The polar opposite of our Fremont Tier—Old Cascade Crest. This segment is many rider’s favorite along the whole trail and it’s easy to see why. The wet west slope of the Cascades grabs moisture and builds a forest straight out of a fairy tale—towering pillars of mossy trees crowded by a jungle of flowering plants and bushes. This wet climate paired with steep trails also creates something undesirable: erosion. We spent the weekend becoming drain building pros—over 30 went in on the North Pyramid trail. There are many ways to divert water off a trail, but most of them are ineffective or no fun to ride over. There’s an art to building a subtle yet effective drain that actually makes the trail more fun to ride, not less.

On Saturday Jon Goodwin from KGW joined us, check out the news segment below.

We logged over 200 volunteer hours on the Willamette National Forest worth $6,500, and will be back in this zone in August to tackle the higher elevation sections still under snow. It’s also important to mention that we’re just one of several groups dedicated to maintaining these trails—Alpine Running, SATA, Trans-Cascadia, and other individuals all pour countless hours into this system.

A special thanks to Laird Superfood and Leatherman Tools for sponsoring this event and bringing out a solid cast of volunteers. These stewardship events wouldn’t happen without their support!