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OUTSIDE
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 24, 2017
A backcountry mountain bike route across Oregon
By MARK MORICAL
The (Bend) Bulletin
Oregon is teeming with adven-
ture-seeking cyclists, so the idea of
biking across the state is not a new
one.
But the idea of off-road biking
across the state on a route that is
more than half singletrack is a new
one.
It is called the Oregon Timber
Trail, and it has some mountain
bikers and long-distance bike-
packers giddy with excitement at
the prospect of attempting part of
the 670-mile route from south of
Lakeview north to Hood River, or
all of it.
The route is entirely pre-existing
trails or roads and is made up of
about 50 percent singletrack, 40
percent dirt roads and 10 percent
pavement, according to project
manager Gabriel Tiller. The trail
is organized into four tiers from
south to north: the Fremont Tier,
Willamette Tier, Deschutes Tier
and Hood Tier. The route, which
includes 66,000 feet of elevation
gain, carefully avoids wilderness
areas and other trails on which
bikes are not permitted.
“These are all areas that we
should have been exploring and
riding our bikes, but we haven’t had
a catalyst yet,” says Bend’s Adam
Craig. “Now we have that.”
Craig, a former Olympic and pro
mountain biker, was part of a recent
trail stewardship outing that cleared
miles and miles of downed trees on
the Fremont Tier.
He says it is likely that he will
eventually become the Deschutes
Tier stewardship coordinator, orga-
nizing trail work on that stretch of
the OTT.
The Deschutes Tier cuts through
Central Oregon on some familiar
and perhaps not-so-familiar trails
and roads, passing by several
Cascade lakes, Mount Bachelor,
Tam McArthur Rim, the communi-
ties of Sisters and Camp Sherman,
and the old Santiam Wagon Road.
The OTT is a partnership among
Travel Oregon, the U.S. Forest
Service and the Portland-based
expedition company Limberlost,
founded by Tiller.
The idea started with Travel
Oregon, the state’s tourism
commission, which hired trail
planning expert Chris Bernhardt in
2015 to create the route alignment
and concept. Bernhardt brought on
Tiller to help perfect the route and
organize trail work.
Tiller and Harry Dalgaard, a
tourism program manager with
Travel Oregon, spent nearly a year
meeting with more than 40 trail-
user groups and working closely
with the Forest Service and the
Leslie Kehmeier/Submitted photo
A mountain biker on the Hood Tier of the Oregon Timber Trail.
Bureau of Land Management to
make the OTT a reality.
“When I got involved it was
a rough list of trails that might
connect somehow,” Tiller says,
“I sort of dug deeper, mapped all
those connections out, and figured
out what other trails we needed on
there. We wanted to figure out this
alignment, create the route, and sort
of build that momentum of users
and potential users in the state and
across the country.”
The OTT was inspired by the
2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail,
which is not open to bikes, and
other long-distance trails on which
cycling is allowed, such as the
800-mile Arizona Trail and the
2,800-mile Great Divide mountain
bike route that cuts through the
Rocky Mountains from Canada to
Mexico.
“This is the first one to really
be developed with the focus on
mountain biking and backcountry
mountain biking,” Tiller says.
“But this is going to be open to all
(nonmotorized) uses. Equestrians
and hikers can use the trail, too.”
While a general map and more
information currently can be found
at oregontimbertrail.org, the route
guide and detailed maps have yet to
be released, as they are still being
reviewed.
“The route guide is written and
pretty much signed off on, but we’re
just waiting to get a thumbs up from
all the different groups,” Tiller
says. “There’s a lot of stakeholders
involved in the whole process.”
Tiller adds that the goal is to have
Leslie Kehmeier/Submitted photo
The Fremont National Recreation Trail makes up a large chunk of
the Oregon Timber Trail
the detailed maps and route guide
online by the end of the month, so
those who want to ride the trail this
year can start by mid-July.
The OTT is being introduced
just as bikepacking is increasing in
popularity. Bikepacking involves
cycling over long distances and over
an extended period of time while
camping each night. The estimated
time to complete the entire OTT for
a bikepacker is 20 to 30 days.
Another popular bikepacking
route in Oregon is the 364-mile
Oregon Outback, a route of mostly
gravel roads that cuts through the
High Desert from Klamath Falls to
the confluence of the Deschutes and
Columbia rivers.
