Happy Trails

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Jennifer Johnson, owner of Adventure's Edge. We looked at trail development over the years in Humboldt county and how trail creation supports local business and how local businesses such as Adventure's Edge support our trails.

This morning Jessica Hall and I spoke with Dr. Shere Edgar recent convert to bike commuting. For about 2 years she has be commuting about 7 miles each way to work, partly on the Hammond Trail. In that time her energy has increased, stress has lowered and has lost about 80 pounds. WIth trail development increasing here in Humboldt County, bike commuting will become more and more common.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Scott Harriott who spent last summer on the Bigfoot Trail shooting about 30 hours of film which turned into a 75 minute documentary called "Asquatchalypse Now." Scott will be in town for 2 showings of the film. Monday February 13th at the Arcata Playhouse and on Friday February 17th at the Trinity Alps Performing Arts Center in Weaverville.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Jeanie Ward-Waller, CalBike's Policy Director. We looked at CalBike's mission and current programs, what is happening at the state level for bike & ped funding among other topics.

This morning Emily and I spoke with Denise Newman, Project Coordinator for RCAA and Mike Zeppigno, Explore North Coast about a new comprehensive Water Trails Map that just came out. It is very accurate with lots of information for both beginners and experts paddlers.

Emily Sinkhorn and my self talk with Marie Jones Community Development Director with City of Fort Bragg about the Fort Bragg Coastal Trail Phase 2 + bike/ped progress throughout Mendocino County.

This morning my co host Carol Vander Meer and I spoke with Dave Fuller, the Planning and Environmental Coordinator for the BLM Arcata Field Office. The Bureau of Land Management will be holding public scoping meetings to seek comments to help shape the Northwest California Resource Management Plan (NCIMP) and Environmental Impact Statement for public land management over the next 15 to 20 years. There will be a local public scoping meeting tomorrow night in Eureka on Wednesday, January 11th at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center at 911 Waterfront Drive from 5 to 7 p.m

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I talked about accomplishments in trails for the year, and what to expect in 2017. We looked at the Red Cap Road Bikeway in Orleans, the Freshwater Farms Nature Trail, Bike Month, the First Annual Humboldt County Trails Summit, Lacks Creek, Ped and bike safety improvements in Fortuna and McKinleyville, construction on the northern end of the Bay Trail, and active studies for the southern end. We also talked about the Eureka Waterfront Trail and last weekend's grand opening of the next phase of the trail making for a contiguous 2.5 miles of trails thus far. We also looked at the possible completion of the trail in 2017.

This morning Carol Vandermere and I spoke with Miles Slatery the city of Eureka about phase one of the Eureka Waterfront Trail. The Grand Opening will take place this Saturday connecting with this portion of the trail to the Hikshari' trail for 2 1/2 mile segment. When asked when the entire Eureka waterfront Trail is expected to be completed, Slatery responded "October 2017". I also asked Miles about the rumors of the Hikshari trail extending south. He said they are currently exploring the option of extending it all the way to Scotia. Since at this point that is just conceptual, there is no timeline for it, but I for one am very excited about that. Slattery said it right now they're concentrating on the southern part of the Bay Trail. When complete it will connect with the completed Eureka waterfront Trail for a contiguous ride from the southernmost part of Eureka all the way to Arcata.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Rob Holmlund, Director of Development Services for the City of Eureka. He spoke of improvements to Opera Ally, creating an arts corridor, and improvements for pedestrians in the Henderson Center shopping district. There is a workshop this Wednesday evening, 5:30pm at the Wharfinger Building. This is open to the public and a chance to see some of these ideas and comment on them. We also touched on the proposed expansion of the Hikshari trail south. More on that next week when Carol Vander Meer and I speak with Miles Slatterly about the Grand Opening Celebration of the Phase A of the Waterfront trail.

