In order to support the Chaffee County Running Club, the SMTShinDig Volunteer Trail Day on March 10 has been changed from trail work to a request for volunteers to help with the Run Through Time Marathon and Half-Marathon.  We sent you an email a few weeks ago giving details about the event, but at that time we had not decided to refocus the trail work day.

Please consider volunteering to help with the Run Through Time event.  Details are available at http://www.salidarec.com/ccrc/Run-Through-Time-Marathon.htm, or by contacting Rickie Redland, 303-877-2449,redlandr@gmail.com.

The running club partners with SMT on many trail activities, and so it is appropriate that we support them in one of their signature events of the  year.  The Run Through Time is a fundraiser for SMT, with 50% of the proceeds going to help us build new trails.  Therefore, donating your time to this event will benefit SMT as well as the Chaffee County Running Club.

At this time there is still a need for volunteers.  Do yourself a favor; this is going to be a good time.

We will resume our monthly trail work days as soon as conditions and weather permit.

You can also check the SMT website http://salidamountaintrails.org/ for updates.

We will be meeting Forest Service personnel at the Shirley Site, a parking area on the dirt road that goes to O’Haver Lake. Drive south on Hwy 285 out of Poncha Springs, going up Poncha Pass, and take the right turn to O’Haver Lake. The Shirley Site is approximately 1.5 miles down the road, on the left where you would turn right to go to the lake. We can park in the Shirley Site lot, and Forest Service personnel will ferry us up to the work site on Silver Creek. Since more travel than usual is involved, the volunteer lunch after work will be moved back to 2:00pm behind the Salida Cafe and Roastery.

As usual, come prepared with water, gloves, long pants and sturdy boots. You might want to bring a snack if you get hungry before 2. Tools will be provided.

by Nathan Ward

Salida Mountain Trails (SMT) volunteers continue to change Salida for the better as the SMT trail system continues to grow. 2010 was a banner year for SMT trail builders, seeing completion of the North Backbone Trail, the Little Rainbow Trail, and sustainable reroutes of the Sand Dunes and Uncle Nasty trails. Salida now has more miles of new, free and fun singletrack right on the edge of town.

Here are some of the highlights from 2010

North Backbone
Winding through the red rocks north of downtown, the North Backbone trail connects County Road 173 behind Tenderfoot with Ute Trail (CR 175). It’s 3.5 new miles of challenging singletrack that allows mountain bikers, runners and hikers to link up trails all the way across the front of the Arkansas Hills. Try it out yourself – ride or drive up CR 175 until the pavement turns to dirt and look for the parking area on the right (east) side of the road. It’s one of the best trails around and was built by unceasing effort by a few key trail builders, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, Southwest Conservation Corps, local volunteers and even some of the prisoners that enjoy the penitentiary up in Buena Vista. Try the North Backbone, you’ll like it.

Little Rainbow Trail
Getting back to one of the SMT’s original goals of building a trail for beginners to learn to mountain bike, the Little Rainbow Trail (LRT) is a wide, non-technical trail for all ability levels. The LRT connects the old “race track” trail near Burmac’s just east of Salida to the Skull Trail off CR 110. It’s 5 miles of excellent and easy trail that is wider than normal skinny singletrack. The LRT is also perfect for hiking or trail running. It’s reported that tough moms have even been pushing their jogging strollers on the trail. Regardless of your method, travel the LRT during the last light of day for great sunset views on the western peaks.

Sand Dunes and Uncle Nasty Trails
Volunteers rerouted these trails slightly to make them more sustainable. They did not make them any easier so technical riders don’t worry, they’re still hard.

2011 will see more exciting local trail developments.
First on the plan is the Grand Opening of the Little Rainbow Trail on February 12, 9:00 a.m. to Noon at the trailhead off CR 110 (2.2 miles up the road from US 50). There will be some work to do on a trail reroute first, then you can ride the trail, drop back into town and join the group for a celebratory BBQ at the Salida Café.

The whole Little Rainbow Trail isn’t finished yet either – in 2011 SMT will build the trail west until it reaches Sand Gulch.

It takes more than just sweat and pick swinging to make these trails happen, it also takes money. There is no charge to use any of the trails, but the SMT is still fundraising to pay for the work completed in 2010 and to continue the work in 2011. If you use the trails and have a few extra dollars, think about contributing to Salida Mountain Trails. You can contribute here.

SMT also has plans to start working on the South Backbone Trail, which will run east and drop back down to the Arkansas River near the confluence with the Little Arkansas River. Once the South Backbone is complete, SMT and the Bureau of Land Management will have the skeleton in place to start working on the much larger loop trails that will head north off the Backbone.

SMT has started designing a beginner skills track on City of Salida land below the water tower just north of downtown. This will be an easily accessible trail to teach first-timers a few mountain bike skills before they ride the harder trails.

Finally, the SMT will work hand in hand with the US Forest Service to make the Columbine Trail (extended California Loop) a rideable and sustainable trail. The trail runs from CR101 to the Rainbow Trail. For more details, come to the next SMT meeting.

Please Be Respectful to Each Other on the Trail
The Salida Mountain Trails became popular almost the minute they were opened, with many types of people using the trails. As they continue to see more traffic, it’s more important than ever to respect the other trail users. This includes things like mountain bikers keeping their speed under control, horse riders shoveling the horse poop off the trail so others don’t have to bike/hike through it, and dog owners not only picking up their dog’s poo, but keeping their dogs on a leash while using the community trails. If we all keep it respectful, we can continue to build one of the coolest small town trail systems around.

The Salida Mountain Trails group continues to encourage new people to become part of the movement and help craft Salida’s ever-expanding trail system. To find out how to get involved, visit their website. Monthly planning meetings are on the 2nd Thursday of each month, from 9-11 a.m. downstairs in the Salida Café building. There is usually a trail work session on the Saturday following the monthly meeting. See you there!

Saturday, February 12, 2011, 9:00am: ShinDig to Open Little Rainbow.

Weather permitting, SMT is scheduling the February Volunteer ShinDig to coincide with the Grand Opening of the Little Rainbow Trail and to do some re-routing of the trail as it reaches the CR110 parking lot. Meet at the CR110 trailhead parking lot, which is 2.2 miles south on CR110 from Hwy 50. Turn left at the 2.2 mile point and go up a short incline to the parking lot. We will work on the trail until 12 noon, at which time the trail opening ceremony will take place. After the ceremony, lunch will be provided to the volunteers behind or inside the Salida Cafe and Roastery. As usual, come prepared with water, gloves, long pants and sturdy boots. Be sure to dress warmly for the low February morning temperatures. Tools will be provided