The trails, the trails they are a callin'

I'm almost embarrassed to go back and look at my last blog posting, based on the research I've done since then. It turns out that just about everything I proposed, and some things I didn't propose but were just thinking about, are already well underway.

The Key West to the Canadian Border hike/bike path? It's called the East Coast Greenway. They even liken it to a version of the Appalachian Trail, just like I did!

Aiming to connect all the major cities of the East Coast along a continuous, off-road path, the East Coast Greenway spans 3,000 miles from Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida. With the trail now 21 percent open for public use, individuals and communities all along the East Coast are already beginning to enjoy the Greenway's many health and economic benefits. But still, there's much to be done.

Frequently likened to an urban Appalachian Trail, this remarkable trail has the potential to enhance the lives of millions of Americans for generations to come.

I was really impressed by all the work that's been done on this trail so far. They've joined forces with Rails-to-Trails and a myriad of local groups to work out something truly impressive... not the least of which is the route that uses old US 1 along the Florida Keys (which I also suggested in the last blog!) That's the Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail, and that's also already underway.

The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail (FKOHT) is a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian facility currently under design and construction by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Greenways & Trails (OGT). Ultimately, the vision is of a scenic corridor extending from Key Largo to Key West that serves not only as a highway, but a recreational greenway that permits hiking, running, bicycling, in-line skating, sightseeing, fishing and kayaking. We envision an integrated system of educational kiosks, roadside picnic areas, scenic overlooks, fishing piers and cat walks, boat ramps, water access points, bicycle and jogging paths as well as a myriad of compatible small businesses and services in the nearby area that support these uses. The Old Keys Bridges serve as a central component of this vision, providing opportunities for fishing, sightseeing, recreation and historical reflection. The bridges will also allow safe opportunities for alternative transportation uses of the corridor by allowing people to get from island to island, linking the different communities and their complimentary character.

The trail will link unique ecological resources such as the Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, The Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge, Crocodile Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Key West National Marine Sanctuary, as well as 10 State Parks. When completed, the trail will provide alternative transportation for residents and visitors of the Keys, support facilities for recreation both on land and from the water, and will use public art to interpret the natural and cultural history of the Florida Keys. The trail runs parallel to US 1 and is an integral part of the Florida Keys Scenic Highway Project. The fishing bridges offer a significant and unique opportunity for a greenway/transit system.

One of the nicest surprises was the plan for a route around Manhattan Island in New York: The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway.



I grew up on Long Island with usually nothing more than a bicycle to get around, and I made several wildly dangerous trips into Manhattan. It was fun for the thrills (I wrote an unsuccessful college application essay on what it's like to ride across the Queensboro Bridge during rush hour), but I often envisioned bike paths around and leading into the city.

More research revealed trails all over the country, including the coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail. This trail travels over 5,000 non-motorized miles (6,800 if you count where the trail splits into two parallel trails between Colorado and Ohio), going through 15 states from Limantour Beach at Point Reyes National Seashore in California to Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware. The first through-hikers did the entire route (east to west) from Feb. 27, 2005 to October 15, 2005.



And last but not least was the humble state of Montana, which seems to have plenty of trail potential but not much has come to fruition as of yet. There is, of course, the , Continental Divide Trail which goes from Glacier National Park down to Mexico. However, only the faintest inklings of an east-west trail currently exist. Which is not to say they don't exist at all. The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has been doing work along the old Milwaukee Road electric train line, which ran from Chicago to Puget Sound until the early '80s.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
In 1910, the railroad known as the “Milwaukee Road” stretched over 1,000 miles from Chicago to Seattle; yet by 1980, most of the corridor had become abandoned. Washington State purchased their portion of the corridor at the time of abandonment and today it is known as the John Wayne Pioneer Trail.
In 2002, the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy began work to create a trail along the 500-mile corridor in Montana and Idaho celebrating the historical, natural and cultural richness of the Milwaukee Road. To date, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has performed historical research, conducted state legal reviews, and gathered funding information as part of extensive assessment and feasibility studies. We have also organized trail groups, conducted training sessions, and provided technical assistance which has catalyzed additional rail-trail projects in the state. This year, 35 new miles of trail will be opened to the public with other sections scheduled for completion in the near future.

They've completed the 145-mile long John Wayne Pioneer Trail in Washington State, and they've completed a good stretch through Northern Idaho. I've been on the Kim Williams Trail in Missoula, which is a segment of the project, and I'm told a new segment will open in Butte in the next few weeks. But there's still huge swaths of open prairie left to go.

But, get this! In my research I came across another trail: The North Country Trail, which begins at Lake Champlain on the New York/Vermont border and travels west to Lake Sakakawea State Park in Central North Dakota.

