It has taken me a lot longer than I anticipated to get this post done. Just before finishing and publishing it, I was informed there are some actions people can take regarding the Board of Game. Those opportunities are coming up soon. I have added that information to the bottom of this post.

You’ve probably heard about the damage done to the Pinnell Mountain National Recreation Trail and its environs by off-highway vehicles during the first few days of the August-September Fortymile Caribou Herd hunt. I have been researching the issue and trying to figure out solutions to avoid similar situations in the future.

It’s complicated.

Drew Harrington, a strong trail advocate for Interior trails, passed away in late October.

For those wanting to honor Drew’s memory, his wife Molly Yazwinski encourages people to make donations to local trails or outdoors groups. A list of possible groups is below.

Drew was a tireless supporter of trails and human-powered trail races in Interior Alaska. He was one of the state’s top endurance athletes, competing in many ski and trail running races in and out of Alaska. In an email to friends and colleagues, friend Bobby Gillis described many of Drew’s accomplishments including:

• Served as director of the Interior Alaska Northern Trails Running Series.
• Helped start and run the Tanana River Challenge―a multi-sport winter trail race on the Tanana River and Rosie Creek trail system.
• Helped start and run the Angel Creek 50, the Interior’s premier ultra-marathon trail running race held in the Chena River State Recreation Area.
• Regularly groomed the Rosie Creek trail system throughout the winter for local skiers, fatbikers, runners, dog walkers, mushers, and saunterers.
• Often organized work parties in the summer and fall to brush miles of trail, especially in the Rosie Creek area and the Chena River State Recreation Area.

Drew also donated his own time and materials for restoration of the Chena Dome Trail shelter on the Chena Dome Trail in the Chena River State Recreation area, Gillis wrote. Over two summers, Drew recruited friends to hike materials several miles into the non-motorized area. Together they repaired or replaced the wood stove, floor, exterior walls, cook shelf, and benches. They finished it off with a new coat of paint and an additional rainwater catchment system for clean drinking water.

Drew worked at the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. His colleagues there have worked with the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation to have the Chena Dome Trail shelter officially renamed the Drew Harrington Trail Shelter. A signs will be placed on and in the shelter, honoring his memory.

Drew died at the age of 40 after a six-year-long battle with brain cancer. His passing was too soon, but it is with some comfort to know that he stayed active. Just this summer he completed the AlaskAcross wilderness race in the Sawtooth Mountains north of Fairbanks and hiked the 60-mile Circle-Fairbanks Historic Trail.

To read more about Drew, see his obituary here. And Robert Hannon has reposted a 2018 Northern Soundings conversation with Drew about the Equinox Marathon and the Angel Creek 50. Listen to it here.

Possible Groups to Donate To in Honor of Drew

Alaska Skijoring and Pulk Association

• The ASPA grooms skijoring trails at a number of places around Fairbanks, as well as the walking trails around Creamer’s Wildlife Refuge.
• Donations: Go to the main page and scroll down to the Trail Donation section.

The Alaska Dog Mushers Association

• The ADMA maintains and grooms an extensive trail system between Farmer’s Loop and College roads.
• Donations: On the main page, look under “Passes and Sponsorships.” You can either Donate or buy a Membership/Trail Pass

University of Alaska Fairbanks

• The university maintains and grooms an extensive trail system on its campus. The University Trails Club assists with the trails.
• UA Donations: go to the UA Foundation (Designation > Other > then type in “UAF X Country Ski Trail Maintenance Fund #21256”)
• University Trails Club donations: On the main page click on Membership

Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks

• The NSCF maintains and grooms the trails at Birch Hill Recreation Area.
• Donations: On the main page click on the blue “Donate to the Birch Hill Trail Fund” button or go to Trails > Donate

Pearl Creek Nordic Park

• Volunteers maintain and groom this trail system near Pearl Creek Elementary School. The trails here tie into the UAF system through the Skarland Trail.
• Donations: Make check out to “Pearl Creek Community Park Fund” and send it to Tako Raynolds, 1819 Muskox Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-6626.

Goldstream Sports

• Employees of this store maintain and groom a classic-only ski trail system that starts from the store.
• Donations: Use the donation bucket in the store or pay online.

Interior Alaska Trails and Parks Foundation

• A group dedicated to developing, maintaining and promoting a year-round trails and parks system for the greater Fairbanks area and beyond.
• Donation: Send an email to IATPFoundation@gmail.com

Interior Alaska Land Trust

• While not specifically focused on trails, the IALT understands that trails are integral to connecting people to land and many of its projects have preserved trails and trailheads.
• Donation: On the main page go to Get Involved > Donate.

Alaska Trails

• This group is based in Anchorage, but it advocates for trails across the state.
• Donate: On its home page click on the blue Donate button.

