Happy Trails

This morning Jessica Hall and I spoke with Miles Slattery, Director of Eureka Parks and Recreation about the Eureka Waterfront Trail. Phase A, from the end of the Hikshari Trail to Del Norte street has begun and should be completed by September of this year! Phases B & C all the way around the city of Eureka should be completed by sometime near the end of 2017 to the middle of 2018.

This morning new Happy Trails co-host Scott Machen and I spoke with Ali Osgood and Tom Phillips of the Redwood Coast Mountain Bike Association. Ali is a board member, and a student of mine at HSU and Tom is the president of the organization. Today we spoke of their extensive work at Lacks Creek, and other trail projects, their upcoming Pines for Nonprofits event tomorrow at Mad River Brewery, and their July 30 Enduro event.

This morning Michael Kauffmann and I spoke with Scott Herriott about his passion for trails, the films he has made about trails (and Bigfoot) and his current project, the Bigfoot Trail.

This morning I spoke with new Happy Trails Co-Host Jessica Hall along with former KHUM DJ Mike Dronkers, both members of Friends of the Dunes. This morning we talked about the extensive trail system throughout the dunes. This is a treasure that is right in our own backyard that you may have overlooked.

This morning Happy Trails new Co-Host Michael Kauffmann and I talked with Ian Nelson up in Ashland Oregon about the Pacific Crest Trail. This trail, established back in the Johnson Administration stretches from Mexico to Canada along the pacific coast as the name implies. We talked about it's history, what it's like and volunteer Opportunities along the tail. More info at pcta.org

This morning Emily and I spoke with Natalie Arroyo, representing the Humboldt Trails Council and Hank Seemann, Deputy Director, Humboldt County Public Works about the upcoming Trails Summit. It will take place at the Wharfinger Building in Eureka on June 4th.

As we approach the beginning of our 10th year of Happy Trails we are moving into a new era. In addition to Emily Sinkhorn, we are joined by 3 more co-hosts, Jessica Hall, Michael Kauffman, and Scott Machen. Each new host brings their area of expertise to the table each week on KHUM's trail advocacy show.

This morning Emily and I spoke with Mike Foget, an engineer with SHN about progress on the Annie and Mary Rail Trail. This is a project that thus far has been 20 years in the making. Back in 2008, the North Coast Railroad Authority agreed in principle to the utilization of the corridor to create a multi use trail between Blue Lake and Arcata. The first phase will be in the city of Blue Lake itself. The next step will include funding for this phase and preliminary work on the next phase, Blue Lake to Glendale.

This morning Emily Sinkhorn and I talked about accomplishments in trails for the year, and what to expect in 2017. We looked at the Red Cap Road Bikeway in Orleans, the Freshwater Farms Nature Trail, Bike Month, the First Annual Humboldt County Trails Summit, Lacks Creek, Ped and bike safety improvements in Fortuna and McKinleyville, construction on the northern end of the Bay Trail, and active studies for the southern end. We also talked about the Eureka Waterfront Trail and last weekend's grand opening of the next phase of the trail making for a contiguous 2.5 miles of trails thus far. We also looked at the possible completion of the trail in 2017.

This morning Roger James and I spoke with Bob Ornelas and Eli Pence who are both taking part in the upcoming Aids?LifeCycle coming up June 3rd though the 9th. About 3,000 riders will ride between San Francisco and Los Angeles to raise money for Aids Research and more. This 545 mile ride has be going on for many years, in fact, Bob has been doing this for 13 years.