Hey, North Country people! Why stop in the middle of North Dakota? All you have to do is go a little farther west and you'll be in Montana, and then you can hook up with the Old Milwaukee people!

Then we can all get together and celebrate with a keg of good, cheap beer.

The Interstate Trail System

Another hare-brained scheme

Enough about cars. I don’t want to write about them, I don’t want to hear about them, I don’t want to see them, I don’t want to ride in them. I just want to ride my bike.

Okay, so Bozeman’s covered in snow and it’s not the easiest thing to do. Ah, well. A few years back I drilled machine screws into my tires, creating studded snow tires for my bike. They worked well on the ice, but they added a good deal of rolling resistance overall. Nowadays I just say winter is for cars, the rest of the year is for bikes.

Bozeman, with its university and masses of adrenaline-dripping outdoor recreationists, never seems to have a shortage of bicyclists plying its streets, even in winter. I’ve even seen a few extra-hardy souls panting their way sixteen miles up Bridger Canyon, a snowboard strapped to their backs. Clearly, some people are insane.

But it’s not like that in other parts of the country. Most notably California, where it’s warm and sunny much of the year (not to mention pancake flat in the places I’ve been). Despite ideal conditions, riders are hard to find. Well, not too hard. They’re all on the bike paths.

I suppose it’s not unreasonable that bicyclists are afraid of riding on streets. The streets are designed for cars, not bikes, and when faced with timed stop lights and turn lanes at every intersection, cyclists are clearly at a disadvantage. Would you want your small children riding around on busy streets? Probably not. Many kids grow up not knowing how to ride in traffic, so never do.

Despite given a great deal of lip service to how everybody ought to ride bikes to work and school and everywhere else, with modern traffic systems it’s highly impractical and unsafe. “Oh, take the bike path,” they say… but where does the bike path go? Quite possibly not where you want to go. Most bike paths seem to be almost exclusively for recreation, and not for commuting. Although there’s been heightened awareness in recent years, rarely do bike paths link communities.

So what’s my hare-brained scheme? An interstate trail system, just for bikes and hikers. It’s based on the idea that there are people who’d be perfectly happy not driving anywhere, if only they could do it safely and conveniently.

My original inspiration for this was the Appalachian Trail, a hiking trail extending from Georgia to Maine. While it’s certainly possible to hike bits and pieces of the trail, every year a few hundred hike the entire distance. I’ve been on parts of this trail, and it’s not easy. Brutal comes to mind, especially considering the size packs people carry with them.

So at first I was just thinking along the lines of an easier A-Trail, one that you could take a mountain bike on — following along the foothills, perhaps, and traveling through the middle of towns when appropriate. Naturally I wanted my trail, which I dubbed the “Bee-Line” (as an acknowledgement of the A-Trail’s superiority, as well as “B” for “Bikes”), to go all the way from Key West to the border of Maine and Canada. Someone suggested using old railroad right-of-ways… which totally makes sense, as the Rails-to-Trails program is already well underway across the nation.

There’s two keys to the Bee-Line: The first is tentatively mapping a desired route, but having a de facto route using existing roads that can be used immediately. It could take decades to obtain rights to the land and build trails, but as long as alternatives exist and people use them, it’ll provide impetus to carrying out the plan.

The second is that dirt is okay. In Calfornia every bike path I ever set wheels on was paved. Why is this necessary? Bozeman has a huge bike/hike trail system that’s completely unpaved, and there doesn’t seem to be any protest at all. Most bikes have tires fat enough to be right at home on dirt. The exceptions are the fancy pants skinny-tired road bikes, but those things go too fast for bike paths, anyway. They’re more at home on streets and highways. Plus, part of this concept is the natural experience, and asphalt takes away from that.

I chose Key West as a starting point specifically because there’s an old road that runs alongside the current highway, which goes the entire length from the mainland to Key West. Originally build as the part of the Flagler railroad, the rails were converted to a highway after hurricane damage. The current road replaced it in the early 80s, but it’s still there. And a lot of it is now used for a bike path, but the old bridges are in pieces — literally, chunks of them are missing.

It would be no small expense to repair these bridges to be adequate for bike and pedestrian travel. But when I think about the Interstate Highway System and the amount of money we put into our automobile roads and bridges, it strikes me as a double standard. Don’t we want people to get around in ways other than cars?

Right now I’m seeing a lot of interest in bike paths and trails covering short distances — which is great. But long distance bike/hike trails could spawn an industry unto itself, perhaps even revitalizing depressed small towns that are on the route. Along with the Bee-Line, there could be routes crisscrossing the nation, just like the Interstate Highway System. That was a bold, monumental idea for its time; I don’t see why this should be thought of any differently.