Or Volunteer

Another way to honor Drew is to volunteer for races he cared about:

Tanana River Challenge

Angel Creek 50

Running Club North’s Northern Trails Running Series

Below are some pictures of Drew while he was co-directing the 2016 Angel Creek 50 (and one from 2015).

Updated Nov. 7, 2020 to recognize those who helped create the reroute. See under KUDOS below. Also added a paragraph about the potential dangers of a trail and driveway sharing the same space. It’s a few paragraphs down. Please be careful.

There has been a bit of a change on a small part of a Goldstream Valley trail.

Someone has built a driveway along a small portion of the Tanana Valley Railroad Trail that runs along the south side of Goldstream Valley on the west side of Ballaine Road. The driveway takes off from the northern part of Miller Hill Road and heads west.

Having trouble picturing where that’s at? I’ve created a Google Maps dot here: https://goo.gl/maps/QU1zmJSDaPwGfx3K9

This trail gets much more use in winter, so many people might not have noticed the change. It’s uncertain if and how the driveway will affect trail users. I have been told that the driveway owners don’t plan to block the trail. They have cleared a space just off the trail and hope to build a place before full winter hits. However, I have not talked to the landowners directly. If they don’t block the trail, and it’s not plowed down to dirt/gravel, then it may not be a problem. Time will tell. (Note: the landowners later decided to block the trail.)

Nov 7 update: Matt, mentioned below, pointed out that having a trail and a driveway share space creates the potential for dangerous situations. For example, if a dog team is using the trail just as a car turns onto that portion of the driveway. Or if a child runs out onto the trail when a snowmachine (or bike or musher) is moving down the trail a little fast. So, please be careful if you use this section of trail.

REROUTE
Neighbors (and others) have built a reroute around the driveway. It’s not completely obvious. If you are heading west on the trail, the reroute splits off from the main trail just before Miller Hill Road. That part is obvious. However, the reroute then heads south on Miller Hill Road for about 100 feet before turning off the west side of the road, going across the powerline easement and then into the woods (south of the driveway owner’s property). From there it goes 1200 feet or so until it joins the valley trail again.

Earlier update: After my post was made public, Kristin Eckwright shared it on the Goldstream Community Facebook page. A long conversation ensued which included whether or not the driveway would become a problem for trail users in the future. Some said no, others weren’t so sure. In any case, as Kristin wrote, the reroute is there if it is needed. She also provided a roughly drawn map of the reroute (below). Thank you again for providing the reroute in case it is necessary.

NO EASEMENT
That portion of the trail apparently does not have any sort of protection, such as an easement. It does appear to be in the Fairbanks North Star Borough’s Comprehensive Recreational Trails Plan. However, that is a planning tool. According to the plan, an easement would be required IF the land is subdivided. That doesn’t appear to be the case here. According to Bryant Wright, trails coordinator for the Fairbanks North Star Borough” it doesn’t appear that the land has ever been subdivided under the Borough’s code.”

KUDOS
So, hopefully no problems will result from this. And if there are problems, at least a reroute exists. Thank you to the people who put in the reroute and the landowner who allowed the trail to be rerouted across their property.

Nov 7 update: Since writing this post I have learned that Rob Pristash is the landowner who allowed the trail to be rerouted onto his property. Apparently, Rob has done a lot to help keep up the trails in the Goldstream Valley. Kristin (mentioned above) and Matt live on Rob’s land. They organized the work party to create the reroute. According to Matt, Kristin threw out “a message with non bias information requesting help. The next day I rented a brushhog and a couple of volunteers showed up. By the end of the day we had a trail.” One of those volunteers was Sven Grage. So, thank you to everyone who were involved with getting the reroute in!

CAUTIONARY STORY
This is another illustration of what happens when trails don’t have proper protections. This section of trail is small, but even a small section of trail can provide connection to a much larger network of trails.

Landowners can provide easement protections by filling out and filing an easement form found here.

If anyone wants to see what can be done about protecting that trail (or any others) please contact me (fbxtrails@gmail.com) or FNSB Trails Coordinator Bryant Wright (bryant.wright@fnsb.us;907-459-7401).

There are two resolutions coming up before the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly at its October 8 meeting. Both would allow the mayor to apply for Recreation Trails Program grants.

Resolution 2020-40 would be for rerouting trails in River Park Trail System at the Chena Lake Recreation Area. Sections of some trails have been lost due to erosion from high water in the Chena River.

Resolution 2020-41 would be to continue trails work in the Isberg Recreation Area. This would complete work started this year to harden a wet trail connection from the parking lot on Oboe Court to upland trails that are dry in the summer.

Neither of the resolutions commit money to the projects yet. They just allow the administration to apply for the grants. Committing the matching 10 percent funding would come only if the grant applications are successful.

