Lots of you hearken back from a day were there were far fewer homes, more open space, cattle, and lots of trails. Over the years we have seen a progressive decline in the number of trails. Not that any trail lost to development is/was easy but one that really kicked it off for me and definitely hurt a lot was the loss of the Intestines, both Big and Small, to the development on the north mesas of Penasquitos.
It seems to not happen often enough but I am here to give a little good news. There will be brand new single track going in at the top of Cobbles, over on the side where Intestines used to be. I just walked it with the developers, biologists, and landscapers. It will be just over a 1/2 mile long and be built to the same standards we are using on Black Mountain.
Hold on, did you say developers?
Yes, yes I did. Pardee came to SDMBA and asked for help establishing a 48" wide single track (NOT 8 FT DG SIDEWALK) through some of their canyons. 3 of us jumped at the opportunity to map it out.
Over the last couple of months we have met with the city and developers to come up with a viable plan. The end result will be not as narrow as the tunnels but definitely have that tunnel flavor. It will be snug along a north facing slop, cross a dry drainage and cross into a second canyon staying on that north slope as well. The brush is high and dense so after the initial clearings, we will have something to cheer about rather than loath.
The build dates will most likely be in March. Nothing other than flags out there right now. Brushing by a landscaper starts Monday. Walked the whole route with him and made sure all expectations were clearly understood. I love the fact they want to keep it narrow too. They were quoted saying "Too narrow is better than too wide. You can always widen it if needed, not the other way around." Somebody pinch me!
Map:
Red is the trail aligment to be built
Green is the existing road/trail out to the paved street
Yellow is descending into Cobbles
Stay tuned for trail build dates in March!