On a late September Saturday morning, a bright, unobstructed sun rose over a forest ripe with Autumn, the passing of months churning greens over to yellows, oranges, and reds. A crew of women dressed in their finest work clothes congregated in the Fowler's Crossing Rail Trail parking lot and sipped from steaming cups of coffee donated by Capisce (the owner of Capisce, Maria, among the crew). You couldn't ask for a better start to the Women's Volunteer Trail Day, a collaboration between BETA and Women of the Adirondacks (WOTA). People wrote down their names, signed the necessary risk waivers, and snagged stickers as Kyra explained where we were headed for the day. We each loaded up on buckets and tools before walking into the Saranac Lakes Wild Forest via Oseetah View Loop. Past the hitching post, past the split for Ballyhoo, and transitioning from a cool, shaded evergreen forest to a stand of golden-cloaked deciduous trees, we came to the worksite: a series of new switchbacks cut across a steep section of the trail in various states of completion. The BETA trail crew worked on the switchbacks further up the hill on the other side of the original trail in the days prior to our volunteer day. Kyra, BETA's Trail Crew Leader and a Board Member of WOTA, used those sections of finished fresh tread to show us what we were aiming to build, a useful frame of reference for a group of folks with trail work experience ranging from "former professional trail builder" to "first timer." "One of the really exciting things about trail work is that is can involve a lot of teamwork." -- Kyra, Trail Crew Leader Kyra showed us how and when to use each tool, noting that the right tool and the right technique is much more powerful than brute force. "We call it digging trail, but it's really a lot more like scraping," she said, wielding a hoe to remove leaf litter and duff (a layer of small roots and partially-decomposed leaves under leaf litter). Before divvying up the work for the day, Kyra reiterated that she was there to answer questions and help us when we needed it. She said, "One of the really exciting things about trail work is that is can involve a lot of teamwork." Right before we dispersed, Kyra let us in on one final surprise, "We'll have a muffin break later," and then, as a bit to an aside and a bit quieter, she continued, "...and they're gluten free." to which Chris exclaimed, "Oh! Come on!" in the most 'you shouldn't have!' way I've ever heard. A sense of community can be so strongly fostered by being remembered, being thought of. With the energizing promise of a future snack break we could all enjoy together, we got to work. People worked alone or in small groups along the stretch of new trail we hoped to finish that day. Rachel, Steph, Toni, Krissy, Maddy, Chris, Maria, and Jess struck out with rakes while Louise and Jackie worked together to roll huge logs out of the trail. Rakes scratched at the earth all around us, a raspy chorus broken by bouts of laughter and greetings of "howdy neighbor!" here and there. Eventually, rakes switched out for hoes and cutter mattocks to to remove duff and get at bigger roots. Louise enthusiastically cut out lever-stumps one by one as other volunteers exposed and graded mineral soil. The rough scraping chorus of leaf raking was punctuated further by bassy thunk-thunk-thunks. Small orange and brown American toads hopped among the crunchy leaf litter. Every now and then we unearthed a striped salamander hidden in decomposing logs. Maddy, originally from Arizona, even saw her first salamander ever. Our day concluded after a couple hours of sun-dappled work with conversation, admiration for the beautiful fall weather, and mild disgust at finding a dead bug or two at the bottom of Karen's half-full kombucha bottle. The trail section we had worked on was rideable but not quite "finished" when we called it a day -- Dusty and Kyra returned to fine-tune the tread at a later date before it was considered done. Thank you again to every person who generously donated their time, energy, and body to give back to the trails and community we love. Could not have asked for a better crew. Hope you get the chance to enjoy the trail with your dog, your daughter, on your own, or with each other. Until next time...cheers! 📸 1: Kyra, BETA's Trail Crew Leader and a board member for WOTA, describing the trail and the day's work before we got started.
📸 2: From the bottom of the incline: Krissy, Maddy, and Steph raking; Louise rolling away a huge log. 📸 3: Jess (hydrating) and Chris (digging). This part of the switchback connects with the portion that Kyra and Dusty had worked on in the week leading up to the trail day. Be safe. Be seen. Wear blaze orange (and your little dog, too!) BETA encourages mountain bikers and other trail users to be courteous and respectful of all hunters you meet in the woods or in the parking lot this hunting season (modern rifle season is Oct 26th through Dec 8th). Remember that hunting is a traditional and popular activity on public and private lands in the Adirondacks. Hunting license revenue supports fish and wildlife conservation with millions of dollars annually. Many of our fellow mountain bikers and skiers are hunting this time of year, too.
