PORT TOWNSEND — Dozens of bicyclists, hikers, runners and horseback riders raised funds for trails Sunday during the Longest Day of Trails event on the Larry Scott Memorial Trail.
The shroud of mist failed to dampen their spirits as they covered miles of the hard gravel path with the hopes of raising a few thousand dollars in donations and pledges.
Garth Gourley of Port Townsend said the 11-member Broken Spoke bicycle racing team was raising money through pledges for miles pedaled. He planned to cover 60 miles while others were aiming to reach 100 miles.
“I joke that this is the Larry Scott Memorial Superhighway trail for bikers, equestrians and hikers” because of the nice surface along its six miles, Gourley said.
Sunday’s event was designed to bring together the various users of the trail, highlight the usefulness of the trail for tourism and commerce and to raise money for the organizations involved, said event coordinator Nicole Sexton of Port Townsend.
The Jefferson Trails Coalition, which is a chapter of the Peninsula Trails Coalition, the Quimper Trails Association and the Pacific Northwest Trails Association all participated in the second annual Longest Day of Trails.
“We all use the trail,” Sexton said. “We can all support the trail. I live further down the trail, and I bike into town on it all the time.”
Sexton said she hoped to double the amount raised during the inaugural event last year. The Longest Day of Trails brought in $2,000 last year for the participating organizations, she said.
Jeff Selby of Port Hadlock and Chuck Preble of Sequim, vice presidents of the Peninsula Trails Coalition, pedaled to raise money for their organization while hoping to bring more attention to the need for Jefferson County to extend the existing trail to Four Corners, then Discovery Bay with the intention to connect eventually with the Olympic Discovery Trail at Blyn.
That connection will go a long way toward realizing a 100-mile North Olympic Peninsula trail that extends from Port Townsend to LaPush — with connections to the Olympic National Park trail system.
“That money goes for lunches for volunteers working on the trails or for tools and materials,” Selby said. “Our goal is to connect the entire trail from Port Townsend to LaPush.”
Jefferson County has lagged far behind Clallam County in developing the trail system, though, Preble said.
While the neighboring county has built miles and miles of trail, only six miles of the Larry Scott Memorial Trail has so far been completed.
“We’ve been working on this trail for about 25 years, and in the past 20 years, Jefferson County has only completed six miles and has another 24 miles to connect up with the Olympic Discovery Trail,” Selby said.
“At the rate they’re going, it’ll take another 80 years.”
Preble said the multiuse trail can attract tourists as well as serve residents as a nonmotorized route into town. Both aspects would help the local economy.
“Trails have a huge business development side and can have a huge tourist draw,” Preble said.
“We recently had a marathon on the Olympic Discovery Trail [from Sequim to Port Angeles] over in Clallam County. You can’t run a marathon over here because there’s not enough miles of trail.”
The day began quite early for event planners — literally the crack of dawn — 5:11 a.m. sunrise. Plans called for volunteers to ride, walk, run, bike or stroll right through to sunset.
“There were people here at 5 a.m.,” Sexton said. “The Port Townsend Running Club came for their usual Sunday run at 7:30 a.m.”
She said about 30 people had registered with the organization, though others may not have signed up for the fundraiser, which was entirely by donation of a suggested $10 or per mile pledges.
“We have horses, bikes, dogs and people walking and running,” Sexton said. Each user group “is pretty well represented.”
The event is also an opportunity for members of the various groups to get to know one another and for the general public to learn about the organizations and their efforts.
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Philip L. Watness is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend. He can be reached at whatnews@olypen.com.
