Buffed is very relative. They more fixed up some areas where the trail was sloughing off the side. Still plenty of rooty humps to muscle up.
phew!
We don't know what our limits are, so to start something with the idea of being limited actually ends up limiting us.
Ellen Langer
Strava times really aren't that important. And it's GJ… a blue trail. It's by no means a world cup DH track. Stay on the trail and learn how to ride a flat corner instead of short-cutting. A proper DHer should know how to ride a flat corner!
That's done by locking up the rear wheel and making sweet skids…amiright? :D
Upper GJ is now through it's first major "storm event" since the reworking of upstream flow conditions and new drainage. A couple of minor failures, but fortunately when I went up this morning, the trail was still there!
It will likely be CLOSED tomorrow as there are some corrections made, so please respect that.
The trail surface is NEW and SOFT, so it's great, even if it's "open", for riders to give it at least a day to dry out between storms. Regardless, it will break down over the winter, and there will be work with Burnaby to tweak it in the spring, so it can harden up right proper over the summer.
i was out on sunday and it was very nice to see that COB has changed up their implementaion of the bridges they're putting in wrt to on/off ramps. their first iterations were simply horrible. is it too much to hope that those original attempts will be removed or fixed?
We don't know what our limits are, so to start something with the idea of being limited actually ends up limiting us.
Ellen Langer
i was out on sunday and it was very nice to see that COB has changed up their implementaion of the bridges they're putting in wrt to on/off ramps. their first iterations were simply horrible. is it too much to hope that those original attempts will be removed or fixed?
Translation please?
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
Translation please?
My guess…
The city of Burnaby improving how they're doing the approach and exit of the bridges. Hopefully some of the original ones they did (poorly) will be fixed.
It seems that some of the water solutions on Gear Jammer have just displaced the flow to Upper Cut. The fast straight shot at the bottom of UC is now a gutter with a creek flowing down it.
It seems that some of the water solutions on Gear Jammer have just displaced the flow to Upper Cut. The fast straight shot at the bottom of UC is now a gutter with a creek flowing down it.
No, that's another series of creeks/seeps/springs causing that to occur, as it's off a different localized watershed. Most water from GJ has been diverted to the NE where there is a low natural stepping of the slope, so it's mostly being dissipated before it even crosses Mel's between GJ and the Trans Canada. Below Mel's, there are no trails and the forest fans out and has lots of room to absorb before hitting the large culvert under the powerlines.
The ground on Burnaby Mtn (probably everywhere really) is just hyper-saturated right now and surface flows are everywhere. Burnaby is facing challenges on Submarine Creek and other trib's down the Barnet Side as well. Is these successive day-after-day peak flows causing this regardless of where on the mountain. Walked up Nicole's this morning and it's pretty much a creek as well; particularly the lower half.
Different from the Shore, for example, as most trails on those mountains are in the lower portion of the watershed, so much of the water has absorbed or dispersed as it comes from the top (fan effect). On Burnaby, the trails start at the top, so feel the affect of the water shed, peak flows, and storm velocities right from the outset. Challenging year this year for Burnaby. Even road-type trails (ie - Barnet Trail) have had issues; with a full blowout on Barnet Trail in the last stormcycle. Trans-Canada Trail about mid-way up the mountain had a sump and large failure as well. Just lots of water in a very charged system.
Enviro Canada is reporting this as well in their Rainfall Warning: _
A long episode of rain, at times heavy, continues. The ground, already near saturation, has little ability to absorb further rainfall.
Rainfall will continue over the Lower Mainland as the next front moves towards the coast. Further amounts of up to 20 to 40 mm are forecast for the Fraser Valley tonight and Thursday. Further amounts of up to 30 mm are forecast near the mountains over Metro Vancouver today with lesser amounts expected away from the mountains.
Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible.
_
I just got back from a ride which included Gear Jammer and Upper Cut. I kept having the weird feeling that what I was experiencing made no sense, that it was different from what I remember was the case, which created doubt with my memory. Nonetheless, things seem quite different compared to similar conditions before this year. They have done a pretty good job with the drainage rework on Upper Gear Jammer. But it is surprising to see the amount of water flowing all over the place, including the large volume pouring through the new channel/culvert at the Mel's intersection.
There is work to be done below Mel's. There is still a small stream running down Mel's, north of GJ. The bit where GJ crosses the right of way has become a rocky gorge with a surprisingly large volume going down it. And as biggles604 noted, the bottom of UC is also an eroding little creek. I don't know where the water is coming from but my doubting memory says it was never like that before - under any conditions.
The City needs to get out there and see what actually happens with the runoff. There are plenty of small fixes required.
