[aabbas]

Hi,

I'm an Oregon newbie, haven't lived there since I was two years old. I'd like to go ride MRT but I'm still recovering from a broken wrist so I can't charge any of the technical lava rock sections. I can only ride fairly smooth stuff, intermediate and below.

Assuming I ride the smooth-ish route around the west side of the lake instead of the rocky east side, how much total time would you say I'd have to spend walking my bike down rocky sections? Is it a lot? I've heard there's substantial technical descents near the waterfall.

Thanks!
Alex

 

[SchralphMacchio]

I don’t know how to answer this question without seeing your current level of discomfort, control and skill firsthand.

The sustained rock sections start just above Sahale Falls and are distributed over a long area around Sahale ... then not much until Blue Pool but that section is about 1/2 mile of nonstop rock stepdowns and step ups. If you are seriously in discomfort it will be a lot (like at least a dozen?) of mounts and dismounts around the waterfalls, then pretty much a nonstop walk from top of Blue Pool to bottom where the trail is just alongside the river.

If you have all day and either great clipless shoes or flat shoes that are set up well for hiking, then it probably doesn’t matter your level of skill or discomfort because you’ll be able to work it in.

The bigger time question is whether or not you can do this on a weekday. On a weekend you’ll be doing even more hike a bike because there will be too many people to ride the narrow, even non technical trail sections. I wouldn’t do this on a weekend if you need extra time to deal with your wrist.

Bring lots of water or a filter if you are going end to end ... **** is really heating up around here. The part below Carmen Reservoir gets hot as balls.

 

[SchralphMacchio]

Wait ... were we on Cal
cycling together?

I’m Alex Do ... was on the team 2004 and 2005 seasons. Stuck around at Cal doing post masters work through 2007.

 

[WHALENARD]

I'd skip it. Out & back King's Castle. Want more keep going out Olallie/ O'Leary

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[kosmo]

I'd skip it. Out & back King's Castle. Want more keep going out Olallie/ O'Leary

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Hard to argue with this. That ride is all fun, in both directions.

 

[Nat]

Not sure I'd want to ride Olallie/O'Leary and King's Castle with a wrist fracture that's not 100% yet though. You'll need it for extended downhill braking.

 

[Nat]

Passing these along:

 

[SchralphMacchio]

#localsonlybrah

 

[jimw]

The King-Castle shuttle situation is a real concern. Generally, it boils down the the usual golden rule - Don't Be A D*ck. Some folks don't adhere to that guideline. It would be a real shame to lose access to that rad trail due to the carelessness of a few.

Back to the original question about MRT (if you're coming off a broken wrist I wouldn't even bother thinking about the other rides in the area). I haven't personally checked it out but I know that Dirt Mechanics just finished a reroute of the Blue Pool section (like last week, I think they are doing a final "OCD" check on the work this week), so this may no longer apply:

then not much until Blue Pool but that section is about 1/2 mile of nonstop rock stepdowns and step ups. If you are seriously in discomfort it will be a lot (like at least a dozen?) of mounts and dismounts around the waterfalls, then pretty much a nonstop walk from top of Blue Pool to bottom where the trail is just alongside the river

 

[SchralphMacchio]

J dub, wasn’t the point of the Blue Pool biker only reroute to save just as much chunk and awesome unflow-jankiness of the current trail, minus pedestrian traffic / pedestrian biker conflict?

I actually love the trail as is, and many others do. Am curious to see the reroute!



On King Castle ... yeah I get being legitimately upset by unsafe biker passes and non-compliance with general trail etiquette, including LNT and human/animal/garbage waste being littered. It’s important for us all to get a handle on that.

