Trails Update: June 25, 2021
Monday bites
Monday's commute started off with a literal boost: Andreas showed up with cases of rocket fuel for the crew (courtesy of clif bar). The extra fuel would come in handy for this week's massive vertical trek: up to Lord of the Squirrels.
Our main objective was to upgrade the climbing sections. These short segments had become arguably the most challenging parts of the experience. Full benching and armouring over root balls has hit the mark.
Of course, there’s always drain clearing and rut armouring but we also put some leftover cedar to good use: bridging a seasonal pond.
Working near the snow line meant the black flies were stoked to see us! As were the red ants: I’ve been itchy all week! Gotta stop eating at that particular viewpoint...
Tuesdays are for the bears…
Darren was the first to spot a bear as we crested the “first” viewpoint. It was a cute medium sized bear. It was destroying a log to get after some insects, making quite a ruckus. I felt it was best to shoo the bear away from the trail since the rest of the crew were about to roll into the scene.
“Shoo bear.”
And it went on its way… up the trail.
We now had a traffic jam on our hands.
The bear did some jaw clacking and started up a tree, changing it’s mind just a few feet up.
“Be a good bear and be on your way…”
The bear moaned a little and I just naturally moaned back. (I react the same way with birds and squirrels). We conversed for a bit, then it waddled into a wet spot renowned for its July salmonberries. It ate anything green in the patch: the salmonberry leaves, skunk cabbage shoots and even devil’s club (very nasty stuff!). This was truly astonishing to watch: It would bite off the spikey leaves, spit them out and chomp one mouthful of the thorny stalk. Step over to the next plant and repeat the pattern with impressive rhythm.
Now that the bear was “relaxed” and busy eating, we carried our bikes through the woods to give the bear as much space as possible.
I called the rest of the crew to fill them in on the bear situation. When the second wave of builders rolled up, they also saw a cub… turns out it was a “she” bear!
I still feel that meeting a bear is magical, but we must be prepared: make sure you brush up on your bear smarts before heading into the woods of whistler.
Wednesday birds
Since it looked like the fire rating was about to shoot up, part of the crew stayed in the valley to brush cut the vegetation on the trails near lower Sproatt.
I headed up to LOTS again with Renee and Darren to finish this week’s projects. During the previous day’s bear encounter, I noticed the distressed calls of Dark-eyed Junco parents trying to lure intruders away from their nest… It was easy to find when I biked in quietly: the parent flew out of the nest as I approached. I snapped a picture of the chicks and moved on. They looked hungry!
For those of you wondering: Despite this crazy heat, LESS won’t be open until at least July 1st. As you can see in the pics, the snow is still 6 feet deep in places (6 ft tall Zander in the shots for scale) and the saturated trail will need some time to dry. Please be patient.
Tuesday. Every week!
Dig nights are getting full catering now! Beyond the traditional beer and chips, last week burgers were served to the hungry horde of diggers. Huge props to Cascade Environmental for a second helping of Tuesday support. Thanks Todd!
Next week Forecast Coffee will sponsor the event and please sign up here!
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
