Trails Update: May 29, 2020
Significant experiences
I remember it vaguely well.
“It’s hard to get to, but soooo worth it!
”Before maps, GPS, guided tours, trailforks and -UGH- “influencers”. There were only 2 ways to find a new trail: You randomly stumbled upon the entrance (or exit) and let curiosity take over OR a friend deemed you worthy of introduction. Trail culture at the time was more “SHOW, don’t tell!
”My friend Keith offered to take me to a new ribbon through the woods worth repeating.
Mind you in the early 2000’s every trail was high on the repeat list: there still weren’t that many trails in town… that I knew of anyways.
“There’s a trail up there?” (the upper westside was a blank canvas at the time)
I don’t remember if we went the steep (rainbow) or long way (function). It was a hot day and Keith was an uphill machine.
“This is the spot”
We battled some alder and huckleberry bushes until we reached a broken CD nailed to a tree.
“Ok, get ready to have some fun!”
I blindly dropped in right behind Keith’s Giant NRS -seatpost at full mast!- as a blur of big trees, waterfalls and granite slabs ingrained in me a new sense of what a trail experience could be.
The album nailed to the tree was “Cheap Thrills” by Frank Zappa.
More like “Significant Experience” if you ask me!
Thank you Eric Barry for creating Cheap Thrills (the trail). It’s still one of my favorites and I’ve shown your genius to many friends. Turns out the steep north route was my prefered price of entry… despite the nemesis pitches. The forest and viewpoints kept me going back for more.
Later, I was lucky to be hired and mentored by Eric for the RMOW trail crew. We built Darwin’s together through terrain deemed “unbuildable” by our supervisor. We broke ground and rushed to a “point of no return” before Randy (another Frank Zappa aficionado) could come up to see what we were up to...
Now THAT was a cheap thrill!
Last week, the trail crew upgraded some woodwork on this Whistler gem. We’re not quite done in there though. It’s an expert trail so expect narrow bridges… all part of the experience.
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
