trail for Everyone

The goal of the Tahoe Rim Trail Association is for all users to safely use and enjoy the trail while working to maintain and protect it. It is important that all trail users pleasantly coexist. Doing so comes down to understanding and being courteous to one another, and through recognizing that we are all out there to have fun. Hikers affect the Tahoe Rim Trail less than mountain bikers do. Although horse traffic has the greatest effect on the quality of the trail, there are far fewer horseback riders than other trail users. The only way to make sure that relations between the user groups improve and that the TRT is maintained is for users to follow some simple rules.

Rules for Mountain Bikers

When the Tahoe Rim Trail was first constructed, hiking and horseback riding were allowed, but mountain biking was prohibited on the entire trail. As opposition to mountain bike use declined and the numbers of riders increased, much more of the trail has been opened to bikers. Where bikes are allowed, bike riders are often the major trail users. Now you can ride a mountain bike on over half the trail.

While people both hike and ride, there can still be tension between the different types of trail users. Since mountain bikers have become major trail users and bike use continues to be controversial in some eyes, mountain bikers should make an extra effort to be courteous and sensitive to the environment by remaining on the maintained trails. They should urge friends and others that they meet to do so as well.

Cycling is a legitimate use of backcountry trails, but there are responsibilities that all bikers are expected to assume. Hikers have complained about encountering bikers on sections of the trail closed to biking, while many hikers, trail runners, or horseback riders have been surprised or threatened by bikers speeding past.

The Tahoe Rim Trail Association has published the Dirt Users’ Hints, the rules of the trail for bikers (see sidebar).

Dirt Users’ Hints

Preserve the Dirt

Skidding destroys trails. Learn to use both brakes like the pros.

Stay on the trail! Deadfall trees? Snowbanks? Hurdle them—you’re tough.

Stay in the center of the trail. Preserve a single-track trail as a single track.

Yes, you do need written approval from the controlling land agency to build your dream trail.

Join multiuse maintenance crews. Help preserve the trail’s integrity.

Respect Other Users

Pass others at a socially acceptable velocity—for them!

Ring a bell, smile, and say hello.

Horses think you want to eat them. Act accordingly; wait on the lower side of the trail.

Wear a helmet, or others will have to drag your corpse back to your loved ones.

Ride only open trails. Remember the PCT, wilderness areas, and several other portions of the Tahoe Rim Trail are closed to bikes. You need to know if the portion of trail you want to bike on is open to bikes.

Leave nothing of your presence behind. That includes trash, skid trenches, and off-trail tracks.

Hikers Take Note

In recent years, mountain bikers have taken great strides toward more environmentally and socially sensitive use of the trails. It is also the responsibility of hikers to make an extra effort to get along with other trail users. If hikers use common sense and follow the basic rules of courtesy, everyone will benefit and more fully enjoy the trail. If hikers don’t reciprocate, they may turn into the dreaded inconsiderate backcountry blockhead (see sidebar). Don’t let this happen to you!

Mountain bikers heading toward Watson Lake: Note the forest fire in the distance.

Sharing the Trail with Horses

While horseback riding can cause more damage to trails than any other use, equestrians account for a smaller percentage of trail users. Many equestrians, too, are actively involved in trail maintenance and construction. In my experience, horseback riders are courteous and willing to work with other users to share the trails.

Depending on individual circumstances and as a practical matter, all users should yield to each other. In general, hikers should yield to horses, while mountain bikers must yield to both hikers and horses: In other words, horses have the right-of-way on the trail. In the mid-1990s an article appeared in the Tahoe Rim Trail newsletter written by Sonja Willits, a woman with years of experience riding horses on Sierra trails. Willits did a good job of explaining trail use from the horse’s point of view. With her permission, I’ve summarized the main points below.

 A horse believes that everything will eat it until proven otherwise. The first instinct of many horses is to run away, which can endanger both horse and rider, as well as anyone in the flight path who could get trampled or knocked off the trail. It is the job of all humans—equestrians, hikers, and mountain bikers—to assure the horse that no harm is intended.

 When you are approaching a horse from behind, be sure to talk to the rider. Talking calmly lets the horse know that you are not something that will hurt it. A bike that comes speeding up from behind a horse can severely frighten it. Be particularly cautious when rounding blind corners—horse riders often can’t hear you coming.

 When you see a horse coming toward you on the trail, talk to the rider. Again, this soothes the horse and assures it that you are not a threat.

 When approaching a horse going down a hill, pull over to the downhill slope of the trail and allow it to pass. Spooked horses often want to go uphill.

 If you are in a group of more than one biker or hiker, encourage everyone to move to the same side of the trail when you encounter horses. Horses can feel trapped between you if you are standing on either side of the trail. An entrapped horse is not a good thing.

 Wait to change clothes, repack your backpack, or make any sudden moves until the horses have passed. While you are stopped, waiting for a horse to go by, it may seem perfectly fine to take off a shirt or rearrange things. As far as the horse is concerned, your movement and changed appearance may add to its feelings of being threatened.

Most horseback riders will move off the trail when it is easy for them to do so. They don’t expect hikers and bike riders to give way all the time, particularly when the trail is especially narrow or precarious. However, it is the job of bike riders and hikers to step to the side first, and it is important to have a basic understanding of horse and rider psychology in order to be a conscientious sharer of the trail.

Tim’s Quick Tips for How to Be an Inconsiderate Backcountry Blockhead

Make a lot of noise.

While people are relaxing and enjoying the quiet at a mountain lake, yell at your friends on the other side.

Let your dogs bark; when they take a swim, let them shake off on people you don’t know.

While you are walking along on the trail, talk loudly so that everyone within a half mile can hear you.

If you are camping, make lots of noise late at night and again early in the morning. When you are in the quiet woods, it’s party time!

Loud stereos especially appeal to your average nature lover.

Camp or sit close to other people. When you encounter a solitary person at a beautiful mountain lake, they obviously need some companionship and nonstop chatter.

Don’t worry about your garbage; someone else will pick it up. Anyway, it should biodegrade in a couple thousand years. Leave things in your campsite so that everyone knows you were there. It’s a way to mark the good spots.

Stay on the trail in people’s way when they are trying to get by. If people are riding up a hill, stand in their way so that they have to get off their bikes; they will enjoy struggling to get back in their pedals on a steep hill.

When you are walking or riding along the trail, ignore someone else who wants to pass. What’s the hurry?

Wash your dishes and clean your fish in streams and lakes. Fish thrive on detergent and consider bits of processed cheese great delicacies.

Feed the animals. That way you help train them to get food from the next hiker who comes along. Backpackers get to practice the art of keeping animals out of their packs in the middle of the night. You can train some chipmunks and squirrels so well that they will practically jump into your lap to get a snack. While they can carry bubonic plague, the risk is a small price for well-trained squirrels.

Leaving food out at night for bears is even more fun. The sound of a bear rampaging through your camp gives you a better rush than a double espresso.