Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 10/6/2017 (1203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

CADDY LAKE — The rock here is old beyond all human comprehension. Billions of years ago, this rock bubbled up from the planet’s guts. It was the same vast span of geologic time that life itself flickered into existence.

So these great slabs of rock that heave up over the Whiteshell, they were here before everything that now makes a home on them: before the rustling trees, before small furry things, even before the air was rich with free oxygen.

MELISSA MARTIN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Riders Jordan Becker (right) and Gilles Boulley give Champagne a rave review.

It’s incredible to think about, Robert Champagne says. He reaches down to brush his fingertips against the pink and grey granite. He points out the texture of the rock face, how its smooth skin is roughened by small pits and ridges.

"Three-point-five billion years of erosion to become what it is now," he says. "It’s almost like the universe knew that mountain biking would be around at this time, and it eroded it perfectly for mountain biking. It’s the perfect rock."

In this perfect rock, Champagne sees major potential. With a little more work, he says, and a bit of expansion, these long ridges of rock could one day be famed across Canada as a premier mountain-biking destination.

The trail there has already begun. In 2011, Champagne and other members of the South Whiteshell Trail Association started crashing through the bush around Caddy Lake, plotting out a 12.5-kilometre return course through the region.

They call it Blue Highway. "Blue," because that was the colour of the first bits of tape they tied around trees to mark the way; "highway," because the granite here is so continuous and inviting that, for bikers, it may as well be road.

That feature, Champagne says, makes it unique. He has seen enough to know: Champagne, who is originally from Winnipeg but now lives most of the year in Fernie, B.C., is an avid outdoorsman who has biked all over the continent.

He’s tackled the Slickrock Trail in Utah, a tough and world-famous loop over a stunning sandstone desert. He’s hiked over the glorious rocks of Cape Breton, and criss-crossed trails in Arizona, Montana and Lake Tahoe, Calif.

Champagne says he’s seen nothing like Blue Highway anywhere else, nothing quite like this. Other mountain-bike trails in Manitoba, and even much of the Canadian Shield, plunge through more dirt paths; this ride is almost pure granite.

"Being on this rock is so special," says Champagne, who returns every year to his Falcon Lake cabin. "The time that you can ride on this rock and be connected to the beauty of the area, that’s what makes it so special for me."

Now, the South Whiteshell Trail Association is looking for the public’s help to complete this vision.

This year, the group received a grant from the province to buy trail-building equipment, and another from Mountain Equipment Co-op specifically to develop Blue Highway. That cash infusion will enhance the work immensely.

Volunteers are what’s needed now; in order to finish the route by the end of this year, the association plans to host trail-building days open to anyone who wants to see the trail and help out. (Bonus: there will be a barbecue at the end.)

No experience is necessary, and all levels of physical ability are welcome. Light duties include raking or delivering water; more physical jobs will involve hammering wooden boards or hauling rocks to even out jagged spots.

"The goal this year is to make this Blue Highway a ride that anybody can come and ride and not be too intimidated," Champagne says. "We’ve already got the trail, but the work now is to fine-tune it so it’s accessible to anybody."

By way of example, he points to a natural stairway of chunky granite that connects one large slab of rock to another. Experienced cyclists can ride it no problem, he says, but beginners might shy away from the bumpy descent.

For those riders, the trail association would like to develop a bypass that takes a gentler route. The trail’s caretakers have already built many of those, adding graceful wooden berms and rock bridges. But there’s still much left to be done.

Still, the trail as it exists now is not too daunting. The trailhead is easy to find, its first switchback rising just up the road from the Caddy Lake Resort. It’s an easy trek for those on foot, crossing other established trails in the region.

For those on wheels, even the trickiest bits are far from too punishing, flowing over the open rock face.

That’s not just Champagne’s opinion. At the crest of the trail, two cyclists roll towards him on their return route: one is Champagne’s friend and trail veteran Gilles Boulley, the other is Jordan Becker from the Manitoba Trails Project.

Becker is an experienced hiker. He cycles to work in Winnipeg. But his experience on rugged terrain is limited; in fact, he says, Blue Highway could be the first "real" mountain-bike excursion he’s ever done. And he can sum it up simply.

"That was phenomenal," he says, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Oh, that was fun. I’ll be back to do it again."

It’s a rave review for Blue Highway, and its builders believe it’s a preview of a popular surge to come. It’s in the right place to draw cyclists and it has that perfect rock. Given the right promotion, people could come here from all over.

"That’s what I think," Boulley says. "Precambrian shield is limited in its scope in Canada, in a way that’s accessible. You could go up North, but here you’re off the Trans-Canada Highway, and within half an hour, you’re on the trail."

Want to help them build it?

Send Champagne an email at therhinochiro@gmail.com, to be notified of upcoming trail-building days. There is also a Facebook group, the South Whiteshell Mountain Bike Trail Group, for future updates.

Or, for curious hikers or bikers who want to try out Blue Highway, the route map is available online at Trailforks.com, or by downloading the free Trailforks app.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca