Mountain Biking Trails Face a New Threat: Poaching
In the forests of Bellingham’s Galbraith Mountain, trail builders struggle to find balance between maintaining accessible trails and impatient mountain bikers.
Henry Tamondong drops into Unemployment Line on Galbraith Mountain. // Tarn Bregman
Story and Photos by Tarn Bregman
This article has been republished from the Spring 2021 The Comeback Issue. For more information, contact The Planet Team at planet@wwu.edu
May 24, 2023
The clang of a shovel rings out as the earth is reshaped, the sound swallowed by the trees towering overhead and the pouring of rain. Andy Grant, a trail builder for the Bellingham-based The ShireBuilt, stops to examine his work. Grant has an ah-ha
moment and promptly grabs another shovel full of dirt, throwing it on the takeoff of his new creation. Grant is likely alone on the mountain, it’s a Tuesday late in the evening, fifty degrees and raining, conditions not even the most die-hard mountain bikers would want to find themselves in. Grant whistles; it’s time to go home. With no response he
whistles again. The peaceful silence of the rain fall is broken as branches begin to snap and bend. Grant’s dog, Buddha, comes tearing out of the tree line, a massive piece of a log between his jaws. For these two, this has been just another day on Galbraith Mountain.
The mountain is home to over 65 miles of rideable trails, ranging from greens to pro-lines, and is Washington State's premier location for adrenaline junkies to get their fix on two-wheels. However, a new threat is leaving these coveted trails at risk; poaching.
Trail poaching has become a growing issue for trail builders. Trail poaching is when bikers choose to ride a trail that is closed, often setting back the work that has been done, resulting in trail closure for a longer period of time. Extended trail closures can affect the budget of trail workers, the work of trail crews and the safety of the trails themselves.
“[Trail poaching] is basically trail use when the builders have not authorized it,” Grant said. “The trails are in a state where they’re more delicate, it’s wet, not packed all the way in. There is a half finished project so it’s not safe.”
Damage done to a jump on Galbraith Mountain that was poached shortly after creation. Rainfall makes jumps softer and more susceptible to damage. // Photo courtesy of Andy Grant.
Trail poaching has had significant effects on the timeliness and work of the trail builders. Grant said the trails can take months to build and even months to repair. The work is often planned for the fall and end of winter so the trails can run smoothly during the riding season.
“Obviously the reason we are building trails is to get people out there and have people enjoy them, but it just sets us back when it’s not [worked on and opened] in the right time frame,” Grant said. “When it’s a public trail it’s kind of a more delicate matter because once you open that trail it’s open to everyone.
Trail poaching often occurs due to riders' lack of knowledge, riders don’t often understand that trails are closed due to the weather and that the wet or muddy dirt can do more damage to trail features than good.
“I don’t want to point out Seattleites because I don’t mind, and I am stoked people are coming up, people should travel here,” Grant said. “But I hear the things like, ‘Oh, but I drove from two or three hours away like that entitles me to [ride closed trails]. ”
Andy Grant ‘stacks’ dirt on the landing of a jump on Mohawk, a trail on Galbraith Mountain. // Tarn Bregman
Poaching has also affected the budget of local trail organizations like the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition (WMBC).
“I am sure that it affects the WMBC’s budget,” said Ian Webster, a trail building instructor for the WMBC Youth Trail Corp program. “Everyday [WMBC employees] are working [they’re] getting paid, everyday I am working with the Youth Trail Corps I’m getting paid. Any minor setback is gonna cost them money out of their pocket that could be going towards the parking lot [expansion] or building other trails.”
Trail poaching can also be expensive for volunteer trail builders as well, many of whom need to purchase their own tools.
“The more you use a shovel the more likely it is to break. And that stuff does add up over time. The more work you do, the more tools you end up buying,” Webster said.
To combat this issue trial builders like Webster and Grant have used multiple strategies which typically include a single sign stating the trail is closed. Grant said that in severe cases where poaching keeps occurring, trail builders might ‘X’ off jumps by placing a heavy log or rock in front of a feature they don’t want ridden.
Buddha, Grant’s dog, sits in front of the closed trail Mohawk on Galbraith Mountain. Tape blocks the entrance of the trail, showing that the trail is temporarily closed. // Photo courtesy of Andy Grant.
Grant has noticed with the outbreak of COVID-19, and the limiting of team sports and travel, that there are many new faces on the mountain.
“There’s just a lot of new people riding, which is great! It is sweet [that] mountain bikes are becoming more mainstream,” Grant said. “But not everyone is going to get that trail etiquette right off the bat and I think it’s just kind of sharing trail etiquette.”
Rider etiquette is typically something learned over time and not initially taught.
“When I first started riding growing up in Chicago, I definitely was riding trails I shouldn’t have been because they weren’t ready yet. I definitely played a role in messing up trails,” said Henry Tamondong, a frequent rider on Galbraith Mountain.
It was Tamondong’s father who told him how difficult it could be for trail builders to completely redo the trails, which gave him a new perspective.
“I am really affecting someone else’s workload and I am affecting the trail itself,” Tamondong said.
As this year moves into the summer months, trail crews will be spending less time behind the shovel and more time on their bikes, reaping the rewards of their hard work. Nonetheless, trail poaching can continue to affect the crew’s work and budget if the issue persists in the following years.
“I think getting the word out there and explaining to people why they shouldn’t [poach trails] is going to be beneficial to the community as a whole, because then the trail you rebuilt will get packed in fully and they hold up better over the summer,” Webster said. “And they’re gonna be more fun, and for a lot of people that’s just kinda a slap in the face to have somebody go ride your freshly built trail and destroy it.”
Andy Grant jumps his mountain bike at the base of Mohawk, a jump trail on Galbraith Mountain located in Bellingham, Wash. // Tarn Bregman
Tarn Bregman is an environmental studies student with an interest in journalism. He has worked as a reporter, editor and photographer for The Planet. Tarn hopes to use his outlet at The Planet to report on environmental issues he feels passionate about. Outside of his interest in journalism Tarn enjoys backpacking, skiing and fishing.