But the first, handwritten note (the typed one is newer), smacks of local privilege and not only ignores the fact that these are public lands, it is extremely condescending. There are so many better ways to write that note that I actually did re write it, and almost shared my positive version of it here, to be signed “McKenzie River Mountain Bikers.” I was pretty personally upset being asked by a local, who for whatever reason lives at the Urban Wildland Interface for all its positives and negatives, to *not use* a public resource due to problems and potential problems generated by asshole trail users. At least the second note clarified it that the sentiment is specifically blaming and prejudicing mountain bikers as the ones being polluting fire causing trailhead pooping assholes, whose brap boosting privileges shall be revoked regardless of public comment process and with no attempt to coordinate with the land manager to do an actual root cause countermeasure process that addresses key concerns through joint resolution efforts across all user group influencers/leaders. I must have just missed that part the first time (note) around.

I *am* fine with the second note asking mountain bikers to follow the rules and explaining what has happened when bikers haven’t done that. Let’s have a dialogue about it. Let’s get DoD to the table with local resident leaders. Let’s ask hikers to come out to trail work days and get to know more bikers, keep the conversation going. No need to fight.

 

[jimw]

J dub, wasn’t the point of the Blue Pool biker only reroute to save just as much chunk and awesome unflow-jankiness of the current trail, minus pedestrian traffic / pedestrian biker conflict?

I actually love the trail as is, and many others do. Am curious to see the reroute!

Like I said, I haven't ridden it, just reporting that things have changed a bit there very recently. Knowing the guys at Dirt Mechanics well, they are quite familiar with both chunk (Spence) and flow (Redline) so I'm sure their work there will be most excellent.

On King Castle ... yeah I get being legitimately upset by unsafe biker passes and non-compliance with general trail etiquette, including LNT and human/animal/garbage waste being littered. It’s important for us all to get a handle on that.

But the first, handwritten note (the typed one is newer), smacks of local privilege and not only ignores the fact that these are public lands, it is extremely condescending. There are so many better ways to write that note that I actually did re write it, and almost shared my positive version of it here, to be signed “McKenzie River Mountain Bikers.” I was pretty personally upset being asked by a local, who for whatever reason lives at the Urban Wildland Interface for all its positives and negatives, to *not use* a public resource due to problems and potential problems generated by asshole trail users. At least the second note clarified it that the sentiment is specifically blaming and prejudicing mountain bikers as the ones being polluting fire causing trailhead pooping assholes, whose brap boosting privileges shall be revoked regardless of public comment process and with no attempt to coordinate with the land manager to do an actual root cause countermeasure process that addresses key concerns through joint resolution efforts across all user group influencers/leaders. I must have just missed that part the first time (note) around.

I *am* fine with the second note asking mountain bikers to follow the rules and explaining what has happened when bikers haven’t done that. Let’s have a dialogue about it. Let’s get DoD to the table with local resident leaders. Let’s ask hikers to come out to trail work days and get to know more bikers, keep the conversation going. No need to fight.

To me, both of those notes say essentially the same thing, which is calling out mountain bikers to Not Be Dicks. Even if you personally are Not A Dick when you visit there it doesn't negate the experience of locals on the receiving end of the Dick treatment from other out of town brap boosting trailhead pooping assholes and forming a general negative opinion of mountain bikers as a whole. Hell, just from the little I've seen there personally (some uncool behavior from mountain bikers), I think if I were a local I could have written both of those notes myself. To over-generalize, a similar scenario is playing out in many places. Privileged out of towner mountain bikers come to a small town to session the **** out of a rad trail there (which technically is legal on said currently-open-to-mtb trail on public land) and pay no respect to the local area, giving ALL mountain bikers a bad rap in the area and threatening closure of said rad trail. Again, mostly all solved if people would just follow the general Don't Be A Dick™ rule. It only takes a few people not following that guidance to ruin it for everyone.

 

[WHALENARD]

To me, both of those notes say essentially the same thing, which is calling out mountain bikers to Not Be Dicks. Even if you personally are Not A Dick when you visit there it doesn't negate the experience of locals on the receiving end of the Dick treatment from other out of town brap boosting trailhead pooping assholes and forming a general negative opinion of mountain bikers as a whole. Hell, just from the little I've seen there personally (some uncool behavior from mountain bikers), I think if I were a local I could have written both of those notes myself. To over-generalize, a similar scenario is playing out in many places. Privileged out of towner mountain bikers come to a small town to session the **** out of a rad trail there (which technically is legal on said currently-open-to-mtb trail on public land) and pay no respect to the local area, giving ALL mountain bikers a bad rap in the area and threatening closure of said rad trail. Again, mostly all solved if people would just follow the general Don't Be A Dick rule. It only takes a few people not following that guidance to ruin it for everyone.

