44 Trails Conditions Report Nov 2015

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44 trails conditions reportAttention 44 riders! There is a lot of new blowdown on the 44 trail system thanks to last weekend’s storms.

The rain did great things for the trail tread, but you should be prepared for lots of downed trees.

Even the new Cooks Meadow extension project, which was cleared just two weeks ago, was full of blowdown on Sunday.

It gives you a taste of what it’s like in the spring before we get up and start clearing! If the weather stays mild this winter, we’ll do what we can to do some clearing.

44 Trails conditions report November 2015

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

Cooks Meadow Extension Trail Work – Nov. 1

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2015 trail work scheduleOur November 1st trail day is coming up this weekend!

Meet at 9am at the Little John SnoPark on Highway 35. FYI it’s also the first day of setting our clocks back an hour, so you get an extra hour of sleep to recover from any post-Halloween festivities.

This will be our first volunteer work day on the Cooks Meadow extension and we need your help. It’s looking like it could be wet, so please be prepared for the weather with your favorite wet weather work gear including a helmet (required – bike helmets ok), gloves, boots, etc. We’ll probably work ’til about 2pm and will have sandwiches thanks to New York City Sub Shop in HR. Plus there will be a swag raffle thanks to our sponsors!

At this point, we’ll be doing early stage work, so tools like loppers, flat blade shovels, steel rakes and mcleods are most appropriate.

Want to know more about the trail?
check out the map

DETAILS:
WHEN:
Sunday, November 1, 2015 – 9 am @ Little John SnoPark on Highway 35
We’ll have coffee thanks to Dog River Coffee in HR and sign-in at the SnoPark and then move up to the work site as a group.

PROJECT:
Early stage tread work and brushing of pin line on the Cooks Meadow Extension trail.

TOOLS:
Wet weather work gear including a helmet (required – bike helmets ok), gloves, boots, etc. Loppers, flat blade shovels, steel rakes and mcleods are most appropriate.

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.