![]() It travels through two states, and three wilderness areas, and takes you through a wide variety of ecosystems. The 170-mile-long Tahoe Rim Trail is the heart of Lake Tahoe’s extensive trail system. © 2012 by - This material and format is copyrighted, and permission from the author is necessary for commercial use.Tahoe Rim Trail - image: courtesy of Tim Hauserman Photo #3: At the end of the work week, loggers were always in a hurry to hit the saloons and brothels of Virginia City. Photo #2: Harper's Weekly sketch of riding a flume Photo #1: Cyclist (Larry from Philly) gazes down to Sand Harbor from Tahoe Flume Trail. Reporter Ramsdell was able to write a good story, but his main satisfaction came from the fact that his wealthy hosts were so battered and sore, they could not get out of bed the next day. The tangled confusion of splintered wood and terrified men slid fifteen miles in just 35 minutes, scaring the daylight out them but saving themselves a whole day of traveling by horse-drawn carriage. The rest of the men hung on for dear life. This second craft crashed into the first and Flood was thrown into the rushing water. Meanwhile the second boat was making better time. The trestle was 70 feet high in some places, and since Ramsdell was lying down, he could see only the aerial flume stretching for miles ahead. When the terrified reporter opened his eyes, they were already streaking down the mountainside. The first boat was lowered and suddenly they were off. The 200-pound reporter could not believe what he was hearing, but he thought, "…if men worth 25 to 30 million dollars apiece could afford to risk their lives, I could afford to risk mine." Hog troughs were crude boats, V-shaped like the flume and sixteen feet long. "I preferred to view the flume, in active working, from a distance."Īfter Ramsdell returned to the main group, Flood and Fair challenged the journalist to join them in a trip down the flume by hog trough. "It was like the rushing herd of buffalo," he wrote. Once there, Ramsdell climbed to the top of the trestle work to see the huge logs roar down the flume. The four men left in two buggies, crossed Washoe Valley, and headed for the timber country north of Tahoe. Joining them on the trip was John Hereford, the contractor who had built the big flume. ![]() Two days later, Ramsdell met with wealthy moguls James Fair and James Flood in Virginia City. While Ramsdell toured the various operations, mining magnate John Mackay suggested a visit to the Bonanza V flume. He got more of a story than he bargained for. York Tribune reporter, was assigned to Virginia City to report on the Comstock activities. In 1875, an East Coast newspaperman was treated to the trip of a lifetime. High elaborate trestles supported the flume down inaccessible canyons and across steep-sided chasms, moving the timber quickly and cheaply down the mountainside. The long, winding flumes were built tight enough to hold water and strong enough to carry heavy logs up to forty feet long. Shaped like the letter "V" this innovative flume was rigged to move timber efficiently down from the upper slopes of the Carson Range to the valley floor where it could be hauled to the bustling Comstock mines. Haines built the first "V flume" in Nevada in 1869. Although a ride along the Flume Trail can stir the heart, the real excitement associated with flumes ended more than a century ago. It challenges the courage and endurance of adventuresome cyclists. Littered with wooden planks from a 19 th century water flume, this narrow pathway hugs the steep west slope of the Carson range. Every summer, mountain bikers flock to Lake Tahoe's East Shore, eager to ride the old Flume Trail.
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