Weekly News Review

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Rebecca

General Interest

We all know that hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders all share some of the same trails and that good trail etiquette is important but the National Interscholastic Cycling Association and the International Mountain Biking Association have taken it one step further by announcing a trail etiquette campaign aimed at teenagers. It’s called ‘The Spirit Of Howdy‘ and follows the basic premise that mountain bikers should slow down enough when passing others to exchange “howdy’s,” as mountain bikers and hikers we dig this advice.
We love Joshua Tree National Park. When we lived in Southern California it was one of our favorite weekend escapes. That’s why we’re fired up with the news of idiots vandalizing 17 sites in Rattlesnake Canyon. We’ve written about jerks before but these guys are going to the top of the list. It’s too bad that these idiots aren’t the ones paying for the recovery of or spending their time cleaning paint off the sites they marked.
Finally a reason to hike…braless? According to The Gear Caster, the Mountaineering Council of Scotland has issued a warning about navigation errors due to compass reversed polarity. For those of us who dig maps and compasses don’t forget that things such as cell phones, keys, GPS and underwire bras (who hikes in an underwire bra anyway?) can reverse your compass.
Do you know how to live amongst coyotes? Here’s some great advice from Colorado Parks & Wildlife.

Southeastern Wyoming

The Laramie Ranger District has released a list of upcoming forest management projects. We’ll try to keep you posted about their impacts.
If you’re curious about all this moisture that we’ve been receiving and what it’s done to our water levels be sure to add this website to your favorites.
Wyoming State Parks is looking for volunteers to help out with the ‘Summer Outdoor Slam’ on June 8th (it sounds like an outdoor heavy metal concert but it’s not) and the Curt Gowdy State Park trail maintenance day on June 15th. Both sound like a slammin’ good time (and there’s free lunch for volunteers at the trail maintenance event).

Northern Colorado

If you leave near Greeley, the U.S. Forest Service has postponed the grand opening of the Pawnee Buttes trailhead. This one is on our list of places to explore.
Why does this seem like the perfect job? The Forest Service is looking for two couples to volunteer as hosts at the Stub Creek Ranger Station. The good news, they get to live in the woods all summer. The bad news, they have to clean an outhouse.
Looking for an internship? The Colorado Youth Corps Association in partnership with the BLM is looking for 13 interns. It’s also a paid internship, what a deal…and why did I never get paid for any internships?

Just Trails Updates

If you’re a fan of Sierra Trading Post, here’s a great deal. Through May 8th you can take an extra 25% off purchases up to $125, 30% off of purchases up to $200 by using the code AVAPRIL3 at checkout. (p.s. we are a Sierra Trading Post affiliate, it’s where we buy 75% of our outdoor gear and clothing)

Weekly News Review

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Rebecca

: C’mon snow, where are you?

General Interest

A proposed new route for the Continental Divide Trail could ban bikes along a 31 mile section in Southern Colorado’s Rio Grande National Forest. Has anyone hiked the CDT? We’re looking for input on the hiker vs mountain biker dilemma.

Poachers are dumb. Two Sacramento criminals shot a deer, and shoved it into their car but the deer wasn’t dead. Here’s where it gets sad, I won’t judge you if you need to grab a tissue. These heartless idiot poachers (who are also psychotic) didn’t know what to do when the deer came to so they stabbed it a few times. Thankfully they got slapped with a billion charges and wrecked the inside of their SUV.

Southeast Wyoming

According to this press release, 8 environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They claim that the current wolf management policies are not sufficient for protecting wolves. Ranchers and hunters disagree.

Wyoming is cracking down on boats! That’s right, evidently non-native mussels have been infecting the waters of several neighboring states and we don’t want those mussels to infect ours. We’re okay with muscles on the trails, we encourage that, but bad mussels in the water, not so much.

Snowy Range Ski Area opens on December 1st. They have an 18-25″ base and stay tuned to their twitter feed and facebook page for more details. For you snowshoers out there, Sierra Trading Post is hosting a snowshoeing basics clinic at Volin trailhead Saturday December 1st at 11am in Curt Gowdy State Park. Stay tuned to their twitter feed, we’re not sure what the snow looks like right now.

Did you know that you can buy Christmas Tree Permits from the BLM? Yep, you can. And speaking of Christmas, do you have a hard to shop for person on your list this year? How about a gift certificate to Wyoming State Parks? Or you can purchase a 2013 day use pass for the Medicine Bow National Forest. Just don’t get one for your wife, we want diamonds, well, diamonds and gaiters.

Northern Colorado

Good news and bad news coming out of Denver this week. The good news, if you get a DUI while cycling (which is technically a BUI) it won’t affect your driving record. It makes since you don’t need a drivers license to ride a bike. The bad news, no one really has any data about bicycling under the influence to back up getting a BUI in the first place. While we don’t condone bicycling and boozin’ some things just make us scratch our heads…

And while we’re talking about bicycles, if you’re looking for a worthy cause to donate to, check out the Fort Collins Bike Library they are looking for donations.

