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November 2024
News From the Trail |
| |  | I have a very adventurous nephew who lives in SLC. We met last year and had a bike-packing adventure with his dog Buck and his two-year-old son Johnny; see the September 2023 newsletter for a recap.
We met again this October when Utah schools were on fall break, as Al is a teacher. The trip was planned, gear was laid out and a few days before we were to meet at Cathedral Gorge State Park, the weather looked very uninviting. No problem, we would head further south towards St. George, and Al put together another route for us. We met as scheduled and stayed in cabins while we did the final packing onto the bikes. The next morning, we got up to hit the trail. Funny how the weather can look so promising one day and then take a bad turn the next day! We woke up to snow falling and winds howling with 30 mph gusts! Not my kind of biking weather. Plans changed again and again. We were met with two days of howling winds and very cold temperatures.
Finally, the next morning showed promise, and the winds had settled down with some sunshine peeking through the clouds. It was time to get on those fully loaded bikes. We only had one night left!
Did I mention my nephew likes adventure? His route took us up an 18-mile climb on a dirt road outside of Veyo, Utah. What was he thinking, right? About a mile up, with him pulling a trailer with a chubby dog and a 3-year-old child in a seat up front, we decided this was not how we wanted to spend our last day and probably into the night.
Our trip was modified a fourth or fifth time; I had lost count at this point! We quickly looked at Ride with GPS and saw a route that filled our need for seeing beautiful country and a one-night camping adventure! Down the hill we rode to follow our new destination. Thirty miles later, we were setting up camp at a very nice campground outside of Santa Clara, Utah. We rode paved back roads and paths that took us through farmland and gently rolling hills with minimal traffic and lovely views. Our campsite was in a beautiful new resort for RVs with a few nice patches of grass for tents. Not quite communing with nature but the night sky was still spectacular.
Our route back took us through Snow Canyon State Park. Next time you are in Southern Utah, check it out. It’s gorgeous and has a nice paved bike path through most of it. Nice camping if you plan in advance!
Because of the weather, we changed locations; our ride turned into two days instead of three, but we had an amazing trip. The weather was beautiful, the route spectacular, and it was safe and fun for all. At the end of our trip, we both agreed that the route we found ourselves on was perfect! The moral of the story: plan and set expectations knowing that flexibility has to be part of it too.
I can’t wait to see what next year’s adventure will be! |
| ~ Mary Beth Roselli, Chair of the TPT Board |
| |  | A New Beginning and an End-to End Ride |
| When Janet was ill, I offered to take the position as Board Chair for two years, which I knew would be a new beginning as well as a critical transition period for the TPT. We were fortunate to have a very strong Board that remained active and six months later, as planned, our Board hired an Executive Director (ED), Mark Cameron. Mark continues in this capacity and while I will remain on the Board, my time as Chair will end this December.
Mark pitched an idea to me that the outgoing and incoming Board Chairs accompanied by the ED should attempt to ride the TPT from Tahoe City to Vista in Sparks, the longest continuous portion of the Trail. The ride would represent the change of Chair leadership and the TPTs next transition. We hoped that Chris Askin, the incoming Board Chair, would be able to join us but due to his schedule, it wasn’t in the cards. Perhaps Mark and Chris can plan a ride in the spring.
Our day started where it would end. Mark and I met Bill vonPhul, our long-time board member, at Larkin Circle in Sparks where we loaded up our bikes and Bill shuttled us up to Tahoe City and we dipped our tires in Lake Tahoe and began our day following the Truckee River downstream. Mark and I have both ridden all of the many different sections of the trail, but neither of us had ever undertaken the full 60 miles in one “sitting”. We both road mountain bikes and knew it would be a long day in the saddle. Mark estimated 5 continuous hours of riding, and I was betting on 6. It ended up being closer to 8 hours, including our frequent stops to take photos, make notes about trail conditions, taking a break for lunch and then later at Brewers Cabinet near Mayberry Park, stopping for a beer which is a long story for another time. Ultimately thanks to the brewers (of the beer), we enjoyed a nice adult beverage together before moving on.
As I mentioned, Mark took notes on the trail conditions and I took photos of the trail along the way, a good collaboration! We had a chance to talk with some people we met along the way. We took in the temperate fall weather, warming sunshine and majestic views. We took time to sit on benches that have been installed along the route in memory of some of our finest supporters, and we even dispersed some of Janet’s ashes along the way. It was an amazing day that gave us a chance to appreciate and acknowledge the individuals who worked so hard to build and financially support the trail through some very harsh and beautiful landscapes!
Thank you, Mark for coming up with this wonderful idea. It has been a pleasure working alongside you at board meetings, conducting trail maintenance, riding trail sections with our donors, and now, I can proudly say I’ve completed 60 continuous miles of the TPT in one glorious day! |
| ~ Mary Beth Roselli, Chair of the TPT Board and Mark Cameron, Executive Director of the TPT |
|  | | Photo Contest — Deadline Extended to November 15th!! |
|  | ~ Photo by Heidi Littenberg |
| The weather is still beautiful out on the trail, and the photos have been amazing! You can still submit your photos until November 15th.
