Yes, I said Vickery Creek!

The NPS is doing a work party for National Public Lands Day in cooperation with The Sierra Club. I've been trying to get the details for a couple weeks and finally got them.

Here ya go...

Hello all!! The next big event scheduled is for September 26th, National
Public Lands Day. We will begin trail improvements at the Vickery Creek
unit.

The plan is to have several small trail projects that can be completed the
same day.

8:30- 9:00 Registration at Vickery Creek parking lot.
9:00-12:00 Work projects will start.
12:30-2:00 Cook out at Island Ford (Park Headquarters)
2:15- 3:30 A sneak preview at Island Ford of the Ken Burns film (America's
Best Idea) about the National Park Service. The film opens with a message
from the Secretary of the Interior and others thanking you - the volunteers
- for making America's Best Idea even better.

Wear boots (NO sandals) or some other sturdy shoes and bring work gloves if
you’ve got them. The park will provide the tools and the crew leaders to
make this project happen. We will have water coolers available,
but please bring your own water bottles.

This should be a fun day! I am looking forward to seeing and working with
all of you! -Dave

P.S. Directions are attached. (I've inserted links for directions <CLMJR>)

David A. Thomas, Jr.
VIP Coordinator

Directions to Vickery Creek http://www.nps.gov/chat/planyourvisit/vickerycreek.htm

Directions to Island Ford http://www.nps.gov/chat/planyourvisit/islandford.htm

RAMBO will be represented at this NPS work party. Vickery Creek is a beautiful park in Roswell and the trails need some TLC.

Neil Wagner
RAMBO Trails Director

For those who might have missed it in the original post, this work party is NOT a SORBA initiated or SORBA organized work party. The National Park Service has coordinated this in partnership with The Sierra Club. The NPS is leading it. SORBA was invited to come help.

The reason we were invited, and why I posted it, is because this is a great opportunity for mountain bikers to hang out with non-bikers and build some sweat equity with our client and land manager, CRNRA. At the same time -- and more importantly -- this builds bonds with the non-biking community. Since we are about to enter into a public input series on biking in the CRNRA, the CRNRA leadership thought we might appreciate and benefit from helping with this work party.

Anyone still think NPS doesn't support mtn biking? Just checking.

Thanks. I just wanted to be clear on that.

Helping with this work party sounds like a great idea for the reasons you mentioned.

Please make sure everyone knows that these are not mtn bike trails we will be working on, they are hiking trails with no bikes allowed at this time.

I used to hike these trails alot and they were always in dire need of maint. I remember many years ago riding these when mtn bikes were allowed.

Correct, my friend. But the hope -- and what we're working toward with NPS --is that they will be opened up within the next couple of years.

This is great in that the NPS wanted us to join in on the work party. Sierra Club has been notorious in the past with complete anti-mtn bikes on any trail. If they had their way there wouldn't be any mountain biking at all. Could go a long way to building some synergies between mtn bikers and hikers. I've got this on my calendar.

please wear your sorba shirts/hats or other mntbike-related items (race/fest shirts, camelbaks, etc.)

I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you!

I might be able to make this one. What would be even better than having us show up in cycling jerseys, camelnaks, etc, is to RIDE to the work party and have a bunch of mountain bikes chained up in the parking lot! Or at least have the bikes racked and ready to do some laps at Big Creek afterward.

BUMP.

Please stay posted here for updates on this work party. Due to the flooding, Vickery Creek has some hazmat issues so there will not be any work there for a couple weeks.

As I get information, I will update this post. From what I was told today, work will shift to Island Ford, Park HQ.

Thank you!