Red Mountain Open Space, just north of Fort Collins will close for the season on December 1st. But never fear, Larimer County 2013 annual entrance permits will be available for purchase on December 3rd.

Just Trails Updates

: Free to a good home!

A huge thank you to all of our awesome readers and those of you who have subscribed to the Free Heel Podcast. Stay tuned next week as we continue the story of Norwegian ski legend Fridtjof Nansen.

And don’t forget, we have 2 pairs of rollerskis that we’re looking to give to a good home. If you’re interested leave a comment below and stay tuned, we’ll announce the winners on Monday.

Is there something you’d like to add to our weekly news podcast? Let me know at rebecca@justtrails.com

Can hikers and cyclists coexist?

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Rebecca

Lately the outdoor community has been buzzing about mountain bikers and hikers sharing the same trail, specifically the Pacific Crest Trail and according to Rocky Mountain Journal, a 2-mile section of trail in Rocky Mountain National Park. We’ve written about sharing the trails before but for some reason the debate surrounding the Pacific Crest Trail seems downright nasty.

Those who think that the Pacific Crest Trail should be closed to bicycles cite reasons like “it’ll change the dynamics and experience of the PCT” and “if that happens I’ll go out of my way to pull step-over logs across the trail on blind corners.” They also argue that the Appalachian Trail isn’t open to bicycles, so why should the PCT open itself to cycles.

Those who support bicycles on the PCT simply write, “in thinking about the myriad reasons why we as cyclists want access to the Pacific Crest Trail, our thoughts always somehow come full-circle, back to the notion that we, just like everyone else who enjoys the PCT, are devout nature enthusiasts…We have a profound respect for our environment, the places we ride, and the people we share the trails with.

We haven’t hiked the PCT yet but I’m sure that if bicycles are permitted there will be an increase trail usage, at least initially, along with environmental impacts, safety concerns.

It kind of reminds me of early debates in the downhill ski community regarding letting snowboarders on the mountain…”they’ll destroy our trails, run over our kids, and ruin the culture of the sport,” were common quibbles.

Personally I’m torn. On one hand I believe that hikers and cyclists can safely co-exist. On the other hand there is something cool about being on a trail that’s just for those traveling by foot. Frankly, I’m just glad they aren’t considering opening the trail to ATVs.

And it’s become somewhat of a good guy vs bad guy debate, hikers trying to make mountain bikers out to be the bad guys and mountain bikers trying to claim the moral high ground.

When it comes to hikers and mountain bikers, there is no good guy or bad guy, we’re all just trying to play outside. Rarely do we encounter a jerk who is a hiker or a jerk who is a mountain biker. For the most part people on the trails are good, they say “hi,” they step aside, they follow good trail etiquette. We’ve picked up trash left behind by hikers and mountain bikers and both forms of recreation leave a footprint on the environment.

One thing is for certain, If the PCT were open to cyclists, you can be sure that we’d want to ride the trail just as much as we want to hike it.

What do you think, can hikers and cyclists co-exist?

Mountain Bikers vs Hikers: Some People are Just Jerks.

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Al

This comes up a lot. Usually when talking with friends about which very broad and generic group is ruining the outdoors. Lately we’ve been following the question of whether or not to allow mountain biking at Big Bend National Park. I think an important point is missing in the overall discussion. The real problem is not any one group of people but rather individuals (and groups of individuals) who make bad decisions.

I spend a lot of time on the trials (615 miles of trails so far this year to be exact) and I rarely have a bad encounter with another human being. It doesn’t matter if I’m on a bike or walking. Nor does it matter if the other people are on a bike, walking, or horseback riding. Everyone is always incredibly polite to each other in the classic “you go first, no you go first” kind of way.

There are problems to be sure. Mountain bikers are easy to target, they move a lot faster than hikers and can easily spook horses. I’ve seen mountain bike tracks on trails that are clearly marked for hikers only. In a lot of ways mountain bikers are their own worst enemy because they don’t realize (or just don’t care) how other people can get a little bit nervous when they approach.

But there are plenty of hikers out there who should climb down off their pedestal. Every time I pass plastic water bottles, trail mix bags and my personal favorite, bags of dog poop left on the side of the trail I think wow, this person has the same selfish, short term mindset of a mountain biker who won’t slow down for 5 seconds to safely get around a group of hikers.

I love mountain biking and I love hiking and I believe that there is enough room in the outdoors for everyone’s preferred type of recreation. Also from what I’ve seen the vast majority of people manage to co-recreate with little to no conflict.

Too address the problems, real long term solutions are going to come from changing peoples minds on how they behave in the woods, something that is very hard to do. It is just much easier to skirt the real problems by blaming one entire group of people who happen to be different.