G
G Wood
Guest
After a long dry (riding) spell, my wife and I snuck up to do a ride in the
Mt Hood National Forest, near Hood River, Oregon. This particular ride is
an elongated loop in the valley that surrounds Eight Mile Creek. The trail
connects with several other more famous trails in the area, Knebal Springs,
Fifteen Mile Creek, Surveyours' Ridge, etc. With a good map (maybe a GPS)
and legs, you could spend a long time up there without repeating trail
segments.
Anyways, the Eight Mile creek loop trail is not very technical, or very
taxing physically. It is relaxed XC Oregon singletrack, hard dirt trails
with short rocky sections and lots of leaves and fir needles to cushion the
sounds. The shady sections have frozen dirt and some puddles have ice on
them. The day was sunny and clear, although cool, having had a pretty good
freeze overnight. It is very quiet and peaceful at this time of year. The
ash, aspen and poplars that dot the hillsides of thick fir stand out like
golden sparkles on Liberace's jacket. The hills roll away and slowly climb
to the south, forming the foothills of the Cascades. Just west of the
trailhead is Mt Hood itself, looking very majestic in its' new coat of snow.
Boy, been a while since we had a ride... on to the RR
From the trailhead you do a little up and down for a couple of miles, hiting
several open hillside viewpoints as you follow the ridge along the side of
the creek canyon. Then you start down through big stands of firs,
descending steadily and even do a mile or so of sweeping switchbacks. You
could reverse the direction on this trail and get a pretty good workout
coming up this way... Part of the area is now being commercially logged, so
you do pass through some sections where huge old trees are downed, stealing
some of the thrill from the ride. At the halfway point is a cute little
forestry service campground on the edge of the creek, with a few campsites
and fire pits, as well as some hiking trails. The place is empty, but the
facilities (pit toilets) are still open for day use, if required.
For the ride back, you follow the valley at creek level for a mile or so,
then cross the creek on a log bridge and climb a little more steeply for a
few more miles back to the trailhead. The views are quite limited, although
the rushing sound of the creek is a nice touch while you're riding close
enough to hear it. Quite a bit cooler in the lower valley sections, the
steady climb kept us nice and warm until we got back.
The whole ride wouldn't kill an afternoon, even though we took it at a
relaxed pace. Perhaps next time we'll take more time and add Knebal Springs
to the loop. Met just a couple of other folks on the trail, everybody was
smiling and having fun. We packed up, talked to some folks at the
trailhead, then drove down to Hood River and the Full Sail Brew Pub for a
light meal (and great brews) before heading to Portland.
Cheers
Gary
Mt Hood National Forest, near Hood River, Oregon. This particular ride is
an elongated loop in the valley that surrounds Eight Mile Creek. The trail
connects with several other more famous trails in the area, Knebal Springs,
Fifteen Mile Creek, Surveyours' Ridge, etc. With a good map (maybe a GPS)
and legs, you could spend a long time up there without repeating trail
segments.
Anyways, the Eight Mile creek loop trail is not very technical, or very
taxing physically. It is relaxed XC Oregon singletrack, hard dirt trails
with short rocky sections and lots of leaves and fir needles to cushion the
sounds. The shady sections have frozen dirt and some puddles have ice on
them. The day was sunny and clear, although cool, having had a pretty good
freeze overnight. It is very quiet and peaceful at this time of year. The
ash, aspen and poplars that dot the hillsides of thick fir stand out like
golden sparkles on Liberace's jacket. The hills roll away and slowly climb
to the south, forming the foothills of the Cascades. Just west of the
trailhead is Mt Hood itself, looking very majestic in its' new coat of snow.
Boy, been a while since we had a ride... on to the RR
From the trailhead you do a little up and down for a couple of miles, hiting
several open hillside viewpoints as you follow the ridge along the side of
the creek canyon. Then you start down through big stands of firs,
descending steadily and even do a mile or so of sweeping switchbacks. You
could reverse the direction on this trail and get a pretty good workout
coming up this way... Part of the area is now being commercially logged, so
you do pass through some sections where huge old trees are downed, stealing
some of the thrill from the ride. At the halfway point is a cute little
forestry service campground on the edge of the creek, with a few campsites
and fire pits, as well as some hiking trails. The place is empty, but the
facilities (pit toilets) are still open for day use, if required.
For the ride back, you follow the valley at creek level for a mile or so,
then cross the creek on a log bridge and climb a little more steeply for a
few more miles back to the trailhead. The views are quite limited, although
the rushing sound of the creek is a nice touch while you're riding close
enough to hear it. Quite a bit cooler in the lower valley sections, the
steady climb kept us nice and warm until we got back.
The whole ride wouldn't kill an afternoon, even though we took it at a
relaxed pace. Perhaps next time we'll take more time and add Knebal Springs
to the loop. Met just a couple of other folks on the trail, everybody was
smiling and having fun. We packed up, talked to some folks at the
trailhead, then drove down to Hood River and the Full Sail Brew Pub for a
light meal (and great brews) before heading to Portland.
Cheers
Gary
