Fiore Extension "Ok'd"

Gary and I have been keen to cut in a new section of singletrack on the north side of Campbell Mt. for the past few months, and as of this morning we have the green-light to do just that!

Perhaps the best part of this is not just that more singletrack = more smiles, but that PACA has forged an even stronger relationship with the managers of the privately owned parcels of land on Campbell Mt. as well as lands beyond under tenure.

Much of the eastern slopes between Meadow Lake (near Chute Lake) and Derenzy Lake is Crown land under a long-term cattle grazing tenure. This tenure is held by the Sather family, and managed by local rancher Mike Street.

After a quick loop of Campbell Classic this morning, I sat down with Mike and discussed the possibility of building a few more sections of trail on Campbell. I'd never really met Mike before, aside from him shouting across a field at me last year, asking what we were doing digging on Campbell (we had permission from the Sathers, so settled the query in moments).

As it turns out, Mike is a hell of a nice guy! I'd submitted our intended trail via email, forwarding Mike and Mr. Sather Google Earth and GPS tracks a few weeks earlier. Mike looked it over and has no problem with us bench-cutting in the new trail! I love dealing with private land owners - but what I love even more is cutting trail without having to concern myself with getting shouted off the land!

At any rate, I'd love to start in on digging the Fiore Extn. ASAP -- but -- PACA has to complete the Carmi Extension first. The trail surface is pretty much a done deal, it just requires some detail work to more clearly define the rock / slab route mid-trail, and a man-gate to be put in where it junctions with the Garnet Fire Interpretive Center. I'd also like to replace the plexiglass on one of the interpretive signs and paint the two old picnic tables up there. This won't cost us a dime as the Crown has offered to pony up for the materials

The (((much))) bigger picture here is that we finish the job well and ingratiate ourselves with the local Crown representative. The core of the concept is kinda' like the old "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" - or in mountain biker terms; if we prove that PACA is serious about doing trails right the first time, and every time, we'll be able to implement legit' / new trails on Crown land without a lot of hassle in the future.

Which Rocks!

A.

Thanks for the great work. I can see some workload in my near future.

Gary