“It’s sort of a burgeoning sport,”
Tiller says of bikepacking. “People
have been camping with their bikes
for a long time, but for whatever
reason it’s sort of real hot right now,
this bikepacking trend. I expect it to
continue to be popular, because it’s
gotten a lot easier recently, just with
a lot of changes in gear technology.
You’re able to pack lighter and
camp more comfortably. It really
opens up a lot of doors. To me, it’s
unique when compared to hiking or
backpacking, in that you can cover a
lot more distance a lot quicker, and
end up seeing a lot more diversity
of landscape.”
James Good, the owner of Good
Bike Co. in Prineville, is on the
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
What a time for wildflowers
By BRUCE BARNES
For the East Oregonian
I’ve been on the Ruckel
Ridge road every year
except maybe one for at
least the past 30 years. It has
always seemed to me to be
the best place for viewing
wildflowers within a day’s
drive of Pendleton.
A former botany
professor at the University
of Oregon once included
it in a list of the seven best
places for wildflowers in
the state. Nine days ago, I
was absolutely astounded
as I drove the length of the
ridge with a group of friends
I’m sure the continued
cool spring weather with
frequent rains combined for
the effect, but it was beyond
anyone’s expectation.
The road from the
Interstate 84 Mt. Emily
exit to the ridge road had
many impressive displays
of flowers. We made many
stops and it was apparent
that every plant we saw
was showing robust growth
compared to past years.
Annual plants that grow
from seeds each year were
far more abundant than
usual, and the perennials
and shrubs displayed more
growth and more blooms
than expected.
Once we reached the
intersection with the ridge
road and turned north, we
began the dozen mile or so
drive along the ridge with
one stunning display of
flowers after another. About
the time we reached the
ridge it also began a light
rain which continued most of
the way, though we mostly
ignored the inconvenience.
At the highest elevations
were early spring flowers
including anemone, glacier
Photo by Bruce Barnes
The meadows of Ruckel Ridge are blooming with more
vibrancy and variety than it has in years.
Photo by Bruce Barnes
The number and vivid colors of wildflowers can be
astounding.
lilies and waterleaf, mixed
in with cutleaf balsamroot,
eriogonum and larkspur.
At other places large open
swaths of flowers which
show up every year were
choked with blooms,
including the woody
penstemon and mule’s ears.
I should note here that
stunning displays can be
seen on this road every
year, but this was beyond
anything I’ve seen ever
— anywhere. Listing the
dozens of plant species in
bloom would be pointless.
Several of us took lots of
pictures, and I’m sure many
will come out well, but the
best of photos with the best
cameras cannot do justice to
being there and getting the
full effect of turning around
and seeing acres of beauty.
If you don’t get out to
see what’s blooming in the
Blues any other time this
summer, go now and spend a
day driving the forest service
road 31, the Ruckel Ridge
road. It may be many years
before we see anything like
it again.
board for the Oregon Timber Trail
and is an experienced bikepacker
who offers clinics at his shop.
The Oregon Outback route passes
through Prineville and the Ochoco
National Forest.
While the OTT does not pass
through Prineville, Good is still
excited about the route and hopes to
ride it by next year.
“I think it’s incredible,” Good
says. “Why not, right? A lot of the
bikepacking focus is gravel. This
is a little more specific mountain
biking since you’re on singletrack.
This is pretty unique, and a rare
opportunity as well. There’s not too
many trails like that.”
The four tiers of the trail are
sort of natural breaking points,
according to Tiller.
The Fremont Tier includes the
175-mile Fremont National Recre-
ation Trail and sprawling views
from Winter Rim.
“We opened up some trail there
that hadn’t been open for 10 years,
so now you can actually ride from
Paisley up all the way to the top of
Winter Rim,” Tiller says. “That’s
been really unused because it had
so many trees down. But I feel
like that’s going to become a really
iconic place for people to visit
down there.”
The Willamette Tier includes
the Middle Fork Willamette Trail
to Oakridge, and trails that require
a strenuous climb up Bunchgrass
Ridge toward Waldo Lake.
The Deschutes Tier includes
lightly used trails from Waldo
to Cultus Lake, then the route
passes Lava Lake before circling
around Mount Bachelor on the
Edison-Lava Trail. The route also
uses the Dinah-Moe-Humm Trail,
and it crosses Cascade Lakes
Highway from Wanoga Sno-park
to Swampy Lakes Sno-park just
a few miles southwest of Bend.
