good trail etiquette

The rules for good trail etiquette are fairly simple:  MTBers yield to hikers/runners, everyone yields to horses; and the uphill traveler has the right of way.  This gets a little confusing, say, if you've got a MTB riding uphill and a trail runner running down.  Technically, the MTB should yield to the runner but if I'm on foot, I always yield to a rider whether I'm going uphill or downhill, simply because it is so much easier for me to step to the side.  (When I'm hiking, I always move out of the way for trail runners too.)  Most people seem to follow these basic trail rules.  Every now and again we will encounter a trail runner who refuses to budge but most people see the sense.  All it takes is for people to slow down, smile and be respectful and we can all enjoy these trails.

It's like we're the only ones out there

Sunday was actually a very good trail etiquette day out at Round Valley.  I had three separate trail runners let me go by, even when I had space to pull over for them.  Even though it seemed busier than it has the last couple of weekends, bike traffic wasn't that bad.  We encountered a couple of tour groups, one as we were heading down towards the Nouvelle Loop.  One woman was having a difficult time getting started and nervously apologized for making us wait; I just smiled and said not to worry - it's tough getting going on an uphill.  Another time H and I both pulled over for a couple of Brits as we were starting down the back side of Rambler; the second guy waved us through, saying that he was glad of the rest. We saw some very well-behaved dogs as well: a young German shepherd, a dachshund, a polite poodle-mix (who sat very calmly as we went by) and a big old black Lab mix, grey in the face and focused on his walk.

We also spotted two coyotes, thanks to H's sharp eyes.  We had just come off of the sagebrush switchbacks on the backside of Rambler and were taking Round Valley Express around to the Silver Quinn bike path.  The coyotes were up on a hillside, moving higher and away from us through the sagebrush towards the scrub oak.  One of them stopped and looked back at us, not worried at all but just making sure we weren't following.  Once the coyote was sure we were staying down on the trail, it turned and disappeared into the trees.