Bellingham Mountain Bike Trails:
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Trail Guide and Useful Information for Mountain Biking around Bellingham Washington
Use this guide as a general description of trails around Whatcom County. Please contact Email Me if you have suggestions for this page |
South-side Trail Access For Galbraith Mountain
Galbraith Mountain Access Changes - Gailbraith Lane Gate
"Gate and Switch" Trail
Direct access to the Tower Rd (Road 2000) is now closed and a reroute is still in place. The only gate open for public access is at end of Galbraith Lane (Road 1000). The reroute has been completed and detour signs and mini maps have been set up at the base of the hill to help you navigate through the changes.
Galbraith is a really busy hill and all public traffic is now be funneled straight through Galbraith Lane. Please be courteous to the residents by keeping your pets on a leash, picking up your poo bags, and respecting people’s private properties. This a shared space that we’re lucky to use. Thank you for your patience and for all of your support!
"Gate and Switch" Trail
Direct access to the Tower Rd (Road 2000) is now closed and a reroute is still in place. The only gate open for public access is at end of Galbraith Lane (Road 1000). The reroute has been completed and detour signs and mini maps have been set up at the base of the hill to help you navigate through the changes.
Galbraith is a really busy hill and all public traffic is now be funneled straight through Galbraith Lane. Please be courteous to the residents by keeping your pets on a leash, picking up your poo bags, and respecting people’s private properties. This a shared space that we’re lucky to use. Thank you for your patience and for all of your support!
Upcoming Bellingham Trail Building Days and Updates
January 2020
Galbraith is a working tree farm and as such there has been quite a bit of logging on Galbraith over the last few months. Many of the trails are closed or in need of repair.
When riding please be aware that they are still working the forest in the area and be respectful of the people who are operating the equipment, etc.
There are alternate routes to many of the trails - be resourceful and ask other riders.
Galbraith is a working tree farm and as such there has been quite a bit of logging on Galbraith over the last few months. Many of the trails are closed or in need of repair.
When riding please be aware that they are still working the forest in the area and be respectful of the people who are operating the equipment, etc.
There are alternate routes to many of the trails - be resourceful and ask other riders.
General information about trails in the Bellingham area:
Whatcom Parks Trails and Maps - Provides information on the following trails:
Bellingham Parks Trail Guides - Provides information on the following trails:
- There are City trail maps available at the Visitors Bureau or Parks Dept.
- Cornwall Park Trail (1.5 miles, easy double track) - in Cornwall Park.
- Interurban Trail (7 miles, easy double track) - Fairhaven to Larrabee State Park.
- Lake Padden Park Trail (2.6 miles, easy double track) - around the lake.
- Railroad Trail (3.5 miles, easy) - King Street to Alabama & Vining St.
- South Bay Trail (2 mile, easy) - connects Fairhaven, Boulevard Park, and downtown.
- Whatcom Falls Park Trails (3.5 miles, easy double track) - trails in and around park.
- North Lake Whatcom Park “Hertz Trail” (3 miles one way, easy) - runs along the east shore of the lake. Great views and a waterfall.
- Lake Padden single track trails (5.1 miles, beginner single track) Access in park or parking lot on Samish Way about 1 mile south of park entrance.
- Galbraith Mountain (many trails, easy to double black diamond) in Bellingham features miles of trails in and around logging sites.
- Civic Field Dirt Jump Track - Located near the skate board park on Puget Street one block south of Lakeway Drive.
- Chuckanut Mountain (easy to double black diamond) some trails are available for biking and some trails are hikers only.
- Blanchard Mountain (Intermediate downhill) Blanchard was built and maintained by an equestrian club and is frequently in use by riders and hikers. Please be aware of other trail users. Blanchard often has less traffic mid-week.
- Snakonia, Mercury Falls, Krasskiki (extreme downhill)
- Glacier area offers newer trails. Please contact locals or the Glacier Ski Shop, 360-599-1943
Whatcom Parks Trails and Maps - Provides information on the following trails:
- Beach Walk
- Canyon Lake
- Deming Eagle Park
- Equestrian Center
- Hovander Trail
- North Lake Whatcom
- Samish Trail
- Semiahmoo Trail
- Silver Lake Trails
- Soccer Trail
- Squires Lake Trail
- Stimpson Nature Reserve
- Tennant Lake Trails
- Chuckanut Trail System:
- Chuckanut Ridge
- Hemlock
- Huckleberry Point
- Interurban Trail
- Lost Lake
- Madrone Crest
- Pine & Cedar Lakes
- Raptor Ridge
- Salal Trail
- Teddy Bear Cove
Bellingham Parks Trail Guides - Provides information on the following trails:
- Overview map of trails in Bellingham
- Bay to Baker & Little Squalicum
- Civic Field
- Connelly Creek
- Cornwall & Bug Lake
- Downtown Trails
- Interurban & Arroyo
- Lake Padden
- Larrabee & Fairhaven
- Railroad & Klipsun
- Sehome Hill
- South Bay & Boulevard
- Whatcom Creek - West
- Whatcom Falls & Whatcom Creek - East
- Other Trails
- City of Bellingham animal related regulations
- Aerobic Fitness Reduces Brain Tissue Loss in Aging Humans
Stanley J. Colcombe1, Kirk I. Erickson1, Naftali Raz2, Andrew G. Webb1, Neal J. Cohen1, Edward McAuley1 and Arthur F. Kramer1
1 Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana.
2 Institute of Gerontology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
Background. The human brain gradually loses tissue from the third decade of life onward, with concomitant declines in cognitive performance. Given the projected rapid growth in aged populations, and the staggering costs associated with geriatric care, identifying mechanisms that may reduce or reverse cerebral deterioration is rapidly emerging as an important public health goal. Previous research has demonstrated that aerobic fitness training improves cognitive function in older adults and can improve brain health in aging laboratory animals, suggesting that aerobic fitness may provide a mechanism to improve cerebral health in aging humans. We examined the relationship between aerobic fitness and in vivo brain tissue density in an older adult population, using voxel-based morphometric techniques.
Methods. We acquired high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scans from 55 older adults. These images were segmented into gray and white matter maps, registered into stereotaxic space, and examined for systematic variation in tissue density as a function of age, aerobic fitness, and a number of other health markers.
Results. Consistent with previous studies of aging and brain volume, we found robust declines in tissue densities as a function of age in the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortices. More importantly, we found that losses in these areas were substantially reduced as a function of cardiovascular fitness, even when we statistically controlled for other moderator variables.
Conclusions. These findings extend the scope of beneficial effects of aerobic exercise beyond cardiovascular health, and they suggest a strong solid biological basis for the benefits of exercise on the brain health of older adults.Visit http://biomed.gerontologyjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/58/2/M176 for full text
Past Notes on Bellingham Mountain Biking
4.30.2019
Happy Tuesday!
Hope everyone is getting out in this sunshine. Here's a Trail and Logging update. Lots of moving pieces, so feel free to share.
Trail Crew Leader:
We are stoked to announce that we've hired Ryan Joslynas our seasonal crew leader. Many of you know Ryan from Bellingham Cycle Works and he's been the adopter on Oly and now Keystone this year. Keep an eye out as Ryan will be leading a weekday trail day and one of the weekends per week. We've got some really cool projects lining up for the summer, plus tons of maintenance, so Ryan is going to have his hands in a lot of stuff!
SATURDAY TRAIL DAY:
We'll likely be working in the Bears area this Saturday to clean up those from the recent logging with the Whatcom Land Trust and the COB Parks department. TBD. Meeting at the Samish Lot at 9 AMand we’ll carpool up from there!
LOGGING:
Everything above Red Rock (to the right) is still closed! We anticipate the loggers will be out of the area within a week (perhaps sooner), but until then, that means that Evo, Scorpion, Pump Track, Irish Death, Woodle, Prison Love are ALL CLOSED.
Janicki’s crew moved couple of machines over near original Devilcross and Supercross and those are flagged off right now as well.
RECENT TRAILWORK:
· Unemployment Line is getting its annual overhaul right now thanks to Andrew Fletcher-Love and John Miller and being supported by Terrain Gym. The new entrance move is looking really cool so far and they'll be working on it throughout this weekend.
· The intermediate Cedar Dust jump line has been reopened and is running great. Huge thanks to Spencer Baldwin and Steve Vogel for taking the lead on the rebuild...it's getting great reviews from everyone, but take'r easy and give it a run though before sending it. The beginner line will be next!
o A PSA about the jump zone. We will be installing a kiosk in this area with some etiquette items along with a map
§ DOGS....we love dogs and you love dogs. That said, there's been several near-misses with riders and their dogs in this zone. So, consider either leashing your dog up top (we'll be adding something to help with that) or ride the jumps when there aren't other riders around. No one wants to land on your dog and we'd hate to see injuries from this happening.
§ WIND....without any tree cover, you are a giant kite when the winds start whipping over there. If the winds are at all high, consider leaving the jumps alone for a while. There's already been a couple of injuries from riders getting thrown because of a wind gust.
· Thanks to Corion Landscape Management for their help on Dragonfly and the entrance section of SST. Their trail (Here to There) didn't really need any work, so they were stoked to help us on other projects.
· High Above Designs had a crew out on Spacewolf on Saturday and they were filling holes and doing drainage work. Drew Trimakas has been working on the upper section of the trail.
· Fanatik Bike were up on SST last night working on the section below the road and rock drop. That section never got a 2nd pass, so thanks to the crew for their post-work trail session!
· The Kona Bike Shop was up working on lower Devilcross a couple of weeks ago and giving it some love with about 15 folks filling holes and adding some fun option lines.
· The Youth Trail Corps were up on Cabin this past Saturday
· Lower Dad Bod was getting work down by the exit/bridge zone by a crew of WMBC builders.
· Intrinsic Flow Mountain Biking has been up on Chuckanut giving DBD and Double Downlots of love this Spring and they're both running great!
· Transition Bikes helped create a defined push-up trail and did some clean up on the beginner / climbing trail in the jump zone a couple of weeks ago.
· WECU gave Family Fun Center and Lower Candy a spring touch up a month ago.
· Bob’s Trail has been getting drainage and tread work by Bob Torset recently
· Andy Grant has been working on Radical Dragon for the past couple of months and it should be re-opened mid-May.
· Shami Campbell led a crew on the Civic DJ’s a week ago and they spruced up several of the jump lines.
· Devon Pelkie helped us clear a landing with the mini ex for two 20’ containers we’ll be getting from NW Recycling for our trail tools and kids bikes.
Whew....that's a lot (apologies if I missed anyone) and we're going to be even busier over the next few months! We’ll be adding days to the calendar later this week, so you can stay up to date here: https://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Cheers,
EB
-------------
4.16.2019
Happy Tuesday folks…three things for you!
Cedar Dust Alley is this Saturday! Come down in the afternoon (12-5) and hang out with us at Boundary Bay for this fun afternoon that benefits the WMBC. Lots of fun events and it's super kid friendly! https://www.facebook.com/events/412462492835853/
Volunteers needed!
We're looking for 8 volunteers to help us run the skills zone, set up and tear down. Shifts are 3 hours (either 11:30am - 2:30pm or 2:00pm - 5pm) and we'll have WMBC schwag on hand (and ice cold bevies) for our volunteers. If you can help out for a few hours, shoot Kaela Joslyn an email at: wmbc86@gmail.com.
https://www.bbaybrewery.com/events-1/2019/4/20/cedar-dust-alley
Logging Update:
Cheers,
EB
Happy Tuesday!
Hope everyone is getting out in this sunshine. Here's a Trail and Logging update. Lots of moving pieces, so feel free to share.
Trail Crew Leader:
We are stoked to announce that we've hired Ryan Joslynas our seasonal crew leader. Many of you know Ryan from Bellingham Cycle Works and he's been the adopter on Oly and now Keystone this year. Keep an eye out as Ryan will be leading a weekday trail day and one of the weekends per week. We've got some really cool projects lining up for the summer, plus tons of maintenance, so Ryan is going to have his hands in a lot of stuff!
SATURDAY TRAIL DAY:
We'll likely be working in the Bears area this Saturday to clean up those from the recent logging with the Whatcom Land Trust and the COB Parks department. TBD. Meeting at the Samish Lot at 9 AMand we’ll carpool up from there!
LOGGING:
Everything above Red Rock (to the right) is still closed! We anticipate the loggers will be out of the area within a week (perhaps sooner), but until then, that means that Evo, Scorpion, Pump Track, Irish Death, Woodle, Prison Love are ALL CLOSED.
Janicki’s crew moved couple of machines over near original Devilcross and Supercross and those are flagged off right now as well.
RECENT TRAILWORK:
· Unemployment Line is getting its annual overhaul right now thanks to Andrew Fletcher-Love and John Miller and being supported by Terrain Gym. The new entrance move is looking really cool so far and they'll be working on it throughout this weekend.
· The intermediate Cedar Dust jump line has been reopened and is running great. Huge thanks to Spencer Baldwin and Steve Vogel for taking the lead on the rebuild...it's getting great reviews from everyone, but take'r easy and give it a run though before sending it. The beginner line will be next!
o A PSA about the jump zone. We will be installing a kiosk in this area with some etiquette items along with a map
§ DOGS....we love dogs and you love dogs. That said, there's been several near-misses with riders and their dogs in this zone. So, consider either leashing your dog up top (we'll be adding something to help with that) or ride the jumps when there aren't other riders around. No one wants to land on your dog and we'd hate to see injuries from this happening.
§ WIND....without any tree cover, you are a giant kite when the winds start whipping over there. If the winds are at all high, consider leaving the jumps alone for a while. There's already been a couple of injuries from riders getting thrown because of a wind gust.
· Thanks to Corion Landscape Management for their help on Dragonfly and the entrance section of SST. Their trail (Here to There) didn't really need any work, so they were stoked to help us on other projects.
· High Above Designs had a crew out on Spacewolf on Saturday and they were filling holes and doing drainage work. Drew Trimakas has been working on the upper section of the trail.
· Fanatik Bike were up on SST last night working on the section below the road and rock drop. That section never got a 2nd pass, so thanks to the crew for their post-work trail session!
· The Kona Bike Shop was up working on lower Devilcross a couple of weeks ago and giving it some love with about 15 folks filling holes and adding some fun option lines.
· The Youth Trail Corps were up on Cabin this past Saturday
· Lower Dad Bod was getting work down by the exit/bridge zone by a crew of WMBC builders.
· Intrinsic Flow Mountain Biking has been up on Chuckanut giving DBD and Double Downlots of love this Spring and they're both running great!
· Transition Bikes helped create a defined push-up trail and did some clean up on the beginner / climbing trail in the jump zone a couple of weeks ago.
· WECU gave Family Fun Center and Lower Candy a spring touch up a month ago.
· Bob’s Trail has been getting drainage and tread work by Bob Torset recently
· Andy Grant has been working on Radical Dragon for the past couple of months and it should be re-opened mid-May.
· Shami Campbell led a crew on the Civic DJ’s a week ago and they spruced up several of the jump lines.
· Devon Pelkie helped us clear a landing with the mini ex for two 20’ containers we’ll be getting from NW Recycling for our trail tools and kids bikes.
Whew....that's a lot (apologies if I missed anyone) and we're going to be even busier over the next few months! We’ll be adding days to the calendar later this week, so you can stay up to date here: https://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Cheers,
EB
-------------
4.16.2019
Happy Tuesday folks…three things for you!
Cedar Dust Alley is this Saturday! Come down in the afternoon (12-5) and hang out with us at Boundary Bay for this fun afternoon that benefits the WMBC. Lots of fun events and it's super kid friendly! https://www.facebook.com/events/412462492835853/
Volunteers needed!
We're looking for 8 volunteers to help us run the skills zone, set up and tear down. Shifts are 3 hours (either 11:30am - 2:30pm or 2:00pm - 5pm) and we'll have WMBC schwag on hand (and ice cold bevies) for our volunteers. If you can help out for a few hours, shoot Kaela Joslyn an email at: wmbc86@gmail.com.
https://www.bbaybrewery.com/events-1/2019/4/20/cedar-dust-alley
Logging Update:
- The machines moved back to the south side yesterday and are working around Prison Love / Woodle and will go above the 3200 road today. As such, we closed all of Whoopsie Woodle and Das Autobahn last night. On the attached map, they are in phase 4 and moving into phase 3 (order has changed).
- Cougar, 187 and Cabin are still closed and will be ready for some cleanup in the next day or two once they are done hauling the logs out to the roads.
- The Bears zone is done with machine work and those trails will need a fair bit of work where the machines crossed them. We'll get out an assess them tomorrow.
- Upper SST is open, but blocked at the first split and Drew is up today looking at what is needed to get that small section rideable.
Cheers,
EB
3.18.2019
Happy Monday!
Here’s a quick Galbraith Logging update for you all.
Janicki's crews are going to be thinning on the mountain for the next couple of months and are moving in machines tomorrow (Tuesday) AM. We've been walking the zones with their crews the past couple of weeks and will be closing down Lair of the Bear this afternoon. I’ll send other maps out as they move to the north part of the mountain.
The zones that will be affected and the order for thinning are as follows:
As they move around, we’ll let folks know where and when you can help get trails re-opened. During the operations, we’ll be closing trails and some road access, so please pay attention to those closures!
Cheers,
EB
2.13.2019
Hello WMBC Members!
We hope you are surviving Snowmageddon 2019 and have been able to enjoy some of this snow...either on a hike, ride, sled or your skis/snowboards! We just got back to town from vacation and it’s a bit of a shock to my system! J
We wanted to invite you to our first ever WMBC Membership Meeting on February 20th at the Fairhaven Ferry Terminal in the Dome Room. Doors will open at 6 pm and we’ll kick off the meeting around 6:30’ish. It’ll provide you an opportunity to chat with other WMBC members, other Trail Adopters, the WMBC Board of Directors and our staff. Simply put, we can’t do what we do without our members and want to make sure you are up to speed on what’s taking place in the coming year.
Ferry Terminal Location: https://goo.gl/maps/jePyuXX9F4C2
The meeting will consist of 2-3 short presentations about the state of our trails, our education programs, our new sub-committees and our future goals. There will be time set aside for Q & A after each presentation and then we’ll, of course, have time to mingle afterwards.
This will be a family-friendly event and we hope you can join us at the Ferry Terminal!
Cheers,
EB
e-mtb statement:
The question surrounding e-mtb's has come up a bunch recently within our community as they've been spotted on Galbraith and on other trail networks. The WMBC has been in dialogue with our land managers and other organizations for over a year about this emerging technology and wanted to release a statement about their current use in our area. You can read more here: www.wmbcmtb.org/e-bikes
1.3.2019
Happy New Year!
Thanks to everyone who has been out helping clear the trails after the recent windstorms…they’ve been real doozies! We’ve had our usual sawyers running chainsaws and a ton of folks clearing the small stuff with handsaws – which makes a huge difference. If you don’t own a folding saw, a decent one can cost as little as $15 and easily fits in a camelback. I’ve got a Fiskers folding saw that I like, but the Silky big boy is probably my favorite handsaw ever, but isn’t cheap!
If you’ve not seen our 2018 Annual Report, you can download here. As always, thanks to Kevin Menard for putting it together again.
https://kevinmenard.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/2018_wmbc_annualreport1.pdf
January 12th (9AM – 4PM) Trail Building Academy
We’re going to host a Trail Building Academy with Mark Wood as our guest presenter. It’ll be our standard trail academy with lecture in the AM (9-12), a quick break for lunch and then trailwork in the afternoon (1-4). Location is at Bloedel Donovan Pavillion (little building by beach). If you’d like to join us and learn some fundamentals RSVP directly to me as space is limited.
January 26th Evolution Trail Day:
Bill Hawk will be leading this day with the plan to give the whole trail a top-to-bottom cleanup. Meeting at 9 AM at the Samsih Parking Lot. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/320170288837069/
Membership Drive:
A huge thanks to everyone that donated to our Member in December drive! We can’t do what we do without our members, so thank you, thank you, thank you! A small hint is the donation form is still live (though this weekend) if folks didn’t get a donation in before January 1. J
We’ll be placing the order for tech t’s and flannel’s next week with Treelines and they should be done within a couple of weeks after that. A special thank you to Angi Weston, Mark Belles, Zoae Spackman and Byron Cleary for letting us tell their stories about why they support the WMBC. If you’ve not seen the videos, you can see them all here: https://wmbcmtb.org/2018/12/08/become-a-member-in-december/
Parking Lot update:
We’re making some adjustments to the design to allow for more parking and minimize the excavation. We just finished additional surveying and that info. will be sent over to our Engineer (JP Slagle) next to look at how the new layout could potentially allow for more stalls.
2019 Goals: Here’s a quick list of what we’ll be working on this year.
It’s going to be a wet week ahead, so we’ll likely be continuing to clear drainage and start scouting on future projects.
Cheers,
EB
3.18.2019
Happy Monday!
Here’s a quick Galbraith Logging update for you all.
Janicki's crews are going to be thinning on the mountain for the next couple of months and are moving in machines tomorrow (Tuesday) AM. We've been walking the zones with their crews the past couple of weeks and will be closing down Lair of the Bear this afternoon. I’ll send other maps out as they move to the north part of the mountain.
The zones that will be affected and the order for thinning are as follows:
As they move around, we’ll let folks know where and when you can help get trails re-opened. During the operations, we’ll be closing trails and some road access, so please pay attention to those closures!
Cheers,
EB
2.13.2019
Hello WMBC Members!
We hope you are surviving Snowmageddon 2019 and have been able to enjoy some of this snow...either on a hike, ride, sled or your skis/snowboards! We just got back to town from vacation and it’s a bit of a shock to my system! J
We wanted to invite you to our first ever WMBC Membership Meeting on February 20th at the Fairhaven Ferry Terminal in the Dome Room. Doors will open at 6 pm and we’ll kick off the meeting around 6:30’ish. It’ll provide you an opportunity to chat with other WMBC members, other Trail Adopters, the WMBC Board of Directors and our staff. Simply put, we can’t do what we do without our members and want to make sure you are up to speed on what’s taking place in the coming year.
Ferry Terminal Location: https://goo.gl/maps/jePyuXX9F4C2
The meeting will consist of 2-3 short presentations about the state of our trails, our education programs, our new sub-committees and our future goals. There will be time set aside for Q & A after each presentation and then we’ll, of course, have time to mingle afterwards.
This will be a family-friendly event and we hope you can join us at the Ferry Terminal!
Cheers,
EB
e-mtb statement:
The question surrounding e-mtb's has come up a bunch recently within our community as they've been spotted on Galbraith and on other trail networks. The WMBC has been in dialogue with our land managers and other organizations for over a year about this emerging technology and wanted to release a statement about their current use in our area. You can read more here: www.wmbcmtb.org/e-bikes
1.3.2019
Happy New Year!
Thanks to everyone who has been out helping clear the trails after the recent windstorms…they’ve been real doozies! We’ve had our usual sawyers running chainsaws and a ton of folks clearing the small stuff with handsaws – which makes a huge difference. If you don’t own a folding saw, a decent one can cost as little as $15 and easily fits in a camelback. I’ve got a Fiskers folding saw that I like, but the Silky big boy is probably my favorite handsaw ever, but isn’t cheap!
If you’ve not seen our 2018 Annual Report, you can download here. As always, thanks to Kevin Menard for putting it together again.
https://kevinmenard.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/2018_wmbc_annualreport1.pdf
January 12th (9AM – 4PM) Trail Building Academy
We’re going to host a Trail Building Academy with Mark Wood as our guest presenter. It’ll be our standard trail academy with lecture in the AM (9-12), a quick break for lunch and then trailwork in the afternoon (1-4). Location is at Bloedel Donovan Pavillion (little building by beach). If you’d like to join us and learn some fundamentals RSVP directly to me as space is limited.
