I had just hung up the cell having spoken to a Hood River bike shop salesman. “Can you ride the Pacific Crest Trail around Mt. Hood?” I asked. “Ha. Ha. Ha.” Came the reply followed by a “Heck No!” “Well, what trails to mountain biker’s ride in the Hood area?” There was a brief pause and then the question “Do you have a Central Oregon trail map? Drive up 35 to the Dog River Trail head and there’s a good trail there that we generally ride. It connects with Surveyor's Ridge. Good luck and enjoy.” I told the guy thanks and hung up thinking how lucky we are in Montana to still be able to ride the CD trail and Nez Perce among others (read 513). The salesman started in saying that the Pacific Crest “like the CD trail, is closed to mountain bikes.”
It was the 4th of July weekend and rather than me making another trip down solo to drop the LR off at a one week ski race clinic at Hood based out of Government Camp, we decided to make a summer family vacation out of the extended holiday weekend. We were just recently in Blodgett for a mtb marathon. There were other two week full race camp options, but I figured a one week clinic would be enough and the rest of the troops could get to know the Hood area hiking and playing near Government Camp. There were kids from all over attending what one ski rep mentioned were twenty six different available racing camps.
I decided to pack Alice, my GF Sugar. Alice remains in remarkably in good condition. She has mostly new parts, including a new chain stay and generally spends her time hanging on the garage ceiling. “Why can’t we get rid of some of the bikes? How many do you have now, anyway?” For some reason, I can’t get rid of Alice and always weasel my way of the questions. “Someday, the kids will ride them too…” One thing remarkable about Alice is she still has the same front shock from the original purchase in 2006. It’s a little fruppy, but it still works. I sent two shocks to a shock repair place in Idaho in early April and I still have not heard a single word from those folks. Now over three months later I’m beginning to wonder. The web page says “We’ll contact you before we begin work on your shock.” All you get is an answering machine. More on this later. At any rate, I like Alice, my first mtb. She’s staying.
I fired up some green tea and then began searching online for any news on the Dog or Surveyor Trails, hoping I could plug a few waypoints into the gps units. There was no internet where we were staying, so this was done early in the trip near Portland following the call to the shop. I also plotted a few trails to hike as well.
Someone had written about the trails, and I put in numerous waypoints using NG Maps software. I like to use their mapping products, mainly because I like National Geographic. Like many of us, my parents kept stacks of the magazines in the home library. As kids, we used to thumb through the pictures.
I figured I could iron out the details and form a basic map later where we were bunking. The site was a damp rental place along Boulder Creek, which flows into the Salmon River near the town of Brightwood.
Just below the Huckleberry Wilderness area. The house looked like a one floor jungle house, with a single floor, one fireplace and a large wood burning stove. It was cold and wet, so the stove was most welcome. My youngest son and I did a little hike up Boulder day one. It’s a pretty drainage, lush and green with the occasional raspberries among the ferns. I'd never seen orange raspberries.
We climbed for quite a ways. Down low there were many “beware of dog”signs. Soon, however, a large golden retriever had hit it off with the little man and we had no dog worries. How is it that children so quickly bond with animals?
The next morning, I got dropped off and said I’d call from the Parkdale, Oak Ridge Trailhead area once finished and then ride towards Government Camp along 35 until my "shuttle" arrived. The only concern I had was that the tires on the bike were old, but they looked like they would still be able to do the job. It was the 4th of July, Sunday. The sky was clear. It was cool on the 4th, in the high forties down low. Actually, looking back, we had had a nice fire Saturday night in the damp setting.
The Dog River Trail was a pretty tough little climb, but mostly able to be ridden. There was one section on Dog that I could not clear, having numerous boulders in the trail. The free ride crowd had clearly been having a ball descending through this section though. I don’t see how those guys don’t spend more time in the ER given the sections they ride. Maybe it is all of the armor they wear, or the motorcycle type heavy duty setups. I’m not sure. Probably they're just good descenders. I think some of the downhiller's were driving up the Brooks Meadow Road and connecting with the upper Dog River Trail and then bombing down, catching a ride back up and repeating. There were numerous trails dropping down towards HWY 35 which may have been good downhill sections as well.
