Trails Update: October 2, 2026
My Bad! I think?
If you repeat a lie often enough, does it become the truth? For example: On Blackcomb, how did “The Curl” become known as “Lone Pine”?... In 2019, when we redesigned a trail that was impacted by forestry work, I ordered trail sign placards for the new posts. I (think that I) misspelled the name of a trail. I blamed a recent trip to Hawaii and my friendly demeanor for the simple “HI HI” misunderstanding. I was called out for my obvious mistake: “It connects HIGH Side to HIGH Line!”. I promised that new placards would be made in the next sign order (roughly every 2 years!). Changing a single placard was a pretty low priority task, and so the correction worked its way down the to-do list. I’ve recently received another order of placards from Cutting Edge Signs which prompted a cleanup of our signage box… near the bottom, I rediscovered “High High”. After updating trailforks, and replacing the signs, I was re-corrected… “It’s always been Hi Hi!”
“We’ll just take the big horse”- Gary Larson (The Far Side)
Over the last few weeks, the crew has been tinkering away at upgrades to the Farout- Flashback Adaptive-mtb loop. While some bits of trail needed light adjustments to meet the A-mtb standard, others needed a full overhaul to get the required 4 foot of clear tread. For Flashback 2, removing large trees in the already thinned forest and circumnavigating bedrock ridges made a tall task that would have significantly altered the trail’s flavor. On advice from the WORCA trails committee, we opted to bypass the problem areas. The volunteers that helped build Flashback 3, 4 and 5 remember how much effort was needed to make a 4 foot wide trail by hand… so we got the trail crew some slapping shovels, hard rakes and a big horse for a few weeks (mini-excavator). We started by upgrading the Flash 2 midway access point as we regained our bearings on the controls. While widening the tread, we also stretched the turns to alleviate the climbing grade. As we dove into the bypass, the crew needed to adjust how we manage materials compared to digging by hand: Building a berm by hand is usually maxed out by the number and size of rocks we can find and carry… The “big rake” made supersizing and pulling stumps a breeze! We’ll be compacting the brown ribbon when the moisture level is just right so please keep off the soft tread! Meanwhile, the big horse will continue to support the crew, working down Flashback 3 and 4 for more shape enhancements.
See you on the trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
