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!