Fall City's Unmentionable Trail

Years ago Cheryl C. took me for an endurance training ride in Fall City and there was this old dilapitated bra strapped around a tree. I had the idea that this should be done properly, so I started bringing my old bras to this trail.

Then I started asking my friends to bring their bras. Going up the hillside, we'd all have bras attached to our horse's breastcollars. (Breastcollars, of course.)

Then we'd dismount, tie the horses, and start putting bras on trees. We took this seriously, doing it right meant finding the right size tree so the bra could be strapped on, and raising the shoulder straps and trying to attach them to the bark. OK you can't really be that serious when you're snickering.

My mountain biker friend got into it when we rode together--bike+horse--filling the bra cups with rocks and pinecones to make them fullfigured.

I should mention I was very careful to only do this on this one particular trail section, and I hung up signs at the beginning that said "The Unmentionble Trail."

Soon after other people started hanging their own bras, or not even hanging them but just throwing them up into the branches. I was shocked to see the, uh, flair some people have. (Mine were all decent and black, *giggle*)

Other people added more funny signs to go with the setting. I think some were the Backcountry Horsemen signs.

A few years later we had a CMO ride up there and I just had to know. At the starting line I pressed the ride manager for information about the trail ahead of us. I said "Will there be bras on this ride?" and he couldn't say, he can't discuss the trail until it is open to riders. Well finally it was my turn - I got my map, and sure enough, one of the clues was "38C" - I was like, "HEY that's gotta be one of mine!" *lol*

Now I hear that this bra trail is still maintained with bras by locals. Isn't that cool?

Just this morning I got an email from my mountain biker friend with a new photo from this trail. (Hey, doesn't ACTHA mean a competitive trail ride?)

Oh my. I've been in Germany too long. I just googled my bra trail and found it described in many mountain biking forums, as well as Seattle's Horsebytes blog. But I distinctly remember seeing maps with Bra Trail marked before I started bringing bras here - so apparently the old one gave it the name? Or is there some history that goes way back before my time?

Take a look at the map - see where it says Bra? That's it. Also, see where it says Beaver Pond? Riiiiight. That is a whole 'nother story. The story that came up this week as my man said "What is this scar on your knee?" And I said, "This one?" "No, this big one."

"Oh, there was this beaver pond in Fall City, and one day the beavers had a structural problem with their dam...."