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Great article Cam. Couldn't agree more. I'd also echo MightyTed's comments that it would be good to have a little more accountability on the NSMB boards. I don't know how you do that, but it's gotten so bad I think it's time.

I lost my Smith Pivloc glasses on 7th early this afternoon after a big crash. Fluro yellow with clear lens.
May have blood on them!
I'd like to get them back if possible. Thank you!

I build at night all the time. I use a bike light (all in one so no wires dangling) attached to a head strap. I set the light to low so it lasts a few hours. I've also discovered that it's tricky to navigate if/when your light fails in the bush (i.e. Off the trail). I now have one of those turtle LED lights attached to the back of the head strap for emergencies.

If using a chainsaw, I put a second bike light onto the handle of the saw, shining down the bar.

There are still large sections of John Deer that have not been upgraded (from loamer). These sections turn very quickly to mud if used in or after rain. This mud then gets carried onto the upgraded sections where it holds the moisture and blocks the drains, thereby reversing all the hard work. Please, please, do not ride John Deer in or after rain. We'll be continuing to upgrade the trail so this time next year it may be less sensitive.

Mr Sheldon wrote an excellent piece on the subject: http://www.torca.ca/riding-in-the-wet-a-message-from-torca-trail-director/

The work you have done on this trail is great. Fantastic trail - Thank you.

I noticed on the very first rock roll someone had put a log in the hole a little over a week ago, but had been cleared the next time I rode. Even though I could ride the feature with the log added, I felt cheated as I still could not ride the original line as intended without the hole being filled in. Not certain if this is the type of maintenance being done on the trail you built or if there is more going on.

Might just be someone that doesn't realize making changes to a new and maintained trail is not actually a good thing.

Quick question. Is the bottom part going to stay natural or will it be buffed out like the upper section?

Thank you :)

We'll be continuing to upgrade the trail to a sustainable standard as the "natural" sections degrade. The maintenance I'm talking about is some patching over mud holes.

Does anyone know who has been trying to do maintenance on John Deer in the last week or two? I'm the official TAP builder so trying to contact them.

Thank you.

The rebuild of John Deer was designed to be friendly for less experienced riders, and I'm so happy to see a lot of kids riding the trail - I don't ever remember seeing kids on the trails above Bridle before. I've been thinking about providing an easy option to ride around the steep bit of the Severed entrance to aid access to JD so I'd be interested to hear what people think of that idea.

After JD, you might try exploring Blair Range trails as an easier way out once you're down to Bridle, Golf Course Trail/ or Blair Range Trail/ and Blair Range Descent It might take a little exploration but could be worth it to avoid Bridle suffering

Went to ride it yesterday, saw the trail closed sign and rode severed instead.I guess the rainfall has been hard on it? I heard there's a trail day this weekend?

Thanks for respecting the sign :)

Continued usage in the wet over the winter has made it a muddy mess. We've closed it for a few weeks while we repair some of the damage. There will also be a community (public) trail day on May 29th.

Thanks, will respect that. Guessing the builders will have it show up on Trailforks when it's ready for public consumption.

Thanks. We will.

Nice vid. Is the lower part of John Deer open yet or still closed from GSM down till until drier conditions.

I'd advise against riding it until the weather is significantly drier. Plus the bridge is out of commission due to windfall.

We have a MS250 and a MS180. The 180 is noticeably lighter to hike in with, sometimes even ride with, which I wouldn't do with the 250. It's also noticeably better on gas so lightens the load again. On the 180 I use a Powersharp bar/chain which is awesome. For sure, I'll take the 250 if there's a lot of big cutting to do, but the 180 will do pretty much anything if you take it slow. A great little saw. Pic is the 180 on the biggest log we cut out for GSM.