MTB Mount Hood: Hide and Seek Trail @ Sandy Ridge

Yesterday Nicole and I headed out East out of Portland towards Mount Hood to hit up a trail in the Sandy Ridge Trail System.  This was another suggested trail by the local bike shop.  We were pretty excited about it after reading the description.  The trail, called Hide and Seek, boasts a rolling downhill with flowing bermed turns, rhythm sections and jumps.  It was built specifically for mountain bikers which is nice because you don't have to look out for hikers and horses; also, there aren't dirt bikes making noise and surprising you around sharp turns.  The trail system is off of HWY 26 about 11 miles East of Sandy, OR in the foothills of Mount Hood

As always, the  bad thing about mountain biking is that if you want a long downhill section, the only way to get to it is 1)park at the top, 2) take a ski lift to the top, or in most cases, 3) tackle the grueling ride up the mountain on your bike.  The first two options didn't present themselves, so we opted (or rather we were stuck with) the last option.  To be honest though, the top of the trail is quite accessible on bike.  You follow a paved road to the start of the trail that is a steady incline the whole way, nothing too crazy.  

As you can see on the map below (the red line is the paved road, the green line is Hide and Seek trail), there are two places to catch the trail.  At the top, 3.2 miles from the parking lot or 1.5 miles from the parking lot at the halfway point.   

We took it pretty easy up the paved road and chose the halfway point.  It is clearly visible with a post marking the trail.

Right when we got on the trail the fun started.  There wasn't any uphill portions worth mentioning, just fast and curvy downhill.  The trail follows a little creek down the canyon, but you wouldn't know it was there because of the thick forest.  You only become aware of it when slow down for a turn and hear its trickle.  There are bermed turns built into the trail the whole way down.  Some sections were built with some sort of cinder blocks barely coming out of the dirt for more grip.  These high turns were a little tricky to get the hang of at first, but we got better as we went along.  Here is a picture of Nicole coming out of one of the sections with blocks built in.

I didn't do a very good job with pictures on this trip, sorry I don't have better ones for you.  I'll get some closer ones next time.  There were also several jumps built with landing spots to go with them.  Riding the trail for the first time, I didn't hit many of them with a lot of speed, but I did get some pretty good air on a few!

When we got to the end of Hide and Seek back at the paved road, we jumped onto an easier trail called Laura's Loop that makes a .75 mile circle and has a shoot-off trail back to the parking lot. It was a good ending rather than returning to the car on the paved road.  Next time we want to go to the top and do the full trail Hide and Seek trail.  Hopefully we can make it soon so I can give y'all an update! Until then, happy riding!

MTB Tillamook State Forest: Roger's Camp Trail

Last week Nicole and I drove west through Hillsboro and Forest Grove to Tillamook State Forest for our first mountain bike ride in Oregon! From what it looks like on the map, there is probably more than 100 miles worth or trails within the state forest, a modest 45 minutes from our place.  After doing some research on the trails online, I decided on a loop called the Rogers Camp Trail.  From what I understood online it was about a 9 mile loop and goes by a trail head to a waterfall called University Falls.  We really enjoy hiking to waterfalls, so it seemed like the perfect trail.  Reviews said it was easy to moderate in difficulty and could be done in a couple of hours.  I was pretty stoked to get on some Oregon single track like I've seen in a lot of videos.

We found the trail head after some extensive searching.  There is a big parking area with a restroom and map where bikers as well as hikers and motorcycle/ATVers begin their respective trails.  As I failed to remember from an online review that I had read the night before, the actual trail head is conveniently located right behind the big map board where no one can see it unless they walk behind the board.  We found it eventually though.  I wish I had a picture of the trail head, it was probably a one and a half foot opening through the bushes into the dark forest.  We looked at each other and said, "well, here goes nothin'." 

We squeezed through the ferns and began our trek.  Right off the bat, it was the total opposite of riding in New Mexico.  It was a completely sunny day, but the trail was completely shaded by the tall trees.  The trail was a little wet, so no dust! Instead of maneuvering rocks, we were challenged by roots and mud slicks.  The trail was a bit overgrown, so we rode through branches and grass at some points, but it was a blast.  

The trail started with a steep ascent that was well worth the curvy downhill on the other side.  Nicole led on the way down dropping off roots and "bunny hopping" rocks, she did great! 

