44 Trails Party!

Posted on October 7, 2013 by 44trails

Rally around 44trails.org to help us celebrate a successful summer of trail work and to help plan for the future.

We’re throwing a party at Double Mountain Brewing in Hood River on October 17, 6pm-10pm. There will be a silent auction fundraiser with items ranging from jerseys to complete bikes and gifts certificates from local businesses.

We’ve also got a raffle planned. Raffle tix will be $5/each, and we’ve got a great collection of swag from the bike industry and local businesses alike.

Of course, there’s beer, too, and Arthur Lee Land will rock the house with tunes.

Come on down Thursday, Oct 17 and learn about future 44 Trails projects, get one of our new t-shirts and stickers and support the future of trail development in the 44 Trails zone.

Super Connector Success

Posted on September 17, 2013 by 44trails

Wow, what a crew that turned out on Saturday to support the 44 Trails Association! We had a beautiful day in the hills on our third work party of the summer for continued work on the new Super Connector Trail linking Knebal Springs and High Prairie with the classic Surveyor’s Ridge and Dog River mountain bike trails. Forty volunteers dedicated five hours each on Saturday to add another 200 volunteer labor hours to the Super Connector Project!

In addition to nearing completion of the Super Connector trail, we successfully installed a new cedar trailhead sign board (built by Hale Construction of Hood River) that meets USFS spec. The new sign is located near the 1720 and 17 roads junction (near the parking zone on the 17 road).

All told, the 44 Trails Association has rallied over 600 hours of volunteer labor this summer, completed 3.5 miles of new trail and built and installed a new trailhead sign board. The project would have cost $40,000-$70,000 had it been put out to bid using the standard 10-20K per mile cost normally incurred building trails.

Here are some impressive specs on the work and results of the summer’s efforts:

Total volunteer labor hours for three work parties, layout and design:
120 people x 5 hrs each = 600 man hrs! That’s $9,000 worth of labor!

Tangible Results: Three volunteer work parties successfully constructed 3.5 miles of trail, built and installed new trail head board, installed armoring rock work and moved 20 yards of reject armoring material to help maintain tread integrity for multi-use traffic – horse, hiker and biker!

Local business contributions:
Hale Construction materials and labor for trailhead board = $1500
New York City Sub Shop provide 60 lunches at a cost of $7/each = $420
Dog River Coffee provided morning coffee for all three events = $300
Dakine, Dirty Fingers Bikes, and Sellwood Cycle provided raffle items = $1500+. Dirty Fingers Bikes, Sellwood Cycle and Mt Hood Ski Bowl paid employees to be on site to provide assistance.

Total Volunteer contribution labor hours, materials, supplies = $15,000+. Way to go everyone who has kicked in time and resources!

The trail is not quite 100% complete, but Ranger Thornton has some time slated this fall for the required finishing touches including working with local Eagle Scouts on the trail September 22.

Super Connector Work Day Sept 14

Posted on September 8, 2013 by 44trails

Knebal Springs Mt Hood Hood National Forest

The 44 Trails zone was spared any fire damage from the recent Government Flats wildfire, and the riding is as good as it gets right now. Recent rains have knocked back the dust for a primo riding experience.

If it’s not on your calendar already, Saturday September 14th is our next, and hopefully final, Super Connector trail work day. Here’s the beta:

Where: Meet 9am Little John SnoPark on Highway 35

What: Final tread development to link Knebal and Surveyors -bring hand tools if you’ve got ’em – shovels, rakes, McLeods

Required: Helmets and long pants (bike helmets are a-ok), don’t forget gloves and clothing to keep you happy rain or shine – bring water too.

Time: We expect to work til 12 or 1, so you can still enjoy a good ride post work day

New York City Subs is kicking in lunch food, Dog River Coffee is kicking in morning coffee. There’ll also a be a sweet little swag raffle to help say thanks for your work!

44 Trails Area is Open for Riding!

Posted on August 30, 2013 by 44trails

Updated fire closure map

The 44 Trails zone on the Mount Hood National Forest is open for riding!

Thanks to favorable weather conditions and the efforts of wildland fire crews, the 44 zone is accessible again.

The 17 road remains closed, but 8-Mile, Knebal Springs and the rest of the 44 Trails are open for riding. Ranger Thornton was up in the area on Thursday and said there is moisture in the dirt and the trails are in great shape.

Here is the latest closure info:

Fire Closure Still in Place

Posted on August 26, 2013 by 44trails

It looks like the USFS is going to maintain its existing fire closure for the foreseeable future. Sorry, but the 44 Trails area will be closed for the Labor Day holiday weekend.

The wet and cooler weather has definitely aided in the management and suppression of the Government Flats fire that lead to the road and trail closures but there is still work to be done and fire hazard in the area. The burn has been spotty in areas, which makes mop up efforts a bit more difficult to monitor assess.

What we need is a big multi-day rain cycle. In the mean time, check out rides on Gunsight ridge and the Boulder Lake zone. You can keep tabs on the fire updates at www.inciweb.org/incident/3662/

Latest Fire Closure Update for 44 Trails

Posted on August 23, 2013 by 44trails

USFS 44 Trails closure map

West winds have cleared the smoke from the Hood River Valley, but the 44 Trails area is still effected by closures. As far as we know, the trails themselves have not been consumed by fire, but there will be active fire suppression efforts in the area and the threat of fire growth, so the USFS is going to keep the zone east and north of the 44 road off limits for a while.

Here’s the latest:

The Mt. Hood National Forest has announced the following closures:

The following campgrounds are closed: Knebal Springs, Lower Eight Mile Crossing, Eight Mile, and Gibson Prairie. Five Mile Lookout is also closed.

The following major trails are closed:

Surveyors Ridge # 688 both south and north trailheads
Eightmile Loop #496
Knebal Springs # 474
Bottle Prairie #455
North-South #451
Oak Ridge #688A
Dog River #675
Zig Zag #678

Forest Roads 17, 1720, 4430 and all their associated spur roads are closed along with and all other National Forest System Roads and minor trails within the closure area depicted on a map posted on InciWeb.org at http://inciweb.org/incident/maps/3662/