~60 equestrians, mountain bikers and motocycle riders put in a stellar effort at this year's Unified Trail Days to improve Burlington Ridge trails. In many ways, this was the most productive, impressive event yet. Pictures.Volunteers focused on the following:
HALLELUJAH TRAIL: This team cut 100 yards of brand new singletrack right out of Skillman campground. It looked great and will allow riders to avoid Burlington Ridge Road altogether.
EXCELSIOR TRAIL (aka Ghost Train): This group rebuilt several of the steep rutted switchbacks, re-routed a section, built rock walls and and built a completely new switchback. This was fascinating project to work on, as I learned firsthand what it takes to make a switchback work for both motos and mountain bikes. Burlington has plenty of shared use trails that could use work like this, and Excelsior in particular has many sub-ideal switchbacks. My hope is that we can continue to improve these switchbacks so they work for everyone. The Nevada County Woods Riders were FANTASTIC to work with and were very responsive to our input.
SIGNAGE: A third team installed signs at various trailhead in the area. Burlington can be confusing for new users and this effort went a long way in helping solve this problem.
FOOD: The food was unreal this year! Like a catered BBQ but only better. Tri tip (buffalo and beef), several kinds of sausages, salad, macroni, potato sala, drinks, desert, you name it. A big thank you to the NCWR who staged this part of the event.
Mountain bikers represented 11-13 of the volunteers yesterday, so we were underrepresented. My hope is that in future years, different local mtb groups will choose to contribute to this important event that builds our reputation with equestrians and moto users. If you want better trails, action is a lot more effective than talk.
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