SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
TRAILS
More Information
Continued from Page 1A
Johnson hopes this partner-
ship between The Trailhead,
which is a bike and ski shop in
Baker City, and the Wallowa-
Whitman National Forest will
help future hikers avoid the
conundrum that he confronted
that day high on the western
slopes of the Elkhorn Moun-
tains.
Johnson is general manager
of Anthony Lakes Mountain
Resort, which several years ago
opened The Trailhead on Main
Street in downtown Baker
City.
The Trailhead Stewardship
Project’s goals include mak-
ing all sorts of trails in the
Elkhorns and the southern
side of the Wallowa Mountains
— trails for hikers, horseback
riders, mountain bikers and
motorized vehicles — easier
and safer to fi nd and to travel,
Johnson said.
To that end, The Trailhead,
thanks in part to a $5,000
grant from Travel Oregon,
has hired Victoria Mitts to
coordinate trail maintenance
this summer.
Mitts also works for An-
thony Lakes during the winter,
Johnson said.
Kendall Cikanek, ranger for
the Wallowa-Whitman’s Whit-
man District, which includes
the areas that the Trailhead
Stewardship Project will focus
on, said the partnership will
help address the backlog of
trail maintenance caused by
fl at or declining Forest Service
recreation budgets over the
past couple decades.
“This will really increase our
capacity to do trail main-
tenance, and that’s really
important,” Cikanek said. “It’s
exciting.”
Over the years, he said, a
lack of regular trail mainte-
nance has resulted in sections
of some trails becoming clogged
with fallen trees, rocks and
other debris.
These obstacles can be
merely annoying for hikers,
but Cikanek said they can be
dangerous for equestrians.
“We recognize there are
areas where it’s diffi cult for
people on horses, and that
users are asking for better trail
conditions,” Cikanek said.
The Trailhead Stewardship
Project makes the same point
on its website — http://thetrail-
headbakercity.com/trailhead-
stewardship-project/.
Under the “background and
history” heading, the website
states: “While the trail systems
throughout the Elkhorns
and southern Wallowas are
remarkable to say the least,
these trails have deteriorated
signifi cantly (some are even
unpassable), in large part due
to lack of funding.”
Cikanek said the Whitman
District has only one-year-
Judge
releases
suspect
in U.S.
Capitol
riot
For more details about the Trailhead Stewardship Project,
go to the project’s website:
http://thetrailheadbakercity.com/trailhead-stewardship-
project/
National Recreation Area.
He said the Trailhead
Stewardship Project will work
with that group and any other
user groups, including off-road
vehicle clubs, to maximize the
improvements to the area’s
trail system.
Website features trail
details
The project’s website in-
cludes separate sections for fi ve
geographic areas — Northern
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald, File, 2020 Elkhorns, Southern & Central
Flat or declining Forest Service recreation budgets have Elkhorns, Phillips Lake
created a backlog of maintenance needs on hiking trails Recreation Area, Southwestern
in the Elkhorn Mountains.
Wallowas and Southeastern
Wallowas.
Each section has informa-
“This will really increase our capacity to do trail
tion about individual trails,
including driving directions, cell
maintenance, and that’s really important.”
service or its absence, and other
— Kendall Cikanek, ranger, Whitman Ranger District,
details.
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
The goal, Johnson said, is to
post updates on trail conditions
round recreation technician —
An employee already visits on the website.
He encourages people to
Jay Moore — and typically two the area frequently because
report what they find on trails
or three summer employees,
the trailhead is near Peavy
who focus mainly on ATV trails Cabin, a rental cabin, Johnson through a comment feature on
the website.
rather than hiking trails.
said.
That information will help
Cikanek said Moore will
Similar improvements are
Mitts determine where her
work with Mitts to determine also planned at the Elkhorn
where she can have the most
Crest trail’s northern trailhead, efforts can be the most effective
this summer, and guide work
benefi t.
just east of Anthony Lake
schedules in 2022 and beyond.
Johnson said the Trailhead campground.
