Trails Update: June 9, 2023
NATURE CLASS
It was carpentry week at the Whistler Adventure School and so the students learned to prepare and assemble bridges. The classroom was “Salted Caramel” where the existing features showcased a wide variety of framing techniques. After learning to peel the bark off Western Red Cedar (to improve the longevity of the structures), we spent some time trying to deconstruct round logs into perfect trapezoids (making bridge decking). At lunch, we sat down on buckets and logs to eat and debriefed the morning’s activities:
Mariana: “Peeling was so fun, and easy!”
Jose: ”I can’t believe It only took 2 minutes”
Matt: “Splitting is really zen-like”
Ben: ”Why are there so many knots in the logs?”
Dan: Eeeeeeeeeek! That’s NOT a Black Bear!
The animal had crested the slope, 10 metres away from us. The cute, rounded face and ears startled me mid sandwich. The bear responded with a guttural growl as it turned to show off its distinctive hump.
“Everyone get close together!”
The bear quickly realized it was outnumbered and retreated back down the road. I reached for the big chainsaw (instead of my phone!) and let it roar. The bear was then spotted sprinting into the Three Birds trail.
I called one of our local grizzly experts to report the sighting. He told me the conservation officers were already dealing with another grizzly at Rainbow Park…
The trail crew followed suit with the carpentry theme repairing bridges on Garbage before completing the adventure school student’s projects.
ALPINE CHECK
Knowing the grizzlies were hanging out in the valley to spectate some sort of running event, we took the opportunity to check out conditions and clear trees further up Sproatt. We made it up Mystic to LESS before hitting snow and needed snowshoes at 1500m going up Lord of the Squirrels. We cleared all the fallen trees, yet there’s still a fair bit of “branchy” debris on the entire mountain. Nonetheless, Lower Mystic to LESS is open for the season!
DUSTY OUT THERE
Please respect the trail closed signs and stay off of the freshly built section of Flashback. It’s a construction site without an exit connection and bridges are yet to be assembled. Volunteers moved a lot of dirt that has yet to cement… it needs lots of rain!
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
