The FMCBC encourages our members to pay it forward and contribute their time to improve our trail system. If your club has worked on a project this year, please let our Trails Committee know about it. It would be great to get this information updated on our website.
Another initiative we are working on is to document issues on trails such as muddy sections, eroded areas, deadfalls and other problems that need repair. Photographs, descriptions and location details are appreciated. Please send to Jay MacArthur, the acting Trails Committee chair.
Chilliwack Area – Mike Stewart
The Valley Outdoor Association (VOA) and Chilliwack Outdoor Club (COC) held a joint work party in June on the Slesse Memorial Trail.
(Photo:Dave Heatherington)
A dozen people were involved and cleared much of the trail. In addition, RSTBC had a crew doing work on the trail in August.
Weather permitting there will be another work party in early October.
Lower Mainland and Sea to Sky – Jay MacArthur
The FMCBC encouraged BC Parks to work on a few trails on the North Shore provincial parks. So far, the only project we have heard of is a crew on the Howe Sound Crest Trail in Cypress Provincial Park. The crew was building stairs to improve a section about 1 km below the top of St. Marks. Boardwalk was also flown in and installed to improve muddy sections closer to St. Marks.
Metro Vancouver had crews working on the Grouse Grind, BCMC and Baden-Powell trails in Grouse Mountain Regional Park.
The BCMC worked on the Baden-Powell trail in West Vancouver south of Cypress Provincial Park. They also worked on the Watersprite Lake trail where a new bridge was constructed.
Tourism Pemberton got funding to install outhouses in a few backcountry locations. Semaphore Lakes is one are being worked on.
Prince George area – Dave King, CaledoniaRamblers
The Caledonia Ramblers did lots of trail clearing (blowdown. deadfall, brush) this year on many different trails both in parks and on Crown lands and they carried out one special major project recently where they had lumber lifted in by helicopter to subalpine meadows.
They then installed about 500 ft of plankway through muddy wet sections of the Viking trail in the Sugarbowl-Grizzly Den park east of PG. BC Parks is very happy and has asked them to continue the project next year as there are more wet muddy pieces to the Viking trail.
Vancouver Island Trail – Terry Lewis, Vancouver Island Trail Association
Work continued on the Vancouver Island Trail, although planned work was held up by fire hazard closure of the private forest lands between Port Alberni and Cumberland. So far only a couple of days work in the northern Beauforts has been completed; they hope to do more before the snow flies. Before the private land closure, new trail was roughed in at lower elevations between Upper Quinsam Lake and the Strathcona Dam (apart from sections of logging road we use) – in particular along the Quinsam River N of Wokas Lake and paralleling a section
(Photo: Jay MacArthur)
of the Gold River Highway to get hikers off the highway.
What’s turning out to be regular — moreor less annual — maintenance was also undertaken on the Tuck Lake section (west of Cowichan Lake), the Runners Trail section (between Tuck section and Alberni Inlet Trail), the Alberni Inlet Trail itself, much of the Lupin section (between Upper Quinsam Lk and Lupin Mtn (ties in to the Rogers Ridge Trail) and the Suquash section (between Port McNeill and Port Hardy Airport), as well as brushing of several sections of grown-in logging roads between Woss and Port McNeill.
Trail volunteers involved came from Duncan, Port Alberni, Qualicum, Comox Valley, Campbell River, Port McNeill and Port Hardy.
