Stickman was the name that a friend in Colorado gave to those-that-try-to-obscure-trail-entrances-&-exits-with-slash. It’s funny to see that these methods are pretty much universal in mountain biking for keeping secret trails hidden. Ironically, my eyes tend to see the trail through these attempts because I used to do it myself.
I really don’t know if the Yogi Bear trail in Truckee can really be considered “secret” anymore but the locals are doing their best to obscure anyone new from finding it (like me). (Helpful hint locals: it also helps to remove the maps and GPX tracks available online if one uses Google.) So yeah, I found it really easily because someone posted it on their Map my Ride page. I don’t think I would’ve found it otherwise as I didn’t have any locals in tow.
The ride I did was about 16 miles that started with a nice mellow dirt road climb and ended with a raging singletrack downhill all the way back to the car. It was a pretty well thought-out trail that I’m learning is very “Norcal” in it’s style…strategically placed trail alignment to take advantage of the rounded granite rocks to ride and jump, custom berms on most of the turns, some nice features all in all and a lookout towards the top complete with a stickered ‘bivy box’ that has a few snacks in it if you’re bonking and want to sign the roster. This trail had a full-on locals feel – something that I’m not but kinda wish I was. I felt like I could’ve been in my old homeland of Ned but I dare say this trail topped most anything there. Hours upon hours of work has gone into this sweet trail, I was very impressed.
