Share the Trails!
I’ve been traveling a lot to some beautiful parts of the United States, and I’ve had some really nice runs in some wonderful places. (e.g., This morning’s run next to the Vermillion River in Western Montana.) However, I have never seen anything as nice as what we have in Sacramento and the surrounding area. The American River Parkway is a treasure. The multi-use trails in the foothills spoil us. In our area, different user groups have banded together to advocate trail development, protection and maintenance. In other parts of the US, I find myself sharing the beauty with speeding cars and trucks.
Yesterday, the Bee’s Sam McManis had an excellent article and description of one of those local multi-use trails: The Olmstead Loop trail. His story includes an account of a somewhat tense interaction with horseback riders that brought back memories of several encounters of my own with horse people. One time stands out in my mind. While running with a friend near Cool we came across a horse and rider. The rider demanded that we get off the trail so she could pass. At that moment, we were surrounded by an ocean of poison oak. A testy conversation followed.
Most of my encounters with horsemen and women have been fine. Most of these horses are amazing animals. However, some riders give me the impression that their horses have no business being on a multi-use trail. Is it too much to ask for folks to only bring horses that are well trained (or at least well socialized) onto these trails?
Obviously, we runners do need to respect that almost any horse can get spooked and potentially hurt themselves or their riders. It’s only reasonable to stop running and acknowledge the horse and rider as they approach. How we talk to each other at this point will flavor the memory of the encounter and how we feel in future encounters.
All of us users need to realize that unless we stick together,we’ll lose these trails. All the groups do work to maintain the trails and keep them wonderful. Can’t we all just get along?
We ARE spoiled in the Sacto area when it comes to the different users being not just respectful, but friendly and helpful out on the trails. My experience with horseback riders has been positive. Outside of Cool, I am pleased to encounter them, to say hello when I yield the trail as best I can. Gotta respect the horses. It’s not hard to most of the time; they’re beautiful animals handled by good folk. Strangely, the rare bad will I’ve encountered has always been in the trails around Cool. Don’t know why, but I’ve been snapped at without provocation more than a few times.
1Without saying so, the article brought out a good point that we all need all of our senses when running on trails – especially multi-use trails such as the Olmstead Trail. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen runners out there with head-phones on rocking in their own world oblivious to what might be going on around them. Without the headphones on, a runner might pick up the sounds of the nearby horses – whether its the conversations between the riders or other sounds. But horse people need to be aware of what’s going on, too. I once encountered a horse and rider going full speed uphill from No Hands Bridge towards Cool – on a Sunday morning in the 27th -28th hour of Western States!
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