B10 Th e Bu l l eTin • Fr iday, Ja n ua r y 15, 2021
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photos
Outdoor enthusiasts prepare to head out on the trails at Virginia Meissner Sno-park on Saturday.
Etiquette
Continued from B1
McBride suggested arriving
at a sno-park right as the sun is
coming up. There will be fewer
crowds, and it is an extra beau-
tiful, quiet time of the day.
But Gary Meyer, who
grooms the 11 miles of fatbike
trails at Wanoga, noted that
many people do not like to rise
early.
“So go up there at about
4 p.m., with lights on your
bike, or headlamp for skiing
and go in the evening,” Meyer
recommended. “You don’t
need super bright lights, be-
tween 300 and 700 lumens is
all you need.”
Meyer described the Christ-
mas holiday crowds at Wanoga
as “off-the-charts nutty.”
“And this past weekend, by
9:30 a.m., all the legal spaces
in the lot were full,” Meyer
said. “By 11:30, everybody
was parking illegally, parallel
parked along the oval or along
the access road.”
McBride said that vehicles il-
legally parked at “No Parking”
signs have been a problem this
winter at sno-parks.
“Some vehicles are too big to
navigate an exit, and we need
space for emergency vehicles,”
McBride said. “We’re having
some significant issues with
disregard for what the signs are
asking. When the site’s full, it’s
full. That’s a concept that can
be difficult to embrace when
you have it set in your mind, ‘I
am going to that sno-park and
I am doing this trail.’ Well, have
some contingencies in case it’s
full. Or go earlier.”
Encounters among user
groups at sno-parks are per-
haps less of an issue than park-
ing, but if folks know some of
the basic rules and proper eti-
quette ahead of time they will
likely enjoy their time there
more. The Deschutes National
Forest trail conditions report
has crucial information about
motorized and nonmotorized
use, as well as where dogs are
allowed.
A sign reminds snowshoers to use
the designated trails at Virginia
Meissner Sno-park.
Skiers, snowshoers and fat-
bikers that hear a snowmobile
coming should be prepared to
yield.
“Those that are not on the
snowmobile can hear it com-
ing,” McBride said. “Those
that are on the snowmobile
may not see and hear someone
not on a snowmobile. If you’re
coming around a corner or in
a blind spot, you need to make
sure you’re not in the snowmo-
bile’s path.”
For nonmotorized areas,
such as Meissner Sno-park,
signs indicate whether the
trails are for snowshoeing or
skiing. Snowshoers are sup-
posed to stay off the groomed
ski trails, especially the classic
tracks.
“They could get stomped
out by snowshoe tracks,” said
Larry Katz, operations man-
ager for Meissner Nordic, the
nonprofit that grooms ski trails
at the sno-park each winter.
Katz added that nordic ski-
ers should yield to the skier go-
ing downhill.
“Most of the trails are wide
enough that there’s not prob-
lem,” Katz said. “Step out of the
tracks, the person goes by, then
step back in.”
According to Meyer, at
Wanoga, fatbikers generally
yield to other user groups be-
cause they have brakes and
can stop more easily. Snow-
shoers and skiers are allowed
on the fatbike trails, and fat-
bikers are allowed on snow-
shoe trails and groomed
snowmobile trails. Fatbiking is
prohibited on groomed nordic
ski trails.
“We have brakes, and it’s
pretty easy to stop,” Meyer said
of fatbikers. “But they (snow-
shoers) need to step off the
trail. Because snowshoes won’t
sink into the deep snow, but
we will.”
Meyer noted that fatbiking
at Wanoga has increased by
about 50% since last winter.
(Fatbikes are essentially moun-
tain bikes with wider tires that
can handle groomed or packed
snow.)
Even with the increased
crowds at area sno-parks, find-
ing solitude in the Deschutes
National Forest does not take
long.
“As soon as you get away
from the parking lot, just even
500 feet away, it’s a peaceful,
normal, wonderful experi-
ence,” Meyer said. “You can
spend hours out there riding or
skiing and really not run into
that many people at all.”
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