After the downhill, we came to a creek crossing (what would have been a river crossing in New Mexico) where there was a tree trunk made into a bridge with a guard rail on one side.

The next section was some roller coaster up and down fun and then started an ascent again.  We passed some other bikers and asked them how long it was till we reached the falls.  After learning that we were still quite a ways from the top and feeling like had already had a pretty tough ride, we decided to take one of the gravel roads that we crossed back to the Jeep.  All in all it was a great ride and we really want to do the whole trail and make it to the falls soon.  Tomorrow we are going to Mount Hood to check out some trails in the Sandy Ridge trail system! Check for an update soon!

Wine Country

On our very long and hot (the AC was quite up to par) trip up to our new home in Oregon, we took a whole day to relax and enjoy wine country.  We stayed in a town East of the wine valleys called Suisin City, CA.  There was actually no vineyards around there, but right when we crossed the the hills and got down into what was technically Napa Valley, there was nothing but vineyards.  

Our goal was to eat at a good local restaurant in Napa and then go in search of some wineries in the country for some wine tasting.  We were definitely newbies.  We tried looking for some on the GPS and also drove around looking for one.  All we could find and agree on was a Pizza Hut, but hey, it was locally owned...not really what we were looking for.  

Now we know that all you have to do is drive up HWY 29 towards Yountville and St. Helena and eventually there are tons of wineries on both sides of the road and a lot of tasty places to eat.  Oh well, next time.  Even though we didn't find a local place to eat, we had a great time driving up the valley in the center of all the farmland and vineyards.  The first winery we stopped at was V. Sattui Winery.  Someone at our hotel suggested it and told us it had received many awards in the past few years.  It was a very cool place, they do a great job with the grounds and have a lot of flowers and vines on the walls.  We tasted some wine, and although we didn't get any wine from their store, it was really good and the guy who did the suggestions for the tasting was great, he gave us extra wine! My mom enjoyed it and found some wines that she likes. 

We then drove farther up the valley through St. Helena and came across a castle, yeah that's right a castle in California! It was called Castello di Amorosa.  Of course there were vineyards and a winery associated with it (even the smaller houses in the area have their own few rows of grapes and I'm sure some of them make their own vine).  They offer tours of the castle and winery but we just walked around the outside and enjoyed the grounds.  They even had their own farm animals which Nicole loved!

    

We also drove to Sanoma where we ate dinner at a local Italian food joint called Mary's Pizza Shack, which was amazing! They make everything from scratch and let you build your own dishes.  Sanoma was a cool little town as well with a town square that was just turning in for the night when we finished dinner.  

We definitely want to go back to wine country for a longer stay, anyone want to join us?!

Oregon

I had never done much traveling in the Pacific Northwest until last summer when we went to Seattle and Vancouver for a half marathon trip.  It is very different from what I have been used to my whole life in the desert, but I really enjoyed it! This spring I chose to go attend Pacific University in Hillsboro, OR for physical therapy school (which will begin in July) so we made a couple of weekend trips to the Portland area in Northern Oregon to check out where Nicole's and my home will be for the next three years.  These first few pictures are from the first trip in February when my dad and I went up for my school interview.  

For those of us from the Southwest where water is a rarity, there is a sort of culture shock when looking across the landscape in Oregon.  The amount of trees is ridiculous and the water and moisture up there is incredible.  What would be a stream to us, is a trickle to Oregonians.  Our rivers are their creeks, and our lakes are the size of their rivers.  Above is the Columbia River that runs to the North-NorthEast of Portland.  By my standards, it is huge.  

 Multnomah Falls is an iconic feature of the area that began it's tourist stop career as a train stop in the Columbia River Gorge.  Located east of Troutdale, OR, it is separated into the Upper (542 feet high) and Lower (69 feet high) Falls as it spills into a pool near a victorian style visitors center.  A light snow began to fall as we walked up to the bridge overlooking the Upper Pool and we saw that most of the pool was frozen except for the spot where the water fell to.  The Falls were spectacular, but even in the cold and snowy weather, it was pretty crowded with other people snapping shots of the tumbling, frigid water.  

  

 Hillsboro sits in the farm country of Washington county about 25 minutes outside Portland and a little over an hours mountainous drive away from the coast.  It was another rainy, snowy, windy, cold day as we drove along the coast up to Astoria, but the views were awesome and the beaches were very unique. 