Here are the rules again:
Please submit your entries to info@tahoepyramidtrail.org. *Photos need to be taken on the TPT *Enter only two in each category (listed below). JPEG is the preferred format. *When submitting, please reference the location and the month & year that the picture was taken *You also need to agree that we can use the photos, with proper credit *They may also be published throughout the year on social media posts *Submitting photos assumes agreement with these guidelines
The categories are: *Landscape *People *Bikes *Flora/Fauna
*** Submit your photos by November 15, 2024! **** |
| | Have you seen our mural along Plumas Street? |
|  | | The Tahoe-Pyramid Trail stores all of our trail maintenance tools in a 40-foot shipping container located on Plumas Street, on Washoe County property between the Reno Tennis Center and the Washoe Golf Course. The broad side faces Plumas Street, and a big shipping container is not very attractive. It became truly ugly, however, last April when taggers sprayed graffiti all over the side facing Plumas; it was not artfully done. Black paint was more or less randomly sprayed making an unintelligible mess. We filed an online police report not expecting any real response, but surprisingly it triggered a paint-over compliments of the City of Reno. The paint they used was a dull brown far from the light tan on the other three sides. Better, but still ugly.
Taggers don’t usually deface a nicely done mural, so we asked the City Arts & Culture Director, Megan Berner, for advice on creating some attractive public art. Megan sent us dozens of images of art commissioned by the city along with the names of the artists. We were particularly impressed with the work of a local muralist specializing in critters in their natural habitat. Her name is Kendel Leslie, owner of Lupine Raven Artworks. After reviewing Kendel’s preliminary sketches and making some suggestions, we commissioned her to create a mural on the side of our shipping container. She finished the mural on October 26th and it’s well worth driving by for a good look.
Our shipping container is now a gorgeous piece of public art that will certainly give us great exposure in the community. Thank you, Kendel, for your beautiful creation and support of the TPT and public art in our community! |
| ~ Bill von Phul, TPT Board Member |
| |  | | Most of you who read our newsletters are well aware of Janet Phillips and her tireless work as founder and creator of the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail (TPT). For 20 years, it was her steadfast and singular determination that nurtured a vision into a reality; to build a trail along the Truckee River from its headwaters at Lake Tahoe to its terminus at Pyramid Lake. At present, the Trail is 81% complete.
Many of you also know that Janet worked with the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada to set up an endowment for the TPT, a fund that would lay a fiscal foundation for the future to help support the organizational operations. Before her passing, Janet directed the bulk of her estate to the TPT Endowment Fund in order to move the organization closer to the Board’s goal of building an endowment valued at $10 million dollars or more. We aren’t there yet but are gaining momentum every year toward this goal thanks to our many legacy supporters.
Recently, we realized Janet’s last act of fiscal devotion to her vision. In addition to her investment portfolio, Janet left her house to the TPT and for nearly two years, the Board used the property as our base of operations; we continued to store trail equipment and held regular meetings there. However, given the current strength of the housing market, the Board recently voted to sell the property in order to realize additional support for the completion of Janet’s vision.
To sell the property, the TPT reached out to a local realtor, Alan Hoffman, owner of HomeGate Reality of Nevada in Reno. Alan, a friend of the Trail, agreed to list and sell the property without taking a commission on the listing side of the sale. Alan’s dedicated team at HomeGate provided their support to prepare the property for listing by making arrangements for property inspections and repairs and holding an estate sale. For these efforts, the TPT paid only a small administration fee. As expected in the current market, Janet’s house sold quickly, and the proceeds are now growing in investment accounts. The TPT is very grateful for Alan’s support and generosity which has helped to ensure that the bulk of the proceeds from the sale will be available to continue Janet’s vision by helping to fund yet-to-be-built sections of the TPT in the future.
At present, the TPT is working with the Nevada Department of Transportation using grant funding to conduct a feasibility study that will identify the best routes to build the remaining sections of the trail, via an alternative transportation network, from east Sparks to Wadsworth with a trail spur to Fernley. The funds from the sale of Janet’s house can be used as seed money for the construction of the routes identified in the feasibility study, but we will need a lot more.
In you have an interest in or know anybody who has an interest in helping the TPT complete the realization of Janet’s vision by leveraging your estate, your professional experience, or by giving in other ways, please reach out to Executive Director, Mark Cameron at mcameron@tptrail.org or the Chair of our Fundraising Committee, Chris Askin at caskin@tptrail.org. |
| ~ Mark Cameron, TPT Executive Director |
| |  | | Another Wonderful Ride the Rez for 2024! |
| Thank you to all the riders from Reno-Tahoe Pedalers and others that joined us for the annual Ride the Rez on October 20th. A special thank you to Randy and Amy Collins for leading the ride and Bill von Phul and Marie Norell for providing support. What a beautiful day to enjoy the beauty of the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation managed by the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. We appreciate your support and efforts to help us continue the vision of the TPT! |
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