Trails Update: October 21, 2022

What a summer!

I’m typing this late Friday night because when late October gives you 24 Celsius, you just gotta seize the opportunity! We’ve been working “hybrid” hours this week in order to capitalize on the balmy weather… and Ride our Bikes! The crew has been in full bike commute mode with the Michals even pedalling to work from Cheakamus. Tall Michal had an encounter that made him late one morning but he had a solid explanation: Bear on the Valley Trail. It’s all good! We need to give hungry bears extra space this time of the year.

These have been unprecedented (to me) times for the fire rating to still be EXTREME on Oct 19. Repairing trails that have been pulverized to dust still isn’t an option, so we’ve kept picking away at Salted Caramel. Mmmmm, dessert! De-duffing in the morning and assembling bridges in the afternoon.

Or biking… 

I’ve recently moved to Cheakamus and after a couple of hectic months of packing/moving/unpacking I’ve finally had the chance to explore my new “backyard”. It’s a treat to be able to ride a Jane Lake’s loop after work! That’s the only place with any mushrooms that I’ve seen so far this fall… leftover huckleberries too! I used to live in Emerald so some of the southern trails were really low on my repeat list. 

Something awesome happened this week… I vividly remembered a loonie race (yes they used to be $1), on TRAIL NAME REDACTED, circa 2005. Calling them races was somewhat of a misnomer for me as my pace has always been strictly conversational. On that day, I was distracted from the event/conversation by some flagging tape that led into the forest. I left the course and followed the breadcrumbs hoping to find a new secret trail. I was disappointed yet perplexed to find a half buried SAFE. Yes! A “bank heist” style safe, in the middle of the woods! I was spooked… Could it be booby trapped? “Best I leave it alone for now!” is what I thought at the time.

I told a few friends about it, but they dismissed it as a contraband drop-off spot or “probably empty!” Did I mention I lived in Emerald estates at the time? TRAIL NAME REDACTED has never been a destination trail for me, and so the mysterious safe was quasi forgotten… I sometimes wondered if I had really ever found it in the first place. This was before I had a cell phone so I had no photographic evidence of the “treasure”. 

I specifically went out to search for the safe this week and my memory is perhaps sharper than you’d expect, given my competitive head-injuring, uh, snowboarding history. I found the safe! Sadly (?) someone else found it before me and it lay there… empty… like Al Capone’s vault.

See you on the trails!

Dan Raymond

WORCA Lead Trail Builder