Trails Update: April 30-May 4, 2018
[heading]Spring Maintenance, Closures, Trail Nights, New Trails[/heading]A wordy but important trails and planning update:After a long and active winter we’re starting to finally see the dirt again and also seeing what winters damage has done. This is a very active spring in a number of ways and we’re going to need a lot of understanding and patience from trail users as we work through our priorities.WORCA in conjunction with our community partners will be asking riders to respect all spring seasonal closures on sensitive trails to help protect them from wet conditions damage. Blackcomb will again see spring closures of Microclimate and Dark Crystal until spring melt and seepage has abated. Into the Mystic and Lord of the Squirrels will also have moving closures as the snowline recedes.Respecting these closures is essential in helping the club protect these valuable trail resources, thanks for your help in this! http://www.worca.com/trails/trail-etiquette/The RMOW in conjunction with the Cheakamus Community Forest has a very necessary and ambitious fuel thinning program underway to better protect our community from the threat of wildfires. Trails and access is currently impacted in Alpine Meadows, the Cemetery area, Kadenwood, and in the coming months, Cheakamus Lake Road. More info here.Please obey all closures, signage and any other instruction from crew onsite as there is active clean up, tree falling, slash burning, and other equipment being operated. Trails currently impacted and/or closed are as follows;
- Cat Scratch Fever/Rick’s Roost (Crews still working and burning slash piles, Ricks roost is a muddy mess and we need to re-route the Cat Scratch exit)
- Whip Me Snip Me (currently burning slash piles)
- Big Timber (CLOSED active tree falling)additionally, access to South Side trails via Kadenwood Dr/Microwave Rd will be impacted throughout the spring and early summer, and possibly in the fall as well. (Lower Babylon, Tunnel Vision, Heavy Flow, and Kush/Kashmir will all be affected)
Sproatt Creek blowout and debris flow
There has been a debris flow in Sproatt creek that has taken out the bridges for both "Industrial Disease" and "Industrial Waste". The newer Industrial Waste bridge is not completely lost and we will get it back into place ASAP.The creek is still flowing hard in a new alignment, so the area is probably not stable yet (dangerous). The RMOW crew will help us out with this conundrum in the coming weeks.Trails to avoid: Industrial Disease, Industrial Waste, Pura Vida
Lower Sproatt road re-activation
BC Hydro has re-opened their right of way to perform "vegetation control" under the power lines around the Stonebridge neighbourhood. This new road is very soft and its construction has impacted every trail that interfaces with it.
Is there any good news? Yes!
You can help get our network back up (and better than ever) starting on May 8, our regular Tuesday volunteer trail nights are back and our first mission will be to fix all of the Lower Sproatt connections. (There are 15+ projects) Meet us at 5pm at the yellow gate (where AC/DC comes out)
What else can you do?
- Ride with a handsaw and use it! Stop and clear fallen branches, and don’t be afraid to also stop and clear water drains that get blocked with sticks and leaves! Help us help you!
- Please use the trailforks app to REPORT downed trees at their location. Preferably include a picture -get your bike in the shot for scale- so that we know what size of saw to bring out there.
- Also REPORT when a trail is all-clear! Specifically if you cleared it... that saves the trail crew a redundant trip when we could be fixing other known issues.
Thanks and see you on Tuesdays!Dan RaymondWORCA Trail Crew
Planning update
WORCA is currently in the final stages of referrals for two trail construction authorizations, the Lord of the Squirrels Exit to connect down to Industrial Waste adjacent to the Flank, and Cheakamus Lake Road (Far Out/Flashback) connection and return to the Cheakamus Lake trailhead. We’re excited about both of these projects and are actively working with our Lil’wat, FLNRO, CCF, RMOW and other community partners through this process.Additionally we are excited to be planning some bigger and longer term projects on Sproatt that will continue to build off of Into the Mystic/LOTS and add new exciting trails that will spread out users and provide new opportunities.Stay tuned for updates in the coming months![Best_Wordpress_Gallery id="42" gal_title="Trail Work Update 4 May 2018"]