Trim it or lose it
Summer growth has been pushing hard to reclaim trail “space”. Vegetation control is exhausting “NOT Instagram worthy” work, but it does come with perks: berries! Almost all the usual berries are lining the trails. Alaskan Blueberries, Purple Huckleberries, Thimble Berries, Bramberries, Salmon Berries (golden ones too) have provided some much needed power ups for these long walks. We’ve dispatched the crew to the South, West and up (way up!). Runaway Train and Social Distancing 1-2 were pretty much impassable! Lord of the Squirrels was overrun with pretty Ferns and spiky Devil’s Club. All of the lower west side powerline sections and A River Runs Through It also got a cut. All this trimming should help riders avoid a “close encounter of the Bear kind”.
Why is the ground buzzing?
We had a great turnout of motivated volunteer diggers for a mid-week, mid-day session this week! I guess everyone “called in sick” to help us get Creamsicle Rainbow back on the map. Ironically, the dig session was sponsored by Trailforks who brought a work crew that included the popular app’s founder: Trevor May. You might be asking: “Is the trail done?” …Mother nature (and our survival instincts) did not let us pull off a second ribbon cutting in as many weeks: WASPS are out! Volunteers discovered 2 ground nests in the planned construction line on top of 2 more along the ready to ride sections of trail! We mostly got away unscathed… only one volunteer got stung. So, we’re left with only 2 mossy bits of trail left unfinished. Let’s hope a bear gets a spicy protein craving soon! We’ll be hosting more trail nights on the trail for capping and finishing work in September (fingers crossed for some rain!)
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