Wear that blaze orange, friends – dress your pup in orange, too. Consider avoiding riding at dawn or dusk which is prime hunting time, especially during deer season. Above all, use common sense and respect other users and the Forest Preserve lands we share. PS -- Thanks, Jamie, for a wicked picture showcasing how fun wearing blaze orange can be. We might not have QUITE as much snow as this picture just yet...but it's coming. Be safe, be seen, ride another day. Have an awesome time out there, folks! NEW HAND-BUILT TRAIL COMPLETED It was nice to see both familiar and new faces among the volunteers who came out to East Branch Community Trails on Saturday, August 24th. With their help, we finished the hand-built lollipop off of Short Loop at the top of the Climbing Trail. This rugged, undulating hand-dug trail rewards you with a stunning west-facing view that perfectly frames Sentinel Mountain. This new trail will serve as a connector for future developments. DOWNHILL TRAIL IN THE WORKS
Peduzzi Trails has been hard at work on a new machine-built downhill trail at East Branch. With this addition, you’ll no longer need to descend the Climbing Trail switchbacks from the Small Loop – you’ll be able to descend on all downhill-specific trails. This new trail will be slightly rowdier and less refined than Downriver, so if you’re ready for a new kind of challenge you are in luck. We are excited to expand our network to offer something for all riders. The new downhill trail is not ready for traffic of any kind as there is heavy equipment on the slopes. Please be respectful of construction. All of our volunteers know that building trails can be tough, with its fair share of blood, sweat, and tears, but believe it or not it’s not always the hardest part. Some of the biggest challenges lie in working with landowners and land managers, getting trails planned and approved, and raising the funds to cover both the trail work and the operational costs of the organization. Each project has many players involved and our working relationships with one another are absolutely key to success.
In it together for the long haul. There has been so much enthusiasm for the new system at East Branch, but until recently the funding wasn’t available to begin the next phase of trail development in the approved Trail Master Plan. In the meantime, we have noticed some off-the-map trails. These unsanctioned trails – also known as pirate trails, rogue trails, and bootleg trails – are trails built without permission that could jeopardize further development or access. Bootleg trails can be a challenge anywhere trail users are hungry for more trails. Our executive director Glenn Glover has first-hand experience with the fallout from unsanctioned trail building. He said, “In my own experience, a project was delayed by 3 years when the Washington State Parks rescinded approval as a direct result of bootleg trails on the property.” Closer to home, Glenn has spoken with stakeholders in our area who already have concerns about riders extending trails onto private property without permission. When land managers agree to work with BETA and the mountain biking community to build sanctioned trails, they expect us to do so in a way that achieves their objectives as land managers: professional, sustainable, and environmentally-sensitive trails that are accessible and safe for visitors. When unsanctioned trails pop up, it looks like mountain bikers will do whatever we want without respecting the land managers’ requirements. That spells trouble for the future of trails because it makes potential partners wary of working with us. We want to build, maintain, and access trails now and in the future. Bootleg trails can make potential future partners, both public and private, cautious of working with us and of mountain biking in general. To protect access for all, we ask all visitors at East Branch to use their trail building fervor only on sanctioned volunteer efforts and to stop building or riding the bootleg trails. Good things are coming. Luckily for everyone who wants more trails, we have a major effort underway at East Branch at this very moment. Dusty and Kyra have been working on a hand-built lollipop loop off of the current upper loop. This half-mile trail will be a great addition to the network, rewarding you for your effort on the climbing trail with a relatively flat loop offering stunning viewpoints and fun travel for all users. We’re not stopping anytime soon – we are absolutely stoked to keep building at East Branch Community Trails next summer thanks to the funding that we’ve secured with the Town of Keene, the Keene Youth Commission, and the support of our members. We owe a huge thank you to everyone who has and will put time and effort into making East Branch Community Trails an incredible place to ride, ski, and hike. You all have our sincere gratitude. Thank you. Many employers offer a matching gift program which could allow you to amplify your support for BETA at no additional cost to you. Some companies and organizations that are known to have a gift matching program are listed below. Check to see if your employer is on the list -- if they're not, ask you HR representative if your employer offers this perk.
It has been an incredible season of trail work around BETA land. BETA staff, volunteers, and contractors have improved Dewey, Blueberry Hill, Hardy Road, Craig Wood, and are now working on East Branch Community Trails.
