What Sharon did was right… and also did not cause the Abyss to be torn down. The majority of "destruction" was done on Abyss… only the first item was taken out of the below-Galloway trail. Before I had seen that, I had thought that BC Parks had spent the day working below then ventured up top when they had extra time. I will not argue for a second that the Abyss was always slated for removal… but I had incorrectly thought that the sudden removal was a result of Parks inspecting the new structures.
This was a stupid mistake of mine. Why?
- Scott Back says he is attending to the park (Burke Mountain Area or Widgeon Area) once a week, but not always dealing with biking. While that raises questions on why the new stuff wasn't found earlier, it points out that Abyss could have been removed well before it was.
- Scott Back, in an email to me today, stated that "What Sharon told Rob informally had no bearing on why we went to Burke." I may have only had that confirmed now, but I did not think of how BC Parks has a tight schedule set weeks in advance. Setting a day to take down something that was only informally talked about and never seen doesn't happen overnight. If anything anyone said had an impact on this, nothing could have happened by now.
I took an email from Sharon, read between the lines (read wrong) and the misinformation caused by it has been destructive. For that, I am sorry Sharon. In my opinion, Sharon is one of the hardest working individuals behind mountain biking in the Lower Mainland, if not BC. Her work behind the scenes is rivalled only by the work we notice more by builders such as Jeremy or Mark. The fact that she provided guidance for Burke shows just how commited she is. I can think of a couple things that we take for granted up Burke that are actually accomplishments of Sharon's.
These accomplishments… keeping Abyss open for a year longer than required and co-operation from BC Parks on making Triple Crown an official trail, are a great start. Don't think of the Burke progress as a defeat, but as a triumph: Is there any other Provincial Park farther along than Burke? Mt. Seymour just provides a highway up in exchange for your parking money… yet Burke will have trails for users of which a 95% majority are mountain bikers.
Reading this thread realized just how influential a lot of riders can be. Why not work together on this front? Nowhere else does an opportunity quite like Burke exist.
For the record, this was today's email from Scott.
I want to assure both of you that we went up Burke for the sole
purpose of taking down the structures at the entrance of Abyss and above to
the power line (some were already broken). At the end of the day we hiked
around the powerline road and came across the "new trail." What Sharon told
Rob informally had no bearing on why we went to Burke. I am either at
Widgeon or Burke once a week dealing with more than just the Mountain Bike
issues. Feel free to let people know.
Thanks,
Scott