I would tend to agree with this and and moreso your first sentence in post #9. I raised this issue as a concern here before as well.

This may not be a popular opinion but I'm not a fan of shuttle companies profiting from public trails. Nothing good comes of it from my perspective but many negatives. I think a percentage of every shuttle dollar needs to go back into the trail and or public relations.

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[jimw]

I get where you're coming from, but honestly from what I've seen the issue is less from people doing rides on shuttle companies, it's more people self-shuttling out there (AFAIK no shuttle companies run a shuttle on King Castle alone). With that particular spot there's such a small parking area at the TH that at least the parking is an issue even if you aren't shuttling it (probably even moreso in that case). And of course, people can still be Dicks even when not shuttling.

Full disclosure, the first time I did King Castle I shuttled it. More than once. But I tried really hard to Not Be A Dick otherwise. And knowing what I know now, I likely won't shuttle it in the future. I'm good friends with the folks at CogWild and they do a shitload of trail work and other positive stuff so I think they at least are walking the walk.

 

[SurlyNate]

Several of the shuttle companies in the central Oregon region contribute significantly to keeping trails open and running well - Cogwild, Horse Creek Lodge, and Trans-Cascadia Excursions definitely contribute and I have no issue giving them my $. Not knocking others, just saying those are the three I'm aware of. Of note is that they contribute to trails they don't even run shuttles on, so it's not purely a self-serving duty.

I'll also say I've never had an almost head-on collision with an established shuttle driver doing 50mph on a dirt road, but cannot say the same about folks self-shuttling.

Just got back from an O'Leary/KC ride yesterday.

 

[tbmaddux]

Yep. In particular Cog Wild was involved right from the beginning with the reopening of Olallie and O'Leary, a lot of which was planned right in these forums. Horse Creek Lodge and T-C came on strong at the end when the "grand reopening" happened a few years ago.

Horse Creek does shuttle groups on King-Castle. First time I rode it they were shuttling an entire bridal party (minus the preacher and the ring bearer and flower girl I guess), on the morning of the wedding. Bride and groom were shredding it! Pretty funny.

 

[poppa#1]

So sad that folks avoid pedaling their bikes. Just close the road and watch the conflict vanish.

 

[tbmaddux]

Just close the road

Saw this from a USFS manager in a different context, but still r.e. closing roads... “They can’t, except in an emergency that threatens life, property or environment, but even then only for 30 days.“

 

[kosmo]

the ... Shuttle situation is a real concern.

fify!

 

[jimw]

Horse Creek does shuttle groups on King-Castle. First time I rode it they were shuttling an entire bridal party (minus the preacher and the ring bearer and flower girl I guess), on the morning of the wedding. Bride and groom were shredding it! Pretty funny.

If so, they at least don't advertise it on their webpage (just Olallie, O'Leary, MRT). So I assume it would be a privately arranged thing if at all... and BTW I think that bridal party case is a totally acceptable exception! HCL is awesome, really love that place, was just there last weekend.

Anyway, back to the OP, maybe your wrist will be fully healed by the time this discussion is over! I say go ride MRT and report back... but maybe wait for it to cool off a bit!

 

[Sparticus]

So sad that folks avoid pedaling their bikes. Just close the road and watch the conflict vanish.

I fear the motor-embracers would simply turn to a different motorized way. There are more than one.

The key is to act in a responsible way and respect other trail users.
=sParty

P.S. Can’t say I’ve never shuttled.
P.P.S. Full disclosure: I own an off-road motorcycle.
P.P.P.S. I also anticipate owning an ebike when the time comes.
P.P.P.P.S. I do and will continue to act responsibly and respect other trail users.