Trail from O'Neill to Valentine superb!!

I've done the trail from Norfolk to Valentine and back for the last 5 years. Every year from O'Neill to Valentine the trail would suffer from varying degrees of suckitude.....unmowed, untrimmed, countless goatheads, etc. This year it was great, actually better than the trail east of O'Neill. We found the reason for this was a new man taking care of the trail from O'Neill west. I think that his name was Tom Theis and he just took the job this year. We ran into him twice, which is the first time that I've ever run into anyone taking care of the trail. He's taking the job seriously and we talked about his battle with goatheads, using a roller to compact the trail, and the many things he's doing to make the west end of the trail a joy to ride. I hope they can keep him. As always, from O'Neill east the trail often suffers from thick gravel that isn't compacted in areas. I was surprised when Tom told me that he has a roller to compact the new gravel, because they apparently never use it from O'Neill east. If the trail can keep Tom, and take care of the issues that always are present east of O'Neill, the Cowboy Trail could be right up there with the Katy or Wabash. Looking forward to next year!

This is music to my ears. I only wish I had this information before we rode the Katy and Mickelson again this year. I would have really, really liked to spread the word.