January 26th Evolution Trail Day:
Bill Hawk will be leading this day with the plan to give the whole trail a top-to-bottom cleanup. Meeting at 9 AM at the Samsih Parking Lot. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/320170288837069/
Membership Drive:
A huge thanks to everyone that donated to our Member in December drive! We can’t do what we do without our members, so thank you, thank you, thank you! A small hint is the donation form is still live (though this weekend) if folks didn’t get a donation in before January 1. J
We’ll be placing the order for tech t’s and flannel’s next week with Treelines and they should be done within a couple of weeks after that. A special thank you to Angi Weston, Mark Belles, Zoae Spackman and Byron Cleary for letting us tell their stories about why they support the WMBC. If you’ve not seen the videos, you can see them all here: https://wmbcmtb.org/2018/12/08/become-a-member-in-december/
Parking Lot update:
We’re making some adjustments to the design to allow for more parking and minimize the excavation. We just finished additional surveying and that info. will be sent over to our Engineer (JP Slagle) next to look at how the new layout could potentially allow for more stalls.
2019 Goals: Here’s a quick list of what we’ll be working on this year.
It’s going to be a wet week ahead, so we’ll likely be continuing to clear drainage and start scouting on future projects.
Cheers,
EB
12.11.2018
Happy Tuesday folks!
A few updates for you all.
Logging Status:
Logging is done on the hill until early Spring. In March, Janicki will be thinning certain areas around the mountain and, while that will impact quite a few trails, it doesn’t look like there will be any additional clearcutting until 2020.
Upcoming Trailwork: Our focus will be on several zones in the next month or so (days forthcoming), plus lots of drainage work!
Become a Member in December!
We’re running our Annual “Member in December” campaign right now to help support our goals for 2019. Donations of $100 will get a custom Treelines Tech-T which is soft and perfect for riding, running and trailwork. Donation of $250 will get a Treelines Flannel. To read more about what we have in store for 2019 and to donate, go here: https://wmbcmtb.org/decembermembershipdrive/
Parking Lot Update:
We’re almost half way to our fundraising goal of $285k for the parking lot expansion. If you’d like to purchase a brick for our donor wall and support this effort, you can do so here. Business owners, if you purchase a 12 x 12” brick, you will be able to add your logo on the brick too.
There has been having a bunch of work happening on this project and we’re getting tons of support from our community and other businesses asking how they can help! Additionally, we’re looking at how we may be able to alter the design to accommodate more parking stalls, reduce excavation costs and make the lot feel more “park-like”. More info. including our initial Draft design can be found here. https://wmbcmtb.org/parking/
Last, we’ve got a big list of new Trail Adopters that we’ll be announcing for 2019 after we finalize our trail list.
Cheers,
EB
P.S. If you’re heading to Baker in the next few days….things are apparently sliding, so don’t get overzealous!
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
11.14.2018
Hi folks!
It’s been a while since I’ve sent an email out. Hope everyone is getting ready for the holidays! As usual, there’s a lot going on and even more projects taking place in 2019.
Upcoming build days with more being added to the calendar and on Facebook.
The Mount Baker Experience’s Oliver Lazenby wrote a great article about the efforts to preserve access to Galbraith forever. You can read that here.
http://www.mountbakerexperience.com/paradise-preserved-easement-secures-permanent-access-to-galbraith-mountain/
Buy a brick and help us build an actual parking lot!
With the easements, the city stepped up with $2.75 million dollars and the Land Trust donated $250k to preserve access to the mountain forever. Learn more about what the WMBC and our members are already doing to build a parking lot here.
Your help is needed! https://wmbcmtb.org/parking/
e-mtb statement:
The question surrounding e-mtb's has come up a bunch recently within our community as they've been spotted on Galbraith and on other trail networks. The WMBC has been in dialogue with our land managers and other organizations for over a year about this emerging technology and wanted to release a statement about their current use in our area. You can read more here: www.wmbcmtb.org/e-bikes
Our 2019 “Member in December” drive will be coming soon!
Cheers,
EB
9.17.2018
Happy Monday all,
A few things for you all…please spread the word!
Cougar Ridge:
We had a great trail day on Saturday with barely a drizzle with a small, but efficient crew. We’ll be digging on Cougar Ridge on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (maybe Sunday) this week. We have until September 30th to get these ride-a-rounds punched through, so it’s all hands on deck for the next 13 days. These do not affect the character of the trail, but rather give intermediate-level riders a fun alternative on the more technical sections of the trail.
Shoot the Trails:
The due date for video submission is October 3rd and photo submission is October 6th, so get on it!
https://wmbcmtb.org/shoot-the-trails-awards/
Upcoming Aerial Spraying:
We got a notice that there will be aerial spraying of herbicide in several sections of the mountain this week (if the helicopter can finish another job). As soon as we know when this will happen, we will alert everyone, but it will be in the recent clearcuts. The pilot needs a minimum of 24 hours without rain and low winds (< 7mph), so the window isn’t very big this week. FYI, we may just close the entire mountain for the day so we don’t have to monitor where folks go. This will mostly affect the north end of the mountain, but the following areas/trails will be closed:
North End:
SST
Alt SST
Air Chair
Oriental Express
Coyote RIPP
Geneva Connector
Lone Wolf
Baby Bear
Mama Bear
Papa Bear
Goldilocks
Top of the Wall:
Here to There
Purple Heart
Tough Love
Catch and Release
South End:
Near Pipeline below Lair of Bear (no trails in this section)
8.24.2018
Folks,
Two things for everyone this Friday.
Cougar Ridge Trail Day (Tomorrow):
We’ve got a little over a month to get a lot of work done and need the help, folks. Tomorrow, we’re hosting an uber family-friendly trail day at the bottom of Cougar Ridge where we’ll be working on the Lookout connector and climbing trails. The work is mostly smoothing out dirt behind the machine. It’s an easy hike in and we should be able to get quite a lot done. We’ll be providing snacks in the AM and due to the close proximity, we’ll have lunch for everyone as well.
Location: Meeting at the Lookout Mountain Parking Lot across from Sudden Valley Gate 9 at 9 AM and then we’ll carpool over from there.
https://www.facebook.com/events/225360061497383/
FINAL REMINDER: DNR Comments due by Sunday (the 26th).
This is your final reminder to send in some comments to the DNR about recreation on their lands in Whatcom County (more below).
At a bare minimum, the three things that you could mention are:
Cheers,
EB
8.19.2018
Folks,
We got the heads up that there will be herbicide spraying along the highlighted roads this Tuesday and, as such, we are closing the mountain for the entire day.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2018/08/19/galbraith-closed-on-august-21st/
Notices and the below map will be going up at the main entry points on Monday. If the date changes for any reason, we'll let you know.
Please share far and wide. Many thanks!
Cheers,
EB
8.13.2018
Happy Monday folks!
The Department of Natural Resources presented their Draft Baker to Bellingham Recreation Plan to the public a couple of weeks ago. They are asking for comments from our constituents and this is open for comment until August 26th so it’s important that mountain bikers give our comments asap. This has been a 2 ½ year process, so let’s make sure we have a strong showing as we cross the finish line here! You can send your comments here: SEPACENTER@DNR.WA.GOV
From our standpoint, there are a two key takeaways from the Draft plan that we would like folks to comment on.
Please be sure to send an email to the DNR at SEPACENTER@DNR.WA.GOV before the 26th of August. If you want to dig into this plan more, you can see the entire plan here: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/baker-bellingham-non-motorized-recreation-plan
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. I’ll be sure to send out a couple of reminders about this. J
Cheers,
EB
7.24.2018
Folks!!
Huge news from last night!
The WMBC has been working with Bellingham Parks, the Mayor and Whatcom Land Trust for more than 7 years to secure recreation access. While it's been a real rocky road at times (putting it mildly), we crossed the finish line last night and secured access forever on Galbraith!
Attached is our joint press release announcing our new partnership that ensures five things. 1. It guarantees public recreational access to the mountain forever. 2. it eliminates the possibility of any future development 3. We'll be able to host future events on the mountain 4. We'll be able to expand the trail network and 5. Galbraith will remain as a commercial working forest. All good things, folks!
https://wmbcmtb.org/…/24/galbraith-access-preserved-forever/
There are many people to thank, but a huge shout out to Leslie Bryson and Alan Mariner from the City, Rob Janicki and his team, Rich Bowers and Rand Jack from the Land Trust for keeping this deal on track for the benefit our greater community.
Lastly, thanks to both the City Council who emphatically voted in favor of this purchase (we'll post up the full video later!) and Mayor Linville who supported this project all along the way. If you're feeling so inclined, shoot the Mayor and Council a note to say "thank you"!
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org
What's next?
We have already been working on our future management agreement with the City, but will hope to wrap that up in the near future. The other big news is we've assembled a team and been working on a parking lot design that will greatly expand the Samish Parking Lot. Now that the easements are secured, our plan is to start fundraising for that project soon with anticipated build out in 2019. Stay tuned for more information about that!
I’m going for a ride now. J
Cheers,
EB
6.1.2018
Hey folks,
A few updates for everyone.
Brushing:
It’s that time of the year where the trails are starting to get brushing and, with the timber harvest in recent years, we’ll need as much help as possible on brushing. The Phillips 66 crew just brushed Das Autobahn and Janicki Industries brushed 911 this past week and we’ll be going full steam on brushing in the coming weeks. Let us know if you can help on your favorite trails and we’ll get weedeaters and additional help wherever possible.
Logging:
Timber harvest is done in the Bears area and they are processing the trees and hauling them off the hill. Until they are done, we will hold off on working on the trails there. There will be some harvest activity in late summer in a few areas and the only trail that should be affected will be Lone Wolf.
National Trails Day (tomorrow):
We have two trail days taking place tomorrow with some really cool projects…one with Whatcom County Parks and the other with the DNR. See below and the attached maps for more details.
Blanchard Mountain (9 AM at Lower Trailhead):
Bill Hasenjaeger is helping lead a reroute project on a user built trail near British Army trail. The plan is to get that done and the trail will become authorized. They are meeting at the lower trailhead at 9 AM. As is the norm, tons of snacks and a great bbq lunch will be in store for this day. He could use 15 folks over there on Saturday.
https://www.facebook.com/events/173236606705285/
Lookout Mountain (9 AM – meet at the old Sudden Valley Campground):
The rumors are true and we have 4 projects lined up for the Sudden Valley / Lookout Mountain zone this summer – including Cougar Ridge. Due to the watershed restrictions, these projects need to be done by September 30th, but we’ll be having LOTS of trail days in this zone this summer in conjunction with Whatcom County Parks, Washington Trails Association, REI, Whatcom Land Trust, and many others. Tomorrow, we’ll be helping clear the lower connector with folks from many groups. IMPORTANT: Parking/Meeting location is at the old Sudden Valley Campground – which is located between Gate 13 and Stimson Reserve. We will have vans that will shuttle everyone 2/3 mile to the Lookout Mountain Reserve though.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1086597478165058/
Current / Ongoing Galby projects:
Janicki approved 8 projects in late winter that we’ve been working on. Some are really close and are in desperate need of rain for completion (Mohawk and Cedar Dust jump zone) and others are in the beginning phases of corridor clearing (like 4000 Road climbing trail). Expect many upcoming build days for some of these.
Rain is in the forecast!!
Cheers,
EB
4.4.2018
Hola folks!
Several things for you all right now. We’ll be adding more trail days on the calendar soon. Also, please feel free to share!
CDC Race – 4/21 – Volunteers needed!
I’m officially putting the call out for volunteers for the Cascadia Dirt Cup. If you’ve volunteered in the past and know what you want to do, let me know. As always, we’ll take good care of you with tacos, beer, a jersey and our undying gratitude. As always, we’ll need course timers, course marshals, EMS folks, parking attendants, beer garden (including setup and takedown) and course sweepers.
“Be Considerate” Springtime PSA:
It’s that time of year again and the trails and parking will be busier than ever soon enough. So, we have to remind everyone to be extra considerate when using our various the trail networks. That includes:
Upcoming build days and projects on the schedule:
April 28th WMBC Joyriders Spring Kickoff:
The ladies are meeting at the Southside lot at 10 and riding ‘til 1. Then, they will head to Kulshan on James for a post-ride party. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/439085859879765/
Bears and Goldilocks Logging update:
The loggers were still pulling logs off the Papa, Baby Bear and Goldilocks area as of last Friday. As soon as I hear that we can get in there to assess the state of those trails, I’ll let you know. If you want to help get them opened back up, please reach out to me asap. The tree planters are going to be in this zone almost immediately, so it will be extra important to try to get it reopened ASAP.
House for Sale on Galbraith lane:
If any mountain bikers are looking for a place near Galby with lots of land, Joan just put her place on the market and is moving to Lynden.
https://www.matrix.nwmls.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=1943930XHXRb&p=DE-94132843-419
That’s about it for now.
Cheers,
EB
3.13.2018
Howdy folks,
I hope everyone got out in the sun last weekend. It’s been a crazy month, so I wanted to send out some upcoming events and a quick recap from last week to get on your calendar. Reminder, you can always subscribe to our Google Calendar if you have Gmail and then you’ll get notified of our events as their added to that calendar.
Upcoming:
Logging Operations:
Advocacy:
Trail work:
Whew…busy week with lots of moving parts!
Cheers,
EB
2.28.2018
Morning folks!
As many know, there were two public DNR meetings last week (one in Kendall and one in Fairhaven) and it was great to see many of our community there to express their desire to recreate on state forests in Whatcom County. This is the culmination of 2+ years of work by the DNR and a diverse Recreation Planning Committee. At last week’s meetings, the DNR showed two concepts for areas that could have authorized recreation in the future. Concept D and Concept E
Important: Neither of the two concepts is mutually exclusive and are rather designed to get input on what you like or don’t like from each concept.
If you couldn’t attend and want to express your support for mountain biking on these landscapes, please email the DNR at: BakertoBellingham@dnr.wa.gov
Key points you may want to let them know:
Many folks are unaware that the DNR and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have been working on a Conservation Planning Process for a seabird called the Marbled Murrelet. You can read more about the Murrelet here.
In the Marbled Murrelet Conservation plan, it has primarily been looking at the effects that logging larger trees impacts the nesting habitat for the birds. However, there was very little voice for recreation in this process which could make the construction of new trails in some parts of Whatcom County very difficult. As an example, large swaths of the North Fork and the Middle Fork have been removed from consideration. In areas around the state that already have authorized recreation and trails, those are being grandfathered into this plan. However, we have no authorized recreation in Whatcom County on DNR lands and so this may have a significant impact. As a result, the DNR has identified large potential areas as “conditional” during the recreation planning process. That means that the “conditional” areas could only be considered for recreation if they are NOT in final Murrelet approved areas.
What can you do? Please emphasize to the DNR that they and the US Fish and Wildlife Service need to look at how non-motorized trails are compatible with the Murrelet Conservation Strategy. For instance, we can create appropriate buffers from nesting sites, perform trail maintenance/construction during non-nesting season and can strategically locate trailheads and other infrastructure away from nesting areas to not attract predators. You can read the letter that the Baker to Bellingham Recreation Committee sent to the DNR about the Murrelet Conservation Strategy last March here.
Additionally, here is a link to the Baker to Bellingham Recreation Planning Page for future reference. Make your voice heard and ensure that the DNR knows the types of recreation you are looking for on DNR lands and where you’d like to recreate!
Thanks!
EB
2.6.2018
Hi all,
Hope you’re doing well. I don’t want to jinx us, but we may get some sun this weekend. Below are a few updates for you all.
The Moment Movie Premier - February 17th
Join us at BTC on Saturday, February 17th. Tickets are at the bike shops and are $15 (kids under 11 free) and is a fundraiser for the WMBC. We’ll have beer from Boundary Bay, Kulshan and Melvin Brewing.
If you’d like to help and volunteer for this night, give me a shout!
You can see the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/221938560
https://www.facebook.com/events/1998095720447942/
DNR Recreation Planning Meetings – February 20th and 21st:
There are two public meetings being held by the DNR and the Recreation Planning Committee. I’ll send around more info. and potential talking points next week, but please attend one (or both) of these meetings if you’d like to see some authorized mountain bike trails at the North Fork or other areas in the County.
Kendall Meeting: Tuesday, February 20th at the East Whatcom County Resource Center
https://www.facebook.com/events/478699842527534/
Bellingham Meeting: Wednesday, February 21st at the Bellingham Ferry Terminal in Fairhaven
https://www.facebook.com/events/795269800659838/
Epic Storms = Roads Washing out!
The incredible amount of rains last week took its toll and Fragrance Lake Road is completely washed out and is currently closed to ALL traffic. You’ll need to ride up Cleator if you go to ride Chuckanut. There is no timeline for repair at this point. Also, Lookout Mountain Road is also in need of some repair after a part of it washed out. The County is already out there working on it and repairs will be ongoing for a couple of weeks. It is passable on foot and bike however. One other thing….there were reports of groups shuttling multiple laps on Chuckanut on Sunday – even with springs popping out of the hill in areas we’ve never seen water issues before. We’re not the trail police, but a bit of common sense would tell you that it’s probably a good day to stay off the trails when they are that saturated (instead of getting multiple laps in). Just my 2 cents.
SST build day this Saturday February 10th – Tentative:
I will continue to be working in this area most of the week with the hope to have enough prep done for this trail day. We’ve already postponed this day last weekend, but we really want to make sure we have enough time to get everything lined up for a successful trail day. We’ll keep you posted on this during the week.
Logging and Trail Rebuild Info:
As most of you know, there’s been a tremendous amount of logging this winter and will start back up in April. Devon Pelkie and Russ Lambert have been out working in some of the most heinous weather this past month to get many of the trails at the top of the Wall re-opened including Tough Love, Here to There, Jack & the Beanstalk and Kung Fu Theater. Drew Trimakas is handworking SST above the Rock Roll with a small crew and we are in the process of flagging lower SST, Air Chair, Dos Copas, Coyote RIPP and the Old Up. All of these trails are impassable currently as is Purple Heart.
Many folks have asked me why we are using a machine to clear these areas and it’s really a simple answer. We are being left a total mess as the slash (remnant trees and branches) is no longer being cleaned up by the loggers. In many cases, the slash is 2-4 feet thick and ground into the dirt by the heavy logging machines. There are also very little (if any) signs of the previous trails to begin work from. When we are clearing, we are not only clearing for the trail tread, but also giving our crews additional width for drainage and, most importantly, more width for our future brushing efforts. This topic is mostly lost on folks unless you’ve spent much/any time brushing in a clearcut in the middle of summer. Our future brushing is going to intensify over the coming years (due to the # of clearcuts), so we need to be prepped with additional width in those corridors to make those efforts manageable. If anyone wants to help with handwork on these during the week or weekends, let me know and I can help get you dialed.
So, that’s about it for now. Feel free to holler with any questions or if you’d like to volunteer at The Moment Movie on the 17th.
Cheers,
EB
12.18.2017
Happy Monday everyone!
A few things for ya this Monday morning.
Membership Drive:
Transition bikes is matching up to $3,000 this week for everyone that donates to the membership drive. A big shout-out to Kevin, Kyle and the entire TBC crew for their support. Also, a big THANK YOU to everyone that has already donated! Reminder that every donation over $100 will get a limited-edition Treelines Northwest Tech T in January.
https://www.facebook.com/wmbcmtb/videos/1910739188966165/
Become a member here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/donate/
Logging Update:
The area at the top of The Wall and middle SST / Golden Spike is done with harvest activity. That said, the loggers will start back up on December 27th and will be working below the 1200 Road and that will close SST, Air Chair and Orient Express. Get out and ride those while you can!
Trail updates / Rebuilds:
Devon Pelkie is starting to clear Here To There today and then will move on to Kung Fu theater, Tough Love and then Pick Up Sticks. If you’d like to help him with any hand-work, reach out to me and I can connect you. Trim and I just started to assess the Candy / middle SST zone (above the 1200 Road) on Friday and will be putting together a plan very shortly, but expect some serious routing changes as we are effectively working with a blank canvas in this zone now. Clearing and work will begin in that zone after the new year.
Mohawk:
Spencer Baldwin, Andy Grant and a few select builders are making fantastic progress on Mohawk and I’m certain it will be a new favorite on the hill. Buy these guys a beer the next time you see them!!
That’s about it for now, but we’ll keep posted as we know more.
Cheers,
EB
12.6.2017
Hi all,
Today, the WMBC is launching our December membership drive to help support our many initiatives for this upcoming year. We are shooting to reach a modest goal of 1,000 members for this next year – which I feel is very achievable considering how many people ride, run and hike in areas that we help build and maintain. A HUGE thanks to Spencer and Kyle from Level Visuals for creating a video series involving some of our members. We’re launching today with a vid from our very own Queen of Crankworx – Jill Kintner.
Membership Levels:
To make it easier than ever to support the WMBC, we have created 3 levels – Individual, Family and Business. As part of our December membership drive, anyone that donates more than $100 will get a limited edition SST riding jersey from our good friends at Treelines Northwest (jerseys will ship in January!).
Annual Report and Goals for next year:
To learn more about what we are working on for next year or download our annual report, click here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/annualmembershipdrive/
Donate:
To help with our December membership drive, you can donate here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/donate/
On a personal note, I truly appreciate your support and we can’t do what we do without you – whether it be financial support, digging in the woods or helping out with our events. You are the WMBC.
Cheers,
EB
11.22.2017
Morning folks!
I hope everyone has a great Turkey day. Here are a few quick updates for you.
Upcoming Trail Days:
Saturday, December 2nd sponsored by the G(albraith) Spot Runners. The exact project is still TBD based on the logging activity. In a perfect world, we will be able to go into a recently harvested area and start re-opening some trails. We’ll know more next week.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1615963851796681/
Sunday, December 3rd on the Ridge / Miranda – sponsored by Jack’s Queens of Dirt
https://www.facebook.com/events/345314962597774/
Logging Activity:
As most know, there’s a slew of harvest activity taking place on Galbraith right now. Crews WILL be working this weekend and there will be a LOT of truck traffic on the Tower Road and Pipeline road as they haul logs down the hill. This has caused us to cancel our Black Friday trail day as we need to minimize unnecessary traffic on the mountain this weekend.
If you do get out for a ride this weekend, we’d ask you to stay on single track as much as possible. The top of the Wall and the middle SST / Golden Spike areas will have LOTS of activity with trucks being loaded with logs. Please avoid those areas or better yet, head over to Chuckanut or Blanchard instead! We’re hoping to be able to get in and start rebuilding trails in those areas within the next week, but it depends on how much the crews get done this weekend. Last, the slash pile burning is done for now and we’ll keep you updated if they do any more.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/11/15/logging-updates-and-slash-burning/
That’s about it for now. Be safe and enjoy your time with family and friends.
Cheers,
EB
10.6.2017
Afternoon folks,
Just a head’s up that starting on Monday (November 6th), logging crews will be working in the area around the top of the Wall. We will be closing all of those trails down during the timber harvest activity. We’d also advise against riding up the Wall at that time (especially weekdays) as we anticipate lots of vehicle traffic in that area.
You can see the attached map, but trails that will be affected are as follows:
Here to There, Pick Up Sticks, El Pollo Elastico, Grasshopper, Kung Fu Theater, Jack and the Beanstalk and Tough Love.
This should take 2-3 weeks for completion and we’ll, of course, get in as soon as we can to get them opened back up. More on that to come.
Cheers,
EB
9.21.2017
Howdy folks,
The aerial spraying is delayed until Monday at the soonest. The helicopter was delayed on another job in the East county today due to fog.
We’ll fill you in as we know more. Looks like I’ll be pulling signs tomorrow in the AM though. If anyone is out early AM (I’m looking at you, Dawn patrol and over-mountain commuters!), please pull the signs and/or move the sandwich boards out of the way and let me know what was pulled- where. Thanks!
Cheers,
EB
Galbraith Closed Friday 9/22/2017
Morning folks,
Please Share with your riding friends!
We are asking folks to stay off of Galbraith tomorrow (9/22). There will be aerial spraying glyphosphate in the highlighted areas on the map and we won't know exactly where the pilot will be at any given time. They are planning to start in the morning and hopefully will finish up everything tomorrow. If that changes, we'll keep people posted….you can find out the latest on the website or Facebook.
Signage and flagging will go up on the mountain this afternoon. Thanks!
Cheers,
EB
9.7.2017
Hi folks,
I hope you are all handling the hazy conditions ok. We need everyone to do their rain dance to help our firefighters across the region.
A couple of quick notes.
