Greg Williams's blog

With the number of events SBTS has going this month it was a pleasant surprise to have 23 volunteers turn out for the October 10th Double Duty weekend. 15 people made their way to the top of Packer Saddle to lend a hand to Joe Smailes and help keep his property fire safe and his trees healthy. Joe is the stand up guy that allowed SBTS to construct the Sunrise Trail, which is now the start of the world famous Downieville Downhill. Volunteers piled brush and created burn piles that will be torched now that the rains have come and fire restrictions have been lifted. The remaining 8 volunteers helped out on Mills Peak Trail, a 7 mile multiple use trail located in the Plumas National Forest. This new trail will connect the community of Graeagle with the Lakes Basin Recreation Area and is a crucial link in the proposed Mohawk Trail System. Volunteers worked ahead of the mini excavator clearing the trail corridor for more than a quarter mile, bringing new trail construction to 2 miles. We still have a lot to do to complete this trail, but momentum is building and funding keeps trickling in. We hope to have this trail completed by 2011, with work continuing to complete the Mohawk Trail System sometime around 2015.

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Yesterday i had the privilege of meeting up with Phil Raymond, owner of the Long Lake cabin and historian of Lakes Basin. He came by the shop in Graeagle a week ago and mentioned that he knew of a historic route that was used to access the Mt. Elwell lookout, which was built in 1911 and abandoned in 1934. We were joined by Ron Heard and Kellen Calbaugh, who is working with us for his senior project at Portola High School. In order to access the Mt. Elwell trail you normally have to hike for about an hour, but for this trip Phil hooked us up with his motor boat and we zipped across the lake to the trailhead. First Class all the way. When we go to the far side of the lake we landed at the boat dock for the cabin, which was built in 1917 and has been in Phil's family for nearly 60 years.
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The snow has stopped flying and we're back to work on the North Yuba River Trail, hoping to connect Downieville to Goodyears Bar before the May 16th Mountain Epic event. This trail project has broken my spirit a number of times over the years, and I'm really looking forward to punching it through and moving on to another project. Preferably somewhere with a little less rock. My back and hands are sore, my feet hurt, and my blisters and knuckle scrapes are abundant. But, no matter how much it hurts, it still feels great to be back in the woods, spreading a chocolaty singletrack ribbon along the mountainside.  Read More »

Located just 35 miles north of Downieville, on the northern slope of the Sierra Nevada, is Graeagle. A small mountain town, painted entirely in red, with a peculiar spelling that combines the names gray and eagle. The area is known mostly for its high-class golfing and abundant stream fishing, yet Graeagle has the potential to be one of the nation’s premier trail destinations.

The Lakes Basin Recreation Area is located to the south of Graeagle, with Eureka State Park to the west. To the north is several hundred miles of Plumas National Forest, and to the east is the Sierra Valley, the nation’s largest alpine valley. The area is host to footpaths that reach as far away as Canada and Mexico, and lesser know routes that cross the crest of the Sierra connecting Reno, Truckee and Downieville.  Read More »

While most folks are aware of the North Yuba Trail, and our 12 year pursuit to construct the section between Downieville and Goodyears Bar, it is a little known fact that there is a much larger scheme for this riverfront trail. Recently the Highway 49 corridor, from the town of Camptonville to Yuba Pass, was nominated to receive National Scenic Byway status. If 49 was to receive national recognition, Federal grant funds would be made available for recreation enhancement projects that are located within the highway corridor.   Read More »