These resolutions should pass without problem, but this is a great opportunity to express your support to the Assembly for trails in the borough.

Contact information for the assembly members is here:

http://www.fnsb.us/assembly/Pages/Assembly-Members.aspx

You can see the resolutions here.

Resolution 2020-40

Resolution 2020-41

The full October 8 Assembly member agenda can be found here.

Are you wondering what parts of the Equinox Marathon Trail are open for public use on top of Ester Dome? If so, I’ve put together an unofficial “Ester Dome Guide to the Pandemic Equinox Marathon.”

(Skip down to ESTER DOME GUIDE TO THE PANDEMIC EQUINOX MARATHON, if you want to avoid all the context.)

The official Equinox Marathon has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, rumor has it that many people plan to do their own version of the race, whether running, hiking, or a combination. (Some people have already done it.)

The race was to have been run this coming Saturday (September 19). I want to encourage people to do their own version of the Equinox, but I know that some people are nervous about trespass issues on top of Ester Dome. With that in mind, I’ve put together this guide.

(Note: This guide has NOT been approved by Running Club North nor by anyone with the Equinox Marathon. I have not sought their approval. I do not want them to endanger their good standing with the Alaska Ski Corporation.)

WHY THE NEED FOR A GUIDE?

Most of the Equinox Marathon course is open to the public. However, parts of it on top of Ester Dome that cross Alaska Ski Corporation Land are closed to the public. Normally, the corporation gives race-day permission for the Equinox. Unless you are told otherwise, those portions of land will remain closed to the public.

The parts that cross Alaska Ski Corporation land include:

• The trail north of Ester Dome Road around the first set of towers. In recent years the original trail was rerouted up a steep hill along a power line. The new section of trail is called The Zipper.
• The top part of the Alder Chute.

This guide offers legal routes around those sections. These routes, which exist along section lines, were deemed legal earlier this year by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The Alaska Ski Corporation disagrees, but until a higher authority overrules DNR, the DNR ruling stands.

Trails have been brushed out on these routes by Stan Justice, working for the Interior Trails Preservation Coalition, of which he is president. The ITPC has been working for years to gain legal access to the entire route of the Equinox Marathon. (I am a board member of the ITPC.)

No one from ITPC or any other group I know of plans to put directional signs out for a DIY marathon. You’re on your own. You can also run the traditional marathon course if you feel comfortable with the trespass issues. That’s up to you. I’m not endorsing that, especially since you have legal alternatives. You can find out about the course and other information about the marathon here: https://www.equinoxmarathon.org/

Note: At least one person said she plans on Saturday to put out some water jugs for people to fill from, and some snacks and a trash can.

ESTER DOME GUIDE TO THE PANDEMIC EQUINOX MARATHON

See map. Numbers below relate to numbers on the map. (Sorry for the double lines on the first part of Ester Dome Road. I thought I had clipped one of those.) I’ve added some pictures after the numbers below.

1. You can either go on the road over Ullrhavn (the first high point on Ester Dome Road) or around the Alder Tunnel, where the race was rerouted a couple of years ago. I don’t think the Mac Fields, Alaska Ski Corporation representative, will care if you use the Alder Tunnel, since he believes that is where the road should be routed.
2. This is directly across Ester Dome Road from the entrance of Styx River Road. You can go straight on Ester Dome Road or turn to the north (right) here.
   1. If you turn right, start on the old, old Equinox trail, but turn off it right away and continue straight up the newly cut trail. It is brushed but not cut down to soil. The newly cut trail is on the section line and is a legal public right-of-way according to DNR. Follow this, crossing over a rutted ATV trail, until the brushed out trail merges with the old Equinox Marathon trail.
   2. If you prefer to avoid this and just follow Ester Dome Road but you want to make up the lost distance, go backward on the course at the Y until you reach the first set of towers, then turn around and continue on the course. (This might be a tad more than you need to do, but, hey, more distance in a marathon is just more fun, right?)
3. This is where the new reroute meets the old course. It is also where the mining road (the Nugget Creek Trail) meets the singletrack trail that goes around the first set of towers.
4. This is the Y in Ester Dome Road. Deal with this as you have in the past. Continue straight on your way out to the Out-and-Back turnaround. On your way back, turn to the right (down Ester Dome Road).
5. At Styx River Road, take the newly cut route downhill. This brushed out trail switchbacks down the hill within the section line, which DNR has determined is a legal right-of-way. Follow this all the way down to where it hits an old mining road/trail.
6. When the newly cut trail hits the old mining road (Farmer’s Mine Road/Trail) turn left. Follow this until you get to #7.
7. This is the bottom of the Alder Chute. Continue past this and finish out the Equinox Marathon route as in the past.