New North Shore trail art reveals secret world of trail builders (PHOTOS)

Jun 28 2016, 8:36 am

A Vancouver man has created an outdoor art gallery along two new trails on Mount Seymour, to show mountain bikers and hikers how the trails were built.

Photographer Euan Forrester has placed 20 large photographs along the trails, showing their creation, along with information explaining the installation.

Forrester took the photos over nine months, when he followed the trail builders as they constructed Penny Lane and the Good Sir Martin trails from scratch.

He paid for the project himself and calls it Evidence of Trail Fairies.

“I did this to try and help people become more aware of the work that goes into the extensive network of trails we have in Vancouver,” Forrester told Daily Hive.

“I wanted to put a human face on the many volunteers who put thousands of hours into the trails that many of us take for granted.”

In an extensive blogpost on the project, Forrester says he always knew there was a group of trail builders out there somewhere.

“They might do a few trail days, but mostly they’re out there working alone, and they’re often responsible for the raddest stuff that we all get to ride.”

Then he heard about Martin Newman and Penny Deck, who were planning to build new trails with the help of other trail builders; Forrester asked to tag along.

“This seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn more about the sometimes-secretive world of trail building,” Forrester writes.

Forrester says Newman spent 754 hours building the trails, Deck worked for 481 hours, while others put in 647 hours, bringing the total build to 1882 hours of work.

“In these photos I want to show the experience I observed of being a trail builder: appreciating the beauty of nature, caring for it, and being dwarfed by it.”

The trail and art installation are free and open to all walkers, hikers, runners, and mountain bikers; Forrester’s photographs will be displayed until September 2016.

Alternatively, you can view the entire project on Forrester’s photography website: euanforresterphotography.com

Jenni SheppardJenni Sheppard

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