Falls Creek ride in the Gifford Pinchot Forest in SW WA. Shuttle or out and back depending on rider interest. Really fun swoopy ride. Meet at Gateway at 9:30 a.m. Sign up below or email amy@nw-trail.org so we know you're coming.

 http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/trails-washington/trail/PRD_173806_4586crx.aspx

Begin at rock creek campground, tarbell to star mountain then back to tarbell and loop to return to rock creek campground.  All day ride.  Lots of climbing.

Meet at gateway at 7am and leave by 7:05 am.  Meet at rock creek campground at 7:50am.

Contact Susan at 503-703-4300 with questions or Susan@workforce-dynamics.com

An all day ride with a sick amount of climbing (but no worse then the "Big Ride") and great views at the top of Star Mountain.  Ride is contingent on the trail being open after the recent fire.  Meet at the south end of the gateway park and ride (the usual spot) at 8 am.  Leaving the parking lot no later than 8:10 am.

Susan

Hi Everyone,

If you haven't heard already, there is a fire burning in the Western
Yacolt Burn area.  It evidently started on Saturday and is located
primarily on private (Fibre) timberlands at this time off of the L-1500
in section 35.  The size is estimated at 60 acres, although there has
been some spotting on DNR land.  For those of you familiar with that
area, it is north of the L-1500 near the Larch Repeater site, north of
the Jones Creek Trail system loops and south of the Tarbell trail
system.

We are asking folks to spread the word that any motorized recreation use
has to be confined to the designated Jones Creek trail system loops
only, and we are asking that everyone avoid using the southeastern
portion of the Tarbell trail system until further notice.

Thanks.

Brian Poehlein

Washington Department of Natural Resources.

Recently, I had the honor and pleasure to spending some time with David Anderson and Amy Singmaster on the Smith Creek Trail near Mount Saint Helens.  Brian Bogan and I traveled out from Fort Collins CO early for our Portland Tour de Fat (this Saturday, August 14, in Waterfront Park) to soak up the scenery and enjoy the company of our friends from the Northwest Trail Alliance.  The NWTA will be benefiting from the Parade and will be benefiting from the Merchandise and Do-It-Yourself Booths.
 
I had been tentative to commit to such an adventure.  I am much more of a utilitarian bicyclist, I commute almost daily and on the other days I walk.  But getting on a mountain bike and riding singletrack with locals is a little daunting when you are not much of a mountain bike rider.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to ride-but I have been working for a brewery for over 8 years, let’s just say I’m really good at 12oz curls.  Bogan, on the other hand, can shred with the best of them-so he was psyched.

On Saturday, August 14th, if you are not volunteering at the Tour de Fat, I will be leading a commando-style work party on the Smith Creek loop.  We will ride from the Ape Canyon Trailhead for the traditional loop, but on the way down the pumice slope into Smith Creek we will stop to trim the overgrown brush.  Further down in the canyon there is some much needed benching treadwork and I hope to access some previously stashed tools and get after it.  

 This will be a HUGE day.  The Smith Creek loop is an advanced ride in of itself.  Spending more time doing trailwork will demand a hearty toll of water, food, energy and effort.  We will be packing small hand tools to tackle the brush on the upper sections, bring your big pack.  And maybe a water filter.