Posted by: bingobus
I'm a little lost here. Dales connector as I know it is the trail from just above power lines that lets you avoid Upper Dales (I joke but honestly could not figure out why it got worked on until I realised people might want to ride it in the other direction) yes? But what are you calling "connector connector"?
Yep, as Syncro says,the "connector connector" just cuts of the last corner of Upper Dale's to make it easier for folks to turn toward Dale's Connector and ride up it (so they don't have to ride the rest of Dale's.. previously folks would miss the sharp left turn and then end up stopped and blocking the trail to the rest of Dale's. It had previously been roughly cut in for BCBR but Metro initially didn't want it to be a permanent option. The bit of Dale's Connector that it bypasses remains open for folks riding down Dale's Connector and for runner's who come up Dale's as it's probably not a good idea to encourage foot traffic up Upper Dale's.
According to Trailforks, the majority of traffic on Dale's Connector is uphill (80%ish).
A few of us proposed building a trail connecting over to Upper Severed (rather than having to fully climb back up and then bomb down the Powerline). Ride upper Dale's, take the Connector Connector, pedal up a little, and cruise on singletrack right to the Upper Severed trailhead.