Spring 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
