new to me place to ride in nw washington

External Since: Jun 20, 2003 Posts: 65

yesterday a buddy and i were riding gravel roads on private land (tree farm
open to public) when we found a few
atv and cycle/horse trails. we had a blast riding on them. most trails
went from one switchback leg to the next in a
round about manner. some were just really old logging roads that had
deteriated to trails. the only markings on the
trails were orange ribbons at the start, end, and intersections of the
trails. i have not seen this set of trails listed anywhere
on the net. Lots of jeep style vehicles had used the main roads and torn up
several areas. there were mud holes/ruts that
were 2 feet deep in places, but not as bad as some places i've seen. very
little motorcycle used was seen, mostly horses.
the whole area is mostly mud with traction gravel underneath it....but the
ground is fairly dry now due to unseasonable
unbelievable weather. so these are the questions:
1. how selfish am I if i don't publish where this fun site is?
2. would you?
3. If i do publish the site and it gets torn up; am i likely to publish in
the future?
4. who wants to go riding with us there next time?
5. do you think i ought to approach the local cycle org. to approach the
land owners and suggest
that the club volunteer to keep the area clean and maintain/build trails?
rich
--
tmh.rservatius.TakeThisOut@verizon.net
atv rider polaris 500
glass creations
drz400s
wood carver
spode

External Since: Feb 11, 2005 Posts: 147

res055a5 wrote:
> yesterday a buddy and i were riding gravel roads on private land
(tree farm
> open to public) when we found a few
> atv and cycle/horse trails. we had a blast riding on them. most
trails
> went from one switchback leg to the next in a
> round about manner. some were just really old logging roads that had
> deteriated to trails. the only markings on the
> trails were orange ribbons at the start, end, and intersections of
the
> trails. i have not seen this set of trails listed anywhere
> on the net. Lots of jeep style vehicles had used the main roads and
torn up
> several areas. there were mud holes/ruts that
> were 2 feet deep in places, but not as bad as some places i've seen.
very
> little motorcycle used was seen, mostly horses.
> the whole area is mostly mud with traction gravel underneath
it....but the
> ground is fairly dry now due to unseasonable
> unbelievable weather. so these are the questions:
> 1. how selfish am I if i don't publish where this fun site is?

Extraordinarily selfish. I mean, we're like rmd brothers, right?
Sheesh.

> 2. would you?

Sure. Want directions to my house so you ride on my mind-bogglingly
tight 20 miles of woods trails? Our biggest problem is getting enough
traffic to keep the brush back.
Also, if every rmder in Washington State showed up to ride on your new
trails, it would have almost no impact. There just aren't that many of
us up here.

> 3. If i do publish the site and it gets torn up; am i likely to
publish in
> the future?

Probably not, under those circumstances.
I'd sure think twice about it.

> 4. who wants to go riding with us there next time?

Maybe. Depends on how far it is, how many miles of trail are available,
how technical the trails are, etc.

> 5. do you think i ought to approach the local cycle org. to approach
the
> land owners and suggest
> that the club volunteer to keep the area clean and maintain/build
trails?

It seems like the right thing to do, but it might just bite you in the
ass, too. It depends on how aware the owners are about the current use
of the land, and how good the club is at negotiating. I can easily see
this approach ending with bikes and ORVs banned, while horses, mountain
bikers, and hikers continue to use the trails. On our very informal
trail system we are crossing back and forth from DNR land (powerline
right of way) to a patchwork of private land. We try really hard to
take care of the land while building/maintaining trails, which we share
with quite a few local equestrians. In fact, most of the existing trail
system was laid out and cut by one middle aged lady horse rider, God
bless her. She is very happy and greatful to have us helping with
construction and maintenance. Since we never really know for sure
whether we're on public or private land we have adapted a don't ask,
don't tell policy. Without the trails we make, property owners would
have virtually no access to their own property. Our trails open up the
woods for them.
So far, so good.

Tim H