Thank you REI for your continued support!

REI on the Downieville Front Side Trails,  Plus a $15,000 Grant award!!

Some 30 volunteers from REI, one of our partners in recreation and trail preservation sacrificed their Saturday to come toil in the dirt on some of Downieville’s best known trails.  These included Sunrise, Paulie Creek, and First Divide.  Pictured above is the high country crew who worked on Sunrise Trail.  We spent some time getting familiar with some trail design considerations, and examined some real world examples of the design elements found on Sunrise Trail.  The hard working crew removed braking bumps and some encroaching vegetation, obliterated some rogue trail lines, and cut out some root and stump remnants.  The Crew on Paulie Creek Trail did some rock work to repair damage wrought by this winter’s heavy rains and cut back countless face slapping branches.  The last of the crews worked on lower First Divide Trail buffing out to perfection.  One of the first riders to sample the fruits of their efforts, said that section of trail looked like someone had taken a vacuum cleaner to it.

Altogether the crew from REI contributed over 120 hours of volunteer work to the Downieville trail system.  Afterwards we all headed back to town for some of the warm SBTS hospitality that we’re famous for.  Thanks to Erin Harrington for once again leading the effort on behalf of REI.  Thanks to Tara Stone to putting it all together for SBTS.  Hats off to Henry, Cody and Troy for all the prep work and leading the Paulie crew.  Cheers to Dave Orozco for leading the vacuuming crew on First Divide.  Thanks to Greg for manning the grill back in town.

I’m also very proud to announce that SBTS has been awarded another REI Grant, our 3^rd, this time to the tune of $15,000.  It will be applied to the SBTS Trails program and will help serve to enhance the partnership that REI and SBTS have in giving back and caring for lands that give us so much enjoyment.  We look forward to having REI join us on our projects such as Mt Elwell, Silver Lake, Sierra Buttes Lookout, The Downieville Downhill, and new construction of the Butcher Ranch Singletrack extension.  Past REI grants have gone to the founding of the SBTS Youth Program and the still budding Curriculum Development Program which graduated its first batch of students this summer, the Storrie Student Trail Crew. 

Please join us here at SBTS in giving a huge, heart-felt THANK YOU to REI for their continued generous support.

~ Erik Johnson, Volunteer Crew Leader and REI grant writer