Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew Gets Dirty in Missoula, Montana

The cool folks at the Adventure Cycling Association hosted our slideshow and helped make our Missoula visit a success.
The dust flies on Mount Jumbo in the Lolo National Forest.
Joey working hard with a pulaski. Photo courtesy of LIMB
The new singletrack. Photo courtesy of LIMB
Lolo National Forest District Ranger Don Carroll brought his bike to sample the new trail.
Tim and Eric of Missoula's Bike Doctor bike shop, taxiing down the runway, getting ready for takeoff.
Joey worked like a dog all weekend ;-)

August, 2001

Missoula, Montana - a town Outside Magazine has placed on it's "Top Ten Places to Live" list at least once. We'll buy that - it is a pretty fun place to be... hanging out with mountain bikers, climbers, skiers, runners, hikers - and all of them passionate about their town.

Our Missoula adventure began Friday morning with a gathering of local trail leaders . The assembled cast included local mountain bike advocate Kurt Kruger, master trail designer Jed Little, LIMB (Low Impact Mountain Bicyclists of Missoula) club president Julie Huck, Gene Thompson from the US Forest Service, Dave of the Montana Conservation Corps and several Missoula Parks and Recreation employees. Our mission for the weekend was to relocate several thousand feet of trail to avoid private property. The new route would add nearly a mile to the Mount Jumbo trail system in Lolo National Forest. An ambitious project to complete in two days but the IMBA team accepted the challenge none the less!

On Friday we put in a solid 12-hour day designing the new trail and kept the momentum going that evening by presenting locals with our popular trailbuilding slideshow.

Saturday morning we were greeted at the trailhead by more than 20 volunteers and a local television crew ready to make the new trail a reality. We pulled out the tools, pulled on our gloves and got to work. Hours later we had created a giant dust cloud and 300 feet of beautiful full bench cut trail. Missoula District Ranger Don Carroll arrived fully clad in his mountain biking gear to check on our progress and approve the trail's design. His two-thumbs-up endorsement brought a smile to the volunteer's faces.

Later that evening, we lingered at the site to prepare the alignment for Sunday's work crew. IMBA Montana state rep Aaron Teasdale and Jed Little spotted an attractive rock outcropping nearby that could add an exciting element to the new trail. Working together, we tweaked the route to include the rocks. It's the small things that make a trail great! (Readers who want to learn more about using rocks in trailbuilding should check out the IMBA article Tough Trails Should Be Rock-Solid.)

Sunday a new group of volunteers including a local newspaper writer showed up to continue the work. Together we busted out 600 feet of trail to join the previous day's work. Two switchbacks remain to complete the reroute, but the LIMB folks will finish soon with the help of the MCC trail crew.

What an intense weekend! As usual, new friends and some sweet new trail make all the hard work worthwhile. We'd like to thank everyone who helped make our Missoula visit a success, including Adventure Cycling for the use of their meeting room for our slide show. And a big thanks to Aaron Teasdale for throwing Lisa an awesome birthday dinner with all of her new Missoula friends.

Happy Trails!

Lisa and Joey