Saturday: Trail day at Lake Whatcom Park / Stewart Mountain
We’ll be working on the continuation of the climbing route and plan to do some cleanup work behind the mini-ex. Washington Trails Association and other groups have been out working on the trail since our last trail day, so it will be exciting to see the progress and continue this cool trail up the hill. We will meet at the bottom and then carpool up to the work zone. If folks need to leave early, they can either hike down the hill or get a ride when we grab lunch. Coffee and bagels will be provided in the AM and we’ll have pizza from the Fork at Agate Bay for lunch.
When: Saturday, August 9th
Time: 8:30 AM – 3 PM
Location: North Lake Whatcom Trail (Hertz Trailhead)
https://www.google.com/maps/place/North+Lake+Whatcom+Trail/@48.7330541,-122.3438957,14z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1snorth+lake+whatcom+trail!3m4!1s0x0:0x2f841ca3ca68d40a!8m2!3d48.7305492!4d-122.3087096
As always, come dressed for weather and bring appropriate working attire.
Tonight: Bellingham PD and Project 529 discuss bike theft and registering your bikes. More info. here:
When: September 7, 2017, 7:00pm
Where: Bellingham Police Dept. Training Room, 505 Grand Avenue (enter via the gate off C St)
Bellingham Police and Public Works departments invite you to join us for an evening information/discussion session about the Project 529 bicycle registration program. Our goal is to facilitate a community-wide effort to address bike theft in Bellingham.
We hear from citizens on a regular basis who have had their bikes stolen and want to know what can be done about it. Bellingham Police and Public Works departments have committed resources to implement Project 529 in our community. To be effective we need strong partnerships with our local bike shops, cyclists, and advocates.
Thanks and hope to see you there!
Kim Brown
kimbrown@cob.org 360-778-7950
8.11.2017
Hi all,
We got a bunch of updates for you all. Please read through the entire list!
EB
Civic DJ Build Day on Saturday (tomorrow):
Michael Storm will be leading a crew to continue to give the DJ’s some love…meeting at 9 AM and going ‘til Noon’ish. BBQ and riding afterwards.
Galbraith CLOSED on TUESDAY (August 15) due to ROAD SPRAYING:
Folks, every road is being sprayed with herbicide on Tuesday and we are asking for folks to stay off the mountain on that day. PLEASE share with your riding and running friends!
Pump track Grand Opening Celebration:
What a fun evening hanging out with our incredible community. Thank you to everyone that has supported that effort. Eric Ashely is putting together a write up on Pinkbike that should be live soon. Thanks to him and Eric Mickelson, Skye Schillhammer for the awesome photos and video.
Cougar Sightings on Galbraith:
There’s been two cougar sightings over the past week. The first sighting was on Upper Bob’s trail around 8 PM and a friend saw a female cougar and her cubs. The 2nd sighting just took place yesterday morning and another friend was running with her two dogs on the road between the Ridge and SST (Road 1000) down near where the creek is. As the Cougar was approaching them, one of her dogs snarled and showed its teeth and the cougar went off into the woods. This is a reminder that we are sharing the woods with critters – big and small.
Postponed - Fanatik Build Day this weekend:
Due to dry conditions, we are postponing Sunday’s trailday on SST until a late date in September.
September 9th – Build Day on Stewart Mountain:
Mark your calendars! We’ll be joining Whatcom County Parks again for another build day on the up-route on Stewart Mountain. More details to come on this!
Sunday, August 27th - Cascadia Dirt Cup Race - Call for Volunteers!
We’ll need folks to help be timers, course marshal, help in the beer garden, parking, registration, etc. If you’d like to help us put on one of the premier races in the PNW, give me a shout with your preference for what you’d like to help with. As always, we’ll make sure you are well cared for with food, beers and gear! Email me directly or the wmbc at: wmbcmtb@gmail.com
http://www.racecascadia.com/chuckanut
Cedar Dust re-opened:
Huge thanks to Javon Smith, Forrest Montgomery and Nik Budden from Boundary Bay for getting out on Thursday to clear two impasable sections on Cedar Dust. The trail is reconnected
“This is Home” – Incredible Video and Pictures with Jill Kintner and Bryn Atkinson:
Awesome pics and vid of Jill riding around town and down at Duthie.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/this-is-home-jill-kintner-video.html
July’s 3rd most ridden US destinations – Bellingham:
I’m not exactly sure how accurate this is (it’s calculated via Trailforks), but it’s interesting nonetheless.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/top-10-ridden-us-biking-destinations-in-july.html
Brushing:
Huge thanks to Javon Smith, Jon Hereen, Devon Pelkie, Danny Pickering, Tyler Byrnes and everyone else who helped brush this past week. We knocked off the list Br’er Rabbit, Kaiser (again), Pigs, Mole Trap and Lone Wolf. As always, if you’d like to brush your favorite trail (or one you know needs work), give me a shout and I can help coordinate weedeaters and supplies.
Logging Update:
Cedar Dust is re-opened (per above), 187 is still closed, but Oly is passable. I’m going to do a quick tour to see how Mullet is doing and I’ll update you all soon.
Cheers,
EB
8.4.2017
The Chuckanut Mountain wildfire flames have been put out. So, what’s next?
Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article165472517.html#storylink=cpy
8.3.2017
Chuckanut fire 50 percent under control; full containment expected by week's end
Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article165179027.html#storylink=cpy
8.2.2017
Hey folks,
Just a head’s up, there’s a 60 acre fire burning off of Burnout Road on Chuckanut right now.
Clayton Beach Parking lot is closed for staging the fire crews and trucks. There’s roughly 100 firefighters on the fire right now. They will be going up Fragrance Lake Road to Burnout to work on the fire.
http://komonews.com/news/local/wildfire-near-chuckanut-mountain-threatening-4-homes
While trails are still open, we’d advise staying away from Chuckanut / Larrabee State Park until further notice. It’s super hazy over there and there will be a lot of vehicle activity.
Last, it goes without saying, but with the extreme dry conditions and heat, there are NO fires allowed outdoors in Western Washington / Whatcom County right now.
Cheers,
EB
8.3.2017
Hi all,
Some upcoming things for you everyone over the next few weeks.
Advocacy Alert – Take 5 minutes to fill out this Survey:
From the survey page: "It is designed by Washington State University to help land management agencies, and outdoor recreation groups understand your outdoor recreation wishes, and how to make public recreation lands in Washington State easier for you and future generations to use and enjoy. "As such, they are asking trail users to fill out their survey.
https://wsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5zm7FqvKHHSfujX
Wednesday, August 9th - Whatcom Falls Pump Track Grand Opening:
Well folks, we’ve got the fence built and the signage is designed and we’ll be cutting the ribbon at 6 PM. Fanatik Bike will be cooking up burgers and dogs and have Norco DJ bikes for folks to ride. Jill Kintner and Bryn Atkinson will also be autographing posters at the Freehub Magazine tent. More details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1947324518839394/
Sunday, August 13th, Fanatik Build Day on SST:
The weather is going to dictate what we can do on SST on the 13th, so stay tuned for more details on whether we can host this day or not!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1896385753934176
August 12 and 13th, Capitol Forest Classic:
We got a note from the Friends of Capitol Forest that their Capitol Forest Classic weekend of racing has very low registrants so far. If you’re thinking about racing either day (or both days), head over and get registered asap and help out the good folks at FOCF!
https://www.capitolforestclassic.com/
Sunday, August 27th - Cascadia Dirt Cup Race - Call for Volunteers!
We’ll need folks to help be timers, course marshal, help in the beer garden, parking, registration, etc. If you’d like to help us put on one of the premier races in the PNW, give me a shout with your preference for what you’d like to help with. As always, we’ll make sure you are well cared for with food, beers and gear!
http://www.racecascadia.com/chuckanut
Brushing:
We are under a “High” fire danger rating and, as such, all brushing work has to be done by 1 PM when using the weedeaters. If you’d still like to help brush your favorite trails, give us a shout and we’ll help organize tools and supplies.
Logging update:
As always, please respect the closures for everyone's safety.
Cheers,
EB
7.18.2017
Hey folks,
A quick update for everyone this week.
Timber Harvest:
We closed down Oly and Lost Sole today due to timber operations in that area. If you ride down Keystone or Happy Hour, please use Vitamin R or Kaiser to get out of those areas.
187 and Cougar are still open, but we will close them down later this week and Cedar Dust still remains closed.
Saturday - Lake Whatcom / Stewart Mountain Trail Day:
We’ll be working with County Parks on continuing the up-route on Stewart Mountain. Meeting out there at 8:30 and working ‘til 3’ish.
More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/661552300712175
Cheers,
EB
7.6.2017
Hi all,
I just met with the folks at Janicki this morning and they are about to start a month of harvest activity on the mountain. As such, there will be more vehicle activity during the weekdays, so please be courteous and move over when you come across a logging truck during the day. Also, it is imperative that these closures are respected for your safety and the crew’s safety.
We will sign the trails as closed on the following dates, but dates are always subject to change.
IMPORTANT:
Road spraying: There will be one day in August (Date - TBD) of a FULL MOUNTAIN CLOSURE due to spraying on every single road.
Aerial Spraying: There will be several days where certain trails / areas will be closed due to aerial spraying. TBD on trails and dates.
We will update you on the above dates as soon as we know.
Cheers,
EB
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Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
7.5.2017
Happy Wednesday, Folks!
I’ve got some big news to share. The WMBC is pleased to announce the sale of Galbraith Mountain and the new owners intention of continued recreation use on the mountain!
”One of the motivating factors behind the purchase of the tree farm at Galbraith Mountain was our desire to provide continued access to the 45-plus miles of trails that are used year-round by tens of thousands of bikers, hikers, and runners,” says Kiersten Sahlberg, spokesperson for Galbraith Tree Farm LLC.
Photos: Nick Kelly, Eric Ashley, Courtney Nash
Read more about it here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/07/05/whatcom-mountain-bike-coalition-supports-sale-of-galbraith-mountain/
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
7.1.2017
Hey folks,
I need about a half dozen folks who can help with the pump track’s wooden fence tomorrow. I’ve got a dingo for digging post holes and need to set posts (in gravel).
Holler at me if you can help….carpentry skills a huge plus. I’ll be there by 9.
Cheers,
EB
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
6.12.2017
Happy Monday folks,
We’ve been busy the past few weeks. A handful of folks have stepped up to help brush their favorite trails the past week or two. Read more below about what needs to be done and how we can knock out brushing with some coordinated efforts.
Cheers,
EB
Updates and Trail Recaps:
DNR Update: The Recreation Planning Committee is still busy working to identify the proper locations for recreation within Whatcom County. Last Tuesday, myself and Mike McGlenn from the BCH went to Oly to speak to the Board of Natural Resources. More on that here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/06/12/dnr-update-and-board-of-natural-resources-speech/
National Trails Day Recap – Stewart Mountain
We had a great day up on the mountain and will be up there a fair bit over the course of the summer.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/06/12/national-trails-day-recap-lake-whatcom-park/
Brushing:
We’ve had a lot of folks get out and help brush the trails these past couple of weeks. With the increased timber activity on the mountain, brushing has become a much larger and important task than in years past. If folks want to help, I can always coordinate to drop weedeaters, supplies and our blower off for you. That way, you can just ride in/out and have everything you need to get stuff done. To see what trails have been brushed so far, check it out here: https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/06/12/galbraith-brushing-update/
Civic Dirt Jump June recap:
Thanks to Michael and crew for giving the medium and advanced lines some love on Saturday! https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/06/12/civic-dj-june-recap/
WMBC Youth Corps:
Char Waller is working on an amazing project involving middle and high schoolers in the 100 acre wood. Still lots of planning to do, but if all goes as we hope, it’ll be an amazing experience for these youth to plan and create their own little bike park in the rock quarry within the park.
Whatcom Falls Pump track:
The pump track is still closed (other than work days) until we knock out the remaining items on the punch list. We will be building 340’ of wooden 2 rail fence that surrounds the track and creating/installing a kiosk with signage. We also planted grass on the sides of the berms and pumps to help stabilize the slopes. We’ll let folks know when we need help with the fence….we’ll need some experience folks on this project.
Upcoming Build Days and Events:
This Weekend: We don’t have something planned YET for the weekend, but it’s almost certain we’ll have crews brushing and perhaps working on the pump track. TBD.
June 25th , Ridge and Miranda Trail day
Join Jack’s Homegrown Racing for another day of maintenance on the Ridge and Miranda. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333343226744226/
July 12-16, Kettle Fest – Colville National Forest
Come join Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, Evergreen East and the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition from July 12-16th for 5 days of epic riding and camping at Kettle Crest! If you can't join for the entire time, come for as long as works for you. Folks with kids, the campground is great spot for the little ones to ride around. More here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1881115448844863
6.2.2017
Happy Friday folks,
Just a reminder that tomorrow is National Trails day and we’re kicking off working on Lake Whatcom Park!! The plan is to work on an up-route that is on the lowest part of the mountain. We’ll be working with Washington Trails Association and County Parks on the day along with other trail users. We’re asking folks to leave your doggies at home for this day.
We’ll be kicking off the day at 9 AM at the Hertz Trailhead at the end of North Shore road. There will be a ceremonial kickoff from the County before we head up the hill. If you can carpool with friends, please do so!
Wednesday, we had a crew of 4 sawyers (Javon, James, Jimmy and myself) helping clear the corridor and there’s a LOT of Alder debris to move. After that is removed, we’ll work on getting the organic off the corridor. Because this will have a mini ex on it next week, we’ll do minimal benching and it should be a fun way to kick off the build season out there. The weather looks good, so bring a swimsuit if you want to get a dip in the lake afterwards.
Also, Happy Hour starts at the Fork at 4PM….so if you want to swing by afterwards , that’s a great post-dig location!
If you can register with County Parks, that would be helpful too.
https://wa-whatcomcounty.civicplus.com/FormCenter/Parks-Recreation-17/Lake-Whatcom-Park-National-Trails-Day-Gr-111
Cheers,
EB
5.24.2017
Howdy folks,
A few updates for you. As always, a reminder that you can follow our Google Calendar which is up-to-date. https://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Pump Track:
The Pump track is still officially under construction, but folks have been getting laps on it. We’ll have a crew out at the pump track today starting around 3’ish moving dirt and bark, doing general cleanup and then riding and bbq’ing. We’ll have a trail day there this Saturday to continue those efforts from 9 AM to 1 PM. If possible, please ride, hike or carpool to the park to avoid clogging up the entire parking lot. Feel free to bring the kiddos!
Whatcom Falls Pump Track Build day Recap:
We had about 25 folks and a ton of kiddos out last weekend and it was a blast!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/22/whatcom-falls-pump-track-build-day/
2016 Trail Summary Report:
I finally got around to summarizing the data from last year’s survey. If you want the Clif’s notes version, go to page 3.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/19/2016-wmbc-trail-survey-summary/
Saturday, June 3rd – National Trails Day on Stewart Mountain
It's official folks! We are officially breaking ground and putting shovels in the dirt on Stewart Mountain (Aka, Lake Whatcom Park). Please join the WMBC, Whatcom County Parks and Washington Trails Association for our very first trail day in Lake Whatcom Park. https://www.facebook.com/events/288848771543116/
Sign up with County Parks here! https://wa-whatcomcounty.civicplus.com/FormCenter/Parks-Recreation-17/Lake-Whatcom-Park-National-Trails-Day-Gr-111
June 10th, Civic Dirt Jump build day
Join Michael Storm for another Civic DJ build day to get the jumps in great shape before the summer season hits. They usually go from 9-12 and then there’s some time to ride after. More details to come as we get closer to the date.
June 25th , Ridge and Miranda Trail day
Join Jack’s Homegrown Racing for another day of maintenance on the Ridge and Miranda. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333343226744226/
Bunny / Art’s Trail Logging:
The Janicki crew is starting to harvest in the area with Bunny and Art's trails today. Thanks to Devon Pelkie and Russ Lambert's efforts, Kaya, Hopscotch and the southern end of Bunny are re-opened (but still need work), but we'll be closing the northern end of the these trails today. See attached map below.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/24/logging-on-arts-and-bunny-trails/
Cheers,
EB
5.15.2017
Happy Monday all!
We’ve had a busy month and we’re not going to slow down anytime soon. Huge kudos to everyone who has been coming out for our trail days, visited us at the breweries and just getting a ton of work done on behalf of our community.
As always, a reminder that you can follow our Google Calendar which is up-to-date.
https://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Cheers,
EB
Job Box: Does anyone have an extra job box they'd be willing to part with for the WMBC? We'd like to have one for Whatcom Falls pump track, so authorized individuals have easy access to hand tools and hoses for future maintenance. It doesn’t need to be huge, but it needs to be able to accommodate a dozen tools (shovels, rakes, tampers) and 350 feet of hose. Thanks!!
Larrabee State Park - Cleator Road is Open
After a week of grading work, the Cleator Road is opened back up to the top of Chuckanut Mountain.
Trail Day Recaps:
Craftsmen in our midst:
A truly over-the-top bridge railing from Belles and Pelkie and another signature Fricker bench!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/16/craftsmen-in-our-midst/
Unemployment Line Changes - sponsored by Terrain Gym and Terra-tactile Trailbuilding:
More awesome changes made by Andrew and John again this year.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/15/unemployment-line-sponsored-by-terrain-gym-and-terra-tactile-trailbuilding/
Lair of the Bear Recap - Sponsored by Mt Baker Imaging:
Trail tread and drainage work done. Holes filled with tons of rock!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/11/lair-of-the-bear-trailday-recap/
Double Black Diamond Recap - Sponsored by Treelines Northwest:
Lots of drainage and trail tread work completed!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/11/double-black-diamond-recap-sponsored-by-treelines-northwest/
Rock n’ Roll Recap - Sponsored by Kulshan Brewing:
Tons of brushing and drainage work!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/15/rock-n-roll-trail-recap-sponsored-by-kulshan-brewing/
Upcoming Build days: We will be adding more dates soon!
Sunday, May 21st – Whatcom Falls Pump Track:
We’re going to work this Sunday on cleaning up the work site, moving rocks and bark and we may have a few folks doing some adjustments to the track.
https://www.facebook.com/events/417146885321760/
Saturday, June 3rd – National Trails Day on Stewart Mountain
It's official folks! We are officially breaking ground and putting shovels in the dirt on Stewart Mountain (Aka, Lake Whatcom Park). Please join the WMBC, Whatcom County Parks and Washington Trails Association for our very first trail day in Lake Whatcom Park. https://www.facebook.com/events/288848771543116/
Sign up with County Parks here! https://wa-whatcomcounty.civicplus.com/FormCenter/Parks-Recreation-17/Lake-Whatcom-Park-National-Trails-Day-Gr-111
June 10th, Civic Dirt Jump build day
Join Michael Storm for another Civic DJ build day to get the jumps in great shape before the summer season hits. They usually go from 9-12 and then there’s some time to ride after. More details to come as we get closer to the date.
June 25th , Ridge and Miranda Trail day
Join Jack’s Homegrown Racing for another day of maintenance on the Ridge and Miranda. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333343226744226/
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
5.2.2017
Hi folks,
A bunch of things for you on this beautiful Tuesday, so get in where you fit in.
I’m heading out to the pump track.
Cheers,
EB
Evergreen Survey: Take 5 minutes to fill this out!
http://www.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?id=5599613&cu=26813
Cedar Dust Trail day - Recap:
A big thanks to the folks at Boundary Bay for the super fun Cedar Dust Alley and their build day on Cedar Dust. More about that here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/01/cedar-dust-trail-day-recap/
WMBC Joyriders Spring Kickoff Recap:
The event was a huge success with groups ranging from beginners to advanced riding all over the mountain. More info. here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/04/26/joyrider-kick-off/
Joyrider schedule here: https://wmbcmtb.org/joyriders/
Galbraith Earth Day recap:
A huge thanks to the 20 something folks who helped us get a bunch of old garbage off of the hill!! Most of that had been on the mountain for decades.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/04/24/earth-day-2017-galbraith-clean-up/
Pump Track progress:
We have the main components of the stormwater system completed. Big thanks to JP Slagle from Freeland and Associates for donating his expertise for our Stormwater design and Josh Neyman from Bellingham Parks for helping implement the design. Also a big thanks to Fanatik and Granite Pre-cast for donating our Type 1 Basin and inlets for that system! We can now focus on shaping the intermediate and advanced tracks. I know some of you aren’t on FB, but we’re doing most of the updates on there right now. We will be needing volunteers to help us move dirt for capping later this week…..more on that to come.
A not-so-subtle reminder: This project is mostly being funded by the WMBC from our members’ donations. Without your help, we can NOT do more of these moving forward. If you’ve not donated to the WMBC this year, please do so here: www.wmbcmtb.org/donate
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Saturday May 6th : Transition Bikes “Second Annual Grand Opening”
Swing down from 12-5 PM…more info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/455819324759350/
April 28 - May 7th – Unemployment Line Overhaul Sponsored by Terrain Gym:
U Line is closed as Andrew Fletcher-Love and John Miller are taking their “vacation” to give U Line its yearly overhaul. They like to keep it to a small crew, but if they need help, we’ll let folks know.
Sunday, May 7th – Double Black Diamond Trail Day sponsored by Treelines Northwest
We will focus on Double Black Diamond working top down. As usual, Adam and the Treelines folks will stoke folks out with great food and beverages. Bill Hawk is leading this day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/344503942614505/
Friday, May 12th – Rock n Roll Trail day sponsored by Kulshan Brewing:
Come help get Rock n Roll dialed in for summer….meeting at 10 AM at the Samish lot. We’ll make sure there’s plenty of Lager or Greenwood IPA ready to go. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/257953967998938/
Saturday, June 3rd – National Trails Day on Stewart Mountain
It's official folks! We are officially breaking ground and putting shovels in the dirt on Stewart Mountain (Aka, Lake Whatcom Park). Please join the WMBC, Whatcom County Parks and Washington Trails Association for our very first trail day in Lake Whatcom Park.
https://www.facebook.com/events/288848771543116/
June 10th, Civic Dirt Jump build day
Join Michael Storm for another Civic DJ build day to get the jumps in great shape before the summer season hits. They usually go from 9-12 and then there’s some time to ride after. More details to come as we get closer to the date.
June 25th , Ridge and Miranda Trail day
Join Jack’s Homegrown Racing for another day of maintenance on the Ridge and Miranda. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333343226744226/
4.20.2017
Howdy folks,
We’ve got a ton of stuff coming up over the next few weeks including a super fun women’s ride with the Joyriders and fundraisers as part of Bellingham Beer Week.
See below and get in where you fit in!
Cheers,
EB
Saturday, April 22: Earth Day Clean Up
IMPORTANT: We are meeting at the Samish Lot at 8:30, so folks can also go to the March for Science. This day will be to get some of the really old garbage off of the hill. Stuff like old tires and cars from the days when there were no gates on the mountain. If you have a truck and don’t mind hauling stuff in it, please bring your truck with you. Also helpful are come-a-longs, tow straps and tow ropes. If you have a truck with a winch, that would be helpful as well. We will have two dumpsters on the hill….one for scrap metal and one for garbage. Any stuff that can be recycled will go into a pile and hauled off in the next week or two.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1972952822935935/
Saturday, April 22: WMBC Joyriders Women’s Spring kickoff.
Ready to kick off a great year of Women’s rides! Meet on the road above Last call starting at 9:30am and rides start at 10am go until 12:30. Please carpool- you can park at lake Padden and pedal in, or be early to snag a good parking spot, on Samish way, or the dollar lot on Galbraith Lane. 1-4pm Post ride beers and raffle at Kulshan on James st! Kulshan will donate $1. per pint to WMBC!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1256597657720624/
Sunday April 23: Lair of the Bear Sponsored by Mount Baker Imaging
Meeting at the Samish Lot at 9 and carpooling up to the top of LOB. You can also ride or hike up to join the crew. Jeff Jaap is leading this day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/145457549319224/
Sunday April 23: Boundary Bay / Cedar Dust Alley Fundraiser – Bellingham Beer Week
From 12-4 PM, Boundary is bringing Galbraith Mountain to YOU!! Get ready to have a radical time as we turn our alley into a Mountain Bike playground and festival! During Bellingham Beer Week, this event will raise funds for WMBC , and we're shutting down the alley behind Boundary Bay for...BIKES...BIKES & BIKES. Polecat will be playing at 2:30.
https://www.facebook.com/events/267764143675942/
Wednesday, April 26: Aslan Fundraiser – Bellingham Beer Week
As part of Bellingham Beer Week, the good folks at Aslan brewing are donating 9% of all drink sales to 9 non-profits in our community. So, swing by Aslan on Wednesday the 26th, have a pint or two with us!
https://www.facebook.com/events/413339629045326/
April 28 - May 7 – Unemployment Line Overhaul Sponsored by Terrain Gym:
Andrew Fletcher-Love and John Miller will once again take their “vacation” to give U Line its yearly overhaul. They like to keep it to a small crew, but if they need help, we’ll let folks know. Maybe some cleanup on the upper section of the trail or another area where they aren’t working.
