Hey everyone, Anika here! I'm really excited about the KCTS Trail building day coming up on June 1st. We have an amazing trail society here that takes such great care of our trail network - going to a trail building day is one of the best and most fun ways that you can contribute to your local biking and hiking community - never been to one? Keep reading... otherwise, we'll see you there!
This year: June 1st
Meet at: Centennial Trailhead parking lot at 9AM
Essential to bring: Food, water, insect repellent, sunscreen, a hat and a pair of OLD gloves
Tools (if you've got them): Picks, shovels, metal rakes, clippers - no power tools
Afterwards, there's a potluck bbq, schwag & cold beverages - more info - go to kcts.ca or contact Patrick Kinghorn @ 250-608-1276
What to expect?
I went to my first trail building day with the KCTS last June - it was amazing to see so many people from the community out helping to build the Blue Elephant trail.
At 9am we gathered at the Centennial Trail head parking lot. From there we hiked or rode out to the trail site, collected tools, and those of us who hadn't ever helped build a trail before got a quick lesson on what to do with each tool. Once we knew what to do, we joined up with one of the more seasoned local trail builders and started to work on digging out the trail along the path of the flags. It's hard work - first you'll dig up the area where the trail is going to be build, then you'll smooth out the surface - removing any small rocks and roots that could become a problem down the track, and then packing it down - the good news is, you don't do it all by yourself, and you can always switch jobs with someone nearby!
By 1pm, I was exhausted - a mom and some young kids brought some popsicles around for everyone - a sweet relief on a hot day of hardwork - and we started to wrap up, returning tools, checking out the trail to see how much we'd done in a day - and it was AMAZING - over 100 people had turned out, and about 1/2 of the Blue Elephant trail was almost ready to be ridden!
In the afternoon there's a potluck bbq, time to gather everyone, celebrate the hard work we'd done and make a few new friends.
Being here for this day gave me a great appreciation for what our trail society does - they work hard - digging, raking, packing the dirt down for our enjoyment. I can guarantee a few things - you'll work hard, you'll get dirty, and you'll enjoy the sense of accomplishment every time you ride the section of trail you helped to build for the rest of your life.
I'll look forward to seeing you all on June 1st at 9am - I'm excited to see what our community can achieve in a day this year!
