Trails Update: September 5, 2025
more water!
Happy Labour Day everyone! We had an extra-short workweek to kick off “late-summer”… Looking at the weather forecast, I was once again pushed to swap our planned work for a more “water adjacent” project. I had been saving this bridge replacement on Kill Me Thrill Me for late in the fall - it’s low elevation and can keep the crew working if we get snowed out from higher work. 34 celcius and smokey is the polar opposite of getting snowed out but I’m running out of cooler setting projects on this year’s to-do list. The bridge in question has dropped and tilted making it consistently wet and slippery. It had a tight curve that was testing the limits of longer geometry modern bikes. For the new bridge, we opted for a higher, more direct alignment that matched the original 1998 Chris Markle line. Bod’a and Vera made beautiful rock ramps to tie it all together before completing a skinny replacement in mid Tunnel Vision.
famous last words
Over the weekend, I recalled how intense the 2024 wasp season had been, …Braden got stung almost everyday! And, it’s been ominously bug free in the woods this year. We had some leftover decking to haul in from last week’s project “It’s just a little bushwhack through here from the truck to the trail…” That statement was followed by our first wasp encounter of the season - It was a near miss! The recently “dug up” nest had some survivor soldiers and they were on high alert (I didn’t get any photos). Pfew! It was a thrilling close call. Later that morning, shortly after Josh got stung (he made no fuss!) I dragged a part of the 1998 bridge over another unseen nest and suffered the wrath! So, that old bridge will be left there (maybe) until the wasps get snowed or “bear’ed out.
See you on the Trails!
Dan Raymond
WORCA Lead Trail Builder
