A Neighbor on the North Fork Builds Its Own Trip Program
A fellow North Fork American River group is standing up its own hiking and cleanup program, backed by its own liability insurance. Their first independent hike heads into China Bar near Blue Canyon.
American River Canyon Alliance
Good things are happening on the North Fork. The North Fork American River Alliance (NFARA) reports that it has purchased its own liability insurance. That step lets the group run an independent outings program.
Why does insurance matter? Until now, cleanup trips had to ride under agency coverage. That limited what a volunteer group could schedule on its own. With its own policy in place, NFARA can plan and lead trips directly. The group aims to build toward roughly a dozen hikes each year, plus several cleanup trips.
The first outing under the new program is a China Bar Trail hike. It drops into the North Fork of the North Fork American River, near Blue Canyon. NFARA scheduled the hike for Saturday, August 27, 2016.
We know this stretch of country. The canyons of the American River reward the people who walk into them. They also ask something back. Trails need boots on them. Riverbanks need hands to clear what others leave behind. A program that pairs hikes with cleanups does both at once.
We are glad to see a peer organization take this on. More trips mean more people who know these canyons first-hand. And people who know a place tend to protect it.
Full details are on the NFARA update page. If you hike the North Fork, this is worth a look.