Saranac Lake – Dewey Mountain Early this spring, we hosted a volunteer event at Dewey to work on a new connector trail. If you’ve visited Dewey, you know that the trail network there can be difficult to make sense of. Many folks end up on trails that they had not intended, all turned around. This new connector trail was designed, in part, to help make navigating the network easier and more straightforward. BETA staff planned it out, directed volunteers, and polished it a bit after our weekend workday wrapped up. Elizabethtown – Blueberry Hill BETA staff completed 1,000 feet of machine-built trail for a new climbing trail from the firepit trailhead on Bronson up into the Blueberry system. Soon after, volunteers joined us to polish the rough machine work. The trail is expected to be open sometime in 2025. Wilmington – Hardy Road All In has been getting some attention this season – we’ve done a fair bit of tread hardening, root snipping, and rock removal. All sorts of bits and bobs to address some of the soil erosion inevitable on trails as well as some of the troublesome obstacles. Have no fear, there are still plenty of slippery roots and annoying rocks to make the ride a fun challenge. Lake Placid – Craig Wood & Scott’s Cobble Perhaps the system with the most improvements this season, Craig Wood and Scott’s Cobble have been getting a lot of praise lately. We put up new signage to make navigating the network easier and therefore safer – no need to stop at each intersection to reference Trailforks anymore. Backslope Trail Building returned to the system in the spring to give the flow lines they had built last year, Green Jacket and God Jacket, some TLC. With the help of many, many volunteers, we’ve added some much-needed water management features like drainage ditches and tread hardening. The soils themselves at Craig Wood and Scotts Cobble tend to hold water more than any other BETA trail system and the newest water management improvements will help address that. Progress has been made on two trail reroutes: the Scott’s Cobble climbing trail and the Jack Rabbit climbing trail. These reroutes have made riding the climbing trails more enjoyable and accessible – the option of riding into Craig Wood from town is a lot more attractive now! Keene – East Branch Community Trails Work has started on two new trails at East Branch: a hand-built lollipop off of the upper loop that will offer new viewpoints and a machine-built downhill trail. The downhill trail will connect the top loop to Down River – one long downhill thrill that will make it unnecessary to ride down the climbing trail. These trails will not be finished by the time BETA’s Wilmington Mountain Bike Festival rolls around, but if volunteers show up and the rain holds off, they might be rideable before the season is well and truly over. If you want to become a part of the legacy of this incredibly trail system, we're looking for help on the hand-built trail from Tuesday, 08/20 through Friday, 08/23 and Monday 08/26 through Thursday, 08/29 (contact Dusty at [email protected]) as well as on our dedicated volunteer workday, Saturday 08/24. Register to volunteer for the workday at betatrails.org/volunteer The 2024 Northern Forest Outdoor Recreation Symposium was held on May 14-15, gathering 180 leaders in the outdoor recreation sector including non-profit user groups, business, government, community, and conservation leaders. New York state had strong representation with more than thirty attendees, including four from BETA. Bob Maswick, one of BETA’s Board Members, was in that group.
“I really had no idea what to expect with this symposium.” Bob recalls. “I went there with a couple of preconceived ideas about how outdoor recreation was a driver of tourism related economies - if I help build a trail system, what is the economic impact of that to the community?” The symposium, hosted by the Northern Forest Center and the Northern Border Regional Commission, was intended to support efforts for a representative, resilient, and responsible outdoor recreation sector that delivers sustainable economic and community benefits across the Northern Forest region. Presentations and breakout discussions addressed topics including how to engage a wider variety of people in outdoor recreation, community-based initiatives, stewardship and sustainability, entrepreneurism in the outdoor sector, workforce development, funding, climate change, and ensuring services and benefits for community residents in addition to visitors. There was one presentation that really spoke to Bob: Ta Enos’ keynote address. “[It] continues to resonate with me - if you do anything, do it with your community in mind. Your very first question when planning that project should be ‘How does this benefit my community?’” BETA’s Executive Director Glenn Glover remarked on his takeaways from the two-day event, “I returned with a deeper tool kit for handling the challenges and opportunities that we face at BETA. There is no better way to learn what works and what doesn’t than by seeing what others have done in similar situations.” Commenting on the connections formed through the many opportunities to socialize “Now I have colleagues throughout the region that I can talk with to develop best practices and to go in-depth on issues from volunteer engagement to fundraising to trail development.” Progress Update Dusty, Kyra, and Luke Peduzzi of Peduzzi Trails have all been working at Craig Wood for a bit over two weeks now. Our primary efforts there have been to remedy persistent wet areas by hardening the tread and improving drainage near the Cobblewood Connector/Air & Stone intersection and lower Scott’s Cobble. Improving the drainage will also help reduce erosion in the system, which has been especially problematic because of the silty-loam soil and shallow bedrock at Craig Wood. Starting Next Week The crew is nearing the end of that work and will pivot to a new project within the system starting next week. Peduzzi will move to the Jackrabbit Trail to work on a reroute for one of the more brutal climbing sections. This reroute will enhance the riding experience by adding switchbacks to the steepest sections of the climbing trail, making it more enjoyable and approachable to all users entering the system from town. While the reroute is under construction, the existing trail will be largely untouched and will remain open to users (just be alert for heavy equipment out and about). This work is slated to begin on Monday, 06/03, but the relocation process will begin later this week. Green & Gold Jacket Trails While Dusty, Kyra, and Peduzzi have been working at Craig Wood, Max Van Wie of Backslope Trail Building has been busy nearby doing seasonal maintenance on Green Jacket and Gold Jacket. Last year, Van Wie worked with BETA on the original build of Green Jacket and Gold Jacket – we’re grateful that he’s returned this season to keep them in tip-top shape and make sure they’re aligned with the original vision. We know you’ve been waiting patiently for these trails to reopen (thank you!) and your wait is finally over. Green Jacket and Gold Jacket are fully open to riders starting today, 05/29. A transformational trail project in Keene is getting a boost from a $125,000 Smart Growth grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The funding will allow the town, in partnership with BETA and the Keene Youth Commission, to move forward with planned expansion of the East Branch Community Trails this summer. In a press release announcing this year’s Smart Growth and other state grants, Governor Kathy Hochul said, “Smart Growth grants represent a vital investment in our communities, fostering sustainable development, economic prosperity, and enhanced quality of life.” The East Branch Community Trails are on a 113-acre tract of county land off State Route 9N between Keene and Upper Jay. Now in its third year of trail construction, the project began as a vision of the Keene Youth Commission seeking opportunities to foster physical activity for kids through mountain biking and outdoor recreation. That vision took form as a trails plan laid out by Luke Peduzzi, of Peduzzi Trails, with support and guidance from BETA in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, BETA raised over $100,000 of donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations to fund work with Peduzzi, BETA staff, and community volunteers including youth. During this period almost three miles of trail were completed, which quickly became popular with walkers, runners, and mountain bikers. The next phase of the planned 7-mile shared use trail system will be built in 2024 and 2025 with funding by the Smart Growth grant and $63,000 of donated cash and labor matching from BETA. Joe Pete Wilson, Keene Town Supervisor said, “I want to thank Governor Hochul and NY State DEC for supporting grassroots recreation projects like the East Branch Community Trails with a generous Smart Growth Grant. These very successful multi-use trails are the result of motivated families in the Keene Youth Commission program leading the effort to develop biking and recreation opportunities for local kids. The grant will help build on a solid foundation of trails developed and constructed with support from local businesses, Essex County, BETA, the Town of Keene, and many volunteers.” “This project shows the importance of trails in building healthy, connected communities and the high level of use is evidence of the strong demand in our region for sustainable shared-use trail systems accessible by beginner and intermediate mountain bikers, walkers and trail runners. We are very thankful for the support from the Town of Keene, Essex County, Keene Youth Commission, Governor Hochul and the Department of Environmental Conservation in this effort,” said BETA Executive Director Glenn Glover. “This important effort is another example of the public/private partnerships by which BETA helps to build and maintain the trails that strengthen the communities in our region,” Glover added. For more information about East Branch Community Trails, the impact they have already had in our area, and our plans for the future, read some of our previous blog posts:
East Branch Community Trails Overview Young Voices A Heartfelt Thank You and More Trail Updates A Mid-Summer Trails Update (2022) "Probably East Branch trails," Shep said when asked about his favorite trail. "That one bank that goes straight across the trail into the jump that you can really kick it off – that's really fun."
As we close in on the end of another incredible year, we’re excited to share the voices of local trailblazers and brothers, Wyatt and Shep Eaton. Their adventures highlight the joy of mountain biking but also underscore the importance of BETA's role in building and maintaining fun, sustainable trails for all skill levels and every age. Wyatt shares his brothers' sentiments, "it's just smooth, the berms are big. It's high quality." Both Shep and Wyatt are also active volunteers. Shep proudly shared, "I was helpful... built a bank." Wyatt added his own experience: "I built a berm with a few friends... that felt really big until I saw the finished ones on the downhill trail!” Shep and Wyatt remind us that our trails are more than just recreational spaces; they are catalysts for growth, for building a more meaningful connection to the outdoors, and for character-building mis-adventures (like Shep's encounter with a tree!). They are where future generations will forge their own way. Both brothers have sage advice for budding mountain bikers. "Start small and stand up," Shep advises, with Wyatt adding, "Don't go too small. Set your goals high. But don't go too big, either!" REMINDER: A group of BETA board, staff, and committee members are collectively pledging to match every dollar of community donations, up to $11,600 made by December 31st, doubling the impact of your generosity. Your gift will support more improvements, new projects and continued maintenance of our beloved trails. Your past support of BETA has been pivotal in making these dirt dreams a reality. In Wyatt's words, "Don't go too small. Set your goals high." We’re halfway to meeting out goal! Help us send it into 2024. |