Happy Trails

The City of Eureka is planning for a new trail that connects the Sequoia Park Zoo with Tydd Street, in an effort to create better paths for non-motorized means of transportation. This morning Carole Vander Meer and I spoke with Eureka's Deputy Director of Public Works, Jessie Willor, about how the City of Eureka is working to create better paths for students to be able to walk through the city and to create a loop trail to connect with the Eureka Waterfront Trail.

This morning I spoke with Emily Sinkhorn about many things. We talked a lot about Bike Month, which is going on now. A lot more info and a calendar of events can be found at humboldtbikemonth.org. Annie & Mary Trail outreach is happing today with exciting plans for Northtown Arcata. We also spent some time recapping the events of the Trails Summit which took place on May 4th at HSU.

This morning I spoke with Happy Trails Co-Host, Michael Kauffmann about several opportunities folks will have this summer to help and and restore trails along the 300+ mile long Bigfoot Trail. More info at bigfoottrail.org. We started off our conversation this morning with a recap of Saturday's Trail Summit that took place at HSU.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Mark Mueller about Bike Month Humboldt and the Humboldt Bike Challenge. There are loads of events to participate in at bikemonthhumboldt.org. Also this Saturday from 9:30am till 12:30pm it's the Humboldt Trails Summit, at the Kate Buchanan Room at HSU. You will hear from Hank Seemann, and Senator Mike McGuire.

This morning Colin Fiske and I spoke with Oona Smith, Senior Planner at HCAOG about her regular commute between Arcata and Eureka. She bikes from her home in Arcata and then takes advantage of the bike lockers Humboldt Transit in Arcata, hops on the bus to Eureka and walks to bocks to HCAOG. However, for those of you who want to take your bikes with you, the busses are equipped with bike racks for bike/bus communing over longer distances.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Stephanie Tidwell, Executive Director of Friends of the Eel, about the final approval of the Settlement agreement with NCRA and Friends of the Eel and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics. This has made it possible to proceed with the implementation of SB1029 to create the Great Redwood Trail. Stephanie recently rafted a section of the eel River Canyon that may someday become part of the Great Redwood Trail. We also talked about the Humboldt Trails Summit on May 4, 9:30-12:30 which will include a Trails Showcase, Local updates and a Town Hall meeting with State Senator McGuire on the Great Redwood Trail. This will take place at the Kate Buchanan room at HSU.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Jaime and Areli Cupp about the upcoming Bike & Health Fair on Sunday at Fortuna Fireman's Pavilion in Rohner Park from 1:30 - 4:30pm. Jaime grew up in LA. Now in Fresno teaches kids about biking and working on their own gear to aid in diabetes prevention. He will be the guest speaker at the Bike & Health Fair.

This morning it was my pleasure to talk with Gabe Howe of the Siskiyou Mountain Club. They deal with maintaining and leading tours of about 300 miles of trails in South West Oregon and North West California. I spoke with Gabe this morning from his home in Ashland Oregon. Check out all that is going on at their website, siskiyoumountainclub.org

This morning our newest Happy Trails Co-Host, Colin Fiske and I spoke with Humboldt County Supervisor, Mike Wilson about his thoughts on personal transportation, public transportation, the future of public transportation and our local trails.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Stacy Becker about the value of Trail Stewards for our local trail system. Stacy was involved from the very beginning of the trail stewards program and had a lot to share about it. We also talked about the upcoming Trails Summit coming up on Saturday, May 4th at the Kate Buchanan room at HSU.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Sean Swanson with the River Life Foundation about a new trail that a big labor of love got made in the Fortuna Area called the Dennis Wendt Memorial Trail.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Ryan Henson of CalWild all the work they do in wilderness preservation. Ryan was part one of the people instrumental in helping to craft a Land Conservation Bill that passed both the House and Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. In a time of fractured government, that in and of itself is a major victory.

Today we talked with a group of local youth representatives who traveled to New York to attend the Youth Bike Summit. Today they talked about their experience and their thoughts on biking and future of trails here in Humboldt County.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Caryl Hart who is on the board of the NCRA (North Coast Railroad Authority). Caryl is a recent appointee to the board who is tasked with aiding in the transition to from rail roads to this new 300 mile trail that has been mandated between Humboldt Bay and San Fransisco Bay.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Ingrid Kosek of Friends of the Annie & Mary Rail Trail. We spoke about their big fundraiser happening this weekend in Blue Lake called the Mad Scramble. This is a Cyclecross event taking place in the Powers Creek District off Taylor and Mondo Ways staging at Jewell Distillery on Saturday. The first race is at 11am. There will be 2 timed races: 30 minutes and 60 minute, and 2 kids races will take place between the races. Registration opens this Friday at 4pm at Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake. You can also register at the event starting at 9am. We also talked about the fact that funding for the final 4 miles of the Humboldt Bay Trail have been approved. Construction is expected to begin in 2021.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Chris Valle-Riestra, a dedicated steward and volunteer for the Six Rivers National Forest were he manages man trails.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Julie Neander, City of Arcata Deputy Director of Environmental Services as we talked about the Annie & Mary Trail Connectivity Project. To that end the City of Arcata invites community input on the Annie & Mary Trail to improve walking and biking connections through northeast Arcata. Attend a workshop Monday, February 4th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the D Street Community Center.

This morning Carole Vander Meer and I spoke with Neil Davis, director of Walk & Bike Mendocino. Like Humboldt County, they too were awarded funds from Active Transportation funds for this year to work projects. Willits and Ukiah both have trails through their towns and look to be part of the Great Redwood Trail, as we do here in Humboldt.

The first Happy Trails Show of 2019 was filled with Very Exciting News! Over the holiday break, the state announced the staff recommendations for projects to be funded by Active Transportation Funds. The souther portion of the Humboldt Bay Trail, commonly known as "The Final Four," was 5th on the list, with over 13 million dollars to complete the Humboldt Bay Trail. This is the section between Bracut and Eureka. The staff recommendations are expected to be ratified by the end of this month. If all goes acording to plan, construction could begin by early 2021.

This morning, Carole Vander Meer and I talk with Julie Clark , Ranger at the Headwaters Reserve about the trail through the Headwaters that interprets the history of the Town of Falk. She will be at Booklegger to sign copies of her new book, Falk: Company Lumber Town of the American West. Once a thriving community of 400 people, Falk was eventually abandoned, and became a ghost town. Traces of the town remain at Headwaters. The 7,472-acre Headwaters Forest Reserve (Reserve) was established in 1999 after a decade-long grassroots effort to protect the world’s last unprotected, intact, old-growth redwood forest ecosystem. There are two public trails in the Reserve. The Elk River Trail winds along the South Fork Elk River for 3 miles, followed by a 2-mile ascent to a short loop through an old-growth redwood forest. Interpretive signs along the first mile of trail describe the history of Falk, the historic company mill town once located along this section of trail.