Category Archives: News

Spring 2016 Trail Update

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44 trails mt hoodSpring has come early this year and the high country snow around the 44 zone is rapidly melting away! The 44 road is fully open, but some of the spurs – including the 4410 road to High Prairie – are still blocked by snow.

As usual, winter has left us with a mess of blowdown on the trails. We are working on getting things cleared out, albeit slowly.

Here’s what’s currently been cleared:

  • Surveyor’s Ridge north of the two track (Shellrock Mountain)
  • Knebal from 8-Mile trailhead north to Super Connector
  • Dog River (full)

We hope to have Knebal/Super Connector/Dakine Trail trail clear to the Knebal parking area this week (May 15-20) and, hopefully, 15-Mile, remaining Surveyor’s and more by Memorial Day weekend.

Of course, new trees could come down and there’s always a little more brush leaning in on the trails this time of year until they fully spring back from being buried all winter.

FYI, attempting to ride uncleared trails will yield varying success. Depending on the degree of blowdown, you might get an open mile or two only to find yourself faced with an extensive stretch of climbing and bike carrying. So, if you head up to explore, be ready for an adventure. The spring brushout of blowdown is a chainsaw intensive project that requires being certified by the USFS, so we have a select crew of certified sawyers making their way through the network as time allows. If you are up exploring and hear saw work, please approach slowly!

We should have a new trail conditions update by May 20. In the meantime, the lower elevation trails around the Hood River Valley are in fine form. Happy riding.

Mark your calendars for the following events:
July 9 – second annual TRAILGATE event – ride 44 zone, eat, drink and music –
details soon – read about last year’s event

July 23 – Cooks Meadow Extension Trail work – read about Cooks Meadow Extension
Aug 20 – Cooks Meadow Extension Trail work – read about Cooks Meadow Extension
Sept 24 – Surveyor’s/Super Connect connector – more details on this project in June
Oct 8 – Surveyor’s/Super Connect connector – more details on this project in June

 

44 Trails Update – Winter 2016

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IMG_8112Winter is in full swing up in the 44 zone this year, which puts our trail projects on hold until the snow melts back enough to allow access again. In the meantime, we do have a few projects idling in the background. First is the Cooks Meadow trail extension project that we started in the November. Second is the planning process for the second annual Trailgate event to be held in July of 2016. Finally, third is working with other mountain bike and trail advocacy groups regarding Oregon Wild’s “unfinished business” for a proposed expansion of wilderness designation on the Mt. Hood National Forest.

Cooks Meadow and the National Forest Foundation
44 trails updateCome spring melt, the Cooks Meadow extension trail project will be a top priority along with the annual logout of downed timber on the 44 trail network. We were awarded a grant in from the National Forest Foundation (NFF) in 2015 to help offset the costs of our annual logout and work related to the Cooks Meadow extension project. We were awarded money under the National Forest Foundation Ski Conservation cooper spurFund (SCF). The grant is designed for action-oriented, on-the-ground projects that improve forest health and outdoor experiences on National Forests. Award funds come from guest contributions at ski areas and lodges operating on or adjacent to National Forest. In our case, money came through the Cooper Spur Mountain Resort on Hood’s northeast side. It’s great to have the support of local businesses and their patrons in our efforts to maintain and support the 44 trails! We look forward to getting back on the dirt to put our NFF funding to work this spring!

trailgate 2015Trailgate 2016
Last summer, we held our first ever trail day event that focused on riding not working! Trailgate 2015 was a great success. Based out of the Billy Bob SnoPark on Mt Hood’s Barlow Ranger District, we hosted a couple hundred trail users for a beautiful day of pedaling, eating and music. Well, we filed the paperwork with the USFS to host Trailgate 2016 in July. We’ll be sure to keep you posted! You can also sign up for our mailing list (we never share it with anyone) and you’ll receive notices about 44 Trails Association related events and occasional trail news like fire closures, significant trail condition updates and such.

mt hood wilderness proposal mapWilderness Proposal
Oregon Wild is still working to expand the Mt Hood Wilderness designation in the Boulder Lake / Barlow District area of the Mount Hood National Forest. It’s all part of what they call “unfinished business” related to the 2009 legislation which added wilderness status to new sections of the Mt Hood National Forest.