Our next trip up was in April when Nicole had a teaching seminar in Portland.  We got to spend a full day in downtown Portland before heading out to the smaller towns.  The downtown area is very nice and clean.  There is so much to do within walking distance and everything outside walking distance is easily accessible by the bus system called Max.  A few places to checkout if you make t to the area is Powell's Bookstore, a local bookstore with endless rooms of books in a remodeled warehouse building, and Rose Gardens and Portland Zoo in Forest Park which are situated on a hill above downtown offering views of the city and Mt. Hood.

 We were lucky enough to have a full morning of sunshine as we trekked around Portland (rare for that time of year) and enjoyed the riverfront walk on the Willamette River.  Portland is a very active city and many runners and cyclists were enjoying the sunshine that morning as well.

 Portland, and Oregon for that matter, is famous for it's tulips.  These planters were all over the downtown area with many vivid colors.

 Did you notice I said we were lucky enough to have a sunny morning? Sure enough, around 1:00 in the afternoon, as we were walking down the hill from the Rose Gardens, the rain came.  I learned very quickly that a good rain jacket is going to be a huge necessity living in Oregon.  Nicole was already set.  

After our day in the city, we headed west to the Beaverton/Hillsboro/Newburg area where we will be living and where I will be going to school.  The area is beautiful with vineyards, christmas tree farms and blueberry and apple orchards.  I am really looking forward to living in the semi-rural area with so much agriculture everywhere you look.  

 Nicole found these guys at a local berry farm that has a country store and some farm animals.  They have some great raspberry jam!

 Over the next three years I will be studying my life away while working to get my DPT (Doctorate in Physical Therapy) from Pacific University.  The main campus (above) is in Forest Grove, but the Health Sciences Campus, where I will be, is in Hillsboro.

 We drove out to the coast again and headed south this time, and once again, found the sun!  Still rare for this time of year, EVERYONE was out enjoying the weather.  

 So much different from the beaches I am used to, there were many waterfalls spilling right into the ocean!

 Although you can't see in this picture, the beach was pretty packed even though it was still a mere 50 degrees.  Oregonians sure do cherish their sunshine when they get it.  

Nicole and I decided we are going to be Oregon Duck fans now that we will be "locals" for a few years, so we drove down to Eugene to check out the campus and sports facilities...Nike gives them a lot of money. We are excited to catch a few games!

We will be living up North in just two short weeks.  We are hoping to do a lot of traveling around the Pacific Northwest, so keep posted for some more posts!

White Mesa: Bernalillo, NM Area

Albuquerque, New Mexico is home to a wide array of outdoor activities that can be enjoyed year round from Skiing to hot air ballooning. The mountain biking scene is a little more extensive than it is here in Las Cruces, so when I went up to Albuquerque to visit my sister and brother-in-law, I took my bike along with me and managed to get Matt, my brother-in-law to show me some trails. The Sandia mountains that tower over Albuquerque were still holding on some good amounts of ice in early March so we headed west from Bernalillo towards Cuba to a recreation area called White Mesa.

The 35 minute drive out of the city got us away from the all the traffic and most of the people, but when we got the trail head, the parking lot was surprisingly packed. The first part of the trail had a few traffic jams, but about a mile out, the other riders were more scarce. The White Mesa trail system is great for the intermediate-expert rider and is well marked with numbered signs and maps at almost every fork and intersection. There are also several off-shoots and side loops that can add variety to your ride.

The Picture below does not due it justice, but the first part of the trail follows the side of this spine for awhile with steep drop-offs to the west. Those traffic jams that I mentioned unfortunately happened along these parts, not fun. After this section, the trails stays more on top of the ridge with a roller coaster type ride with alternating short climbs and descents.

The first fork you come to, you are faced with the decision of either taking some switchbacks down to the trail that goes back around to climb up the other ridge (we know know that this is clearly the better option), OR, carry your bike straight up about 30 ft to the top of the ridge and then ride a ways before going down the steepest jeep trail of your life (the option we chose, and regretted).

On the climb up the second ridge, we passed some springs that were surrounded by extremely white ground. It was pretty interesting and it almost felt like hard packed snow to ride on.

There are many cool rock formations and several different types of terrain along the trail. Once you get to the top, it becomes obvious why it is called White Mesa. The dirt does get pretty powdery and is almost like chalk coating your chain and gears. It was a tiring, yet fun ride. I would like to go back to White Mesa and ride the trails again.