Lower Trace

I met up with Julie White on Thursday to continue corridor clearing on the Lower Trace re-route.  This approximately 1.5 mile trail will omit the eroding fall line trail of the current lower trace. It was an awesome day to be out in the woods but after 4 hours of sawing, I had no desire left to take the short overnight bikepacking trip that I was considering.  White Duck Taco made up for it. 

We were able to cut through 99% of what needed to be done so we were very pleased with the progress.  Pisgah Area Sorba's goal is to do all the tread work by hand in an effort to create a rugged back country trail that will fit within the guidelines of the USFS,  but this is going to take a lot of man hours.  I really hope people will rally around this project and get out to dig in the dirt together.   Looking around, I saw lots of rock chunks and slabs laying around that could be moved to make the trail more technical.  I'm not sure what the parameters are on moving rock though.

I do know that the USFS is watching this project closely and if we as a club can't pull this off, we won't have much clout in the future.

As for the current Lower Trace, I am torn about losing it.  While I can't ride the entire trail, I have friends who can.  But the trail has its challenges to me and them.  I hope that the new trail will have challenging features so that I and others can continue to hone our skills.

So, get out there and lend a hand,  let's create something awesome.