Bellingham, WA: It Takes a Community to Build a Trail

The Whatcom Independent Mountain Pedalers (WHIMPs) are a model mountain bike club. More than 30 volunteers showed up on Saturday and Sunday to build a much needed connector trail and repair an eroding mud-pit on "El Pollo" trail on Galbraith Mountain.
In recognition of all the delicious sustenance that Bandito's Burritos donates to the WHIMPs trailwork events, the new trail was officially named "Bandito Trail."
A helpful donation of recycled concrete gave the WHIMPs the material they needed to armor a section of El Pollo, which used to turn into a mess every winter.
Volunteers contributed about 350 hours of trailwork this weekend. Even the injured came out to help.
The WHIMPs showed Nat and Rachael a good time with daily rides. Check out the purple fireweed.
After trailwork, riding and barbeque, the weekend ends with a raffle made possible by local bike shops. Here's Missy with her loot.
Nat and Rachael send huge thanks to Darren Clark, Mark Peterson and everyone who got involved this weekend. It was a lot of fun and very productive!

Imagine a community where five bike shops support the local IMBA club. Imagine a community with a local bike manufacturer (Kona) that has a staffer dedicated to worldwide trail advocacy and local trail development. Imagine a community with a private landowner that encourages the development of singletrack trails on his land. And finally, imagine a community with mountain bikers, runners and hikers who consistently contribute to trailwork. All this can be found in Bellingham, which offers around 100 miles of trails, a vibrant community and several thriving outdoor industry businesses.