From the Swampy Lakes area, the
route connects to Road 370 near
Todd Lake then goes up and over
the Cascade Range and down into
Sisters. The routes passes through
the Suttle Lake and Camp Sherman
areas and then on to the old Santiam
Wagon Road.
The Hood Tier features an old
trail system through the foothills of
Mount Jefferson and the Survey-
or’s Ridge Trail before the route
descends into the town of Hood
River.
“It’s a cool opportunity to
connect together a bunch of existing
trails and scenic stopovers,” Craig
says. “I like the fact that they’re
including a bunch of history of the
region in the whole project and
route book. I think it’s a really good
opportunity for people just to see
some pieces of Oregon that they
wouldn’t normally see.”
BRIEFLY
Plan to protect
salmon backfires
as cormorants flee
ASTORIA (AP) — A
plan to protect young
salmon by killing double-
crested cormorants on an
island in the Columbia
River has backfired after
the birds fled the area
halfway through their
nesting season.
Two dead cormorants
and 14 cracked eggs are
the only recent evidence
that the birds have tried to
return to nesting grounds
on East Sand Island since
abandoning nests in
May, The Daily Astorian
reported.
This is the second time
in two years that the birds
have abandoned the island
in the middle of their
nesting season.
The Army Corps of
Engineers kills the birds to
reduce predation on runs of
threatened and endangered
juvenile salmon.
The Corps has put a hold
on killing the birds until it
is clear if the colony will
re-establish itself on the
island.
Last year, the agency’s
contractors killed nearly
3,000 adult birds and
destroyed 1,092 nests
despite the birds leaving the
island and returning at the
end of June.
The Corps’ goal is to cut
the island’s population of
cormorants in half by 2018.
Conservation groups,
however, believe the plan
is harming the colony of
birds.
“It’s very possible that
the combination of eagle
predation activity and
lethal control activity being
conducted by the federal
agencies are acting in a
cumulative manner to put
pressure on this colony,”
Bob Sallinger, conservation
director for the Audubon
Society of Portland, wrote
in a letter to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service.
“While the colony may
have been able to withstand
the pressure of eagles
alone, the added impacts
of pervasive shooting, egg
oiling and other elevated
human activities has
significantly increased the
scope, scale, frequency and
intensity of threats to the
cormorants.”
Lawsuit against
Cascade-Siskiyou
monument
expansion delayed
SALEM (AP) — A
federal judge has given
the Trump administration
more time to review
federal monument
designations made by
previous presidents
before it responds to
a lawsuit brought by
two timber companies
against the expansion of
a monument in southern
Oregon, according to
court documents viewed
Monday.
Judge Mark D. Clarke
ruled that all pending
deadlines are stayed while
Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke “conducts his review
of the designation for the
Cascade-Siskiyou National
Monument,” according to
the court records.
President Donald
Trump in April called for
the review of 27 national
monuments established by
three former presidents.
Zinke is to issue a final
report in late August for all
the monuments.
Clarke said in his ruling
on June 13 that all parties
in the Oregon lawsuit
should submit a joint status
report on Sept. 23. His
ruling was reported earlier
Monday by Oregon Public
Broadcasting.
Murphy Co. and Murphy
Timber Investments LLC
challenged the legality of
President Barack Obama’s
adding of about 48,000
acres to the monument in
southwestern Oregon to
protect its biodiversity.
The companies say the
move reduces the supply of
timber sold and jeopardizes
their log supply.
In directing Zinke to
review the designation
of dozens of national
monuments on federal
lands, including Cascade-
Siskiyou National
Monument, Trump
it “a massive federal
land grab” by previous
administrations.
Man dies after
boat overturns on
Oregon lake
DETROIT (AP)
— Authorities say a
72-year-old man who
was hospitalized after an
aluminum boat capsized on
Detroit Lake has died.
The Marion County
Sheriff’s Office says two
men and a woman were
thrown into the water
Wednesday after one of
them stood up, causing the
15-foot boat to overturn.
Other boaters came to
their aid, and an off-duty
firefighter performed
CPR on Chester Correll
of Corvallis until a
rescue helicopter arrived.
Authorities say he died
Wednesday evening at a
hospital.
The sheriff’s office says
he had been fishing with
family when the incident
occurred.
The sheriff’s office says
nobody aboard the capsized
boat was wearing a life
jacket.