A few issues on Big River
Last week Anthony & I took the director of the Water Resources Board, Kenneth Burke, and representative Ray Sullivan mountain biking in Big River. We did a reasonable tour of about 9 miles. From Burnt Saw Mill we hit the recently finished logging project, the broken log bridge (a possible future ri nemba project), the historic marker for the blue barrel (Sweet Saw Mill). “burnt house” intersection, up to the Cardi Road, over to where they want to widen it by the beaver dam (big controversy), an example of the re-opened field’s project by “shoot the moon”, down to near Tarbox Pond, NE turnpike and back through “out & back”. We talked a lot about Big River, who uses it and how, the minimum impact of mountain biking, my regular pitch. It went very well.
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Also, some BR riders might have noticed new orange paint on some trials in Big River in the last two weeks. Trees and some roots are painted orange in either an “xx” or “oo” on the Carr Pond side and a bit into the Big River side down the Hopkin’s Hill expressway to the wall. I left a note (tree mail) in the woods Veterans Day asking for the tagger to call me and they did. Its a group of trail runners who marked two loops. They are mostly national guard. The woman who called was apologetic once we talked. They get spread out as they run and some of them get lost.
This obviously points out another example of why we hope some day we (RI nemba) could do a real trail marking system and kiosks and maps at the trail heads. Maybe this would help put a stop to the amazing array of paint in the woods.
best wishes
huffin & puffin pete