A sense of purpose on trail
Paisley Oregon and the Triumphant Return
I first came to the PNW 1977 hitchhiking from Massachusetts as a college student with a copy of “On the Road” in my backpack. On this trip, I decided Oregon was where I wanted to live when I grew up and left the East Coast. In 1979, after graduating from Mount Holyoke College, my boyfriend and I hiked for ten weeks on the Pacific Crest Trail. We took it slow, immersed in the natural beauty of the Cascades, starting in Canada and petering out in the cold rain at Mt. Hood. I made Oregon my home, and the Cascades my playground.
2021 Year End Review
2021 was quite a year for us all, but luckily, we got back to life on the trail. We did seven trail stewardship events, including breaking ground on the Fugrass connector, Winter Rim reroute and made huge strides with the 3-year Watson Fire Rehab project. In April we were proud to offer our first ever BIPOC scholarship, where we offered five $1000 scholarships. July brought the first-ever Grand Depart, while abbreviated due to fire closures, and cut short because of the growing Bootleg fire.
Kurt Refsnider AZTR300 Preparation
Kurt Refsnider is one of the most experienced and fastest bikepack racers and in many ways has shaped the pointy end of the sport. But we’re not just fans because he’s fast, we’re also interested because he co-founded Bikepacking Roots with Kait Boyle in 2017 and works as a climate and land activist. He was a former geology professor at Prescott College. He started a geology curriculum incorporating bikepacking trips! Now that’s a class we’d like to take!
Get to know: Paul Thomasberg
This year at the Watson Fire rehab trail stewardship event, we were lucky enough to have former racer, mountain bike hall of famer, trail builder Paul Thomasberg drop by for a day of building and learning. Paul was in the area to begin work on the Winter Rim reroute, and being the kinetic ball of energy and ideas that he is, he couldn’t resist a bonus day of trail work. We reached out to Paul to learn more about his history and get an update on his Winter Rim work.
Trial by Fire
If anyone can put you at ease as a passenger in a rattling camper van descending overgrown 4x4 roads, it’s Paul Thomasberg. A natural storyteller with a surfer’s drawl, he delivered a highlight reel of his decades-long mountain biking career as he navigated around potholes, through mud, and across gravel washboards.
“One of my strengths as a racer was riding blind lines,” he said. “I was always good at that.”
Here, on rough roads in a remote corner of the Fremont-Winema National Forest, his well-honed reaction times were proving useful in getting us to the trailhead in one piece, as well.
Thomasberg—mountain bike Hall of Famer, former pro racer, and prolific trail builder—wasn’t the last person I expected to meet when I signed on for a weekend of volunteer trail work, but he was definitely closer to last than first on the list. Volunteerism doesn’t usually mean meeting industry pros and world-class athletes. But I was quickly learning that trail work on the Oregon Timber Trail comes with its own set of rules.
Garbanzo Powerblasters: Ron Lewis Recipe
For fans of Dustin Klein’s EBD YouTube page, where Ron and Dustin took on the Oregon Timber Trail's newest published route “Stiletsi & the White Crane,” a Mt. Hood tier loop . In Dustin’s videos, there’s always a snack break. Anyone that spends hours on the bike the way gravel riders and bikepackers do know the importance of good homemade ride food, which is perhaps why Dustin’s snack breaks resonate with us. So when at 2:22 Ron breaks out his homemade Garbanzo Power Cookies, our interest was piqued. Garbanzo cookies? Can those be good?
Lake County Stars: Watson Fire Rehab Kickoff
Field Report: Watson Fire Rehabilitation
Bunchgrass Stewardship Campout 2019
We worked hard, got a lot done, rode together, made new friends, shared stories, ate good food and went home satisfied that we had given back to the trails we love to ride! Wow; what a great weekend! I've been on lots of trail work trips and this was one of the best I've been on. Logistics and everything else came together without a hitch.
In Photos: Yamsay Mountain Recovery Stewardship Campout
2018 Hood Stewardship Campout
Our fourth Stewardship Campout of the season was also the was also the quickest to fill up thanks to the collaboration with ultra running community and Go Beyond Racing. These trails not only intersect with the PCT but also serve as the course for a sold-out 100 mile running race.
2018 Willamette Stewardship Campout
2018 Deschutes Tier Stewardship Campout
2018 Fremont Tier Stewardship Campout in Photos
Recap: Technical Skills for Backcountry Trail Maintenance
Interested in helping maintain public trails? Here's what you need to bring.
Come on down! No experience required! That’s right, you just need a smile, a good attitude, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The Oregon Timber Trail Alliance stewardship events aren’t just about clearing trail. They are also about educating folks on trail maintenance techniques you can take back and use at your local trails (or along the OTT!).
Sawyer Training Weekend — Video Recap
Still a little curious about what goes on at our popular Sawyer Training Weekends? Get a behind the scenes look at last month's Horse Creek event shot by Dan Sharp and edited by Christopher San Augustin.
Sawyer Certification Event - Horse Creek Lodge 2018
The weekend kicked off with an incredibly thorough First Aid, CPR, and Bleeding Control certification from our board member Kim McCormack and partners at Cascade Training Center. As Friday night rolled in, and Horse Creek Lodge rolled out the spread they had prepared for us we began to realize how spoiled we were going to be all weekend.
