Tokai and Silvermine to remain closed to the public

[GLuvsMtb]

Let's be honest here, what damage would the trails have really sustained? Apart from the roots in the trail being burnt, I am hinging my bets on minimal direct damage. 

 

What I do however understand from the info is that Table Mountain National Park are not looking at the trails in isolation of the rest of the reserve. It appears to be a holistic approach where an ecosystem is affected and needs recovery. 

 

Eddy.. the area is sensitive and a lot of attention will be focussed on the recovery, it seems Table Mountain National Park and many other stakeholders are not willing to risk opening the area to the public, not just cyclists; horses, walkers etc..

 

Saying no-one ever ventured off the trails is quite a claim..

 

Cap, winter approaches.. I sincerely doubt anything will change before it is over. 

Well said Deon. We often over-simplify matters that we do not fully comprehend. The best thing we can do is give the powers-that-be our full support. 

[(Deon)]

Lol Yes Deon it is quite a claim, Should have said assuming no one did as the trees etc and lack of paths. I do understand from a safety aspect, but at the same there are parts were trees were already removed.

 

Nature is tough and pretty soon things are gonna be starting to turn green and as soon as some rain comes its gonna help alot, just hopefully not too much rain as we dont need any xtreme mudslides

Nature is tough and oddly it's through human "do gooders" that it actually suffers. Be sure that the restoration will be watched from a distance, there is a new breed of conservationist, one that can take on conventional ideas and win - but I digress.

 

Tokai, with 120 years of logging activities in up to 60 year cycles, this area holds seedbanks of the last "pure" fynbos in the reserve. Granite and Sandveld fynbos remains in 3% of the world - i.e. here.

 

If you ever wanted to understand the importance of Tokai and why the Pines are ultimately going, this previous paragraph sums it up to the T.

[Eddy Gordo]

Yeah, I fully understand that from a bio diversity aspect, Tokai holds the key to many species.

[(Deon)]

Well said Deon. We often over-simplify matters that we do not fully comprehend. The best thing we can do is give the powers-that-be our full support. 

Correct. Like Myles has said, even with the closure TokaiMTB can continue planning the future trails. Table Mountain National Park supports us supporting them - a two way street.

 

But wait, what do riders do in this time? TokaiMTB remains sympathetic to the loss of trails for the riders. It is a big problem to have closures last that long.. so without raising hopes, and assuming we can get the message across that adherence to the terms of access can be obeyed, we will continue lobbying for a earlier admission. Sadly what does not count in our favour is the historic flaunting of these terms despite CONTINUAL requests - you know, the few that spoil it for the masses - there will be a lot of convincing needed. 

[Capricorn]

i just hope full support doesn't include swallowing the cool-aid as well. I still think this sensitive mother nature angle is just an excuse to take an extremely over cautious approach. Other than a say-so, is there any proof that trail maintenance will actually have any impact on the mountain's recovery?

[MarcW]

So that will be twelve people with refunds then.

 

Are you saying that people have received refunds ?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

i just hope full support doesn't include swallowing the cool-aid as well. I still think this sensitive mother nature angle is just an excuse to take an extremely over cautious approach. Other than a say-so, is there any proof that trail maintenance will actually have any impact on the mountain's recovery?

My take - next to none. We will have to map routes carefully so that foot traffic and wheelbarrow tracks take the proper routes but in certain cases it may actually help, given the water management that we put into place on the trails we build.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Are you saying that people have received refunds ?

Lol. No. That's how many people have walked on the moon. So by deduction, if you have as much chance of walking on the moon as getting a refund, there are 12 people who already have one.

[popcorn_skollie]

So once a certain degree of safety has been established im assuming the first step would be to gauge the ecological impact of the fire. Perhaps some sort of human intervention is required from environmentalists. Lets assume that is the case. Who's next, Cape Pine? Harvesting, replanting. I guess what i'm asking is, if TMNP say Tokai is closed to the general public. This includes without exceptions The Tokai Trail Builders?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

So once a certain degree of safety has been established im assuming the first step would be to gauge the ecological impact of the fire. Perhaps some sort of human intervention is required from environmentalists. Lets assume that is the case. Who's next, Cape Pine? Harvesting, replanting. I guess what i'm asking is, if TMNP say Tokai is closed to the general public. This includes without exceptions The Tokai Trail Builders?

Cape pine won't be replanting. Their exit was originally brought forward from 2025 to 2017 as tokai is a loss maker for them. So they'll be gone gone gone. All the rest - subject to negotiations. Which are ongoing.

 

What I'm trying to say is - I will update you when we have more info on timelines etc. We have your backs. We are all itching to get in there and buikd kick ass trails. But right now, it's all conjecture. We don't yet know the when. But we will continue to plan and liaise with parks so that when the time comes, we can implement as fast as possible.

Edited March 12, 2015 by El Capitan

[Redlight]

No pay no ride!!!!

I paid upfront for a year but can't ride

[paul_ct]

The Activity Card allows entry to Cape Point and the Table Mountain trails, not only Tokai.

[GLuvsMtb]

No pay no ride!!!!

I paid upfront for a year but can't ride

I am sure that the T's & C's covers planned and unplanned closures. Do you get a refund if a cricket game you are attending rains out half way through?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I am sure that the T's & C's covers planned and unplanned closures. Do you get a refund if a cricket game you are attending rains out half way through?

It's also only a portion (okay, a large portion) that has been closed.

 

activity permits are still valid for the front of the mountain, dog walking and access to cape point on your rides.

 

Some of the trail on the front is truly gruelling and rob is adding more all the time.

[DJR]

Thinking "out of the box" a little bit about things that could help:

 

Would Tokai Mtb (perhaps SANParks can write a supporting letter explaining the situation also) think about talking to the Tygerberg Bountainbike Club on behalf of peeps with valid Activity cards? How about negotiating a 50% discount if you join Tygerberg for the next year and you can produce a valid Activity card. Mountainbike brothers standing together and all that! Us Southern Suburbs guys won't ride there quite as often and something like that will soften the blow and generate huge goodwill. It will also help to take the pressure off Tokai for the recovery period.

[(Deon)]

Cape pine won't be replanting. Their exit was originally brought forward from 2025 to 2017 as tokai is a loss maker for them. So they'll be gone gone gone. All the rest - subject to negotiations. Which are ongoing.

 

What I'm trying to say is - I will update you when we have more info on timelines etc. We have your backs. We are all itching to get in there and buikd kick ass trails. But right now, it's all conjecture. We don't yet know the when. But we will continue to plan and liaise with parks so that when the time comes, we can implement as fast as possible.

Just a quick correction, the 2017 date was never an official thing but it made sense given the cost of operating so far south. Their lease still puts them at 2025 but the fire will more than likely drive the idea of an early exit with the need to salvage what they can.