BCRD WRVTC Back at Work

Hi all, Chris Leman here. I’m back at work as the BCRD Wood River Valley Trail Coordinator. As such, I help with the work of maintaining and managing our valley’s outstanding network of native-surface trails. I’m starting the season in a part-time capacity, with my position at the BCRD transferring into full-time work beginning May 1. My season of full-time work as the BCRD WRVTC typically runs from May through September.

My duties are highly varied. Some days I’m at my desk updating the BCRD Summer TraiLink site, answering emails and phone calls, writing press releases, blogging about trail conditions, or advertising upcoming trail work opportunities. Other days I might be in the woods leading a youth corp crew on a trail project, or you may see me going it solo – cutting out downed trees, brushing back vegetation, and cleaning out drains. I also do a lot of information outreach to the public about the trails and how to use them responsibly. I organize, train, and lead volunteers in the maintenance of our local trails.

Please feel free to get in touch with me if you have questions, concerns, or if you’d just like to pass along some information. You can email me at: cleman@bcrd.org. Text or call me at 208/720-7713. I’m looking forward to a great season of hiking, riding, and digging in the dirt, and I hope to see you out on the trails!

Winter Was A Blast!

With all the snow we got over the winter, it may be a while before all of our singletrack trails melt out. On top of that, we are anticipating that we will be finding a large volume of trees down across the trails. In early February, after a huge snow storm, the forest trees were heavy with snow. Then it rained. The rain added so much weight to the snow-laden trees that many came crashing down, and lots of wet avalanches were triggered too. Some of these heavily impacted areas are traversed by trails. Thus, our expectation that opening the trails this spring will involve a lot of bucking and swamping. (Bucking: The process of cutting downed wood into manageable lengths. Swamping: The process of convincing someone else to move the bucked-up logs off of the trail).

What’s Open?

Not much is open, but a few tiny gems have melted out and dried enough to allow for some fun. (It rained since these short segments of the Croy network were opened, so use your head and turn back if any open trail is wet or muddy.) We try to open things as they dry, so that opportunities are expanding for the community, but when rains follow an opening, things can get muddy again. Do the right thing and turn around if you come to muddy conditions on any open route.

West of Hailey, most of the BLM Croy Trail Network remains temporarily closed due to wet conditions. Some exceptions include:

• Nadya’s Trail is open for its very short length. You can gain a short open section of the Two Dog Trail off of Nadya’s, so using Nadya’s will allow you to find a bit longer out-and-back opportunity. See info below regarding partially open sections of Two Dog.

 

• Bullion Connector Trail is partially open. From the Croy Trailhead the trail is open for a short distance to the saddle and intersection of trails above the trailhead. This allows for a linkage to a newly built section of Two Dog Trail, and a short loop opportunity. For more information about the new section of Two Dog, please refer below to “Two Dog Open Section 2”, and visit the BCRD Summer Trailink Trail Description for Two Dog. (click on the link then scroll down below the map to find the Trail Information section for Two Dog.)

The other section of the Bullion Connector Trail that is open is on the trail’s opposite end, off of Bullion Gulch Road. The Bullion Connector Trail intersects with the road about 1.5 miles up Bullion Gulch. From this western end of the Bullion Connector Trail, people can climb up the trail for about 3/4 of a mile for an out-and-back. Please turn around at the closed sign. No connection through to the Croy Trailhead at this time due to wet conditions on this trail’s more north facing aspects.

 

• Two Dog has two short open sections.

Two Dog Open Section 1: You can access this open section from the end of Nadya’s Trail. It runs up the sunny side of the Wilson drainage for about 1/2 mile to a saddle and intersection of trails. Two Dog is closed above this saddle and intersection of trails, but you can turn left/west at this intersection to gain a little more open trail. Turning left puts you onto the north, high end of the Wilson Gulch Trail, which leads to a very short open segment of trail found at the bottom of Centerline Trail. The remainder of Wilson Gulch and Centerline trails are temporarily closed due to wet conditions.

Two Dog Open Section 2: Accessible from the Croy Trailhead, this is a newly built section of Two Dog. It was built in the late Fall of 2016 by the BLM and their contractor for the project, Red Elephant Trails. The new section is open to two-way, non-motorized traffic. Check out the BCRD Summer Trailink Trail Information for Two Dog. (Click on the link and scroll down below the map for directions and information about the trail.)

For those looking for some good gravel road and dirt two-track explorations there are many available options. East of Hailey, out Quigley Road, you can go for a couple of miles before hitting snow. East of Bellevue the roads out Slaughterhouse and Muldoon canyons are dry for several miles. Vast areas of south-sloping public lands laced with seldom traveled two-track roads abound north of Highway 20 and west of Highway 75. Rock Creek Road is reported as passable from Highway 20 to Croy Creek Road. I have not been out Croy Creek Road past where the county plows, but that road may also be passable to Richardson Summit. If that is the case, Hatty Gulch is likely passable and available for excursions. Poke around and you’re sure to find good places for outings.

Happy Trails Everyone!