sentimentality alert. the following may annoy you if you are not a bleeding heart nature boy/girl….
so Thirsty Beaver is on the chopping block, pronto. the machines are forming and road building and logging is starting any time. the tape has been in place for weeks and it's really going to happen; this gorgeous trail and forest is going to be liquidated. there are a number of other favourites soon to follow.
i arrived in the Valley about 6 yrs ago with limited mtn biking experience and got immersed in the sport here. TB was brand new and i remember how far up and remote it felt and how challenging it was. it was also the most exciting and beautiful trail in an enchanted feeling forest. my girlfriend got pissed off at me the first time i brought her up there because she wasn't ready but i told her to just enjoy and walk it then. so she did and then rode part of it the next time and so on. now it's her fav and she rips it.
anyhow i'm sad to see it go because i'm that kind of guy and i know they will rebuild it in the cut block and all that but still. next time you are enduroing down the trail as fast as possible stop right in the middle and gaze around and think of all the wild things that live there and how long it took to get that way. i know lumber has to come from somewhere i wish it wasn't these nearby forests….