The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“It just surfs through the aspens”
by Than Acuff
Once again, the Crested Butte Land Trust (CBLT) and the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association (CBMBA) have come together to open up more trails within an espresso shot of town. Now it’s up to the CBLT and CBMBA volunteers and the public to bring the trail, dubbed the Gunsight Connector Trail, to fruition at the trail work weekend this Saturday and Sunday, June 13-14.
In 2013 the CBLT purchased land from the Stock family in the Slate River drainage adjacent to the current Lupine I and Lupine II trails and opened it up to CBMBA to extend the Lupine system to include another section.
“We’re so thankful to the Stock family for partnering with the Land Trust to conserve this incredible property,” says CBLT Stewardship Director Danielle Beamer. “We’re proud of our partnership with CBMBA not only because of the trails we’ve built together but also for collaborative work on helping grazing operations coexist with recreation by using tools like rollovers to prevent gate issues.”
“The land trust has given us carte blanche to build it,” says CBMBA vice president Doug Bradbury. “It’s a great working relationship.”
Bradbury took over the reigns for CBMBA on the project and once CBMBA was given the green light, he headed into the hills last fall to start laying out the trail and returned this spring to continue the work. His main focus was milking the terrain for all it’s got in the spirit of the first two sections of the Lupine trail.
What he’s ended up with is 2.2 miles of trail marked with 1,000 feet of vertical.
“It goes wall-to-wall bouncing off the boundaries,” explains Bradbury. “I was looking to get as much out of the property as possible and make it work in both directions. It’s all about the grade. It’s a continuation of the Lupine concept, flowy, a lot of surfing, top turns and big whip bottom turns. It just surfs through the aspens.”
In addition to keeping his eye on what makes a trail flow for users, he also kept in mind drainage issues, drying issues and the views.
“The views are second to none—there are two big-money views,” Bradbury says of the Gunsight Connector Trail. “What’s just incredible is I feel like Picasso, it’s a huge easel and I get to build a masterpiece.”
The new section of trail is slated to start farther up the Smith Hill Road past the start of the Lupine II section and will drop users off across the Slate River Road from Gunsight Pass Bridge.
Now comes the hard part: trail building. CBMBA and the CBLT are calling all volunteers to come out this weekend for the Gunsight Connector Trail build.
“It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever done, consequently we need as much help as possible,” says Bradbury. “We’ve got tools for 200 people and we’re hoping for that.”
Fortunately, the trail building itself should be easier than most, given the soil they will be working with. There will be some rockwork to abate wet areas and spring run-off, but for the most part, volunteers will be dealing with dirt.
“It’s the most beautiful dirt I’ve ever worked with, nice and loamy,” says Bradbury. “It’s not like working on the Upper Upper. Hoes are going to be the tool of choice, scratching the organics off and calling it good.”
The trail has been divided into ten sections and the plan is to have crews working on each section concurrently with a crew chief at each point. The hope is to rough in the trail on Saturday and then buff it out on Sunday.
“Sunday is going to be as much work as Saturday but one way or another we’ll get it rideable by the end of the weekend,” says Bradbury.
Once in, the trail will be open and CBMBA will spend the next year or so keeping an eye on it and tweaking it where needed.
“It’s a two-year process to get it right,” says Bradbury.
The end result will be another way to keep trail users off roads and on trails as much as possible and still be close to town.
“What I love is everybody can start in town on their bike. There’s no driving to the trail,” says Bradbury.
All volunteers are asked to be at Gunsight out the Slate River Road by 9 a.m. on Saturday and/or Sunday and tools will be provided. Ride your bike or carpool to cut down on traffic and don’t forget your work gloves, sturdy shoes, sun block, rain gear and water.
“The Land Trust is thrilled to be able to add another trail to the communities network,” says Beamer. “This piece of property is unique because it promotes all the reasons why the Land Trust is here- it protects wildlife habitat, is leased by the Allen family for their cow/calf operation, offers spectacular views and of course it has this new trail.”
“We’re in an incredible time period with trail building,” adds Bradbury. “We’re in the heyday of it.”
