Trails Update: June 12, 2026
Waiting for a Tree to Fall
Preparing for this week’s Volunteer Dig Morning made me lose some sleep. There was a massive “hung up” tree over the trail line that needed to be removed before anyone could safely dig in its vicinity. It’s been there since we first started flagging for the trail line in 2023 and I optimistically let nature take its course, expecting a windy storm to get that tree down to the ground. Alas, as the dig day drew closer, we were forced to devise a cutting plan. My training to safely remove such hazard trees highlighted the need for plan A, B and C at each step, and so, I tossed and turned mentally reviewing it all. We packed all the gear and trudged up to the site. Something looked different. The proposed trail path was more “blocked” than a week earlier... The tree had fallen on its own in the last few days! Timing is everything… Ha! We shifted our focus to preparing the line for volunteers by cutting the corridor through the natural mess and pulling stumps. Coastal Culture sponsored our Sunday morning dig and another lengthy strip of orange dirt ribbon was created. “Man this is awesome dirt!” indeed! Benoit and Freddie, who had biked up to the event were all smiles after getting first tracks on the Marmot. A hoard of volunteers went above and beyond by helping us lug out garbage from a squat on route to lunch. So far, over 200 pounds of detritus has been removed for dumping and recycling from that site. Sarah’s “Witsend soup” made it all worthwhile on this chilly day. WORCA members are invited to join us on June 21 for the next digging event: Sign up HERE
Back Forty loose ends (and corners)
We spent this week focusing on some clearing and smoothing of race segments before this weekend’s epic. There is little trail building fame to be gained by raking a logging road, but racers will appreciate the grip on the way up to Tunnel Vision. We trimmed back some vegetation to improve sightlines and opportunities for passing. After a walk through with its builder, About Time got some major armouring and smoothing which should make the OneUp timed descent extra fast. Over on the West side, we patched up a few spots on Pura Vida, including fixing some major holes on the second optional chute even though that feature will be taped off for this weekend’s race. Good Luck to all the racers!
See you on the Trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