We value our public lands and consider ourselves active stewards of our local forests and trails. We understand the value of wilderness but we do not support Oregon Wild’s expansion plan. We are working with other mountain bike trail advocacy groups including IMBA, OBRA and NWTA to create a unified and intelligent opposition to Oregon Wild’s efforts. We’ll be sure to keep you posted of any significant news on this front. In the meantime, you can read a little more about Oregon Wild’s plan and our reasons for being opposed as well as how and where to voice your opinion.

 

Cooks Meadow Extension Day 1

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44 trails trail work day

The motley crew of trail workers – slideshow of images at bottom of page

Well, despite the weather taking a serious shift toward the cold and wet, 44 Trails fans turned out in force for our first day of trail work on the new Cooks Meadow extension trail.

Many thanks to everyone who braved the weather and helped rough in several miles of sweet new hand-built single track!

We had trail users from Bend, Vancouver, Portland, Dufur as well as the Hood River Valley and White Salmon. What a great crew! And, truth be told, the weather wasn’t really too bad. We actually had snow in the air and sun breaks.

A big thanks to our sponsors. The following businesses go out of their way to help make our events a success and deserve your business: Fresh Baked Goods from PINE STREET BAKING, Fresh Coffee from DOG RIVE COFFEE, Great Sandwiches and chips from NEW YORK CITY SUBS, Poster Printing from THE UPS STORE in Hood River, Swag from DIRTY FINGERS BIKE SHOP, Hats from PISTIL DESIGNS, Softwoods from DAKINE, monetary donations from FAT TIRE FARM / HOOD RIVER BICYCLES and THE SIXTH STREET BISTRO.

As much as we’d love for the snow to start stacking up in the hills, we’re hoping to pull off two more trail days! Here’s the dates – stay tuned for updates as the date approaches – if you sign up for our e-mail list, you’ll get the notification about the work day!

Saturday, November 21, 2015
DETAILS: Meet 9am at Little John SnoPark on Highway 35
PROJECT: Tread work

Saturday, December 5, 2015
DETAILS: Meet 9am at Little John SnoPark on Highway 35
PROJECT: Tread work

Mt Hood Wilderness

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mt hood wilderness proposal mapOregon Wild is still working to expand the Mt Hood Wilderness designation in the Boulder Lake / Barlow District area of the Mount Hood National Forest. It’s all part of what they call “unfinished business” related to the 2009 legislation which added wilderness status to new sections of the Mt Hood National Forest.

The newest additions sought will impact mountain bike recreation on the Barlow District of the Mt. Hood National Forest by closing access to bikes. Specifically, the Boulder Lake zone and the various rides that connect to that area will become closed to bikes. Mt bike access was already impacted by the 2009 Wilderness legislation and this proposal expands the impact.

At this point, the best way to voice your opinion on the proposal is to write our regional reps in the House and Senate – Walden, Wyden, Blumenauer. For those who would like to offer their opposition to increased wilderness designation, here are a few talking points:

  • Between wilderness designation and Bull Run watershed protection, the Mt Hood National Forest has very limited access for multi-use recreation. Adding wilderness designation to more areas further limits an already small multi-use trail system.
  • Contrived wilderness segments with preserved road access weaken the Wilderness Act by not staying true to the Act’s original intent.
  • These are lands which should be managed primarily for recreational value— the areas with true wilderness values on Mt. Hood have already hold wilderness designation.
  • Putting the wilderness blanket over these lands makes it difficult to manage them for recreational value — ie. trail maintenance and construction is limited to hand tools so all blowdown must be cleared without mechanized help (chainsaws).
  • We debated these same areas before the 2009 legislation was passed.  The current wilderness designation reflects a compromise that was reached between interested parties. Now, we’re being asked to compromise on the compromise.
  • The 2009 wilderness designation resulted in the loss of approximately 100 miles of multi-use trails and roads. Traffic and use on the remaining multi-use trails in the system has increased to the point that these trails are showing increased signs of wear and tear, requiring more maintenance.