I saw a group of three regular mtbers descending the section while I was climbing. [photo above from Dog]. There were also some hikers coming down. I wound up staying low and west on the initial Dog ridge riding a beautiful trail that also connected with the Zig Zag trail junction.
The map a fellow had posted did not indicate hitting this lower singletrack, drawing his route over the ridge top to the top of the Dog Trail section. This messed up two of my waypoints, which I had placed along the upper ridge top. Rather than go with the waypoints on the 4th, I stayed with the singletrack. There were some spectacular views of Mount Hood. I stopped quite a bit taking some photographs.
The section from the Zig Zag junction to the the aqueduct jeep trail was basically more singletrack climbing. I visited with some of the riders in pads near the Clinger Spring area and they explained to stay left at a junction coming up to catch the Surveyor's Ridge Trail following the aqueduct section.
Sounded simple enough. Getting to a section where the west turn off that goes along the aqueduct, I first went north staying with the trail. Then, noting the Brooks Meadow to the east, I turned around and headed through a small creek and finally west along the aqueduct road. This was a pretty neat section of doubletrack.
Not long after, I found Trail 688 dropping off of the road to the west and knew things were back to where they needed to be. Surveyor Trail stays just west of Surveyor road for part of the initial journey, but soon departs from the road.
It climbs and descends for thirteen miles along some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve ever ridden. The wind was howling and in spots and it was pretty bitter. I did not take a shell.
About half way across the top a young couple rode by asking if anyone was behind me and then simply saying “enjoy.” These were the only folks I saw on the ridge. Often I had to ask myself “What was that large snow covered rock climbing to the sky that I kept glancing through the trees?” Hood dominated the area. There were countless opportunities for photos along this trail and few places to make route mistakes.
I dropped out of the trail finally into a parking lot with three trucks parked in the area. There were more padded downhillers in the lot as well. There were large power lines over head. In the exuberance of the initial descent, I had not been paying attention to my route. I decided to head down the road thinking the journey was over anyway and the road would head to Parkdale. However, after a short bit of this, the road turned to gravel, so I stopped and pulled out the old map and realized looking at the power lines and my waypoints, that the singletrack called Oak Ridge Trail was just above the mouth of Surveyor's exit into the lot. I thought about taking the jeep trail under the power lines down to the Hood River Ranger Station, but decided to head back onto 688 looking for Oak dropping off to the west.
I had remembered a road crossing (640) not too far back up from the trail head and maybe it was there. I came to the road and turned S/W on it and soon immediately noted a singletrack crossing this road which must have immediately connected with 688 above and probably was the Oak Ridge Trail. So, I took it and soon went through my no. 6 waypoint and knew I had it. This trail started off as an excellent, winding and rolling descent, but soon just above the trail head and a fruit farm, deteriorated into a shaley washed out mess. Lots of switchbacks. For the first time on the journey, I was concerned for the old tires.
Finally, I dropped out of the trail and onto the Smullin Road, my final waypoint. Once on the Mount Hood Highway (35), I made the call and started cycling towards Government Camp. It was only a few miles back to the Dog trail head which I passed and continued riding waiting for my shuttle to come along to catch a lift back to Boulder Creek. Once we crossed over Bennett Pass, the fog rolled in and the rain poured. It had been the perfect 4th of July ride. Almost 25 miles and 4200 of climbing. The next time I'm at Hood though, I taking my b/c outfit.
Conclusion: If you are taking photos, expect four to four and a half hours of riding. I re-rode the trail again faster in two consecutive loops going once each way on Tuesday and realized climbing up Oak and doing the loop as on the map above was three hours and then three and a half taking Dog up first. I actually had a bobcat or a lynx early in the morning darkness on the Dog Trail slowly cross right in front of me. I went for the camera and he bolted. Pointy ears and a stub for a tail. The second time I have ever seen a cat in the wild.