Sunday, May 7 – Double Black Diamond Trail Day sponsored by Treelines Northwest
We will focus on Double Black Diamond working top down. As usual, Adam and the Treelines folks will stoke folks out with great food and beverages. Bill Hawk is leading this day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/344503942614505/
Friday, May 12 – Rock n Roll Trail day sponsored by Kulshan Brewing:
Come kick off Cinco de Mayo right by getting Rock n Roll dialed in for summer. We’ll make sure there’s plenty of Lager or Greenwood IPA ready to go. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/257953967998938/
June 10, Civic Dirt Jump build day
Join Michael Storm for another Civic DJ build day to get the jumps in great shape before the summer season hits. They usually go from 9-12 and then there’s some time to ride after. More details to come as we get closer to the date.
Logging:
The Janicki crew is still working in the Bunny / Kaya / Art’s trail areas. Thank you to everyone for respecting the closures for your safety and theirs! We’ll let you know when we can get back in there and get the trails cleaned back up.
3.17.2017
Hi all,
A quick update before the weekend is upon us. Trails are finally drying up and Sunday and Monday look to have some good weather…get out there and enjoy yourself! Please note: we still have Pump Track à Eagle Scout closed to let the dirt firm up after the recent Freehub Mag build day. Also, don’t forget that our Google Calendar is always up-to-date and a good source to see what’s going on with the WMBC.
https://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Logging:
The Janicki crew is still working in the Bunny / Kaya / Art’s trail areas. Thank you to everyone for respecting the closures for your safety and theirs! We’ll let you know when we can get back in there and get the trails cleaned back up.
Upcoming Trail days:
Demo Opportunities:
Cheers,
EB
2.24.2017
Freehub Trail day:
Bill Hawk and Brandon Watts will be leading crews on Evolution and PT à Eagle Scout tomorrow. Meeting at the Samish Way lot at 9 AM if you’d like to help get those dialed for spring. If you’re planning to ride tomorrow, please avoid those trails….thanks! More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/274133373007683/
Upcoming Logging:
I’ll be meeting with Janicki’s crew on Monday, but they are planning to begin logging West of the Pipeline Road in the Kaya, Bunny and Art’s area next Thursday. We’ll get in there early in the week to flag the heck out of the trails, so their machine operators can limit trail damage, but those trails will be closed until further notice beginning early in the week.
Also, there will be a LOT of truck traffic on the Pipeline Road while harvest activity is taking place. As such, we’ll ask folks to try to ride from the north side or begin your rides after mid-afternoon when their crews are off the hill. If you encounter logging trucks during a ride, we’d ask you to please pull over and let them pass through since we only have one entrance/exit on that side of the hill now.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Cheers,
EB
12.01.2016
Folks,
Jack’s and the Homegrown Racing Team are sponsoring a trail day this Saturday to work on Miranda, The Ridge and plan to continue their singletrack climb route up the hill.
Few trails, if any, see more traffic on the hill, so come help get the primary north side access in great shape for the winter! They will be meeting at the Birch Street Trailhead at 9 AM….parents, this is a VERY kid-friendly trail day since the kiddos can work on Miranda. As always, come prepared for weather, but the Jack’s crew has food and drinks covered.
https://www.facebook.com/events/275974242799112/
Cheers,
EB
11.21.2016
Hi all,
Reminder! If you’re in town for the holiday this weekend, we’re hosting a family-friendly dig and ride day on Friday. Come on out and work off some of that excessive food and drink!
Our current plan is to meet along the 1000 / Pipeline road intersection just past Last Call / New issues (see map) at 9 AM. We’ll have coffee, hot chocolate, food, etc. in the AM and lunch at Noon. After lunch, we are encouraging those who have bikes, to head out for a ride. For those with younger kiddos, we do need the parents to ride with and be responsible for their kids…if you so choose to ride after the dig portion of the day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/573913216127827/
I hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!
Cheers,
EB
11.15.2016
Hi all,
We’re instituting our mid-week build days again on Wednesdays to accommodate those with different work schedules. If you want to participate in those, please email EB directly to be added to the email list. Tomorrow, we’ll be working on Gate and Switch and Last Call and meeting at 9 AM at the Samish Lot.
Upcoming events:
Saturday, November 19th – Build day on SST sponsored by Fanatik. Meeting at Samish lot at 9 AM. The plan is to work above and below the first road crossing. The upper part of the trail WILL BE SHUT DOWN during the build day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/993301824113296/
Friday , November 25th – OptOutside build and ride day – Instead of spending the day shopping at the mall, we are encouraging our members to get out for some digging and riding….work off some of that Thanksgiving meal!! This will be VERY friendly build day….join us for all or part of the day. Meeting at 9 AM at the Samish Lot and then driving in to do some digging, lunch and then riding. We’ll most likely
https://www.facebook.com/events/573913216127827/
Tuesday, November 29th – DNR Public Planning Meeting at BTC Settlemeyer Hall (same place as Shoot the Trails) from 5-8 PM. As someone on the Rec Planning Committee, I can say that we’ve made a lot of progress to lay the groundwork for future trail networks, but also have a LOT more to do in the coming year before anything will be finalized. I just want to set expectations as to where we are in this process!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1613984508901306/
Saturday, December 3rd – The Ridge and Miranda build day sponsored by Jack’s Homegrown Racing. We’ll meet at Birch Trailhead at 9 AM. More details to come.
https://www.facebook.com/events/275974242799112/
Cheers,
EB
10.28.2016
Morning folks!
Reminder that we're going to be working on Double Down tomorrow morning. Meet at the Clayton Beach / Lost Lake Parking lot at 9 AM and then we'll hike up (working bottom-up). Dress weather appropriate!
https://www.facebook.com/events/775289815958372/
Also, Whoopsie Woodle is closed until further notice. A logging crew is going through and thinned a section of it leaving it impassable. They will be done today and we'll get up early in the week to clear it out. The entrance has been flagged off to notify folks.
Cheers,
EB
9.21.2016
Hi folks,
The rain and cooler temps are finally back and we are celebrating National Public Lands Day by giving some love to the trails on Larrabee State Park. In particular, our plan is to get Double Black and Double Down back in shape after a long, dry summer and the extra traffic from our recent Enduro race.
Time and Location:
We are meeting at 9 AM at the Lost Lake (aka, Clayton Beach) parking lot which is by the bathrooms and Fragrance Lake Road. We'll have coffee/bagels for the AM and lunch in the afternoon.
What to bring:
As usual, dress for the weather, bring some water or snacks and boots/gloves for working. We'll have plenty of trail tools ready to go.
** PLEASE NOTE: Discover Passes are NOT necessary for this day.
Cheers,
EB
10.25.2016
Hi all,
The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) supports outdoor recreation and preserving natural spaces in Washington State. Please take 2 minutes to sign on to a letter asking our legislature to continue funding their programs at the same (or better yet, higher) level. This funding will be helping the WMBC as we start to get authorized trails going with the DNR and other land managers.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5A_7MGwZZZuaV126P5PzisfaKsYiCD1gtuQTkq0OTeE6I-A/viewform
If you’d like to read their full letter, you can do so here:
http://www.wildliferecreation.org/getinvolved/wwrp-funding-request-sign-on-letter/at_download/file
Larrabee Trailday this Saturday:
We need to get some dirt work done on Double Down now that the dirt has some moisture. We’ll be meeting at Clayton Beach/ Lost Lake Parking lot at 9 AM and heading up from there. We do have additional plans in the works in the park this winter, but we need to get our trails back into good shape first and foremost.
Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/775289815958372/
Cheers,
EB
9.6.2016
Hi all,
If any of you are planning to ride this Thursday, consider going for a ride out on Blanchard instead.
The WMBC is co-hosting an event on Blanchard with the Commissioner of Public Lands, Peter Goldmark, and several of our legislators. The plan is to have the various stakeholders and legislators up on the mountain to strategize how to fund the remaining 700 acres from future timber harvest. You can read more about hit here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2016/02/02/advocacy-alert-help-save-1600-acres-on-blanchard-mountain/
We’ll be up at the paraglider take off at the Samish Overlook between 12 and 1 and then going for a hike after that. It would be great to see some mountain bikers up there. You don’t have to do anything beyond riding your bike….just ride to the lookout and then go on your merry way!
Cheers,
Eric
8.19.2016
Morning all,
I hope you are enjoying our beautiful weather and getting out for some ride and lake time. This weather’s great, but am I the only one that’s really starting to miss the rain? Come January, I’m sure I’ll want someone to throat punch me for that comment. Two things for you all today:
REMINDER!! DNR Recreation Survey:
As part of the Recreation Planning process for Whatcom County, the DNR wants to hear from you. In our committee meetings, all of the user groups have been honest about where their respective users recreate currently, so please be honest with them in this survey! It only takes 5-10 minutes, so tell them where you recreate and what you’d like to see from them. TAKE THIS SURVEY!!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MJLX6LJ
Burn Ban:
The DNR has officially banned outdoor fires until we get rain and cooler temps.
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/news/dnr-bans-campfires-across-state
Cheers,
EB
8.11.2016
Morning all,
Be Considerate.
We're creating a new campaign as a reminder for trail users that access Galbraith through neighborhoods to "Be Considerate". As such, we're installing signs near the exits of the mountain (and parking lots) to serve as reminders for folks to have their dogs on leash on their way on/off the mountain. Additionally, we've had a few complaints from neighbors about riders bombing down the streets and residents nearly hitting them as they pull out of their driveways....so we also have "Ride Slow" signs as well. Thanks for your help with self-policing on these issues.
CDC Race:
The CDC Enduro on August 27th has officially announced the race courses (broken down into 3 groups: expert/pro, sport and beginner class). You can see the course maps and read the routing descriptions here: http://www.cascadiadirtcup.org/chuckanut_course
Volunteers: We are still looking for volunteers for the race (parking, timing, course marshals, venue tear down, etc.). Reminder that the Cascadia Dirt Cup gives back to each organization hosting the event, so the WMBC will raise funds from this event. If you’d like to help the event out, shoot and email to wmbcmtb@gmail.com and Allie Evans will get back to you about what items are open and what works best for you. Also, we’ll have a trail day on Wednesday, August 24th to clean up some pedal/bar grabbers on Raptor Ridge and do some brushing on 2 dollar and Lost lake trail.
Enjoy this upcoming warm stretch of weather!
Cheers,
EB
8.1.2016
Hi all,
A few things to discuss this beautiful Monday. Please feel free to share with your riding friends.
DNR Survey:
As part of the Recreation Planning process for Whatcom County, the DNR wants to hear from you. In our committee meetings, all of the user groups have been honest about where they’re respective users recreate currently, so please be honest with them in this survey! It only takes 5-10 minutes, so tell them where you recreate and what you’d like to see from them.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MJLX6LJ
WMBC Survey Closing on Tuesday:
We’re closing our 2016 Survey tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. Most of you have filled it out, but I figured I’d send it along one last time.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/wmbc2016
Chuckanut CDC Enduro (August 27th):
There are 175 people signed up for the Chuckanut Enduro already. This event will sell out as it’s a stop on the North American Enduro Tour, so you should register asap. We’ll be doing a bit of brushing and trimming of pedal/bar grabbers in the coming weeks, if you’d like to help with that, let me know. Also, unless we get some rain, we won’t do any dirt work….hopefully we’ll get some rain so we can do some dirt work, but it’s not looking good. The courses have changed and the Pro/Expert class, Sport Class and Beginner Classes will have different courses to better accommodate varying skill/fitness levels and to encourage more folks to give an enduro race a try. Register here:
http://www.cascadiadirtcup.org/chuckanut
Also, if you’d like to volunteer for the race (EMS, timing, course marshals, parking, etc.), email us at wmbcmtb@gmail.com I promise we’ll take good care of you and you’ll have the unending gratitude of our racers.
Cheers,
EB
7.22.2016
Hi all,
As most of you know, we’ve been busting our butts the past couple of months to get the new Tower Road Connector and bridge done. It’s been stressful for all involved and, frankly, I think our crew of builders have outdone themselves with a critical project for access on the south-side.
The bridge had its final rails installed on Tuesday and tomorrow (Saturday), we’re going to finish cleaning up the bridge zone, do a little bit of buffing on the trail (which is really dry, so most work won’t happen until Fall) and we may send a few folks out with weed-eaters to get some issues tackled nearby.
Gateway Controls is sponsoring our day tomorrow. Being that it’s at the base of the mountain, it will be very kid-friendly and we’ll have tasks for kids ready to go. As usual, we’re meeting at the Samish Way parking lot at 9 AM, but we’d ask anyone that can ride/hike in to meet us at Last Call or the bridge zone around 9:20 or any time after. We will need to haul some materials around the mountain, so a couple of trucks will be needed. If all goes as planned, we should be able to be off the hill by 1 or 2.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1327313653962800/
Cheers,
EB
7.1.2016
Howdy folks,
We’re having another brushing work party tomorrow (Saturday) to tackle some of the worst remaining trails. Details below from Javon Smith – who will be leading this day again. On our last brushing day, they knocked out a ton of trails – even in the downpour.
Thanks Javon!!!
Divide and conquer brushing day on Saturday, July 2.
If you have a gas powered weedeater, tune that sucker up and let’s get some trails brushed! If you have a leaf blower, bring that too. Don’t forget long pants/shirt and ear/eye protection if you plan to run a machine. We’ll have several available as well.
Meeting at the Samish lot at 9 AM and heading up in teams of 3 (2 brushers and a raker/blower) and tackle as many trails as possible.
EB
6.20.2016
Happy Solstice ya’ll!
If folks have some free time this week, we’ll be working on getting more work done on the new bridge near Lost Giants. Holler at me if you have any availability. There are lots of little tasks that even an hour or two can help us move along. I’m planning to be out most of the week on that, so holler if you have a day that you can get out to help. We’re going to plan to have a build day next Saturday to get the bulk of the structure in place. More details on that as we get progress on this project during the week….but it’s currently our number one priority.
Also, tonight is the summer solstice and a bunch of folks will be out riding to celebrate the longest day of the year. There’s going to be a gathering up near the Sandystone area (near the top of wonderland) sometime after 7’ish until dark. Bring some libations and charge up your lights if you plan to stay out ‘til dark.
Cheers,
EB
6.17.2016
Hi all,
We’re doing a divide and conquer brushing day on Saturday (tomorrow) sponsored by Trailhead Athletics. If you have a gas powered weed-eater, tune that sucker up and let’s get some trails brushed! If you have a leaf blower, bring that too. Don’t forget long pants/shirt and ear/eye protection if you plan to run a machine. We’ll have several available as well.
Folks will be meeting at the Samish lot at 9 AM and heading up in teams of 3 (2 brushers and a raker/blower) and tackle as many trails as possible.
There will also be a handful of folks working on the new connector bridge. If there are extra folks available, we’ll send them over in that direction to help with de-barking posts/stingers, etc.
https://www.facebook.com/events/996292833811053/
Cheers,
EB
5.19.2016
Good morning all,
Good news! Cleator road is currently closed for grading work and long-overdue repairs by State Parks. If you prefer a bit of solitude at the top of Cyrus Gates overlook, now is the time to head up Fragrance Lake Road for a ride or a hike. More about it here:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article78205147.html
Saturday, June 11th - Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day:
This year, we’re adding another TAKMB Day at Lake Padden. Bring your kiddos out for the afternoon!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1055123607891012/
Upcoming Traildays:
Saturday, May 21st – Three Pigs sponsored by Bellingham and Whatcom County Firefighters Local 106.
Meeting at the Galbraith Lane / Samish Way Parking lot at 9 AM. The focus will be on brushing and dialing in some recent routing changes to the trail.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1722617981348604/
Saturday, June 4th – National Trails Day on Blanchard Mountain…. sponsored by REI and coordinated with DNR.
We’ll be meeting at the Lower Parking lot / trailhead.
https://www.facebook.com/events/952285238214024/
Saturday, June 18th – Brushing party – Sponsored by Trailhead Athletics.
This will be a Divide and Conquer day to address the most needed trails. If you have a gas-powered weedeater and want to help, this would be a great day to join.
https://www.facebook.com/events/996292833811053/
Cheers,
EB
5.10.2016
Howdy folks,
I hope you’re getting out on the trails!! Weather’s looking stellar for the weekend (all week, actually) and we’re planning to have two traildays:
Saturday – SST: We’ll be working on SST with the folks at Fanatik Bikes. NOTE: We will be meeting at 9 AM at the Lake Padden parking lot near the dog park (see attached map). If you would prefer to ride to join us, we’ll be staging at the road crossing below the big rock roll (1200 Road).
https://www.facebook.com/events/1711001942510177/
Sunday – Cedar Dust: We’ll be working on Cedar Dust with the Kulshan Cycles folks. We will be meeting at the Samish / Galbraith Lane Parking Lot at 9 AM and then staging near the end of Cedar Dust closest to Rock n Roll (Road 1210 spur).
https://www.facebook.com/events/195816400804523/
2016 Trail Survey:
Every couple of years, we ask you to take 5-10 minutes to fill this trail survey out. It’s an important tool for us when we speak to our local land managers about the usage we have on our trail networks and the value you find in easy access in our area. So, PLEASE, take a few minutes to fill this out (if you haven’t already). https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/wmbc2016
Thanks, and let’s give some love to a couple of the most used trails on the mountain!
Cheers,
EB
4.12.2016
Howdy folks,
If you’re not going to be out helping on Hush Hush or Grasshopper this Sunday, Andy Basabe has organized a Blanchard Mountain Awareness ride/run at 11 AM – meeting at the Lower Lily/Lizard Trail parking lot.
Detail are below or you can email Andy here: basabeatbaker@gmail.com
Cheers,
EB
Hello All,
Quick reminder, areas of Blanchard Mountain will be logged beginning spring 2017 unless our state legislature funds the purchase of adjacent lands to protect the core area. A map is attached to the email. More info can be found here:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article58788683.html
Areas within the proposed Core Area to be protected include:
▪ Lily and Lizard lakes and the campsites by each lake.
▪ Oyster Dome viewpoint.
▪ North Butte viewpoint.
▪ Samish Overlook.
▪ About 8 miles out of a total of 11 1/2 miles of trail in Blanchard Forest.
This coming Sunday there will be an opportunity for folks to show their support for Blanchard Mountain, and demonstrate to Washington’s elected officials the importance of public access to healthy trails on Blanchard Mountain.
Everyone is invited to join us for a run/ride, a sharing of the trails.
What: 15ish miles of mountain biking and running over Blanchard and up to the top of Cleator Rd in the Chuckanuts.
Beginning at the Lily/Lizard Lake trailhead, up and over Blanchard, down British Army, across the valley over the logging roads, and back by Lost Lake via the Rock Trail up to the top of Cleator. About 15 miles. Once at the top of Cleator Rd, folks can choose to head back to Bellingham via the Ridge Trail, or down to the interurban. Hiking is totally viable, but will take much longer.
When: Sunday April 17, be ready to ride or run at 11AM
Where: The lower parking lot for Lily/Lizard Lakes, directions below.
Why: To bring attention to the potential demise of some of these trails.
There will be salmon, snacks, and beverages at the top of Cleator Rd for all present, until supplies run out.
Please carpool, and park in areas that won’t affect the regular users of these parks and trails. The lot at the top of Cleator Rd is small, please try and park at the bottom of the road, or the North Chuckanut Parking Lot.
There will be directions for those unfamiliar with the trails connecting the two areas, and flagging will be used to indicate the correct route. Nice people will be present at the Lily/Lizard Lake parking lot to help get people organized.
Directions to Lily/Lizard Lakes Trailhead
http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/lily-lake-trail
Directions to the fiesta at the top of Cleator Rd
Turn east off Chuckanut Drive on Hiline Rd, near milepost 16, cross the interurban trail, and head up the gravel road.
3.31.2016
Morning Folks,
I hope you are enjoying this sunshine and getting some Vitamin D!! We have two traildays this Sunday….get in where you fit in!
The Jack’s Queens of Dirt are sponsoring a trailday on the Ridge. They’re going to meet at Birch street at 9 and continue the work of keeping Miranda / Ridge running great! Details are here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/450220021838268/
Skagit Naturopathic is sponsoring a trailday on wonderland. They’ll meet at the Samish Way parking lot at 9 and work bottom up to take care of the many drainage issues on the trail. Details are here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1600424243612621/
Evolution: We’ll be working on Evo the next couple of days with the hopes of opening up asap. Holler at me if you’d like to help make that happen sooner than later.
Mullet: Lots of changes have been happening on Mullet the past couple of weeks. Please, ride with caution and look before you leap as the wooden table after the road crossing was falling apart and has now turned into a gap jump and several lips have been adjusted. Those will see further adjustments asap.
Last, if you’ve not heard, Transition Bikes and Kulshan Brewing are hosting a party at Kulshan on Kentucky (aka, K2) Saturday night to celebrate their new collaboration – Party In The Woods IPA. If you can’t make it, it’s also available at all Haggen Stores as of yesterday. Get Some!
Cheers,
EB
3.17.2016
Howdy folks,
The Chuckanut 50 K will have runners all over Chuckanut Mountain on Saturday morning. We would highly advise mountain bikers to avoid the area at least until mid-afternoon on Saturday.
http://chuckanut50krace.com/
McGazzapaloozers, the last of the runners will be heading up DBD as you are all meeting at the Clayton Beach Parking lot. If you get to the top and runners are still coming up the trail (there is an aid station at the top of Cleator), you should either get an upper Ridge lap in, enjoy the view with a frosty beverage or, better yet...do both!
Runners, have a great race!
Trailday Reminder:
Jeff Jaap is leading a crew on Lower Woodle/ Lair of the Bear on Saturday morning. Meeting at the Samish Way / Galbraith lane Parking lot at 9 AM….I’m sure Jeff could use some experienced crew to help him out!
Cheers,
EB
3.14.2016
Howdy folks,
A few important updates for you and your input is needed.
As always, I fully appreciate your support!
Cheers,
EB
DNR Recreation Planning:
We had our first DNR Rec Planning Meeting last Tuesday night and there are 17 people on the committee representing all of the various recreation groups. Glenn Gervais and I are on the committee to represent the mountain bike community.
Our homework assignment for the next month is to gather as much input/feedback on where people are recreating and potential future recreation locations. While I know where most folks are riding their bikes, it’s always good to get that information directly from folks. PLEASE send me an email with “DNR Recreation” in the subject line and then let me know the areas of high importance to you, cool viewpoints or destinations we should know about, etc.. I’ve attached the DNR’s map of Whatcom County to help you view and identify the various areas. It is also worth noting that the DNR is very aware of the areas that ALL user groups are recreating currently, so you are not “giving away any secrets” by saying you ride your mountain bike somewhere in particular.https://kevinmenard.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/dnr_map_whatcom_county.pdf
Wednesday / Mid-week traildays:
In the past, I’ve heard from a lot of people who can’t make it out for our typical weekend traildays – whether it’s due to work, family commitments or whatever. As such, we’ve instituted “Wednesday Traildays” to help folks out and to tackle smaller projects that need some attention. Each week, the proejct will change depending on what’s needed, the weather, etc. While we’re trying to keep them consistently on Wednesdays, we could shift that around based on the weather or other obligations.
For these days, we’re meeting at 9 AM at the Samish Way / Galbraith Lane Parking Lot and then heading up from there. People can bounce whenever they need to, but we’re aiming to go ‘til 1. Email me if you’re interested in those days and I’ll add you to a specific “mid-week” email list so you can get the details for each Wednesday.
