With mounds of snow still surrounding the driveway, sparks fly as Billy Day creates sturdy new boardwalks for multi-use trails out of recycled metal.
“I'm liking to think they're going to be here when my great grandchildren are walking on the Homestead Trail,” Day said.
The project is part of an effort by local non-profit Homer Trails Alliance — or HTA for short — to improve access to the outdoors, said Sandy Cronland. She was a driving force in building a coalition of community members working to preserve, maintain, and create new hiking and biking trails in the area.
Day said that when he moved to Homer in 1981, no one was worried about maintaining the network of trails the area’s homesteaders used for decades. But with more development happening today, Cronland and Day see an urgent need to preserve the region’s trails.
“The work that the Homer Trails Alliance is doing is focused on — and is inspired by — trying to preserve some of these trails that have been around for so long, and are under threat,” Day said. “You know, we're under threat of losing them.”
Founded around two years ago, the growing organization hopes to both maintain existing trails and expand Homer’s pedestrian options, making sure there is year-round trail access, not just in winter months.
Part of that vision involves developing new trail infrastructure on 270 acres of city-owned land next to the existing Baycrest ski trails and demonstration forest. HTA is hoping to help turn the possibility of new trails there into reality.
“Our long term plan would be to have pedestrian connectivity all the way from the city-owned reservoir upon Crossman Ridge, all the way to the head of Diamond Creek down on the beach at the State Park,” Day said.
HTA is working with the Alaska Department of Transportation to design — and hopefully construct — a pedestrian underpass below the Sterling Highway to link to the existing trail on state land.
This could happen as soon as 2024 as part of scheduled road work, but Day said getting it added to the plan will take advocacy from the community.
This summer, HTA is collaborating with the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club to build a stretch of boardwalk on an upper stretch of the Homestead Trail that will be wide enough and strong enough for winter grooming equipment.
More than 700 people a week use the Baycrest trails in June and July, and over 1,000 a week who ski and snowshoe there in the winter. Day said the group of volunteers who maintain these trails have worked for decades to make them a centerpiece of the community.
“A lot of it I think is taken for granted that they are just there and maintained. And we don't need to do anything to keep them going into the future. And that's not true,” Day said. “This is all built and supported and maintained by volunteers.”
The average age of HTA’s last work party, where they hauled 6-foot by 8-foot sections of boardwalk out to the trail by snowmachine, was 70.
“So that gives you an idea of what our trail crew looks like. We could use some young blood and strong backs,” Day said.
With the wind gusting in off the bay, Day, Cronland, and their three-year-old Malamute named Lupe walked down the Homestead trail through melting snow, matted grasses, and mud puddles. On the way to this summer’s work site, they pointed out one of their early projects built from new pressure-treated wood.
Since then, HTA has managed to cut their costs for materials down to about a quarter of that first project by doing some creative recycling, and getting support from local businesses.
Cronland said community support from organizations like the 100 Women Who Care and Homer Foundation have already been a huge help, but the goal is to get more people involved in expanding trails, and becoming trail stewards in their own neighborhoods.
“We'd like to see people be able to walk out their door and go for a walk wherever you live, in and around Homer,” Cronland said.
She points out that there are great trails across the bay in Kachemak Bay State Park, but they may be out of reach for many because they are a boat ride away.
With a patchwork of public lands on this side of the bay, linking trails through private property is one of the big challenges Homer faces in expanding its trail access. Though the work can feel daunting, Cronland said HTA has had a lot of success connecting with landowners to discuss trail and recreation easements.
“I’m feeling more and more optimistic,” she said, “rather than more and more overwhelmed as time goes on.”
Homer Trails Alliance is hosting an informational Friend-raiser at Alice’s Champagne Palace on Wednesday June, 7th from 5 to 8 p.m. You can learn more about the organization online at homertrailsalliance.org.
