One of Elkhorn City's premier events and the only 100 mile trail race in Kentucky is moving. This is why we can't have nice things.
The Cloudsplitter 100, which has made the Pine Mountain Trail and Elkhorn City its home for 3 years, is moving to Norton, Virginia. It isn't because the race organizers wanted to move.
No, the race is moving because the Kentucky State Parks and Tourism agency and the Pine Mountain Trail Conference president did everything in their power to get rid of it.
Let me make sure you get what I just typed. Frankfort, our beloved swamp of a capital, would rather a nationally known race, sanctioned by the United States Track and Field Association, be hosted and carried out in Virginia.
It didn't matter that the race founder and organizer is a Kentuckian. It didn't matter that the race brought a couple hundred people from across the country and internationally into Pike County. It didn't matter that, according to an Eastern Kentucky University economic financial impact study, the area saw around $100,000 in new tourism dollars thanks to the race.
Don't expect anything to be resolved soon. The dirty little secret of the Pine Mountain State Scenic Trail is that Kentucky Parks never acquired or finalized easements on most of the private property between Elkhorn City and Pineville.
It's pretty disappointing that one of Governor Paul Patton's signature accomplishments for the region wasn't supported by subsequent administrations. It's pretty disappointing that the President of the Pine Mountain Trail Conference has consciously alienated landowners along the ridge where the trail has meandered for over 100 years.
Instead of welcoming this incredible event that only brought good publicity to Elkhorn City and the mountain, Kentucky State Parks and Tourism threw ever larger impediments in front of the race organizer after its initial success. Arbitrary user fees without formula were imposed after the first year. While willing to pay reasonable user fees, the state could never provide the organizer a rhyme or reason for the numbers which jumped each year.
The president of the PMTC blamed trash and trail damage on the Cloudsplitter that simply didn't happen. He then forced the issue of ATVs on our end of the trail with Frankfort that caused quite a bit of bad blood in town. The Breaks Interstate Park and the Elkhorn City Area Heritage Council are still suffering from the fallout from angry locals.
In reality, the organizer of the event, with the assistance of Elkhorn City residents, had cleared and re-marked several sections of the trail between Pound Gap and Elkhorn City that had been neglected. She had also gained easement permissions on parcels from landowners who were wary of the PMTC president.
As far as adventure tourism in the area goes, the agencies in Frankfort who should be making things happen in our region have been nothing better than in the way since the beginning of the Steve Brashear administration.
The highly touted Trail Town program was an exercise in Frankfort hoop jumping, hardly anything more than a justification of bureaucratic excess. For the multi-year effort of getting "certified" , Elkhorn got a sign and a spot on a website.
And several burned out Heritage Council members. Like me.