Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125496
Bike Riders Work On , rail In High Sierras By ART THRALL Recorder City Editor erness area in much of the Sequoia National Forest. That would exclude the machines. The battle has waxed hot and heavy at times and apparently neither side has been willing to budge. The weekend of work together was to have been a milestone in cooperation between the groups. No doubt about it, the machines have opened up the forest back country to many who couldn't afford a horse back, pack train trip with commercial packers, or who couldn't spare the time required for a long and arduous foot hike into the area. The popUlarity of the machines has filled the once comparatively remote areas with the machines and riders. The back country is seeing use that it never did prior to the advent of the machines. Trail machine advocates feel that public land is public land. They believe they should be allowed to travel with as much free dom as hikers and pack trains wherever they can traverse the trails. They are stopped by natural barriers in some places. Gilliland said he is sure now that trail riders are willing to work for a solution to the traffic problem and the friction that exists between the varied interests. He said the trail riders volunteered to come back to do more trail work or J build campsites whenever needed, donating their time and energy at no expense to the forest serviFe. They all expressed hope the other factions w')uld join them in some of these projects, Gilliland said. Chuch Henry, president of the Bakersfield Trail Bike club, who let a high paying private job go (as did others in the working :group)· to help on the weekend project said. ·We're willing to work for what we want at our own expense and through our own sweat and effort. I only wish the other groups would meet us halfway and felt th e same way. There would be more and better facilities for everybody.· Men from Porterville, Coalinga, Bakf;!rsfield, Cor coran and other valley points were represented in the project. It was a bill; weekend of work with all hands from the various factions, trail machine riders, packers and back packers of the Sierra club type, working on a common project to solve traffic problems in the high Sierra JugSprings trail area. And that's what it turned out to be with more than a mile of new trail developed below Jug Springs and more than a mile of renovated trail opened beyond the springs to the Little Kern horse bridge. But it wasn't the cooperati ve effort that had been anticipated. In fact, about 20 trail m;lchine riders under the direction of Bud Gilliland of Springville, construction superintendent for the Tule River district of Sequoia National Forest, did the job by themselves. Not a pack station or horse back rider representative was on the job. Nor was there on hiker taking part in the session. One pack animal from WOOdy's pack station at Quaking Aspen did arrive late Saturday morning to drop off the tools. But he didn't stay to help with the work, professing business elsewhere. The trail building stemmed from complaints by packers and hikers of traffic problems in the heavily traveled Jug Springs area. They said that oncoming trail machines caused problems with the livestock or ran hikers off the trail. It --was decided at a recent meeting of representatives of the three interests andSequoia National Forest officials, to build by-pass trails in the area to alleviate the congestion. The activity was set the weekend of August 20 and 21. Crews from the various groups were to meet in the Jug Springs area early Saturday, work together through the day, camp overnight at Grey Meadow ranger station, and complete the work on Sunday. The problem of congestion would be SOlved, at least for that particular area. Officials of various trail machine groups throughout the valley area, who took part in the work, expressed regret they Reprinted from the Porterville couldn't get together with Evening Recorder. the packers and hikers and show that trail machine riders are ready, willing and BUILD, FINISH AND SIGN-About 20 _ _s of trail machine clubs &lit able to cooperate in solvtogetller and constructed 114 .. lies of ing problems. trail to ~s.. lb. trail machln. Packers and hikers feel riders gave their tlllll and .ffort duro Ing til. nol. w"kend to h.,p solve the machines should be problems that the horseback... and kept off the trails in public hikers say hav. ~ created by the forest areas and have said machines on high mountain paths. lb. so in meetings with forest machln. riders say th., will do .. or. work and .xpressed hop. the hors.. officials. They have been _ and hikers will Join til... In the pressing the"forest service effort In order to mak. ",or. facilities to close trails to the machavallabl. to all. ines and to establish wild-