This morning Carol Vander Meer, my new Happy Trails Co-Host and I talked with Ben Blom of the Bureau of Land Management about new trail being proposed for the Headwaters Forest along the Elk River corridor. We also talked about mountain biking opportunities at Lax Creek, the trail up at Lighthouse Ranch near Table Bluff, and the Lost Coast Headlands with new trail construction and interpretive signs.

This morning I spoke with Ben Morehead and Tami Trump (no relation) from the Trinidad Coastal Land Trust about all they do for the community by keeping popular coast properties in the public and creating maintaining trails on the north coast. One of the project they are working on is extending the Hammond trail across the little river linking to Scenic drive. This Friday, they are hosting an outdoor alternative to Black Friday shopping. This will be an interpretive hike exploring Trinidad Head at 1:00 with guest leader Michael Kauffman. And the lighthouse on the head will be open for viewing. This event will happen rain or shine (unless it's a torrential downpour). Come enjoy the beauty of Humboldt County.

This morning my co host Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Bryson Code, the Recreational and Wilderness Manager for 6 Rivers National Forest. This is a position that has been vacant for the past 4 years so there is a lot of catching up to do. Bryson talked about how is passion for trails led him to this job. He also stressed that there is a lot of deferred maintenance that needs to be address before any new trail projects can be looked at.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Tony Seghetti, Deputy Director of Engineering for the County of Humboldt, and Arthur Reeve, Deputy Director of Public Works for Humboldt. We looked at improvements on McKinleyville Ave, the speed reduction on Foster Ave. in Arcata, and a new light at Walnut and Fern and realignment of Walnut and Holly, both in Cutten.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Hank Seemann, Deputy Director of Humboldt County Public Works and Brian Gerving, Eureka Public Works Director about Measure U which is a countywide measure on the ballot next Tuesday. Measure U would help fund road maintenance and repairs, trail maintenance programs, and help us secure matching funds for future infrastructure projects. As state and federal funds are dwindling, this self help measure will enable Humboldt County to keep its infrastructure functioning. This is a 1/2 of one percent sales tax increase. However, with our sales tax dropping by 1/4 percent in January, this will only be a net increase in our sales tax of 1/4 percent. That means for every $100 spent, you will be taxed an additional 25 cents.

Today, Emily Sinkhorn and I spoke with Netra Khatri, assistant city engineer for Arcata about improvement projects on old Arcata Road. There have already been some with more to come. And yes, the public will have input on those future improvements at an open house on Wednesday

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Gabe Howe from the Siskiyou Mountain Club. This is a non-profit organization dedicated to trail restoration in the Siskiyou wilderness. The group started as just a group of friends who saw a need as so many trails were falling into ruin. The organization now has over 300 members and has thus far restored numerous trails, to a point where they are hoping to move into more of a trail maintenance organization by 2020.

Today Emily and I spoke with Denise Newman, the RCAA Projects Coordinator about Explore The Coast taking place this Sunday, October 9th on the Hikshari Trail. We also discussed this past weekends events, the Cooper Gulch Plan & Play Day and the Chah-Gah-Cho trail Grand Opening.

This morning Jessica Hall and I spoke with Christy Prescott, Community Advocate for Cooper Gulch Common Grounds, a grassroots organization that's been around for about a year to help the park at Cooper Gulch live up to it's potential. This Saturday, October 1st, there will be a big event open to the public called Play and Plan Day at Cooper Gulch from 9am till 4:30. Many events are planned for the day. More info at coopergulch.org

This morning my co host Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Terri Vroman Little and her work with the CCC and all they are doing with trails here in Humboldt County. We also talked about The Humboldt Bay Marathon, how it started and where she hopes to see it in the near future. And although it was painful to bring it up, how she has taken the tragedy of 4 years ago (on Old Arcata Road) moved forward for positive advancement of trails and the creation of the Humboldt Bay Marathon, part of which goes along Old Arcata Road, in essence, reclaiming that space. Thank you to Terri and The CCCs for their tireless efforts to make Humboldt a better place for all.