Hello Everyone,

Summer is coming to an end and it is time to update all of you on what is happening with HRATS and local trails.

Family Man Closure:
Hood River County closed the road to the Family Man Staging area in early August to widen the road to get log trucks out this fall. They also closed the trails through and in Family Man. The latest update is that Family Man Staging Area and nearby trails will remain closed Monday to Friday until about Sept 13th.

Upper 8 Track:
Upper 8 Track is now closed due to logging and road construction in Lemon Tree CC1. Alternative routes are Eldorado or traveling on Riordan Hill Road to the North. Additional closures will occur as the timber sale progresses.

See map link below (Lemon timber Sale).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/1sljq3az7wejytf/Lemon%20Tree%20CC1-3.pdf?dl=0

A re-route for Upper 8 Track is in the works. Here is a link to when we walked the flag line North of Riordan.
https://www.strava.com/activities/2393779973

There also will be a short section of trail from Middle 8 Track to the Bottom of Bad Motor Scooter.

Other closures:
Users should also expect closures this fall on Borderline 133, Moto Trail 130, Moto Trail 140 and 3 Blind Mice 151 due to the Licorice timber sale. See map link below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x23sxsl6izap6jb/Licorice%20CC1-2.pdf?dl=0

Fall Work Parties:
We will likely have 3-4 work parties this fall. Priority will be to help Greg Schutt finish the Upper 8 Track re-route. Tim Bergemann and Gary Paasch will be our new HRATS Trail Coordinators and will be running the HRATS work parties this fall. A huge thanks to Ben Ketler for years of hard work in the past. We will be announcing work party dates in late Sept and hope to see you there.

Hood River County Trail Funding Problem:
Yes, I left this topic until the end so everyone would read above. A lot has happened since our last update on how the failed tax measures affect trails. If you have not seen it, you can read it here.
https://tinyurl.com/yyqrgprb

As expected the County’s Trail Coordinator retired at the end of July and he left the program in a state that allows it to continue through the fall.

HRATS and other user groups along with concerned users have been meeting over the summer to find a solution. The big hurdle is still funding a portion of the County’s Trail Coordinator Position. We have also met with two County Commissioners a few times to keep them up to date on our ideas. Everyone thinks this problem is solvable with a better trail system as the outcome. If and when the HRC trail system becomes more user funded, expect to be asked to do more physically and financially.

The County Commissioners have talked about what to do with the Trails System next spring and have agreed not to have any closures. Please spread the word.

The details of a final solution have not been worked out, but we know it needs to include all users and user groups. It will also satisfy the County’s need to protect there Tree Farm as well as keep liability to the current level.

To get a head start on fundraising, HRATS has assembled a super motivated Fundraising team. This is in addition to all of your donations over the last year, which has been amazing. We now have over 360 “Supporters” that have donated over $50 or worked more than 5 days for HRATS. The plan is to use this money to kick start the solution. These donations will be a huge boost to the solution.

You can still donate at:
https://www.hrats.org/get_involved/donations

Make sure everyone you know gets on our mailing list. It is easy to sign up at HRATS.org.

The fundraising team is working towards a sustainable fundraising plan. This fall they will kick things off with events in October. A concert at the Ruins on Oct. 11th and a Double Mt Hood River event is confirmed for October 9th. They are also working towards an event at Double Mt in Portland. The date is not confirmed yet though.

They will expand fundraising next spring with a variety of ideas. The coolest one is the local Breweries are hoping to do a collaboration beer with proceeds going to the trails.

Expect future emails with work party and event dates.

We hope to see you on the trails, at work parties, and at events this fall.

Take Care,

Tim Mixon
HRATS President

📎 All information from the Hood River Area Trail Stewards.

🖥 Follow them on the following social media platforms.

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter

Categories: Advocacy, Lifestyle

Tags: Advocacy, bicycle, bike, Bike Park, Cross Country, Enduro, Hood River, mountain bike, mountainbike, MTB, Northwest, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, pacific nw, USA