Upcoming traildays:
We’ve instituted a Google Calendar to better help people plan. Utilize this for your future trailday and event plans. Next up, Jeff Jaap is leading a trailday on Lower Woodle (Aka, Lair of the Bear) this Saturday and he’s got plenty of projects that need some horsepower from a big crew.
http://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Upcoming Trail Days Here:
Saturday March 19th
Lair of the Bear
Saturday, March 26th
Grasshopper - Manualmike.com
Sunday April 3rd
Ridge Trail Sponsored by Queens of Dirt and
Wonderland Trail - Sponsored by Skagit Naturopathic
Sunday, April 10th
Grasshopper - Manualmike.com
Sunday, April 17th
Hush Hush
Windapocalypse 2016: The Sawyers strike Back!
Ma Nature brought it. We answered back.
Just another example of our community taking a day or two off the bike and absolutely slaying it to keep the trails running great!
http://wmbcmtb.org/2016/03/14/windapocalypse-2016-the-sawyers-strike-back/
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
C: 206-399-8347
E: ebxtreme@earthlink.net
W: www.wmbcmtb.org
Happy Monday!
Here’s a quick Galbraith Logging update for you all.
Janicki's crews are going to be thinning on the mountain for the next couple of months and are moving in machines tomorrow (Tuesday) AM. We've been walking the zones with their crews the past couple of weeks and will be closing down Lair of the Bear this afternoon. I’ll send other maps out as they move to the north part of the mountain.
The zones that will be affected and the order for thinning are as follows:
- Upper Lair of the bear (above creek)
- Below Whoopsie woodle (and neighborhood access trails)
- Red rock heading south including Evo , Scorpion, Pump Track, U line, Das Autobahn, Whoopsie woodle, Prison Love
- Between cougar, 187 and cabin
- Valley brook lane trail area (neighborhood trail)
- 4000 road lightly thinned upper devil cross, supercross, maybe dad bod
As they move around, we’ll let folks know where and when you can help get trails re-opened. During the operations, we’ll be closing trails and some road access, so please pay attention to those closures!
Cheers,
EB
2.13.2019
Hello WMBC Members!
We hope you are surviving Snowmageddon 2019 and have been able to enjoy some of this snow...either on a hike, ride, sled or your skis/snowboards! We just got back to town from vacation and it’s a bit of a shock to my system! J
We wanted to invite you to our first ever WMBC Membership Meeting on February 20th at the Fairhaven Ferry Terminal in the Dome Room. Doors will open at 6 pm and we’ll kick off the meeting around 6:30’ish. It’ll provide you an opportunity to chat with other WMBC members, other Trail Adopters, the WMBC Board of Directors and our staff. Simply put, we can’t do what we do without our members and want to make sure you are up to speed on what’s taking place in the coming year.
Ferry Terminal Location: https://goo.gl/maps/jePyuXX9F4C2
The meeting will consist of 2-3 short presentations about the state of our trails, our education programs, our new sub-committees and our future goals. There will be time set aside for Q & A after each presentation and then we’ll, of course, have time to mingle afterwards.
This will be a family-friendly event and we hope you can join us at the Ferry Terminal!
Cheers,
EB
e-mtb statement:
The question surrounding e-mtb's has come up a bunch recently within our community as they've been spotted on Galbraith and on other trail networks. The WMBC has been in dialogue with our land managers and other organizations for over a year about this emerging technology and wanted to release a statement about their current use in our area. You can read more here: www.wmbcmtb.org/e-bikes
1.3.2019
Happy New Year!
Thanks to everyone who has been out helping clear the trails after the recent windstorms…they’ve been real doozies! We’ve had our usual sawyers running chainsaws and a ton of folks clearing the small stuff with handsaws – which makes a huge difference. If you don’t own a folding saw, a decent one can cost as little as $15 and easily fits in a camelback. I’ve got a Fiskers folding saw that I like, but the Silky big boy is probably my favorite handsaw ever, but isn’t cheap!
If you’ve not seen our 2018 Annual Report, you can download here. As always, thanks to Kevin Menard for putting it together again.
https://kevinmenard.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/2018_wmbc_annualreport1.pdf
January 12th (9AM – 4PM) Trail Building Academy
We’re going to host a Trail Building Academy with Mark Wood as our guest presenter. It’ll be our standard trail academy with lecture in the AM (9-12), a quick break for lunch and then trailwork in the afternoon (1-4). Location is at Bloedel Donovan Pavillion (little building by beach). If you’d like to join us and learn some fundamentals RSVP directly to me as space is limited.
January 26th Evolution Trail Day:
Bill Hawk will be leading this day with the plan to give the whole trail a top-to-bottom cleanup. Meeting at 9 AM at the Samsih Parking Lot. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/320170288837069/
Membership Drive:
A huge thanks to everyone that donated to our Member in December drive! We can’t do what we do without our members, so thank you, thank you, thank you! A small hint is the donation form is still live (though this weekend) if folks didn’t get a donation in before January 1. J
We’ll be placing the order for tech t’s and flannel’s next week with Treelines and they should be done within a couple of weeks after that. A special thank you to Angi Weston, Mark Belles, Zoae Spackman and Byron Cleary for letting us tell their stories about why they support the WMBC. If you’ve not seen the videos, you can see them all here: https://wmbcmtb.org/2018/12/08/become-a-member-in-december/
Parking Lot update:
We’re making some adjustments to the design to allow for more parking and minimize the excavation. We just finished additional surveying and that info. will be sent over to our Engineer (JP Slagle) next to look at how the new layout could potentially allow for more stalls.
2019 Goals: Here’s a quick list of what we’ll be working on this year.
- Raise $285,000 for the Galbraith Parking Lot Expansion to accommodate 140+ vehicles
- Complete five major Galbraith Trail Projects
- Build a pump track and skills area in the Bellingham waterfront with the Port of Bellingham
- Help Route and Build the Chanterelle Trail extension on Stewart Mountain (moving on up!)
- Continue to scout Canyon Ridge reroutes with the USFS
- Collaborate with Bellingham Public Schools and Galbraith Tree Farm to develop middle and high school group rides, trail building, service learning and after school environmental science clubs.
- Expand program with Vamos Outdoors Project
- Train additional trail builders and ride leaders for WMBC programs
- Expand our Bike Rodeos further into Whatcom County
It’s going to be a wet week ahead, so we’ll likely be continuing to clear drainage and start scouting on future projects.
Cheers,
EB
3.18.2019
Happy Monday!
Here’s a quick Galbraith Logging update for you all.
Janicki's crews are going to be thinning on the mountain for the next couple of months and are moving in machines tomorrow (Tuesday) AM. We've been walking the zones with their crews the past couple of weeks and will be closing down Lair of the Bear this afternoon. I’ll send other maps out as they move to the north part of the mountain.
The zones that will be affected and the order for thinning are as follows:
- Upper Lair of the bear (above creek)
- Below Whoopsie woodle (and neighborhood access trails)
- Red rock heading south including Evo , Scorpion, Pump Track, U line, Das Autobahn, Whoopsie woodle, Prison Love
- Between cougar, 187 and cabin
- Valley brook lane trail area (neighborhood trail)
- 4000 road lightly thinned upper devil cross, supercross, maybe dad bod
As they move around, we’ll let folks know where and when you can help get trails re-opened. During the operations, we’ll be closing trails and some road access, so please pay attention to those closures!
Cheers,
EB
2.13.2019
Hello WMBC Members!
We hope you are surviving Snowmageddon 2019 and have been able to enjoy some of this snow...either on a hike, ride, sled or your skis/snowboards! We just got back to town from vacation and it’s a bit of a shock to my system! J
We wanted to invite you to our first ever WMBC Membership Meeting on February 20th at the Fairhaven Ferry Terminal in the Dome Room. Doors will open at 6 pm and we’ll kick off the meeting around 6:30’ish. It’ll provide you an opportunity to chat with other WMBC members, other Trail Adopters, the WMBC Board of Directors and our staff. Simply put, we can’t do what we do without our members and want to make sure you are up to speed on what’s taking place in the coming year.
Ferry Terminal Location: https://goo.gl/maps/jePyuXX9F4C2
The meeting will consist of 2-3 short presentations about the state of our trails, our education programs, our new sub-committees and our future goals. There will be time set aside for Q & A after each presentation and then we’ll, of course, have time to mingle afterwards.
This will be a family-friendly event and we hope you can join us at the Ferry Terminal!
Cheers,
EB
e-mtb statement:
The question surrounding e-mtb's has come up a bunch recently within our community as they've been spotted on Galbraith and on other trail networks. The WMBC has been in dialogue with our land managers and other organizations for over a year about this emerging technology and wanted to release a statement about their current use in our area. You can read more here: www.wmbcmtb.org/e-bikes
1.3.2019
Happy New Year!
Thanks to everyone who has been out helping clear the trails after the recent windstorms…they’ve been real doozies! We’ve had our usual sawyers running chainsaws and a ton of folks clearing the small stuff with handsaws – which makes a huge difference. If you don’t own a folding saw, a decent one can cost as little as $15 and easily fits in a camelback. I’ve got a Fiskers folding saw that I like, but the Silky big boy is probably my favorite handsaw ever, but isn’t cheap!
If you’ve not seen our 2018 Annual Report, you can download here. As always, thanks to Kevin Menard for putting it together again.
https://kevinmenard.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/2018_wmbc_annualreport1.pdf
January 12th (9AM – 4PM) Trail Building Academy
We’re going to host a Trail Building Academy with Mark Wood as our guest presenter. It’ll be our standard trail academy with lecture in the AM (9-12), a quick break for lunch and then trailwork in the afternoon (1-4). Location is at Bloedel Donovan Pavillion (little building by beach). If you’d like to join us and learn some fundamentals RSVP directly to me as space is limited.
January 26th Evolution Trail Day:
Bill Hawk will be leading this day with the plan to give the whole trail a top-to-bottom cleanup. Meeting at 9 AM at the Samsih Parking Lot. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/320170288837069/
Membership Drive:
A huge thanks to everyone that donated to our Member in December drive! We can’t do what we do without our members, so thank you, thank you, thank you! A small hint is the donation form is still live (though this weekend) if folks didn’t get a donation in before January 1. J
We’ll be placing the order for tech t’s and flannel’s next week with Treelines and they should be done within a couple of weeks after that. A special thank you to Angi Weston, Mark Belles, Zoae Spackman and Byron Cleary for letting us tell their stories about why they support the WMBC. If you’ve not seen the videos, you can see them all here: https://wmbcmtb.org/2018/12/08/become-a-member-in-december/
Parking Lot update:
We’re making some adjustments to the design to allow for more parking and minimize the excavation. We just finished additional surveying and that info. will be sent over to our Engineer (JP Slagle) next to look at how the new layout could potentially allow for more stalls.
2019 Goals: Here’s a quick list of what we’ll be working on this year.
- Raise $285,000 for the Galbraith Parking Lot Expansion to accommodate 140+ vehicles
- Complete five major Galbraith Trail Projects
- Build a pump track and skills area in the Bellingham waterfront with the Port of Bellingham
- Help Route and Build the Chanterelle Trail extension on Stewart Mountain (moving on up!)
- Continue to scout Canyon Ridge reroutes with the USFS
- Collaborate with Bellingham Public Schools and Galbraith Tree Farm to develop middle and high school group rides, trail building, service learning and after school environmental science clubs.
- Expand program with Vamos Outdoors Project
- Train additional trail builders and ride leaders for WMBC programs
- Expand our Bike Rodeos further into Whatcom County
It’s going to be a wet week ahead, so we’ll likely be continuing to clear drainage and start scouting on future projects.
Cheers,
EB
12.11.2018
Happy Tuesday folks!
A few updates for you all.
Logging Status:
Logging is done on the hill until early Spring. In March, Janicki will be thinning certain areas around the mountain and, while that will impact quite a few trails, it doesn’t look like there will be any additional clearcutting until 2020.
Upcoming Trailwork: Our focus will be on several zones in the next month or so (days forthcoming), plus lots of drainage work!
- Goldilocks and Cabin zone.
- Three Pigs to the top
- SV climbing trail (Bottoms Up)
Become a Member in December!
We’re running our Annual “Member in December” campaign right now to help support our goals for 2019. Donations of $100 will get a custom Treelines Tech-T which is soft and perfect for riding, running and trailwork. Donation of $250 will get a Treelines Flannel. To read more about what we have in store for 2019 and to donate, go here: https://wmbcmtb.org/decembermembershipdrive/
Parking Lot Update:
We’re almost half way to our fundraising goal of $285k for the parking lot expansion. If you’d like to purchase a brick for our donor wall and support this effort, you can do so here. Business owners, if you purchase a 12 x 12” brick, you will be able to add your logo on the brick too.
There has been having a bunch of work happening on this project and we’re getting tons of support from our community and other businesses asking how they can help! Additionally, we’re looking at how we may be able to alter the design to accommodate more parking stalls, reduce excavation costs and make the lot feel more “park-like”. More info. including our initial Draft design can be found here. https://wmbcmtb.org/parking/
Last, we’ve got a big list of new Trail Adopters that we’ll be announcing for 2019 after we finalize our trail list.
Cheers,
EB
P.S. If you’re heading to Baker in the next few days….things are apparently sliding, so don’t get overzealous!
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
11.14.2018
Hi folks!
It’s been a while since I’ve sent an email out. Hope everyone is getting ready for the holidays! As usual, there’s a lot going on and even more projects taking place in 2019.
Upcoming build days with more being added to the calendar and on Facebook.
- Saturday, November 17th - The Bears. Meeting at 9 AM at the Samish Lot and heading to the Bears zone for a kid-friendly trail day. This is being Being led by Devon Pelkie and this will include a lot of raking and grading at the trail tread after the machine went through and cleared the slash. The trail tread for this was kept narrow and tight.
- Friday, November 23rd (Black Friday) Project TBD – Meeting at 9 AM at the Samish Lot. Opt outside instead of fighting for deals at the stores and join us to work off some of that turkey! This is a very kid-friendly day and we’ll have a good project lined up on the lower mountain for this day.
- December 1st – 3 Pigs (taking it up the mountain). Meeting at the Samish Lot at 9 and carpooling up from there. Being led by Javon Smith, this is extending the popular up-route on the south side.
- Ongoing projects –
- Grasshopper: Mike Storm will be leading days on GH over the winter and those dates are November 17th, December 1st, Dec 29, Jan 12, Feb 9 and Feb 23rd
- Cedar Dust jumps will get some adjustments over the next month with the Pro and Advanced lines getting love from Skye Schillhammer and Spencer Baldwin along with adding signage at the bottom of the lines to direct folks up the climbing trail.
- Bottoms Up - Ricardo Broberg will be out working on the “Bottoms Up” climbing trail on the 4000 road and we’ll need some folks to work behind the machine to help rake and grade the dirt.
The Mount Baker Experience’s Oliver Lazenby wrote a great article about the efforts to preserve access to Galbraith forever. You can read that here.
http://www.mountbakerexperience.com/paradise-preserved-easement-secures-permanent-access-to-galbraith-mountain/
Buy a brick and help us build an actual parking lot!
With the easements, the city stepped up with $2.75 million dollars and the Land Trust donated $250k to preserve access to the mountain forever. Learn more about what the WMBC and our members are already doing to build a parking lot here.
Your help is needed! https://wmbcmtb.org/parking/
e-mtb statement:
The question surrounding e-mtb's has come up a bunch recently within our community as they've been spotted on Galbraith and on other trail networks. The WMBC has been in dialogue with our land managers and other organizations for over a year about this emerging technology and wanted to release a statement about their current use in our area. You can read more here: www.wmbcmtb.org/e-bikes
Our 2019 “Member in December” drive will be coming soon!
Cheers,
EB
9.17.2018
Happy Monday all,
A few things for you all…please spread the word!
Cougar Ridge:
We had a great trail day on Saturday with barely a drizzle with a small, but efficient crew. We’ll be digging on Cougar Ridge on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday (maybe Sunday) this week. We have until September 30th to get these ride-a-rounds punched through, so it’s all hands on deck for the next 13 days. These do not affect the character of the trail, but rather give intermediate-level riders a fun alternative on the more technical sections of the trail.
Shoot the Trails:
The due date for video submission is October 3rd and photo submission is October 6th, so get on it!
https://wmbcmtb.org/shoot-the-trails-awards/
Upcoming Aerial Spraying:
We got a notice that there will be aerial spraying of herbicide in several sections of the mountain this week (if the helicopter can finish another job). As soon as we know when this will happen, we will alert everyone, but it will be in the recent clearcuts. The pilot needs a minimum of 24 hours without rain and low winds (< 7mph), so the window isn’t very big this week. FYI, we may just close the entire mountain for the day so we don’t have to monitor where folks go. This will mostly affect the north end of the mountain, but the following areas/trails will be closed:
North End:
SST
Alt SST
Air Chair
Oriental Express
Coyote RIPP
Geneva Connector
Lone Wolf
Baby Bear
Mama Bear
Papa Bear
Goldilocks
Top of the Wall:
Here to There
Purple Heart
Tough Love
Catch and Release
South End:
Near Pipeline below Lair of Bear (no trails in this section)
8.24.2018
Folks,
Two things for everyone this Friday.
Cougar Ridge Trail Day (Tomorrow):
We’ve got a little over a month to get a lot of work done and need the help, folks. Tomorrow, we’re hosting an uber family-friendly trail day at the bottom of Cougar Ridge where we’ll be working on the Lookout connector and climbing trails. The work is mostly smoothing out dirt behind the machine. It’s an easy hike in and we should be able to get quite a lot done. We’ll be providing snacks in the AM and due to the close proximity, we’ll have lunch for everyone as well.
Location: Meeting at the Lookout Mountain Parking Lot across from Sudden Valley Gate 9 at 9 AM and then we’ll carpool over from there.
https://www.facebook.com/events/225360061497383/
FINAL REMINDER: DNR Comments due by Sunday (the 26th).
This is your final reminder to send in some comments to the DNR about recreation on their lands in Whatcom County (more below).
At a bare minimum, the three things that you could mention are:
- You’re a mountain biker who already rides in a working forest (Galbraith) and the WMBC has a long history of building trail in working forest
- You’d like to see the two parcels on Stewart Mountain (adjoining Lake Whatcom Park) set as a priority for future development.
- The North Fork’s pre-existing trail network and historical usage should strongly be legitimized given the potential Marbled Murrelet’s conditional use provision.
Cheers,
EB
8.19.2018
Folks,
We got the heads up that there will be herbicide spraying along the highlighted roads this Tuesday and, as such, we are closing the mountain for the entire day.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2018/08/19/galbraith-closed-on-august-21st/
Notices and the below map will be going up at the main entry points on Monday. If the date changes for any reason, we'll let you know.
Please share far and wide. Many thanks!
Cheers,
EB
8.13.2018
Happy Monday folks!
The Department of Natural Resources presented their Draft Baker to Bellingham Recreation Plan to the public a couple of weeks ago. They are asking for comments from our constituents and this is open for comment until August 26th so it’s important that mountain bikers give our comments asap. This has been a 2 ½ year process, so let’s make sure we have a strong showing as we cross the finish line here! You can send your comments here: SEPACENTER@DNR.WA.GOV
From our standpoint, there are a two key takeaways from the Draft plan that we would like folks to comment on.
- Stewart Mountain: The WMBC would like the DNR to prioritize the area around Lake Whatcom Park on Stewart Mountain for future development. The two DNR parcels on Stewart Mountain that adjoin the North and South of the Whatcom County Park already have trail development taking place and this makes perfect sense.
- North Fork:
- The southern section along the Racehorse Creek drainage is appealing due to its higher elevations and alpine views. The only potential downsides are that it starts at a higher elevation, so it would only be accessible half of the year due to snow and it’s a significantly longer drive into this area.
- On the Northern section, we would prefer the DNR to include pre-existing trails and usage in the North Fork area with or without the conditional use that is tied to the Marbled Murrelet Conservation Strategy. Other trail networks around Western Washington will be grandfathered into the Murrelet Conservation Strategy due to their official status. While the North Fork has always been an unsanctioned trail network, it has a long history of use and it would benefit the DNR to move forward in sanctioning this area for non-motorized use. On the included map, this is the area with the diagonal lines through it.
Please be sure to send an email to the DNR at SEPACENTER@DNR.WA.GOV before the 26th of August. If you want to dig into this plan more, you can see the entire plan here: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/baker-bellingham-non-motorized-recreation-plan
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. I’ll be sure to send out a couple of reminders about this. J
Cheers,
EB
7.24.2018
Folks!!
Huge news from last night!
The WMBC has been working with Bellingham Parks, the Mayor and Whatcom Land Trust for more than 7 years to secure recreation access. While it's been a real rocky road at times (putting it mildly), we crossed the finish line last night and secured access forever on Galbraith!
Attached is our joint press release announcing our new partnership that ensures five things. 1. It guarantees public recreational access to the mountain forever. 2. it eliminates the possibility of any future development 3. We'll be able to host future events on the mountain 4. We'll be able to expand the trail network and 5. Galbraith will remain as a commercial working forest. All good things, folks!
https://wmbcmtb.org/…/24/galbraith-access-preserved-forever/
There are many people to thank, but a huge shout out to Leslie Bryson and Alan Mariner from the City, Rob Janicki and his team, Rich Bowers and Rand Jack from the Land Trust for keeping this deal on track for the benefit our greater community.
Lastly, thanks to both the City Council who emphatically voted in favor of this purchase (we'll post up the full video later!) and Mayor Linville who supported this project all along the way. If you're feeling so inclined, shoot the Mayor and Council a note to say "thank you"!
mayorsoffice@cob.org
ccmail@cob.org
What's next?
We have already been working on our future management agreement with the City, but will hope to wrap that up in the near future. The other big news is we've assembled a team and been working on a parking lot design that will greatly expand the Samish Parking Lot. Now that the easements are secured, our plan is to start fundraising for that project soon with anticipated build out in 2019. Stay tuned for more information about that!
I’m going for a ride now. J
Cheers,
EB
6.1.2018
Hey folks,
A few updates for everyone.
Brushing:
It’s that time of the year where the trails are starting to get brushing and, with the timber harvest in recent years, we’ll need as much help as possible on brushing. The Phillips 66 crew just brushed Das Autobahn and Janicki Industries brushed 911 this past week and we’ll be going full steam on brushing in the coming weeks. Let us know if you can help on your favorite trails and we’ll get weedeaters and additional help wherever possible.
Logging:
Timber harvest is done in the Bears area and they are processing the trees and hauling them off the hill. Until they are done, we will hold off on working on the trails there. There will be some harvest activity in late summer in a few areas and the only trail that should be affected will be Lone Wolf.
National Trails Day (tomorrow):
We have two trail days taking place tomorrow with some really cool projects…one with Whatcom County Parks and the other with the DNR. See below and the attached maps for more details.
Blanchard Mountain (9 AM at Lower Trailhead):
Bill Hasenjaeger is helping lead a reroute project on a user built trail near British Army trail. The plan is to get that done and the trail will become authorized. They are meeting at the lower trailhead at 9 AM. As is the norm, tons of snacks and a great bbq lunch will be in store for this day. He could use 15 folks over there on Saturday.
https://www.facebook.com/events/173236606705285/
Lookout Mountain (9 AM – meet at the old Sudden Valley Campground):
The rumors are true and we have 4 projects lined up for the Sudden Valley / Lookout Mountain zone this summer – including Cougar Ridge. Due to the watershed restrictions, these projects need to be done by September 30th, but we’ll be having LOTS of trail days in this zone this summer in conjunction with Whatcom County Parks, Washington Trails Association, REI, Whatcom Land Trust, and many others. Tomorrow, we’ll be helping clear the lower connector with folks from many groups. IMPORTANT: Parking/Meeting location is at the old Sudden Valley Campground – which is located between Gate 13 and Stimson Reserve. We will have vans that will shuttle everyone 2/3 mile to the Lookout Mountain Reserve though.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1086597478165058/
Current / Ongoing Galby projects:
Janicki approved 8 projects in late winter that we’ve been working on. Some are really close and are in desperate need of rain for completion (Mohawk and Cedar Dust jump zone) and others are in the beginning phases of corridor clearing (like 4000 Road climbing trail). Expect many upcoming build days for some of these.