Water seems to be coming out of everywhere and the trails are suffering. I can only guess what they might be like come spring.
fall any fall line
water flowing all over the place, including the large volume pouring through the new channel/culvert at the Mel's intersection.
Dry as of 2pm today (Fri.).
The work right there looks good but I ain't no expert, what do the gurus think?
There is still a small stream running down Mel's, north of GJ.
Also dry by this afternoon.
The bit where GJ crosses the right of way has become a rocky gorge with a surprisingly large volume going down it. And as biggles604 noted, the bottom of UC is also an eroding little creek.
Yeah the row seemed kinda' damp but UC, while showing signs of prior heavy run-off was also dry this afternoon.
Paused a moment before entering UC. Could hear someone pounding etc on the slope somewhere above.
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
There are flow monitors installed at the outfalls that lead down this side of the mountain. What we are seeing is normal flow rates during storm and peak events. Even large events are not currently hitting the levels of a couple of precedent storms in the past few years.
That said, what we are getting is continuous storms of moderate magnitude which is giving the ground no time to recharge so we are dealing with absolutely saturated ground conditions even in the forested environment. Further to this, we've had two of these nearly 3-day events almost back-to-back (within a couple of weeks of each other). So even as the top layers dry, there is still considerable ground water flows (meaning the water table is likely running high).
While this can be good for our reservoirs and the little fishies at the bottom of the hill, it does mean that when water is flowing on or near the surface continuously, we then notice the path of least resistance - the trails. So while there is a lot of water flowing down the trails at this time (certainly not just GJ and Uppercut - but those are the most popular wet season trails - Nicole's was a veritable creek in places), it's a good time to assess where trail repairs can be done to help mitigate this. I'm afraid this is likely a new rainfall pattern that we will see more of as temperatures rise and climate shifts.
One "watershed" is Upper GJ, middle GJ to the right of way. More work will be done on that through Monday. This should resolve as much as can be resolved before nature just will do what nature does. Meaning, maintenance, but not massive blow-outs. Past the ROW to Upper Cut and Lower GJ, is a bit of a different catchment and I think less of an issue; it's just suffered from peaking events of late. The creek down under the ROW is a regular performer in consecutive wet events, but I think a drainage solution will be undertaken on Monday.
And Eco - believe me, the City is out there these days, but there isn't a fix for everything ma nature throws at you and people seem to forget that reality.
Water - she's a tough nut to crack.
wherever the water flow is noticeable on the trails we/they should install multiple french drains. this will keep the running water off the trails and disperse it across multiple points on the mtn instead of putting it all in one spot, potentially creating new creeks with sustained flow.
We don't know what our limits are, so to start something with the idea of being limited actually ends up limiting us.
Ellen Langer
We have been advised by the City that they will be doing hazard tree clearing over the next few days, and as a result the following trails will have closures: Mels, Lower Snake, and Nicoles.
Please respect the trail closures.
We have been advised by the City that they will be doing hazard tree clearing over the next few days, and as a result the following trails will have closures: Mels, Lower Snake, and Nicoles.
Please respect the trail closures.
All now good to go as per my conversation w/the trail crew at the top of GJ approx. 2pm this afternoon.
Interestingly, rumour has it that the recent run-off damage was a man made event. Two holding pools constructed to regulate increased run-off from paved/developed land either experienced technical difficulties or were emptied (by mistake?) with resultant erosion damage to trails.
After some discussion with the CoB SFU has agreed to pony up some $ to help with remediation.
Also, further construction on the new climbing trail east (downslope) of the water tower road is slated to start again this spring.
:woot:
Apparently there are seasonal avian and riparian issues that construction needs to work around.
Freedom of contract. We sell them guns that kill them; they sell us drugs that kill us.
Interestingly, rumour has it that the recent run-off damage was a man made event. Two holding pools constructed to regulate increased run-off from paved/developed land either experienced technical difficulties or were emptied (by mistake?) with resultant erosion damage to trails.
After some discussion with the CoB SFU has agreed to pony up some $ to help with remediation.
I'm not an expert, or pretending to be "in the know", but as it was explained to me the holding pools are too small for the amount of run-off that is directed to them from UniverCity (bad engineering?) and in major or successive rain events that fill the pools the blow-off dumps water straight down Gear Jammer.
Basically, the work they are doing to fix Gear Jammer right now is a waste of time/money (as were the repairs that were done, literally, right before the latest major rain event which were utterly trashed) as any time we have an excessive amount of water for the holding pools to handle the trail is going to be an emergency creek bed?
Mean People SUCK! Nice People SHOVEL!
Trails For All; Trails For Weather
…
Forum jump:
