One day this coming weekend (18th or 19th) I am going with a buddy to walk the Spider Lake Trail System. We have every intention of removing any trail debris including down trees that need to be cut with a saw. If anyone wants to give me a heads up as to where there are any downed trees, please post them here and we will get to them. I know of at least one one on Inner Piece and at least three on Mississippi and that was before it blew so hard Saturday night.
We don’t plan to build or alter or tear down anything. We simply are going to open up the trail where the trees have been blown down and cannot be lifted off.
We are also going to dig a trench and drain that huge puddle at the end of MIssissippi. We call this Lake MIssissippi and it is always full no matter the time of year. There is quite a fall off in the terrain right along side of it so with a little pick action we should be able to drain it away pretty efficiently and hopefully for good.
This will be the only “change” we make to the trails so those of you who pm’d a little concerned, need not worry. We are not harming the trails in any way. Just making them even more awesome.
Three of us ended up on our trail maintenance hike. We walked the whole trail system except for Skull. We just ran out of time. We headed out at 9and didn’t arrive back to our vehicles until 1:30. All in all I think we did 12 trees. The biggest one was at the start of the Love of Ribbon.
Here are a few photos. The trails should be 100% passable now. It was incredibly soggy though. NO ONE SHOULD BE RIDING THESE TRAILS RIGHT NOW!!
Awesome, but I feel it’s irresponsible to be doing maintenance with a power saw without the proper safety gear. Especially a trail on private land that the MTB community is trying to get official and legal. Landowners want to see commitments to safety for legal reasons unfortunately, and that goes beyond trail building standards and removing unsafe structures.
I just went through a ‘Risk Management Plan’ discussion with the WHTA and among other things to do with trail maintenance we determined that no one would be using a power saw on the trails without proof of training and the proper gear so if an accident does happen it doesn’t jeopardize landowner agreements, trail insurance ect. due to negligence. I know it’s lame and bureaucratic but whatever.
Maybe these opinions should be made before the fact rather than after. I could have gladly saved myself and my buddies many hours work, a 15km hike and a sore back that had me on the couch all day yesterday unable to move.
This is the second time I have done a lot of work at Spider (I manufactured and hung over $1000 worth of trail signs) only to be told after the fact “Thanks for doing but i wish you didn’t”.
Perhaps next time you could speak up a little earlier as I posted my plans here at least a few days in advance. You do realize we didn’t do this the trails were completely impassable? I would like to know who would have done this work if we didn’t?
I realize exactly what you are saying about safety but I am tired of all the bureaucratic bullshit involved in this stuff. Some of the maintenance work done was on land not owned by the Water commission or whoever but rather on land owned by Jim Oickle. I know Jim very well (first cousin) and he knows we ride on his land. He knows we maintain it and he knew I was there using a chainsaw on Saturday.
I will stop typing now because I will just sound like a whining lunatic. I just did my last bit of trail maintenance. I will enjoy riding them though and leaving the work to someone else
There is way too much red tape when it comes to life in general now, especially when it comes to trail work and events. There is a reason I haven’t organized anything big in a few years. I have the desire, but then remember the bullshit. I realize to keep our trails, we ultimately have to play the game.
In saying that, we need people to maintain and build trails. Yes, it would be best if all things could be completely legitimate, but often there are agreements made with handshakes, over a beer, or things that are just overlooked in the interest of the common good.
There are pros and cons to both approaches. I applaud the efforts of all trail builders/maintainers who work on legitimizing trails and those who allow me to ride through their significant immediate efforts on the ground level. I’m sure common ground can be reached in every situation, after all we are all working towards the same goal.
Muddy, don’t get me wrong I’m not hating on your contributions, like you said it would be impassable otherwise and that sucks.
I totally understand the frustrations, I’m working on a 15+ page document to develop a trail I already ride, it’s could be a year or two before any significant action takes place, pending approvals/agreements/consultations with a few groups of people. Ignoring all that I could cut the whole thing myself this spring and be riding sweet trail all summer.
It’s just a game you have to play if you’re going to be public about your actions when it’s not your land.
I am not looking for any recognition at all. There are A Lot of people in the mountain bike community who do a lot more work than I do, including many on this web site. They deserve all the praise and thanks.
I am just frustrated that I always let my intention be known a few days in advance and no one says anything. Then I start getting slapped on the wrist after the fact. If I am doing something wrong please speak up beforehand and I will respect whatever the issue is.
I realize in this world we live in that there will always be those that try and get stuff done through the proper bureaucratic channels… those that think regulation and policy will fix all. Then there are those of us that just do what needs to get done to the best of our abilities.
To be honest, I looked into “legitimizing” the Cobequid Trails by getting into agreements with various gov. departments and having the land protected. The advice I was given by the bureaucrats I was talking to was just do and enjoy what you are doing, otherwise you are in for a world of red tape to accomplish anything, if at all.
Muddy, please don’t stop contributing, just take this simple advice… it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.
I know this will stick in the craw of those that are trying to get ‘legit’ trails… but mostly all trails are guerilla in nature. There’s a certain satisfaction to many of us in that…
