Transition Bikes Blog

Tiny pockets of spring growth and morels erupting from fragile soil inspired building new trail features.

To an unsuspecting eye the forest in Twisp, Washington, looked like a singed wasteland, but under closer investigation it was thriving with new growth. This spring, Transition Bikes took 10 employees to the small town slammed up against the eastern Cascades for an opportunity to revive a dormant trail that had been scorched by forest fires last summer. Tiny pockets of green vegetation and morels erupting from fragile soil inspired building new trail features which unlocked years of our childhoods we thought had long been forgotten. While walking the old trail devising a plan, our boots squished through the barren landscape's hydrophobic soil as if we were walking through a forest floor made of frosting.

With the majority of the forest in ruin, the ground’s squishy characteristics left us wondering about new life and creation. 

“For a while some people would grumble about things having gotten burned, but I’ve just been looking at it as a way for us to improve and make things different while rebuilding the trails, and I think people are catching on to that.” said Joe Brown, owner of Methow Cycle and Sport as well as active member of Methow’s Evergreen MTB Alliance Chapter board. Luckily for us, Joe’s ideas paralleled what we had in mind for our three days in Twisp. The 1.5 mile stretch of Pete’s Dragon that had been slated for us to work on would be the perfect opportunity for us to color inside–and a whole lot outside–the pre fire lines!

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