Rain is in the forecast!!
Cheers,
EB
4.4.2018
Hola folks!
Several things for you all right now. We’ll be adding more trail days on the calendar soon. Also, please feel free to share!
CDC Race – 4/21 – Volunteers needed!
I’m officially putting the call out for volunteers for the Cascadia Dirt Cup. If you’ve volunteered in the past and know what you want to do, let me know. As always, we’ll take good care of you with tacos, beer, a jersey and our undying gratitude. As always, we’ll need course timers, course marshals, EMS folks, parking attendants, beer garden (including setup and takedown) and course sweepers.
“Be Considerate” Springtime PSA:
It’s that time of year again and the trails and parking will be busier than ever soon enough. So, we have to remind everyone to be extra considerate when using our various the trail networks. That includes:
- Be Considerate and friendly to our fellow trail users whether on bike, foot or hoove. It’s not too hard to slow down and say “hi” as you pass someone or ask someone if they know where they are going if they look lost.
- If you’re riding up Birch St. or Galbraith Lane and a car is approaching, ride single file so the neighbors can safely pass you. If you are riding on Galbraith Lane and can move over for a neighbor, please do so as soon as possible. I recently heard about some bikers being really rude to a neighbor who was simply trying to drive down the street to their house.
- Being considerate to neighbors also includes not leaving your car doors open as you get ready, leaving your bike in the road, letting your dog run all over the place, blasting music, changing clothes, etc. Pretend that you live on their street and treat it as such.
- Leashing your dog to and from the trailheads and picking up your dog crap….AND not leaving the bag on the side of the road/trail. We all know that everyone’s dog is perfect and would never take a dump in the neighbors yards, but do us all a favor and use your leash while on the roads to/from the trails.
Upcoming build days and projects on the schedule:
- This Sunday April 8th - Cedar Dust Trail day – sponsored by Boundary Bay Brewing: This is being led by Javon Smith with the plan to get it dialed in before spring and summer hits. They will be meeting at the Samish lot at 9 or on the trail at 9:30 near the Rock n Roll intersection. Lots of goodies from our friends at Boundary Bay Brewing. More info. here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1693384207374156/
- Saturday, April 21 and May 5th - Mullet trail days – Sponsored by Brownlie, Wolf and Lee and being led by Bill Hawk. As is tradition, we’ll be meeting at the Samish lot at 9 AM for these and carpooling up from there. More info. here: https://www.facebook.com/events/181124175858276
- Saturday, Aprils 28th –Chuckanut Trail Day – This day will focus on getting any repairs done on the trail tread from the CDC enduro race.
- June 2nd - National Trails Day – This is a split day where we’ll be working on TWO projects with the folks from Washington Trails Association, Backcountry Horsemen, Whatcom Land Trust and other groups.
- The first is a cool project with the DNR on Blanchard where we’ll be working on a short re-route to a user-built trail that goes into Lily and Lizard Lake from the North side of the mountain.
- On Lookout Mountain, we’ll be kicking off a full 4 months of work planned with Whatcom County Parks and the City of Bellingham. There will be more of a game-plan for those projects soon, but mark your calendars and we hope to see a big turnout at both events!
April 28th WMBC Joyriders Spring Kickoff:
The ladies are meeting at the Southside lot at 10 and riding ‘til 1. Then, they will head to Kulshan on James for a post-ride party. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/439085859879765/
Bears and Goldilocks Logging update:
The loggers were still pulling logs off the Papa, Baby Bear and Goldilocks area as of last Friday. As soon as I hear that we can get in there to assess the state of those trails, I’ll let you know. If you want to help get them opened back up, please reach out to me asap. The tree planters are going to be in this zone almost immediately, so it will be extra important to try to get it reopened ASAP.
House for Sale on Galbraith lane:
If any mountain bikers are looking for a place near Galby with lots of land, Joan just put her place on the market and is moving to Lynden.
https://www.matrix.nwmls.com/Matrix/Public/Portal.aspx?k=1943930XHXRb&p=DE-94132843-419
That’s about it for now.
Cheers,
EB
3.13.2018
Howdy folks,
I hope everyone got out in the sun last weekend. It’s been a crazy month, so I wanted to send out some upcoming events and a quick recap from last week to get on your calendar. Reminder, you can always subscribe to our Google Calendar if you have Gmail and then you’ll get notified of our events as their added to that calendar.
Upcoming:
- Miranda and Ridge: This Sunday the 18th – Jack’s Homegrown Racing is working on the Ridge. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/212504026163569/
- Atomic Dog: Saturday the 24th -Transition will be leading a big day on A Dog. Details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/167391317246531/
- Mullet – April 21st and May 5th being led by Bill Hawk and more details to come.
Logging Operations:
- Loggers are working in the Papa Bear / Baby Bear area and those are officially closed for a while as they won’t be able to haul the logs out until it dries up a bit over there.
- Tree Planters are on the hill and planting Cedar, Hemlock and Doug Fir in most of the recent clear cuts. We’re doing our best to stay ahead of this crew because rebuilding after they plant is way more tricky.
Advocacy:
- North Fork Nooksack – USFS held a meeting in Kendall to look at some potential thinning activities in their district that would help contribute funds to projects such as: recreation and trails, campground maintenance, road maintenance, etc. Part of that discussion is the Canyon Ridge reroutes we proposed a couple of years ago. There will be another meeting on April 12th if you can make it. https://www.facebook.com/events/594915050857125/
- DNR – If you’ve not written the DNR in support of mountain biking in the North Fork and Middle Fork yet, please do so. You can get more details here: https://wmbcmtb.org/2018/02/28/dnr-advocacy-alert-baker-to-bellingham-recreation-comments-needed/
- Blanchard Update: The Blanchard Strategies committee met last week and we are actively seeking to purchase replacement replacement for the Blanchard Core. This is land the DNR will buy to ensure that the Trusts in Skagit County are reimbursed for pulling that acreage out of timber production. We have ‘til June 2019 to locate and purchase these lands. There will be a celebration at the Samish Overlook this Summer or early next Fall…I’ll track down the date.
Trail work:
- Cheech and Chongs: The Youth Trail Corps started on a wooden wall ride that will continue off the big rock thanks to the help of Jesse Griffen and Javon Smith.
- Double Down - Steve Vogel went up and cleared about 12 trees down from the trail. There’s still one big cedar blowdown left that requires a big saw. Mike Storm was up on DD doing some tread and drainage work as well and has been taking care of it most of the winter.
- Bridging Prep - Javon Smith had a Cedar Peeling party near the Red Rock and lured some unsuspecting riders to help her with some cinnamon bun bribery. There’s now a giant stack of peeled stringers for some upcoming bridges.
- SST - We had a crew of 25 and a mid-week crew of 15 help get the old SST officially reconnected and a big chunk of the “Alt SST” done. SST will need another pass to adjust a few things, but it’s all rideable again.
- Geneva Connector - Devon got Geneva Connector cleared and Todd has been out working on getting that smoothed out. Northsiders, if you want to help on this, let me know.
- Cedar Dust – We’re adding in 4 short trails between Cedar Dust and the Pipeline…it will essentially be a small skills area. Devon and Spencer Baldwin started on the Expert line last weekend and more will get done this week. Devon’s working on the climb route that the 4 lines will all tie into.
- Ewok Village – BP is adopting Pollo and Ewok this year and they had a group of 6 folks give Ewok Village some love on Saturday.
- Lookout Scouting – I’ve been scouting with Reid from County Parks on the East side of Cougar Ridge for summer build prep. That will kick off on National Trails day on June 2nd and are going to be super fun projects.
- 4000 Road climb route – This is routed and ready for corridor clearing. It’s isn’t going all the way up the hill this year, but it will remove the most heinous part of the road climb.
- Pick Up Sticks / Purple Heart: Dave Waugh got in there and cleared as much of the old trail as he could find and got ~1/2 of the trail rehabbed. Devon came out and cleared the corridor with the machine and it’s ready for hand work if any folks want to help on that.
Whew…busy week with lots of moving parts!
Cheers,
EB
2.28.2018
Morning folks!
As many know, there were two public DNR meetings last week (one in Kendall and one in Fairhaven) and it was great to see many of our community there to express their desire to recreate on state forests in Whatcom County. This is the culmination of 2+ years of work by the DNR and a diverse Recreation Planning Committee. At last week’s meetings, the DNR showed two concepts for areas that could have authorized recreation in the future. Concept D and Concept E
Important: Neither of the two concepts is mutually exclusive and are rather designed to get input on what you like or don’t like from each concept.
If you couldn’t attend and want to express your support for mountain biking on these landscapes, please email the DNR at: BakertoBellingham@dnr.wa.gov
Key points you may want to let them know:
- Let them know you enjoy riding your bike (and other activities) out on trails in the forests.
- Areas you’d like to see mountain bike access to include: The North Fork of the Nooksack, Middle Fork of the Nooksack and the Mirror Lake and Stewart Mountain areas (connecting into Lake Whatcom Park).
- If you ride with your family/kids, let them know that’s important to your family as well.
- Wherever possible, the DNR should assess pre-existing trails (aka, non-designated) to determine if they can be brought to appropriate trail standards. Not only would this help jump start the trail construction, but it also could save a lot of money in the process.
- If you’d like to have a legal shuttle area, please let them know that.
- Do you own a business that benefits from people recreating in Whatcom County? If so, let them know that as well.
Many folks are unaware that the DNR and the US Fish and Wildlife Service have been working on a Conservation Planning Process for a seabird called the Marbled Murrelet. You can read more about the Murrelet here.
In the Marbled Murrelet Conservation plan, it has primarily been looking at the effects that logging larger trees impacts the nesting habitat for the birds. However, there was very little voice for recreation in this process which could make the construction of new trails in some parts of Whatcom County very difficult. As an example, large swaths of the North Fork and the Middle Fork have been removed from consideration. In areas around the state that already have authorized recreation and trails, those are being grandfathered into this plan. However, we have no authorized recreation in Whatcom County on DNR lands and so this may have a significant impact. As a result, the DNR has identified large potential areas as “conditional” during the recreation planning process. That means that the “conditional” areas could only be considered for recreation if they are NOT in final Murrelet approved areas.
What can you do? Please emphasize to the DNR that they and the US Fish and Wildlife Service need to look at how non-motorized trails are compatible with the Murrelet Conservation Strategy. For instance, we can create appropriate buffers from nesting sites, perform trail maintenance/construction during non-nesting season and can strategically locate trailheads and other infrastructure away from nesting areas to not attract predators. You can read the letter that the Baker to Bellingham Recreation Committee sent to the DNR about the Murrelet Conservation Strategy last March here.
Additionally, here is a link to the Baker to Bellingham Recreation Planning Page for future reference. Make your voice heard and ensure that the DNR knows the types of recreation you are looking for on DNR lands and where you’d like to recreate!
Thanks!
EB
2.6.2018
Hi all,
Hope you’re doing well. I don’t want to jinx us, but we may get some sun this weekend. Below are a few updates for you all.
The Moment Movie Premier - February 17th
Join us at BTC on Saturday, February 17th. Tickets are at the bike shops and are $15 (kids under 11 free) and is a fundraiser for the WMBC. We’ll have beer from Boundary Bay, Kulshan and Melvin Brewing.
If you’d like to help and volunteer for this night, give me a shout!
You can see the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/221938560
https://www.facebook.com/events/1998095720447942/
DNR Recreation Planning Meetings – February 20th and 21st:
There are two public meetings being held by the DNR and the Recreation Planning Committee. I’ll send around more info. and potential talking points next week, but please attend one (or both) of these meetings if you’d like to see some authorized mountain bike trails at the North Fork or other areas in the County.
Kendall Meeting: Tuesday, February 20th at the East Whatcom County Resource Center
https://www.facebook.com/events/478699842527534/
Bellingham Meeting: Wednesday, February 21st at the Bellingham Ferry Terminal in Fairhaven
https://www.facebook.com/events/795269800659838/
Epic Storms = Roads Washing out!
The incredible amount of rains last week took its toll and Fragrance Lake Road is completely washed out and is currently closed to ALL traffic. You’ll need to ride up Cleator if you go to ride Chuckanut. There is no timeline for repair at this point. Also, Lookout Mountain Road is also in need of some repair after a part of it washed out. The County is already out there working on it and repairs will be ongoing for a couple of weeks. It is passable on foot and bike however. One other thing….there were reports of groups shuttling multiple laps on Chuckanut on Sunday – even with springs popping out of the hill in areas we’ve never seen water issues before. We’re not the trail police, but a bit of common sense would tell you that it’s probably a good day to stay off the trails when they are that saturated (instead of getting multiple laps in). Just my 2 cents.
SST build day this Saturday February 10th – Tentative:
I will continue to be working in this area most of the week with the hope to have enough prep done for this trail day. We’ve already postponed this day last weekend, but we really want to make sure we have enough time to get everything lined up for a successful trail day. We’ll keep you posted on this during the week.
Logging and Trail Rebuild Info:
As most of you know, there’s been a tremendous amount of logging this winter and will start back up in April. Devon Pelkie and Russ Lambert have been out working in some of the most heinous weather this past month to get many of the trails at the top of the Wall re-opened including Tough Love, Here to There, Jack & the Beanstalk and Kung Fu Theater. Drew Trimakas is handworking SST above the Rock Roll with a small crew and we are in the process of flagging lower SST, Air Chair, Dos Copas, Coyote RIPP and the Old Up. All of these trails are impassable currently as is Purple Heart.
Many folks have asked me why we are using a machine to clear these areas and it’s really a simple answer. We are being left a total mess as the slash (remnant trees and branches) is no longer being cleaned up by the loggers. In many cases, the slash is 2-4 feet thick and ground into the dirt by the heavy logging machines. There are also very little (if any) signs of the previous trails to begin work from. When we are clearing, we are not only clearing for the trail tread, but also giving our crews additional width for drainage and, most importantly, more width for our future brushing efforts. This topic is mostly lost on folks unless you’ve spent much/any time brushing in a clearcut in the middle of summer. Our future brushing is going to intensify over the coming years (due to the # of clearcuts), so we need to be prepped with additional width in those corridors to make those efforts manageable. If anyone wants to help with handwork on these during the week or weekends, let me know and I can help get you dialed.
So, that’s about it for now. Feel free to holler with any questions or if you’d like to volunteer at The Moment Movie on the 17th.
Cheers,
EB
12.18.2017
Happy Monday everyone!
A few things for ya this Monday morning.
Membership Drive:
Transition bikes is matching up to $3,000 this week for everyone that donates to the membership drive. A big shout-out to Kevin, Kyle and the entire TBC crew for their support. Also, a big THANK YOU to everyone that has already donated! Reminder that every donation over $100 will get a limited-edition Treelines Northwest Tech T in January.
https://www.facebook.com/wmbcmtb/videos/1910739188966165/
Become a member here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/donate/
Logging Update:
The area at the top of The Wall and middle SST / Golden Spike is done with harvest activity. That said, the loggers will start back up on December 27th and will be working below the 1200 Road and that will close SST, Air Chair and Orient Express. Get out and ride those while you can!
Trail updates / Rebuilds:
Devon Pelkie is starting to clear Here To There today and then will move on to Kung Fu theater, Tough Love and then Pick Up Sticks. If you’d like to help him with any hand-work, reach out to me and I can connect you. Trim and I just started to assess the Candy / middle SST zone (above the 1200 Road) on Friday and will be putting together a plan very shortly, but expect some serious routing changes as we are effectively working with a blank canvas in this zone now. Clearing and work will begin in that zone after the new year.
Mohawk:
Spencer Baldwin, Andy Grant and a few select builders are making fantastic progress on Mohawk and I’m certain it will be a new favorite on the hill. Buy these guys a beer the next time you see them!!
That’s about it for now, but we’ll keep posted as we know more.
Cheers,
EB
12.6.2017
Hi all,
Today, the WMBC is launching our December membership drive to help support our many initiatives for this upcoming year. We are shooting to reach a modest goal of 1,000 members for this next year – which I feel is very achievable considering how many people ride, run and hike in areas that we help build and maintain. A HUGE thanks to Spencer and Kyle from Level Visuals for creating a video series involving some of our members. We’re launching today with a vid from our very own Queen of Crankworx – Jill Kintner.
Membership Levels:
To make it easier than ever to support the WMBC, we have created 3 levels – Individual, Family and Business. As part of our December membership drive, anyone that donates more than $100 will get a limited edition SST riding jersey from our good friends at Treelines Northwest (jerseys will ship in January!).
Annual Report and Goals for next year:
To learn more about what we are working on for next year or download our annual report, click here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/annualmembershipdrive/
Donate:
To help with our December membership drive, you can donate here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/donate/
On a personal note, I truly appreciate your support and we can’t do what we do without you – whether it be financial support, digging in the woods or helping out with our events. You are the WMBC.
Cheers,
EB
11.22.2017
Morning folks!
I hope everyone has a great Turkey day. Here are a few quick updates for you.
Upcoming Trail Days:
Saturday, December 2nd sponsored by the G(albraith) Spot Runners. The exact project is still TBD based on the logging activity. In a perfect world, we will be able to go into a recently harvested area and start re-opening some trails. We’ll know more next week.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1615963851796681/
Sunday, December 3rd on the Ridge / Miranda – sponsored by Jack’s Queens of Dirt
https://www.facebook.com/events/345314962597774/
Logging Activity:
As most know, there’s a slew of harvest activity taking place on Galbraith right now. Crews WILL be working this weekend and there will be a LOT of truck traffic on the Tower Road and Pipeline road as they haul logs down the hill. This has caused us to cancel our Black Friday trail day as we need to minimize unnecessary traffic on the mountain this weekend.
If you do get out for a ride this weekend, we’d ask you to stay on single track as much as possible. The top of the Wall and the middle SST / Golden Spike areas will have LOTS of activity with trucks being loaded with logs. Please avoid those areas or better yet, head over to Chuckanut or Blanchard instead! We’re hoping to be able to get in and start rebuilding trails in those areas within the next week, but it depends on how much the crews get done this weekend. Last, the slash pile burning is done for now and we’ll keep you updated if they do any more.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/11/15/logging-updates-and-slash-burning/
That’s about it for now. Be safe and enjoy your time with family and friends.
Cheers,
EB
10.6.2017
Afternoon folks,
Just a head’s up that starting on Monday (November 6th), logging crews will be working in the area around the top of the Wall. We will be closing all of those trails down during the timber harvest activity. We’d also advise against riding up the Wall at that time (especially weekdays) as we anticipate lots of vehicle traffic in that area.
You can see the attached map, but trails that will be affected are as follows:
Here to There, Pick Up Sticks, El Pollo Elastico, Grasshopper, Kung Fu Theater, Jack and the Beanstalk and Tough Love.
This should take 2-3 weeks for completion and we’ll, of course, get in as soon as we can to get them opened back up. More on that to come.
Cheers,
EB
9.21.2017
Howdy folks,
The aerial spraying is delayed until Monday at the soonest. The helicopter was delayed on another job in the East county today due to fog.
We’ll fill you in as we know more. Looks like I’ll be pulling signs tomorrow in the AM though. If anyone is out early AM (I’m looking at you, Dawn patrol and over-mountain commuters!), please pull the signs and/or move the sandwich boards out of the way and let me know what was pulled- where. Thanks!
Cheers,
EB
Galbraith Closed Friday 9/22/2017
Morning folks,
Please Share with your riding friends!
We are asking folks to stay off of Galbraith tomorrow (9/22). There will be aerial spraying glyphosphate in the highlighted areas on the map and we won't know exactly where the pilot will be at any given time. They are planning to start in the morning and hopefully will finish up everything tomorrow. If that changes, we'll keep people posted….you can find out the latest on the website or Facebook.
Signage and flagging will go up on the mountain this afternoon. Thanks!
Cheers,
EB
9.7.2017
Hi folks,
I hope you are all handling the hazy conditions ok. We need everyone to do their rain dance to help our firefighters across the region.
A couple of quick notes.
Saturday: Trail day at Lake Whatcom Park / Stewart Mountain
We’ll be working on the continuation of the climbing route and plan to do some cleanup work behind the mini-ex. Washington Trails Association and other groups have been out working on the trail since our last trail day, so it will be exciting to see the progress and continue this cool trail up the hill. We will meet at the bottom and then carpool up to the work zone. If folks need to leave early, they can either hike down the hill or get a ride when we grab lunch. Coffee and bagels will be provided in the AM and we’ll have pizza from the Fork at Agate Bay for lunch.
When: Saturday, August 9th
Time: 8:30 AM – 3 PM
Location: North Lake Whatcom Trail (Hertz Trailhead)
https://www.google.com/maps/place/North+Lake+Whatcom+Trail/@48.7330541,-122.3438957,14z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1snorth+lake+whatcom+trail!3m4!1s0x0:0x2f841ca3ca68d40a!8m2!3d48.7305492!4d-122.3087096
As always, come dressed for weather and bring appropriate working attire.
Tonight: Bellingham PD and Project 529 discuss bike theft and registering your bikes. More info. here:
When: September 7, 2017, 7:00pm
Where: Bellingham Police Dept. Training Room, 505 Grand Avenue (enter via the gate off C St)
Bellingham Police and Public Works departments invite you to join us for an evening information/discussion session about the Project 529 bicycle registration program. Our goal is to facilitate a community-wide effort to address bike theft in Bellingham.
We hear from citizens on a regular basis who have had their bikes stolen and want to know what can be done about it. Bellingham Police and Public Works departments have committed resources to implement Project 529 in our community. To be effective we need strong partnerships with our local bike shops, cyclists, and advocates.
Thanks and hope to see you there!
Kim Brown
kimbrown@cob.org 360-778-7950
8.11.2017
Hi all,
We got a bunch of updates for you all. Please read through the entire list!
EB
Civic DJ Build Day on Saturday (tomorrow):
Michael Storm will be leading a crew to continue to give the DJ’s some love…meeting at 9 AM and going ‘til Noon’ish. BBQ and riding afterwards.
Galbraith CLOSED on TUESDAY (August 15) due to ROAD SPRAYING:
Folks, every road is being sprayed with herbicide on Tuesday and we are asking for folks to stay off the mountain on that day. PLEASE share with your riding and running friends!
Pump track Grand Opening Celebration:
What a fun evening hanging out with our incredible community. Thank you to everyone that has supported that effort. Eric Ashely is putting together a write up on Pinkbike that should be live soon. Thanks to him and Eric Mickelson, Skye Schillhammer for the awesome photos and video.
- WMBC Write-up: https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/08/10/whatcom-falls-pump-track-grand-opening/
- Pinkbike Write-up: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/whatcom-falls-pumptrack-grand-opening-bellingham-wa.html
Cougar Sightings on Galbraith:
There’s been two cougar sightings over the past week. The first sighting was on Upper Bob’s trail around 8 PM and a friend saw a female cougar and her cubs. The 2nd sighting just took place yesterday morning and another friend was running with her two dogs on the road between the Ridge and SST (Road 1000) down near where the creek is. As the Cougar was approaching them, one of her dogs snarled and showed its teeth and the cougar went off into the woods. This is a reminder that we are sharing the woods with critters – big and small.
Postponed - Fanatik Build Day this weekend:
Due to dry conditions, we are postponing Sunday’s trailday on SST until a late date in September.
September 9th – Build Day on Stewart Mountain:
Mark your calendars! We’ll be joining Whatcom County Parks again for another build day on the up-route on Stewart Mountain. More details to come on this!
Sunday, August 27th - Cascadia Dirt Cup Race - Call for Volunteers!
We’ll need folks to help be timers, course marshal, help in the beer garden, parking, registration, etc. If you’d like to help us put on one of the premier races in the PNW, give me a shout with your preference for what you’d like to help with. As always, we’ll make sure you are well cared for with food, beers and gear! Email me directly or the wmbc at: wmbcmtb@gmail.com
http://www.racecascadia.com/chuckanut
Cedar Dust re-opened:
Huge thanks to Javon Smith, Forrest Montgomery and Nik Budden from Boundary Bay for getting out on Thursday to clear two impasable sections on Cedar Dust. The trail is reconnected
“This is Home” – Incredible Video and Pictures with Jill Kintner and Bryn Atkinson:
Awesome pics and vid of Jill riding around town and down at Duthie.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/this-is-home-jill-kintner-video.html
July’s 3rd most ridden US destinations – Bellingham:
I’m not exactly sure how accurate this is (it’s calculated via Trailforks), but it’s interesting nonetheless.
