Spring 2001 - Blanchard Mountain

Trail Block
by Veronica Bruffy

Members of the local mountain biking group WHIMPS want to build a trail between Lost an Lizard Lakes. The meeting room was full of a variety of recreational go-getters. More than 30 hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians, hang-gliders, llama packers, foresters, land managers, biologists, environmentalists and representatives from Bellingham, Whatcom and Skagit County Parks and Recreation Departments gathered to discuss the future of area trails. The groups set a goal to improve the Chuckanut Mountain trails system, located on the dividing line of Skagit and Whatcom Counties, with a compromise that would allow multi-use activities in the development plans.

One proposed improvement to the trail system on Blanchard Mountain was a plan for the Lost-Lizard Lake Trail, which would unite Lost Lake in Whatcom County’s Larrabee State Park and Lizard Lake, located on Blanchard Mountain in Skagit County. This trail would be the first and likely only connection of Larrabee State Park to the Southern Chuckanut Mountains.

"I’m eager to get into the Lost-Lizard Trail," said Ken Wilcox, project manager for the Chuckanut Mountain Trails Master Plan and author of Hiking Whatcom County. "It would be a lot of fun to have the opportunity to hike a huge loop from Larrabee to Blanchard." The proposed six-mile link would allow all kinds of non-motorized traffic. It would pass through several types of terrain — from recently logged sections to mature forest — and would pass over Oyster Creek.

According to the Chuckanut Mountain Trails Master Plan, the Lost-Lizard Trail is a high priority trail because it connects the Northern and Southern Chuckanuts. The trail will provide access to backcountry camping, and terrain for anything from walking and hiking to mountain biking or horse riding. Users could enjoy the breathtaking views of the San Juan Islands to the west, the Samish Bay Flats to the south, Mount Baker to the east and the Chuckanut Mountains to the north.

The trails would avoid linking the nearby logging roads to retain the remote character of the area between Lost and Lizard Lakes.

The Whatcom Independent Mountain Pedalers a non-profit recreational mountain biking interest group, want to build the trail themselves. Mark Petersen, president of the organization, said volunteers have already begun marking the proposed Lost-Lizard Trail route. Petersen and three other WHIMPs have spent 80 hours surveying the trail.

"The parks department wants the trail to be able to survive with a minimal amount of maintenance," Petersen said. "They don’t have a lot of man power so they want a trail that can be sustainable." Petersen feels volunteer work should be able to keep the trail up to par. "If everyone does a little every time they ride or hike, the trails will stay well maintained," Petersen said.

WHIMPs volunteer members have put in more than 1,000 hours of trail building and maintenance in Whatcom County since October 2000.

"WHIMPs is the most active trail maintenance organization in Whatcom County," Petersen said. "We have 15 years of trail building experience under our belts." "But the Backcountry Horsemen do the most work up on Blanchard Mountain," Petersen added.

WHIMPs began building trails in 1993, when it hosted the Padden MTN Pedal. At that time, a section of the three-mile Lake Padden loop called the "drop of death," was constructed inefficiently with a 45-percent grade in some sections, thus inviting erosion and rapid trail deterioration.

WHIMPs notified the Bellingham City Parks Department and volunteered to perform the necessary trail work to raise the quality of not only the "drop of death," but the whole Lake Padden Loop to handle multi-use activity.

WHIMPs has helped complete the Lost Lake Trail, the Pacific Northwest Trail and Galbraith Mountain trails, among others.

Petersen said he and other WHIMPs want to bypass a contractor and do the work themselves. They hope to get the Lost-Lizard Trail built in a manner that would benefit all recreational users.

WHIMPs hopes to begin construction of the Lost-Lizard Trail this year. "The Lost-Lizard connector was proposed back in 1996 in the Chuckanut Trails Master Plan, but no one ever took the responsibility to begin construction," Petersen said. A steering committee, including concerned citizens and interested users groups, completed the Chuckanut Mountain Trails Master Plan in June of 1996. "The idea of the multi-use trails was definitely controversial," Wilcox said. "The horses don’t like the bikes, and the hikers don’t like the bikes, and the bikers just want to go everywhere!"

The committee’s goal was to develop a plan for a comprehensive trail system in the Chuckanut Mountains. At that time roughly 60 miles of trail existed in the area, and the committee wanted to take advantage of the many available recreation opportunities. Joan Casey, hiker and member of the steering committee, said the proposed system would be constructed when time, money and commitment were available.

The plan laid the groundwork for a number of trails, which would connect, combine or reinforce the existing trails in the Chuckanuts.

The steering committee spent seven months preparing the final plan for public presentation. Casey said a grant from the Non-Highway Off-Road Vehicle Activities program provided funding for the plan. The funding didn’t include the construction of the trails, which can be quite costly.

"We are talking several hundred thousand dollars here," said Wilcox.

Although WHIMPs have had trail building success in the past, Wilcox said he wants to proceed with caution when constructing the Lost-Lizard Trail.

"When volunteers come in and say, ‘Hey, we can build a trail,’ you have to think in two ways: One, it will be cheaper to use volunteers, and the trail will most likely be up and running sooner, but you also have to realize that these volunteers are not experts in trail building," Wilcox said. "It’s tough for volunteers to build a trail in a wet and steep environment — Blanchard has both these traits."

Wilcox said he believes hiring a contractor to construct the Lost-Lizard Trail is critical. He reasons that a contractor would have the necessary skills, material and equipment to construct a trail, where the proposed route meanders through difficult terrain such as steep slopes, marshy wetlands, wildlife habitats and lower-canopy plants.

The trail must be built properly the first time, so everyone can continue to enjoy its varied terrain.

"Blanchard is a place anyone can go, a place only 15 minutes away for most of us, a place to release your soul and absorb Washington," said Brian Beatty, coordinator for the Associated Students Outdoor Center at Western.

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