Winter Continues! Links for rainy days...

"Where have YOU been?" you might ask. Well. I have been out-and-about, I might answer. For the end of January and all of February, I was on vacation--some friends and I did a 29-day river trip through Grand Canyon and had suprisingly good weather. I try to escape Humboldt each February to get a break from what can often be one of our rainiest months. When I returned in March, I immediately set out to work with IMBA's Joey Klein.

Joey designs and builds mountain bike trails full-time. He is the expert. You may be wondering about the Wilderness Act's prohibition on mechanized transport. It is true that bicycles are not allowed within the King Range Wilderness. Areas outside of designated wilderness but still within the boundaries of King Range National Conservation Area are, though, ripe with potential for mountain bike trails. Over the last several years, BLM staff and Joey have worked together to construct a 14-mile loop called Paradise Royale which is designed with mountain bikes in mind. Now, I'm working with Joey on an additional eight miles of trail which will connect the Paradise Royale with the pavement at Shelter Cove Road. Click here to learn more about the mountain bike trails project, which is intended to replace mountain biking opportunities lost due to wilderness designation.

So I have been crashing through the bushes with a GPS and a clinometer for much of March. I am excited to get construction underway on the new trail. I am ALSO excited to be getting back into the King Range Backcountry in April.

I hiked from Lightning and then down Rattlesnake Ridge Trail to Big Flat during Spring Break. There are quite a few trees down on upland trails and the creeks are still high. Weather is fickle and the poison oak is finally blooming. It is a real wilderness out there, but the trails are passable.

In the coming weeks, I will begin scheduling trail crews and volunteer workers to put our trails and camps in order for the summer season. See you on the trail!