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/top-10-ridden-us-biking-destinations-in-july.html
Brushing:
Huge thanks to Javon Smith, Jon Hereen, Devon Pelkie, Danny Pickering, Tyler Byrnes and everyone else who helped brush this past week. We knocked off the list Br’er Rabbit, Kaiser (again), Pigs, Mole Trap and Lone Wolf. As always, if you’d like to brush your favorite trail (or one you know needs work), give me a shout and I can help coordinate weedeaters and supplies.
Logging Update:
Cedar Dust is re-opened (per above), 187 is still closed, but Oly is passable. I’m going to do a quick tour to see how Mullet is doing and I’ll update you all soon.
Cheers,
EB
8.4.2017
The Chuckanut Mountain wildfire flames have been put out. So, what’s next?
Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article165472517.html#storylink=cpy
8.3.2017
Chuckanut fire 50 percent under control; full containment expected by week's end
Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article165179027.html#storylink=cpy
8.2.2017
Hey folks,
Just a head’s up, there’s a 60 acre fire burning off of Burnout Road on Chuckanut right now.
Clayton Beach Parking lot is closed for staging the fire crews and trucks. There’s roughly 100 firefighters on the fire right now. They will be going up Fragrance Lake Road to Burnout to work on the fire.
http://komonews.com/news/local/wildfire-near-chuckanut-mountain-threatening-4-homes
While trails are still open, we’d advise staying away from Chuckanut / Larrabee State Park until further notice. It’s super hazy over there and there will be a lot of vehicle activity.
Last, it goes without saying, but with the extreme dry conditions and heat, there are NO fires allowed outdoors in Western Washington / Whatcom County right now.
Cheers,
EB
8.3.2017
Hi all,
Some upcoming things for you everyone over the next few weeks.
Advocacy Alert – Take 5 minutes to fill out this Survey:
From the survey page: "It is designed by Washington State University to help land management agencies, and outdoor recreation groups understand your outdoor recreation wishes, and how to make public recreation lands in Washington State easier for you and future generations to use and enjoy. "As such, they are asking trail users to fill out their survey.
https://wsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5zm7FqvKHHSfujX
Wednesday, August 9th - Whatcom Falls Pump Track Grand Opening:
Well folks, we’ve got the fence built and the signage is designed and we’ll be cutting the ribbon at 6 PM. Fanatik Bike will be cooking up burgers and dogs and have Norco DJ bikes for folks to ride. Jill Kintner and Bryn Atkinson will also be autographing posters at the Freehub Magazine tent. More details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1947324518839394/
Sunday, August 13th, Fanatik Build Day on SST:
The weather is going to dictate what we can do on SST on the 13th, so stay tuned for more details on whether we can host this day or not!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1896385753934176
August 12 and 13th, Capitol Forest Classic:
We got a note from the Friends of Capitol Forest that their Capitol Forest Classic weekend of racing has very low registrants so far. If you’re thinking about racing either day (or both days), head over and get registered asap and help out the good folks at FOCF!
https://www.capitolforestclassic.com/
Sunday, August 27th - Cascadia Dirt Cup Race - Call for Volunteers!
We’ll need folks to help be timers, course marshal, help in the beer garden, parking, registration, etc. If you’d like to help us put on one of the premier races in the PNW, give me a shout with your preference for what you’d like to help with. As always, we’ll make sure you are well cared for with food, beers and gear!
http://www.racecascadia.com/chuckanut
Brushing:
We are under a “High” fire danger rating and, as such, all brushing work has to be done by 1 PM when using the weedeaters. If you’d still like to help brush your favorite trails, give us a shout and we’ll help organize tools and supplies.
Logging update:
As always, please respect the closures for everyone's safety.
- Mullet and 911 are closed. While only the bottom of Mullet is being impacted, we have the top and middle flagged off as well to ensure folks aren’t ending up in the logging area on accident.
- Oly / Cougar and 187 are still closed. Logs will be hauled out of there in the coming days and we anticipate them opening back up within the week.
- Cedar Dust is now re-opened, but Janicki's crew is still hauling logs on the South side of the trail, so please be aware. We'll get our crew in there to clean up the debris in the next week or so.
Cheers,
EB
7.18.2017
Hey folks,
A quick update for everyone this week.
Timber Harvest:
We closed down Oly and Lost Sole today due to timber operations in that area. If you ride down Keystone or Happy Hour, please use Vitamin R or Kaiser to get out of those areas.
187 and Cougar are still open, but we will close them down later this week and Cedar Dust still remains closed.
Saturday - Lake Whatcom / Stewart Mountain Trail Day:
We’ll be working with County Parks on continuing the up-route on Stewart Mountain. Meeting out there at 8:30 and working ‘til 3’ish.
More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/661552300712175
Cheers,
EB
7.6.2017
Hi all,
I just met with the folks at Janicki this morning and they are about to start a month of harvest activity on the mountain. As such, there will be more vehicle activity during the weekdays, so please be courteous and move over when you come across a logging truck during the day. Also, it is imperative that these closures are respected for your safety and the crew’s safety.
We will sign the trails as closed on the following dates, but dates are always subject to change.
- Cedar Dust – July 10 -24th
- July 10th – 17th – Cutting
- July 17- 24th – Log hauling,
- Oly, 187, Lost Sole, Cougar - July 17th – 31st.
- July 17th – 24th – Cutting
- July 24th - 31st – Log hauling
- Lower Mullet, Upper 911 and Jack and the Beanstalk – July 31st – August 14th
- July 31st – August 7 – Cutting
- August 7- 14 – Log hauling
IMPORTANT:
Road spraying: There will be one day in August (Date - TBD) of a FULL MOUNTAIN CLOSURE due to spraying on every single road.
Aerial Spraying: There will be several days where certain trails / areas will be closed due to aerial spraying. TBD on trails and dates.
We will update you on the above dates as soon as we know.
Cheers,
EB
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
7.5.2017
Happy Wednesday, Folks!
I’ve got some big news to share. The WMBC is pleased to announce the sale of Galbraith Mountain and the new owners intention of continued recreation use on the mountain!
”One of the motivating factors behind the purchase of the tree farm at Galbraith Mountain was our desire to provide continued access to the 45-plus miles of trails that are used year-round by tens of thousands of bikers, hikers, and runners,” says Kiersten Sahlberg, spokesperson for Galbraith Tree Farm LLC.
Photos: Nick Kelly, Eric Ashley, Courtney Nash
Read more about it here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/07/05/whatcom-mountain-bike-coalition-supports-sale-of-galbraith-mountain/
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
7.1.2017
Hey folks,
I need about a half dozen folks who can help with the pump track’s wooden fence tomorrow. I’ve got a dingo for digging post holes and need to set posts (in gravel).
Holler at me if you can help….carpentry skills a huge plus. I’ll be there by 9.
Cheers,
EB
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
6.12.2017
Happy Monday folks,
We’ve been busy the past few weeks. A handful of folks have stepped up to help brush their favorite trails the past week or two. Read more below about what needs to be done and how we can knock out brushing with some coordinated efforts.
Cheers,
EB
Updates and Trail Recaps:
DNR Update: The Recreation Planning Committee is still busy working to identify the proper locations for recreation within Whatcom County. Last Tuesday, myself and Mike McGlenn from the BCH went to Oly to speak to the Board of Natural Resources. More on that here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/06/12/dnr-update-and-board-of-natural-resources-speech/
National Trails Day Recap – Stewart Mountain
We had a great day up on the mountain and will be up there a fair bit over the course of the summer.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/06/12/national-trails-day-recap-lake-whatcom-park/
Brushing:
We’ve had a lot of folks get out and help brush the trails these past couple of weeks. With the increased timber activity on the mountain, brushing has become a much larger and important task than in years past. If folks want to help, I can always coordinate to drop weedeaters, supplies and our blower off for you. That way, you can just ride in/out and have everything you need to get stuff done. To see what trails have been brushed so far, check it out here: https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/06/12/galbraith-brushing-update/
Civic Dirt Jump June recap:
Thanks to Michael and crew for giving the medium and advanced lines some love on Saturday! https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/06/12/civic-dj-june-recap/
WMBC Youth Corps:
Char Waller is working on an amazing project involving middle and high schoolers in the 100 acre wood. Still lots of planning to do, but if all goes as we hope, it’ll be an amazing experience for these youth to plan and create their own little bike park in the rock quarry within the park.
Whatcom Falls Pump track:
The pump track is still closed (other than work days) until we knock out the remaining items on the punch list. We will be building 340’ of wooden 2 rail fence that surrounds the track and creating/installing a kiosk with signage. We also planted grass on the sides of the berms and pumps to help stabilize the slopes. We’ll let folks know when we need help with the fence….we’ll need some experience folks on this project.
Upcoming Build Days and Events:
This Weekend: We don’t have something planned YET for the weekend, but it’s almost certain we’ll have crews brushing and perhaps working on the pump track. TBD.
June 25th , Ridge and Miranda Trail day
Join Jack’s Homegrown Racing for another day of maintenance on the Ridge and Miranda. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333343226744226/
July 12-16, Kettle Fest – Colville National Forest
Come join Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, Evergreen East and the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition from July 12-16th for 5 days of epic riding and camping at Kettle Crest! If you can't join for the entire time, come for as long as works for you. Folks with kids, the campground is great spot for the little ones to ride around. More here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1881115448844863
6.2.2017
Happy Friday folks,
Just a reminder that tomorrow is National Trails day and we’re kicking off working on Lake Whatcom Park!! The plan is to work on an up-route that is on the lowest part of the mountain. We’ll be working with Washington Trails Association and County Parks on the day along with other trail users. We’re asking folks to leave your doggies at home for this day.
We’ll be kicking off the day at 9 AM at the Hertz Trailhead at the end of North Shore road. There will be a ceremonial kickoff from the County before we head up the hill. If you can carpool with friends, please do so!
Wednesday, we had a crew of 4 sawyers (Javon, James, Jimmy and myself) helping clear the corridor and there’s a LOT of Alder debris to move. After that is removed, we’ll work on getting the organic off the corridor. Because this will have a mini ex on it next week, we’ll do minimal benching and it should be a fun way to kick off the build season out there. The weather looks good, so bring a swimsuit if you want to get a dip in the lake afterwards.
Also, Happy Hour starts at the Fork at 4PM….so if you want to swing by afterwards , that’s a great post-dig location!
If you can register with County Parks, that would be helpful too.
https://wa-whatcomcounty.civicplus.com/FormCenter/Parks-Recreation-17/Lake-Whatcom-Park-National-Trails-Day-Gr-111
Cheers,
EB
5.24.2017
Howdy folks,
A few updates for you. As always, a reminder that you can follow our Google Calendar which is up-to-date. https://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Pump Track:
The Pump track is still officially under construction, but folks have been getting laps on it. We’ll have a crew out at the pump track today starting around 3’ish moving dirt and bark, doing general cleanup and then riding and bbq’ing. We’ll have a trail day there this Saturday to continue those efforts from 9 AM to 1 PM. If possible, please ride, hike or carpool to the park to avoid clogging up the entire parking lot. Feel free to bring the kiddos!
Whatcom Falls Pump Track Build day Recap:
We had about 25 folks and a ton of kiddos out last weekend and it was a blast!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/22/whatcom-falls-pump-track-build-day/
2016 Trail Summary Report:
I finally got around to summarizing the data from last year’s survey. If you want the Clif’s notes version, go to page 3.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/19/2016-wmbc-trail-survey-summary/
Saturday, June 3rd – National Trails Day on Stewart Mountain
It's official folks! We are officially breaking ground and putting shovels in the dirt on Stewart Mountain (Aka, Lake Whatcom Park). Please join the WMBC, Whatcom County Parks and Washington Trails Association for our very first trail day in Lake Whatcom Park. https://www.facebook.com/events/288848771543116/
Sign up with County Parks here! https://wa-whatcomcounty.civicplus.com/FormCenter/Parks-Recreation-17/Lake-Whatcom-Park-National-Trails-Day-Gr-111
June 10th, Civic Dirt Jump build day
Join Michael Storm for another Civic DJ build day to get the jumps in great shape before the summer season hits. They usually go from 9-12 and then there’s some time to ride after. More details to come as we get closer to the date.
June 25th , Ridge and Miranda Trail day
Join Jack’s Homegrown Racing for another day of maintenance on the Ridge and Miranda. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333343226744226/
Bunny / Art’s Trail Logging:
The Janicki crew is starting to harvest in the area with Bunny and Art's trails today. Thanks to Devon Pelkie and Russ Lambert's efforts, Kaya, Hopscotch and the southern end of Bunny are re-opened (but still need work), but we'll be closing the northern end of the these trails today. See attached map below.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/24/logging-on-arts-and-bunny-trails/
Cheers,
EB
5.15.2017
Happy Monday all!
We’ve had a busy month and we’re not going to slow down anytime soon. Huge kudos to everyone who has been coming out for our trail days, visited us at the breweries and just getting a ton of work done on behalf of our community.
As always, a reminder that you can follow our Google Calendar which is up-to-date.
https://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Cheers,
EB
Job Box: Does anyone have an extra job box they'd be willing to part with for the WMBC? We'd like to have one for Whatcom Falls pump track, so authorized individuals have easy access to hand tools and hoses for future maintenance. It doesn’t need to be huge, but it needs to be able to accommodate a dozen tools (shovels, rakes, tampers) and 350 feet of hose. Thanks!!
Larrabee State Park - Cleator Road is Open
After a week of grading work, the Cleator Road is opened back up to the top of Chuckanut Mountain.
Trail Day Recaps:
Craftsmen in our midst:
A truly over-the-top bridge railing from Belles and Pelkie and another signature Fricker bench!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/16/craftsmen-in-our-midst/
Unemployment Line Changes - sponsored by Terrain Gym and Terra-tactile Trailbuilding:
More awesome changes made by Andrew and John again this year.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/15/unemployment-line-sponsored-by-terrain-gym-and-terra-tactile-trailbuilding/
Lair of the Bear Recap - Sponsored by Mt Baker Imaging:
Trail tread and drainage work done. Holes filled with tons of rock!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/11/lair-of-the-bear-trailday-recap/
Double Black Diamond Recap - Sponsored by Treelines Northwest:
Lots of drainage and trail tread work completed!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/11/double-black-diamond-recap-sponsored-by-treelines-northwest/
Rock n’ Roll Recap - Sponsored by Kulshan Brewing:
Tons of brushing and drainage work!
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/15/rock-n-roll-trail-recap-sponsored-by-kulshan-brewing/
Upcoming Build days: We will be adding more dates soon!
Sunday, May 21st – Whatcom Falls Pump Track:
We’re going to work this Sunday on cleaning up the work site, moving rocks and bark and we may have a few folks doing some adjustments to the track.
https://www.facebook.com/events/417146885321760/
Saturday, June 3rd – National Trails Day on Stewart Mountain
It's official folks! We are officially breaking ground and putting shovels in the dirt on Stewart Mountain (Aka, Lake Whatcom Park). Please join the WMBC, Whatcom County Parks and Washington Trails Association for our very first trail day in Lake Whatcom Park. https://www.facebook.com/events/288848771543116/
Sign up with County Parks here! https://wa-whatcomcounty.civicplus.com/FormCenter/Parks-Recreation-17/Lake-Whatcom-Park-National-Trails-Day-Gr-111
June 10th, Civic Dirt Jump build day
Join Michael Storm for another Civic DJ build day to get the jumps in great shape before the summer season hits. They usually go from 9-12 and then there’s some time to ride after. More details to come as we get closer to the date.
June 25th , Ridge and Miranda Trail day
Join Jack’s Homegrown Racing for another day of maintenance on the Ridge and Miranda. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333343226744226/
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
5.2.2017
Hi folks,
A bunch of things for you on this beautiful Tuesday, so get in where you fit in.
I’m heading out to the pump track.
Cheers,
EB
Evergreen Survey: Take 5 minutes to fill this out!
http://www.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?id=5599613&cu=26813
Cedar Dust Trail day - Recap:
A big thanks to the folks at Boundary Bay for the super fun Cedar Dust Alley and their build day on Cedar Dust. More about that here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/05/01/cedar-dust-trail-day-recap/
WMBC Joyriders Spring Kickoff Recap:
The event was a huge success with groups ranging from beginners to advanced riding all over the mountain. More info. here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/04/26/joyrider-kick-off/
Joyrider schedule here: https://wmbcmtb.org/joyriders/
Galbraith Earth Day recap:
A huge thanks to the 20 something folks who helped us get a bunch of old garbage off of the hill!! Most of that had been on the mountain for decades.
https://wmbcmtb.org/2017/04/24/earth-day-2017-galbraith-clean-up/
Pump Track progress:
We have the main components of the stormwater system completed. Big thanks to JP Slagle from Freeland and Associates for donating his expertise for our Stormwater design and Josh Neyman from Bellingham Parks for helping implement the design. Also a big thanks to Fanatik and Granite Pre-cast for donating our Type 1 Basin and inlets for that system! We can now focus on shaping the intermediate and advanced tracks. I know some of you aren’t on FB, but we’re doing most of the updates on there right now. We will be needing volunteers to help us move dirt for capping later this week…..more on that to come.
A not-so-subtle reminder: This project is mostly being funded by the WMBC from our members’ donations. Without your help, we can NOT do more of these moving forward. If you’ve not donated to the WMBC this year, please do so here: www.wmbcmtb.org/donate
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Saturday May 6th : Transition Bikes “Second Annual Grand Opening”
Swing down from 12-5 PM…more info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/455819324759350/
April 28 - May 7th – Unemployment Line Overhaul Sponsored by Terrain Gym:
U Line is closed as Andrew Fletcher-Love and John Miller are taking their “vacation” to give U Line its yearly overhaul. They like to keep it to a small crew, but if they need help, we’ll let folks know.
Sunday, May 7th – Double Black Diamond Trail Day sponsored by Treelines Northwest
We will focus on Double Black Diamond working top down. As usual, Adam and the Treelines folks will stoke folks out with great food and beverages. Bill Hawk is leading this day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/344503942614505/
Friday, May 12th – Rock n Roll Trail day sponsored by Kulshan Brewing:
Come help get Rock n Roll dialed in for summer….meeting at 10 AM at the Samish lot. We’ll make sure there’s plenty of Lager or Greenwood IPA ready to go. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/257953967998938/
Saturday, June 3rd – National Trails Day on Stewart Mountain
It's official folks! We are officially breaking ground and putting shovels in the dirt on Stewart Mountain (Aka, Lake Whatcom Park). Please join the WMBC, Whatcom County Parks and Washington Trails Association for our very first trail day in Lake Whatcom Park.
https://www.facebook.com/events/288848771543116/
June 10th, Civic Dirt Jump build day
Join Michael Storm for another Civic DJ build day to get the jumps in great shape before the summer season hits. They usually go from 9-12 and then there’s some time to ride after. More details to come as we get closer to the date.
June 25th , Ridge and Miranda Trail day
Join Jack’s Homegrown Racing for another day of maintenance on the Ridge and Miranda. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1333343226744226/
4.20.2017
Howdy folks,
We’ve got a ton of stuff coming up over the next few weeks including a super fun women’s ride with the Joyriders and fundraisers as part of Bellingham Beer Week.
See below and get in where you fit in!
Cheers,
EB
Saturday, April 22: Earth Day Clean Up
IMPORTANT: We are meeting at the Samish Lot at 8:30, so folks can also go to the March for Science. This day will be to get some of the really old garbage off of the hill. Stuff like old tires and cars from the days when there were no gates on the mountain. If you have a truck and don’t mind hauling stuff in it, please bring your truck with you. Also helpful are come-a-longs, tow straps and tow ropes. If you have a truck with a winch, that would be helpful as well. We will have two dumpsters on the hill….one for scrap metal and one for garbage. Any stuff that can be recycled will go into a pile and hauled off in the next week or two.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1972952822935935/
Saturday, April 22: WMBC Joyriders Women’s Spring kickoff.
Ready to kick off a great year of Women’s rides! Meet on the road above Last call starting at 9:30am and rides start at 10am go until 12:30. Please carpool- you can park at lake Padden and pedal in, or be early to snag a good parking spot, on Samish way, or the dollar lot on Galbraith Lane. 1-4pm Post ride beers and raffle at Kulshan on James st! Kulshan will donate $1. per pint to WMBC!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1256597657720624/
Sunday April 23: Lair of the Bear Sponsored by Mount Baker Imaging
Meeting at the Samish Lot at 9 and carpooling up to the top of LOB. You can also ride or hike up to join the crew. Jeff Jaap is leading this day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/145457549319224/
Sunday April 23: Boundary Bay / Cedar Dust Alley Fundraiser – Bellingham Beer Week
From 12-4 PM, Boundary is bringing Galbraith Mountain to YOU!! Get ready to have a radical time as we turn our alley into a Mountain Bike playground and festival! During Bellingham Beer Week, this event will raise funds for WMBC , and we're shutting down the alley behind Boundary Bay for...BIKES...BIKES & BIKES. Polecat will be playing at 2:30.
https://www.facebook.com/events/267764143675942/
Wednesday, April 26: Aslan Fundraiser – Bellingham Beer Week
As part of Bellingham Beer Week, the good folks at Aslan brewing are donating 9% of all drink sales to 9 non-profits in our community. So, swing by Aslan on Wednesday the 26th, have a pint or two with us!
https://www.facebook.com/events/413339629045326/
April 28 - May 7 – Unemployment Line Overhaul Sponsored by Terrain Gym:
Andrew Fletcher-Love and John Miller will once again take their “vacation” to give U Line its yearly overhaul. They like to keep it to a small crew, but if they need help, we’ll let folks know. Maybe some cleanup on the upper section of the trail or another area where they aren’t working.
Sunday, May 7 – Double Black Diamond Trail Day sponsored by Treelines Northwest
We will focus on Double Black Diamond working top down. As usual, Adam and the Treelines folks will stoke folks out with great food and beverages. Bill Hawk is leading this day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/344503942614505/
Friday, May 12 – Rock n Roll Trail day sponsored by Kulshan Brewing:
Come kick off Cinco de Mayo right by getting Rock n Roll dialed in for summer. We’ll make sure there’s plenty of Lager or Greenwood IPA ready to go. More info. here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/257953967998938/
June 10, Civic Dirt Jump build day
Join Michael Storm for another Civic DJ build day to get the jumps in great shape before the summer season hits. They usually go from 9-12 and then there’s some time to ride after. More details to come as we get closer to the date.
Logging:
The Janicki crew is still working in the Bunny / Kaya / Art’s trail areas. Thank you to everyone for respecting the closures for your safety and theirs! We’ll let you know when we can get back in there and get the trails cleaned back up.
3.17.2017
Hi all,
A quick update before the weekend is upon us. Trails are finally drying up and Sunday and Monday look to have some good weather…get out there and enjoy yourself! Please note: we still have Pump Track à Eagle Scout closed to let the dirt firm up after the recent Freehub Mag build day. Also, don’t forget that our Google Calendar is always up-to-date and a good source to see what’s going on with the WMBC.
https://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Logging:
The Janicki crew is still working in the Bunny / Kaya / Art’s trail areas. Thank you to everyone for respecting the closures for your safety and theirs! We’ll let you know when we can get back in there and get the trails cleaned back up.
Upcoming Trail days:
- March 18th (tomorrow) - Irish Death / Das Autobahn Sponsored by Iron Horse Brewery…meeting at the Samish lot at 9 AM. Also, by K2 anytime during the day for a pint of Irish Death or a Greenwood IPA and Iron Horse and Kulshan will donate $1 per pint to the WMBC. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/398402180516314/
- March 25th (Saturday): The Ridge Trail Sponsored by the Queens of Dirt…meeting at the Birch Street trailhead at 9 AM. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1904327349814529/
- Saturday April 8th: Civic Dirt Jump trail day led by Michael Storm from 9 AM – 3 PM.