For instance, Johnson said
Stewardship Project was a
The basic idea, Johnson said,
that if a hiker reports several
natural outgrowth of the work is that regular maintenance,
logs blocking a particular trail,
Anthony Lakes has done since even something as simple as
Mitts can try to get to that trail
2018, when it was awarded
emptying a garbage can, can
as soon as possible.
a contract to manage Forest
encourage forest users to be
Service campgrounds and
responsible.
cabin rentals in the Anthony
“If it looks like it’s taken care Two trails are top priorities
Lakes and Phillips Reservoir/ of, people are more apt to take this summer
It’s no coincidence that one
Sumpter Valley areas.
care of it,” Johnson said.
half of this pair is the afore-
In addition to taking care
And he expects to see an
of the campgrounds, Johnson
infl ux of visitors for the second mentioned Cunningham Cove
trail.
said employees started remov- straight summer.
ing fallen logs and doing other
In 2020, with the pandemic
basic maintenance on trails
prompting people to head
near those campgrounds.
outdoors where social distanc-
This includes sections of
ing is simpler, national forests
the shoreline trails at Phillips nationwide reported increases
Reservoir, the Elkhorn Crest
in visitor numbers.
National Recreation Trail
On the Wallowa-Whitman,
and Black Lake trails near
wilderness rangers and other
Anthony Lakes, and Dutch
employees reported a signifi -
Flat trail, also in the Elkhorns, cant rise in the number of
Johnson said.
people visiting the Eagle Cap
The Trailhead Stewardship Wilderness and, to a lesser
Project expands on those ef-
extent, the Hells Canyon Wil-
forts — in multiple ways.
derness.
Mitts, who will be working
Visitor numbers were
three or four days per week,
also noticeably higher at the
will make trail maintenance a campgrounds Anthony Lakes
priority, Johnson said.
manages.
“The idea is to bring trails
Johnson said the Trailhead
that have been neglected over Stewardship Project focuses
the years back to life, to make on the southern part of the
them passable and safer,” he
Wallowa-Whitman because
said.
existing groups, including the
But the project also will
Wallowa Mountains Hells
include upgrades to some
Canyon Trails Association, are
trailheads, such as installing
already doing considerable
a garbage can, with regular
amounts of trail maintenance
collection, at the Cunningham in places such as the Eagle Cap
Cove trailhead.
Wilderness and Hells Canyon
■ Matthew Klein
will be living with
a couple from
Baker County
Johnson said the trail is ob-
scured by clumps of snowbrush
and other plants that have
thrived since the Sloans Ridge
fire burned most of the mature
trees along the trail in 1996.
The goal for Mitts this
summer is to ensure the trail
is obvious enough, and has
sufficient signs, that hikers and
horseback riders can follow it.
The trail leads from the North
Fork John Day River near
Peavy Cabin to the Elkhorn
Crest Trail.
The second major goal for
trail work this summer is
the Martin Bridge trail along
Eagle Creek, in the southern
Wallowas.
Although several miles of
that trail from its southern
terminus at Eagle Forks
Campground upstream are in
good condition, sections farther
upriver are overgrown with
brush, Johnson said.
PORTLAND (AP)
— A judge has ruled
that one of two Oregon
brothers accused in the
insurrection at the U.S.
Capitol will be released
from custody Friday to
a third-party guard-
ian, where he will be
on home detention and
GPS monitoring pend-
ing his trial.
U.S. District Judge
Randolph D. Moss, of
the District of Co-
lumbia, on Thursday
granted Matthew
Klein’s pretrial release
to a Baker County
couple after refusing
to allow him to stay
with his parents. Moss
last week cited text
messages that showed
Klein’s mother and
father warning Mat-
thew’s younger brother
and co-defendant
Jonathanpeter Klein
not to broadcast their
roles, noting “braggers
get caught,” accord-
ing to court testimony
and documents, The
Oregonian/OregonLive
reported.
Matthew Klein, 24,
and Jonathanpeter
Klein, 21, both have
pleaded not guilty to
multiple charges.
Beyond the trails
Although improving local
trails is a chief goal of the
Trailhead Stewardship Project,
Johnson said the project — and
specifically its website — is
designed to promote Baker
County as a tourist destination.
Below each individual trail
description, the website has
this statement in bold text:
“While you’re recreating in
this region, please consider
fueling up and winding down
at our local food and drink
establishments. This will not
just enhance your vacation, but
contribute directly to the great
community that is taking care
of these trails.”
See Released/Page 8A
Top 100 Critical
Access Hospital
New At The Baker County Library
Patrons can reserve materials in advance online or by calling 541-523-6419. Drive-in hours at
2400 Resort St. are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from
noon to 4 p.m.
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FICTION
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• “The Last Vermeer” (Drama)
• “The Little Things “(Drama)
YE A A R R O S
W
5
IN
Saint Alphonsus Baker City is proud to be recognized by Chartis
Center for Rural Health as a Top 100 Critical Care hospital –
five years in a row. Top 100 critical access hospitals are identified
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For more information visit SaintAlphonsus.org/BakerCity