Trail Improvement Project in the GW - Moving Forward! - Thanks USFS, SVBC, SMT, IMBA and Ironwood Outdoors

The North River Ranger District of the George Washington National Forest has partnered with Ironwood Outdoors to rehabilitate a portion of the Wild Oak National Recreation Trail, Bear Draft Trail and Shaffer Hollow Trail. District Ranger Elwood Burge is leveraging limited trail maintance funding that will end up quadrupling its value before the project is done. By the time the project is completed the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition, Shenandoah Mountain Touring, the International Mountain Bicycling Association and other trail volunteer groups will contribute volunteer hours and provide financial assistance helping Ironwood Outdoors more the project forward.


The trail project is in Augusta County on Lookout Mountain which over looks the North River watershed in the George Washington National Forest. Stabilizing the soil on these mountain trails will improve water quality and provide a better recreational experience for all the non motorized trail visitors which consists of equestrians, bicyclists, hikers and trail runners. National Forest Trail Specialist Christian Canary said, "we are really excited to give the bicyclists' this opportunity to improve these system trails that they enjoy so much. Everyone will benefit from this collaboration"

Shaffer Hollow Trail and portions of the Wild Oak Trail are used in the upcoming Shenandoah Mountain 100 Backcountry Bicycle Event held on Sunday September 4th. The annual event is held the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. 2011 will mark the 13 edition of the event. The event is operated under a special event permit with the George Washington National Forest. The event brings over 2000 visitors to the Forest each year contributing over $500,000 annually to the local economy while leveraging hundreds of volunteer trail improvement hours associated with the event.

Shenandoah Mountain Touring, LLC

http://www.mountaintouring.com/

Lynn Trail switchback is reconstructed in the George Washington National Forest

First assess the worksite and make it a safe area to work
Make a plan that can be successfully completed
Start digging the foundation for the rock crib wall
After cutting the back slope
Spread the soil on the trail tread
Tamp the ground to compact the soil
Take a moment to appreciate your hard work that will last forever

Lynn Trail is the 2nd climb in the Shenandoah Mountain 100 bicycle route. It is one heck of a challenging trail to climb. The Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition just reconstructed the rocky steep and very difficult to ride switchback about half way up the trail. Thanks to Ed Sutton of Trail Dynamics for coming out and volunteering with our local bicycle club. Trail Dynamics just finish the work on lower Wolf Ridge Trail which is the descent that bicycles use after the climb on Lynn Trail in the Shenandoah Mountain 100. The Wolf Ridge trail project was funded by a Recreational Trails Program (RTP) grant that the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition was awarded. The grant is administered through Virginia's Department of Conservation and Recreation and funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The funds are from the estimated tax from fuel that is not used on our highways.

Rode up Wolf and down Lynn - Sweetness!

Thomas, Tyler, and I got out to the woods to ride the sections that SVBC re-worked last weekend on Lynn Trail. We were also looking for SM100 trash that had ejected on the Wolf Ridge downhill 2 multi tools and a flatted tube was all we could find, not counting the regular trash we picked up like soda bottles and tin cans. The new sections on lower Wolf Ridge are riding really well. You can't even tell that 500 + riders had been on that section of trail 2 weeks ago. The upper pitches of Wolf are going to be a chore to maintain over the next few years because of all the dead trees.

Shenandoah Mountain 100 Course Clean UP!

Rolled the moto around the fireroads long into the darkness giving the course the triple check. Missed a HUGE black bear by inches up near Camp Todd. I can't even describe how close it was. The first bear sighting was a little cub. He was sooo cute as he stopped, turned, got up on his hind legs to look at me, dropped and ran off. Just missed the rain as I hit Reddish Knob to grab the "Caution, Wolf Ridge and Lynn trails below this area are being used by Bicycles on Sunday" sign at the top of Timber Ridge. Man I love those signs - thanks Branch for making them!!

Back to the Stokesville Campground to take trash to the dump and finish cleaning up!