- Sunday April 9th: Double Black Diamond / Double Down (TBD – this date move to the 1st or 2nd of April)
Demo Opportunities:
- Fanatik Demo Day: Saturday the 18th (9AM – 6PM): There will be demos from 6 bike brands for you to sample on our local trails. Lady mountain bikers, join Jill Kintner at 10am for an all levels group ride on Galbraith Mountain, starting at their shop. Swing by there an hour early if you want to join the ladies ride so you can take a demo bike for the ride. Evil, Knolly, Santa Cruz, Juliana, Devinci, Ibis, and Norco will all be with their demo fleets. Also, Chris Mellick from RRAD will have a skills course set up in the parking lot for folks More here: https://www.facebook.com/events/157181171461516/
- Transition Bikes Demo Day: Sunday the 19th: Transition will be setting up at the Dollar Lot on Galbraith Lane. There will be a group ride leaving the lot at Noon and a bbq at 4 PM afterwards. More details on their website (scroll down): http://transitionbikes.com/
Cheers,
EB
2.24.2017
Freehub Trail day:
Bill Hawk and Brandon Watts will be leading crews on Evolution and PT à Eagle Scout tomorrow. Meeting at the Samish Way lot at 9 AM if you’d like to help get those dialed for spring. If you’re planning to ride tomorrow, please avoid those trails….thanks! More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/274133373007683/
Upcoming Logging:
I’ll be meeting with Janicki’s crew on Monday, but they are planning to begin logging West of the Pipeline Road in the Kaya, Bunny and Art’s area next Thursday. We’ll get in there early in the week to flag the heck out of the trails, so their machine operators can limit trail damage, but those trails will be closed until further notice beginning early in the week.
Also, there will be a LOT of truck traffic on the Pipeline Road while harvest activity is taking place. As such, we’ll ask folks to try to ride from the north side or begin your rides after mid-afternoon when their crews are off the hill. If you encounter logging trucks during a ride, we’d ask you to please pull over and let them pass through since we only have one entrance/exit on that side of the hill now.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Cheers,
EB
12.01.2016
Folks,
Jack’s and the Homegrown Racing Team are sponsoring a trail day this Saturday to work on Miranda, The Ridge and plan to continue their singletrack climb route up the hill.
Few trails, if any, see more traffic on the hill, so come help get the primary north side access in great shape for the winter! They will be meeting at the Birch Street Trailhead at 9 AM….parents, this is a VERY kid-friendly trail day since the kiddos can work on Miranda. As always, come prepared for weather, but the Jack’s crew has food and drinks covered.
https://www.facebook.com/events/275974242799112/
Cheers,
EB
11.21.2016
Hi all,
Reminder! If you’re in town for the holiday this weekend, we’re hosting a family-friendly dig and ride day on Friday. Come on out and work off some of that excessive food and drink!
Our current plan is to meet along the 1000 / Pipeline road intersection just past Last Call / New issues (see map) at 9 AM. We’ll have coffee, hot chocolate, food, etc. in the AM and lunch at Noon. After lunch, we are encouraging those who have bikes, to head out for a ride. For those with younger kiddos, we do need the parents to ride with and be responsible for their kids…if you so choose to ride after the dig portion of the day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/573913216127827/
I hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!
Cheers,
EB
11.15.2016
Hi all,
We’re instituting our mid-week build days again on Wednesdays to accommodate those with different work schedules. If you want to participate in those, please email EB directly to be added to the email list. Tomorrow, we’ll be working on Gate and Switch and Last Call and meeting at 9 AM at the Samish Lot.
Upcoming events:
Saturday, November 19th – Build day on SST sponsored by Fanatik. Meeting at Samish lot at 9 AM. The plan is to work above and below the first road crossing. The upper part of the trail WILL BE SHUT DOWN during the build day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/993301824113296/
Friday , November 25th – OptOutside build and ride day – Instead of spending the day shopping at the mall, we are encouraging our members to get out for some digging and riding….work off some of that Thanksgiving meal!! This will be VERY friendly build day….join us for all or part of the day. Meeting at 9 AM at the Samish Lot and then driving in to do some digging, lunch and then riding. We’ll most likely
https://www.facebook.com/events/573913216127827/
Tuesday, November 29th – DNR Public Planning Meeting at BTC Settlemeyer Hall (same place as Shoot the Trails) from 5-8 PM. As someone on the Rec Planning Committee, I can say that we’ve made a lot of progress to lay the groundwork for future trail networks, but also have a LOT more to do in the coming year before anything will be finalized. I just want to set expectations as to where we are in this process!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1613984508901306/
Saturday, December 3rd – The Ridge and Miranda build day sponsored by Jack’s Homegrown Racing. We’ll meet at Birch Trailhead at 9 AM. More details to come.
https://www.facebook.com/events/275974242799112/
Cheers,
EB
10.28.2016
Morning folks!
Reminder that we're going to be working on Double Down tomorrow morning. Meet at the Clayton Beach / Lost Lake Parking lot at 9 AM and then we'll hike up (working bottom-up). Dress weather appropriate!
https://www.facebook.com/events/775289815958372/
Also, Whoopsie Woodle is closed until further notice. A logging crew is going through and thinned a section of it leaving it impassable. They will be done today and we'll get up early in the week to clear it out. The entrance has been flagged off to notify folks.
Cheers,
EB
9.21.2016
Hi folks,
The rain and cooler temps are finally back and we are celebrating National Public Lands Day by giving some love to the trails on Larrabee State Park. In particular, our plan is to get Double Black and Double Down back in shape after a long, dry summer and the extra traffic from our recent Enduro race.
Time and Location:
We are meeting at 9 AM at the Lost Lake (aka, Clayton Beach) parking lot which is by the bathrooms and Fragrance Lake Road. We'll have coffee/bagels for the AM and lunch in the afternoon.
What to bring:
As usual, dress for the weather, bring some water or snacks and boots/gloves for working. We'll have plenty of trail tools ready to go.
** PLEASE NOTE: Discover Passes are NOT necessary for this day.
Cheers,
EB
10.25.2016
Hi all,
The Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program (WWRP) supports outdoor recreation and preserving natural spaces in Washington State. Please take 2 minutes to sign on to a letter asking our legislature to continue funding their programs at the same (or better yet, higher) level. This funding will be helping the WMBC as we start to get authorized trails going with the DNR and other land managers.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf5A_7MGwZZZuaV126P5PzisfaKsYiCD1gtuQTkq0OTeE6I-A/viewform
If you’d like to read their full letter, you can do so here:
http://www.wildliferecreation.org/getinvolved/wwrp-funding-request-sign-on-letter/at_download/file
Larrabee Trailday this Saturday:
We need to get some dirt work done on Double Down now that the dirt has some moisture. We’ll be meeting at Clayton Beach/ Lost Lake Parking lot at 9 AM and heading up from there. We do have additional plans in the works in the park this winter, but we need to get our trails back into good shape first and foremost.
Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/775289815958372/
Cheers,
EB
9.6.2016
Hi all,
If any of you are planning to ride this Thursday, consider going for a ride out on Blanchard instead.
The WMBC is co-hosting an event on Blanchard with the Commissioner of Public Lands, Peter Goldmark, and several of our legislators. The plan is to have the various stakeholders and legislators up on the mountain to strategize how to fund the remaining 700 acres from future timber harvest. You can read more about hit here:
https://wmbcmtb.org/2016/02/02/advocacy-alert-help-save-1600-acres-on-blanchard-mountain/
We’ll be up at the paraglider take off at the Samish Overlook between 12 and 1 and then going for a hike after that. It would be great to see some mountain bikers up there. You don’t have to do anything beyond riding your bike….just ride to the lookout and then go on your merry way!
Cheers,
Eric
8.19.2016
Morning all,
I hope you are enjoying our beautiful weather and getting out for some ride and lake time. This weather’s great, but am I the only one that’s really starting to miss the rain? Come January, I’m sure I’ll want someone to throat punch me for that comment. Two things for you all today:
REMINDER!! DNR Recreation Survey:
As part of the Recreation Planning process for Whatcom County, the DNR wants to hear from you. In our committee meetings, all of the user groups have been honest about where their respective users recreate currently, so please be honest with them in this survey! It only takes 5-10 minutes, so tell them where you recreate and what you’d like to see from them. TAKE THIS SURVEY!!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MJLX6LJ
Burn Ban:
The DNR has officially banned outdoor fires until we get rain and cooler temps.
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/news/dnr-bans-campfires-across-state
Cheers,
EB
8.11.2016
Morning all,
Be Considerate.
We're creating a new campaign as a reminder for trail users that access Galbraith through neighborhoods to "Be Considerate". As such, we're installing signs near the exits of the mountain (and parking lots) to serve as reminders for folks to have their dogs on leash on their way on/off the mountain. Additionally, we've had a few complaints from neighbors about riders bombing down the streets and residents nearly hitting them as they pull out of their driveways....so we also have "Ride Slow" signs as well. Thanks for your help with self-policing on these issues.
CDC Race:
The CDC Enduro on August 27th has officially announced the race courses (broken down into 3 groups: expert/pro, sport and beginner class). You can see the course maps and read the routing descriptions here: http://www.cascadiadirtcup.org/chuckanut_course
Volunteers: We are still looking for volunteers for the race (parking, timing, course marshals, venue tear down, etc.). Reminder that the Cascadia Dirt Cup gives back to each organization hosting the event, so the WMBC will raise funds from this event. If you’d like to help the event out, shoot and email to wmbcmtb@gmail.com and Allie Evans will get back to you about what items are open and what works best for you. Also, we’ll have a trail day on Wednesday, August 24th to clean up some pedal/bar grabbers on Raptor Ridge and do some brushing on 2 dollar and Lost lake trail.
Enjoy this upcoming warm stretch of weather!
Cheers,
EB
8.1.2016
Hi all,
A few things to discuss this beautiful Monday. Please feel free to share with your riding friends.
DNR Survey:
As part of the Recreation Planning process for Whatcom County, the DNR wants to hear from you. In our committee meetings, all of the user groups have been honest about where they’re respective users recreate currently, so please be honest with them in this survey! It only takes 5-10 minutes, so tell them where you recreate and what you’d like to see from them.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MJLX6LJ
WMBC Survey Closing on Tuesday:
We’re closing our 2016 Survey tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. Most of you have filled it out, but I figured I’d send it along one last time.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/wmbc2016
Chuckanut CDC Enduro (August 27th):
There are 175 people signed up for the Chuckanut Enduro already. This event will sell out as it’s a stop on the North American Enduro Tour, so you should register asap. We’ll be doing a bit of brushing and trimming of pedal/bar grabbers in the coming weeks, if you’d like to help with that, let me know. Also, unless we get some rain, we won’t do any dirt work….hopefully we’ll get some rain so we can do some dirt work, but it’s not looking good. The courses have changed and the Pro/Expert class, Sport Class and Beginner Classes will have different courses to better accommodate varying skill/fitness levels and to encourage more folks to give an enduro race a try. Register here:
http://www.cascadiadirtcup.org/chuckanut
Also, if you’d like to volunteer for the race (EMS, timing, course marshals, parking, etc.), email us at wmbcmtb@gmail.com I promise we’ll take good care of you and you’ll have the unending gratitude of our racers.
Cheers,
EB
7.22.2016
Hi all,
As most of you know, we’ve been busting our butts the past couple of months to get the new Tower Road Connector and bridge done. It’s been stressful for all involved and, frankly, I think our crew of builders have outdone themselves with a critical project for access on the south-side.
The bridge had its final rails installed on Tuesday and tomorrow (Saturday), we’re going to finish cleaning up the bridge zone, do a little bit of buffing on the trail (which is really dry, so most work won’t happen until Fall) and we may send a few folks out with weed-eaters to get some issues tackled nearby.
Gateway Controls is sponsoring our day tomorrow. Being that it’s at the base of the mountain, it will be very kid-friendly and we’ll have tasks for kids ready to go. As usual, we’re meeting at the Samish Way parking lot at 9 AM, but we’d ask anyone that can ride/hike in to meet us at Last Call or the bridge zone around 9:20 or any time after. We will need to haul some materials around the mountain, so a couple of trucks will be needed. If all goes as planned, we should be able to be off the hill by 1 or 2.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1327313653962800/
Cheers,
EB
7.1.2016
Howdy folks,
We’re having another brushing work party tomorrow (Saturday) to tackle some of the worst remaining trails. Details below from Javon Smith – who will be leading this day again. On our last brushing day, they knocked out a ton of trails – even in the downpour.
Thanks Javon!!!
Divide and conquer brushing day on Saturday, July 2.
If you have a gas powered weedeater, tune that sucker up and let’s get some trails brushed! If you have a leaf blower, bring that too. Don’t forget long pants/shirt and ear/eye protection if you plan to run a machine. We’ll have several available as well.
Meeting at the Samish lot at 9 AM and heading up in teams of 3 (2 brushers and a raker/blower) and tackle as many trails as possible.
EB
6.20.2016
Happy Solstice ya’ll!
If folks have some free time this week, we’ll be working on getting more work done on the new bridge near Lost Giants. Holler at me if you have any availability. There are lots of little tasks that even an hour or two can help us move along. I’m planning to be out most of the week on that, so holler if you have a day that you can get out to help. We’re going to plan to have a build day next Saturday to get the bulk of the structure in place. More details on that as we get progress on this project during the week….but it’s currently our number one priority.
Also, tonight is the summer solstice and a bunch of folks will be out riding to celebrate the longest day of the year. There’s going to be a gathering up near the Sandystone area (near the top of wonderland) sometime after 7’ish until dark. Bring some libations and charge up your lights if you plan to stay out ‘til dark.
Cheers,
EB
6.17.2016
Hi all,
We’re doing a divide and conquer brushing day on Saturday (tomorrow) sponsored by Trailhead Athletics. If you have a gas powered weed-eater, tune that sucker up and let’s get some trails brushed! If you have a leaf blower, bring that too. Don’t forget long pants/shirt and ear/eye protection if you plan to run a machine. We’ll have several available as well.
Folks will be meeting at the Samish lot at 9 AM and heading up in teams of 3 (2 brushers and a raker/blower) and tackle as many trails as possible.
There will also be a handful of folks working on the new connector bridge. If there are extra folks available, we’ll send them over in that direction to help with de-barking posts/stingers, etc.
https://www.facebook.com/events/996292833811053/
Cheers,
EB
5.19.2016
Good morning all,
Good news! Cleator road is currently closed for grading work and long-overdue repairs by State Parks. If you prefer a bit of solitude at the top of Cyrus Gates overlook, now is the time to head up Fragrance Lake Road for a ride or a hike. More about it here:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article78205147.html
Saturday, June 11th - Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day:
This year, we’re adding another TAKMB Day at Lake Padden. Bring your kiddos out for the afternoon!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1055123607891012/
Upcoming Traildays:
Saturday, May 21st – Three Pigs sponsored by Bellingham and Whatcom County Firefighters Local 106.
Meeting at the Galbraith Lane / Samish Way Parking lot at 9 AM. The focus will be on brushing and dialing in some recent routing changes to the trail.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1722617981348604/
Saturday, June 4th – National Trails Day on Blanchard Mountain…. sponsored by REI and coordinated with DNR.
We’ll be meeting at the Lower Parking lot / trailhead.
https://www.facebook.com/events/952285238214024/
Saturday, June 18th – Brushing party – Sponsored by Trailhead Athletics.
This will be a Divide and Conquer day to address the most needed trails. If you have a gas-powered weedeater and want to help, this would be a great day to join.
https://www.facebook.com/events/996292833811053/
Cheers,
EB
5.10.2016
Howdy folks,
I hope you’re getting out on the trails!! Weather’s looking stellar for the weekend (all week, actually) and we’re planning to have two traildays:
Saturday – SST: We’ll be working on SST with the folks at Fanatik Bikes. NOTE: We will be meeting at 9 AM at the Lake Padden parking lot near the dog park (see attached map). If you would prefer to ride to join us, we’ll be staging at the road crossing below the big rock roll (1200 Road).
https://www.facebook.com/events/1711001942510177/
Sunday – Cedar Dust: We’ll be working on Cedar Dust with the Kulshan Cycles folks. We will be meeting at the Samish / Galbraith Lane Parking Lot at 9 AM and then staging near the end of Cedar Dust closest to Rock n Roll (Road 1210 spur).
https://www.facebook.com/events/195816400804523/
2016 Trail Survey:
Every couple of years, we ask you to take 5-10 minutes to fill this trail survey out. It’s an important tool for us when we speak to our local land managers about the usage we have on our trail networks and the value you find in easy access in our area. So, PLEASE, take a few minutes to fill this out (if you haven’t already). https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/wmbc2016
Thanks, and let’s give some love to a couple of the most used trails on the mountain!
Cheers,
EB
4.12.2016
Howdy folks,
If you’re not going to be out helping on Hush Hush or Grasshopper this Sunday, Andy Basabe has organized a Blanchard Mountain Awareness ride/run at 11 AM – meeting at the Lower Lily/Lizard Trail parking lot.
Detail are below or you can email Andy here: basabeatbaker@gmail.com
Cheers,
EB
Hello All,
Quick reminder, areas of Blanchard Mountain will be logged beginning spring 2017 unless our state legislature funds the purchase of adjacent lands to protect the core area. A map is attached to the email. More info can be found here:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/local/article58788683.html
Areas within the proposed Core Area to be protected include:
▪ Lily and Lizard lakes and the campsites by each lake.
▪ Oyster Dome viewpoint.
▪ North Butte viewpoint.
▪ Samish Overlook.
▪ About 8 miles out of a total of 11 1/2 miles of trail in Blanchard Forest.
This coming Sunday there will be an opportunity for folks to show their support for Blanchard Mountain, and demonstrate to Washington’s elected officials the importance of public access to healthy trails on Blanchard Mountain.
Everyone is invited to join us for a run/ride, a sharing of the trails.
What: 15ish miles of mountain biking and running over Blanchard and up to the top of Cleator Rd in the Chuckanuts.
Beginning at the Lily/Lizard Lake trailhead, up and over Blanchard, down British Army, across the valley over the logging roads, and back by Lost Lake via the Rock Trail up to the top of Cleator. About 15 miles. Once at the top of Cleator Rd, folks can choose to head back to Bellingham via the Ridge Trail, or down to the interurban. Hiking is totally viable, but will take much longer.
When: Sunday April 17, be ready to ride or run at 11AM
Where: The lower parking lot for Lily/Lizard Lakes, directions below.
Why: To bring attention to the potential demise of some of these trails.
There will be salmon, snacks, and beverages at the top of Cleator Rd for all present, until supplies run out.
Please carpool, and park in areas that won’t affect the regular users of these parks and trails. The lot at the top of Cleator Rd is small, please try and park at the bottom of the road, or the North Chuckanut Parking Lot.
There will be directions for those unfamiliar with the trails connecting the two areas, and flagging will be used to indicate the correct route. Nice people will be present at the Lily/Lizard Lake parking lot to help get people organized.
Directions to Lily/Lizard Lakes Trailhead
http://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/lily-lake-trail
Directions to the fiesta at the top of Cleator Rd
Turn east off Chuckanut Drive on Hiline Rd, near milepost 16, cross the interurban trail, and head up the gravel road.
3.31.2016
Morning Folks,
I hope you are enjoying this sunshine and getting some Vitamin D!! We have two traildays this Sunday….get in where you fit in!
The Jack’s Queens of Dirt are sponsoring a trailday on the Ridge. They’re going to meet at Birch street at 9 and continue the work of keeping Miranda / Ridge running great! Details are here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/450220021838268/
Skagit Naturopathic is sponsoring a trailday on wonderland. They’ll meet at the Samish Way parking lot at 9 and work bottom up to take care of the many drainage issues on the trail. Details are here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1600424243612621/
Evolution: We’ll be working on Evo the next couple of days with the hopes of opening up asap. Holler at me if you’d like to help make that happen sooner than later.
Mullet: Lots of changes have been happening on Mullet the past couple of weeks. Please, ride with caution and look before you leap as the wooden table after the road crossing was falling apart and has now turned into a gap jump and several lips have been adjusted. Those will see further adjustments asap.
Last, if you’ve not heard, Transition Bikes and Kulshan Brewing are hosting a party at Kulshan on Kentucky (aka, K2) Saturday night to celebrate their new collaboration – Party In The Woods IPA. If you can’t make it, it’s also available at all Haggen Stores as of yesterday. Get Some!
Cheers,
EB
3.17.2016
Howdy folks,
The Chuckanut 50 K will have runners all over Chuckanut Mountain on Saturday morning. We would highly advise mountain bikers to avoid the area at least until mid-afternoon on Saturday.
http://chuckanut50krace.com/
McGazzapaloozers, the last of the runners will be heading up DBD as you are all meeting at the Clayton Beach Parking lot. If you get to the top and runners are still coming up the trail (there is an aid station at the top of Cleator), you should either get an upper Ridge lap in, enjoy the view with a frosty beverage or, better yet...do both!
Runners, have a great race!
Trailday Reminder:
Jeff Jaap is leading a crew on Lower Woodle/ Lair of the Bear on Saturday morning. Meeting at the Samish Way / Galbraith lane Parking lot at 9 AM….I’m sure Jeff could use some experienced crew to help him out!
Cheers,
EB
3.14.2016
Howdy folks,
A few important updates for you and your input is needed.
As always, I fully appreciate your support!
Cheers,
EB
DNR Recreation Planning:
We had our first DNR Rec Planning Meeting last Tuesday night and there are 17 people on the committee representing all of the various recreation groups. Glenn Gervais and I are on the committee to represent the mountain bike community.
Our homework assignment for the next month is to gather as much input/feedback on where people are recreating and potential future recreation locations. While I know where most folks are riding their bikes, it’s always good to get that information directly from folks. PLEASE send me an email with “DNR Recreation” in the subject line and then let me know the areas of high importance to you, cool viewpoints or destinations we should know about, etc.. I’ve attached the DNR’s map of Whatcom County to help you view and identify the various areas. It is also worth noting that the DNR is very aware of the areas that ALL user groups are recreating currently, so you are not “giving away any secrets” by saying you ride your mountain bike somewhere in particular.https://kevinmenard.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/dnr_map_whatcom_county.pdf
Wednesday / Mid-week traildays:
In the past, I’ve heard from a lot of people who can’t make it out for our typical weekend traildays – whether it’s due to work, family commitments or whatever. As such, we’ve instituted “Wednesday Traildays” to help folks out and to tackle smaller projects that need some attention. Each week, the proejct will change depending on what’s needed, the weather, etc. While we’re trying to keep them consistently on Wednesdays, we could shift that around based on the weather or other obligations.
For these days, we’re meeting at 9 AM at the Samish Way / Galbraith Lane Parking Lot and then heading up from there. People can bounce whenever they need to, but we’re aiming to go ‘til 1. Email me if you’re interested in those days and I’ll add you to a specific “mid-week” email list so you can get the details for each Wednesday.
Upcoming traildays:
We’ve instituted a Google Calendar to better help people plan. Utilize this for your future trailday and event plans. Next up, Jeff Jaap is leading a trailday on Lower Woodle (Aka, Lair of the Bear) this Saturday and he’s got plenty of projects that need some horsepower from a big crew.
http://wmbcmtb.org/wmbc-calendar-of-events/
Upcoming Trail Days Here:
Saturday March 19th
Lair of the Bear
Saturday, March 26th
Grasshopper - Manualmike.com
Sunday April 3rd
Ridge Trail Sponsored by Queens of Dirt and
Wonderland Trail - Sponsored by Skagit Naturopathic
Sunday, April 10th
Grasshopper - Manualmike.com
Sunday, April 17th
Hush Hush
Windapocalypse 2016: The Sawyers strike Back!
Ma Nature brought it. We answered back.
Just another example of our community taking a day or two off the bike and absolutely slaying it to keep the trails running great!
http://wmbcmtb.org/2016/03/14/windapocalypse-2016-the-sawyers-strike-back/
------------------------------------
Eric Brown
Trail Director, Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition
C: 206-399-8347
E: ebxtreme@earthlink.net
W: www.wmbcmtb.org
