Scope of Work for SHIFT 2019 - To some degree, our focus at SHIFT the past few years has matched up remarkably with the mission of Trans-Cascadia: “re-opening long forgotten or neglected trail networks deep within the Pacific Northwest.”
With this in mind, we have two things on the agenda that we have been working to complete.
The Sheep Canyon-Loowit-Toutle Loop: If you check it on a map, you can use either Blue Lake or Red Rock Pass as your starting points; if you start from Red Rock, you will add about three miles to this out-and-back. When you reach the Blue Lake Trailhead, you ride up to the Huckleberry Saddle on the Toutle Trail, then jog slightly right to connect with Sheep Canyon. From there you ascend to the Loowit, take a left and head north down Crescent Ridge until you reach the South Fork of the Toutle. From there it’s back to Blue Lake on the Toutle Trail
Only sporadic maintenance has been done on these trails in the past 10 years. We think the loop is definitely worth putting into play. This ride has old-growth, great vistas, serious climbing, rock, and some fun DH. If you ride it as an out-and-back from Red Rock, it is approximately 18 miles. If you do it from Blue Lake, it’s about 12. BE ADVISED: It is not a normal 12.
We plan to put five crews out there at SHIFT. This means we need about 40 people who can quickly climb several miles to get to their start-points. Nathan Frechen and several friends from Trans-Cascadia put in a 10-hour day cutting out trees blocking the trail all the way around the loop. Our focus will be on brushing and tread work.
Marble to Ape Canyon: This one has also been in the works for several years. There are several ski trails between Marble and Ape Canyon: Pine Marten, Sasquatch, the Unnamed Trail, Pine Creek and a proposed new section. Together, they form a line from Marble Mountain Sno-Park, which has plenty of parking, to Ape Canyon, which doesn’t have nearly enough.
The Pine Marten, Sasquatch, and Pine Creek trails are already in decent shape and will get a bit of an upgrade at SHIFT. The Unnamed Trail will be brushed for the first time. We will be flagging the proposed section which is the missing link. We have received positive feedback from the USFS about getting this section approved. It will be flagged and submitted for review this summer. Fingers crossed for a positive result.
We will have several smaller crews working on these lines at SHIFT.
As an out-and-back, it would be about 15 miles. Add Ape Canyon to the Lunch Log and back and you would make it 30. Take it up another level and incorporate Smith Creek and you would have about 40.
We need volunteers, and we need them to sign up early if possible. Info and registration at http://nw-trail.org/events/shift-2019/