Making TRACKS in Arizona

Working on trails keeps you young. Liz, who is the TRACKS Trail Care program leader, is about to turn 72 (sorry Liz), but doesn't look a day over 35!
This group made fast work of the re-alignment on Sunday. We changed a straight trail with a 90-degree corner into a sweet and twisty piece with perfect flow.
In addition to teaching trailbuilding and maintenance skills, IMBA's Trail Care Crew leads sessions on trail assessment and design.
The crew spends a lot of time showing the volunteers how to use clinometers, so that they can use them to design their own sustainable trails.
Sonia, the Arizona state rep, traveled from Phoenix to lend a hand. Sonia is doing great things with trails and mountain bicycling in the state.
The best way to top off a great work weekend is to go for a ride. Here, Doug shows us how to ride the new trail.

TRACKS, a multi-user trail group in Pinetop-Lakeside, is leaving a legacy of beautiful trails in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. The 200-member club, made up primarily of retirees, has helped to build and maintain close to 200 miles of multi-use trail. An active core of energetic and enthusiastic trail builders meets every Monday for breakfast and a day of trailwork, making them the primary caretakers of the National Forest.

In addition to the great work that is being done to the trails, TRACKS members are committed to helping out all over. The raging fires that tore through Arizona earlier this summer caused a great deal of resource damage. TRACKS members are working with the Forest Service to help rehabilitate the forest and assist families affected by the fire.

Luckily the fires never reached the trails we wanted to work on, and we were able to build a re-route, do some reclaiming, and improve the flow on a fast piece of trail.