Happy Trails

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Scott Greacen, Executive Director of Friends of the Eel River about the recent CA Supreme Court Decision Against the NCRA for not following CEQA guidelines regarding the northern portion of the railroad right of way.

Humboldt County is becoming a recreational mecca. This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Steven Pearl about the upcoming Storm Saddle Enduro. This will be the 2nd annual of this mountain bike race out in Lacks Creek and will be taking place Next Saturday. We also spoke with Rich Baker about the upcoming Humboldt Bay Marathon. This will be the 3rd annual and will be happening in 2 weeks. The Humboldt Bay Marathon is a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon. About 300 are expected to participate.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Melanie Williams of Bikes There about Fortuna Safe Routes To School. This project is constructing sidewalks/crosswalk/bike lane improvements around Toddy Thomas Middle School including improvements on Ross Hill Road.

On the morning July 10th 2007, I interviewed Hank Sims who at the time was working at the Northcoast Journal. He had just published an article about the NCRA's efforts to revitalize the rail line between Humboldt and the Bay Area and that those efforts could kill the dream of a Bay Trail. Much has changed in those 10 years. NCRA has given up the efforts to go through the Eel River Canyon, and the Bay Trail is moving forward. In fact NCRA is supportive of the project. Ironically, the day of this interview, I was struck and nearly killed by a Fat Boy Harley Davidson on my bike commute home along the 101. My injuries included 5 broken ribs, a broken clavicle, punctured lung, torn rotator cuff, a deep gash in my leg and road rash down my entire left side. While recovering the accident, I came up with the concept of the weekly trails advocacy program "Happy Trails." This is a rebroadcast of that original intervew with Hank Sims, now with the Lost Coast Outpost.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Aldaron Laird about a taking the Hikshari trail south about another mile. This will be part of the wetlands restoration project that will also add beauty and new habitat for fish, birds and other wildlife.

Michael Kauffman talks about his efforts to restore the South Kelsey Trail in Del Norte County. This is on the south fork of the Smith River. This is an historic rout developed in the 1850, but long before that it was historically used by Native Americans and it went from the Scott Valley all the way to Crescent City.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn recapped this weekend's Humboldt Trails Summit. The Wharfinger Building in Eureka was packed with people wanting know the latest about trails in Humboldt. They were not disappointed. People got to see the latest about the Eureka Waterfront Trail including the proposed extension of the Hikshari South. We got to see the progress of the Bay Trail from Arcata to Bracut but even more exciting was proposals for the "Final Four" miles of the trail. They also looked at the most troublesome part of the trail, the Eureka Slough crossing. Some very interesting proposals were floated.

Tuesday I talked with Carol Vander Meer about the upcoming Trails Summit this Saturday from 10am - 11:30am with a walking tour afterwards. It takes place at the Wharfinger Building in Eureka.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Kathryn Lobato about the Southern Humboldt Community Park. Kathryn has been part of this project for the past 17 years. The park is more than 400 acres with trails for hikers, bikers, strollers and the like. The future will bring sports fields and expansion of trails into the hills for mountain bikers.

We are in the midst of Bike Month. Today Emily Sinkhorn came down to the KHUM studios to talk about many of the Bike Month activities. Joining her in the studio were Conrad and Jessy, both of whom are part of the Bike Club at Zane Middle School in Eureka.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Rees Hughes and Jason Barnes, who are about to launch their new book Hiking Humboldt - Volume II. This new volume features nearly twice as many places to explore than volume 1 with 101 different trails. This is a wonderful guide to some of the most beautiful parts of Humboldt that you may have never seen. Available at Eureka Books and other booksellers in addition to most outdoor stores.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Christy Prescott to get an update on progress at Cooper Gulch. Last time we spoke there was an active survey in progress. Results are at coopergulch.org. Christy also just returned from Las Vegas. She detailed many of the outdoor activities available surrounding that community.

This morning Emily and I spoke with Greg Pratt, General Manager of Humboldt Transit Authority. HTA has been making bike community combined with bus rides a reality for some time here in Humboldt. But now with the launch of a couple of new apps for both iPhone and Android, things have gotten even easier. The Swiftly app helps you track busses so you can know exactly where they are on their route at anytime. There is also the Token Transit app allowing you to purchase your fair from your smart phone.

This morning Carol Vandermeer and I spoke with Ben Morehead of the Trinidad Coastal Land Trust. We spoke of the extensive trail network that already exists. We also talked about a project most of us trail advocates are very excited about. That would be the extension of the Hammond Trail all the way to Trinidad. The Hammond will eventually cross Little River and hook into the Little River Trail. The biggest hurdle is how to get over Little River. The preferred proposal would have a cantilevered extension of the existing 101 bridge over Little River.

This morning Carol Vandermeer and I spoke with Denise Newman from RCAA about the Eureka Waterfront Trail and it's overall goal of being part of the California Coastal Trail and critical link to the Bay Trail. Denise talked about not only will there be interpretive signs along the trail, but "story sites" which will help tell the story and history of Eureka along the way.

This morning I spoke with Michael Kauffmann about the Bigfoot Trail, a 300+ mile trek through some of the the most beautiful parts of Northern California and Southern Oregon. With the summer on the way there are many opportunities to get involved with improving the trail and just enjoying it. More info at bigfoottrail.org

This morning Emily and I spoke with Jeff Pimentel, Project Manager at Caltrans District 1. We spoke in depth on the progress, design, and timelines for the 101 Safety Corridor. Completion of the Bay Trail is also linked to this project as mandated by the Coastal Commission, so progress on the Bay Trail and it's timelines were also discussed. As it stands, it looks like work on an overpass at Indianola, a stoplight at the southern end of the corridor and the closure of the menian will begin in 2021. Work on the northern portion of The Bay Trail begins next month.

This morning Emily and I spoke with Kathleen Koscielak and Morgan King at HSU about the many programs that have been launched to aid students in their commuting efforts both locally throughout the state. We talked about programs such as Zimride, Zipcar, the Jack Pass and the Homeward Bound Charter Bus program. We also touched on the Bicycle Learning Center & Maintenance Station.

This morning Emily and I go over exciting progress of trail projects in Humboldt County. First the Eureka Waterfront Trail continues to move along quickly. In fact it is expected to be complete by this Fall! To that end, work to connect G to J Street's though Waterfront drive is moving forward. We also looked at progress on The Bay Trail with Arcata beginning work on the northern end of this trail that will connect Arcata and Eureka. We also touched on the upcoming Trails Summit June 3rd.

This morning Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Beth Chaton, Program Coordinator at Humboldt Office of Education about Redwood EdVentures. This is a set of wonderful outdoor activities for you and your kids. These quest take place all over our region such as the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Shelter Cove, Jedediah Redwoods State Park. Over 20 Quest in all. Kids also get badges for each completed quest!