Saddle Up "Inspection" Run

[NW99XJ]

Although I didnt make it up there in time to meet with Jahmall, I did catch up with BPB (and his entourage) and AwesomeXJ before they headed down the mountain. BPB and crew left to go get beer, Aaron and I stayed behind to wheel our way down, (and do a little picture taking too - see July Photo Contest Thread.)
We aired down (not much - just enough to make it a better ride) and hit the trails.
I neglected to take pics of the now closed Saddle Up. But as many of you know, it had been virtually completely filled in (you're not missing much) and now has no access.
Aaron and I scoped out parts of where the new direction of Saddle Up will potentially go.




We hit hogs back on the way to Bates.


Aaron showing his AwesomeXJ Pucker Factor:


Stopped off at some rocks for a poser shot: (did some other photo taking here too - but that was for the aforementioned thread.)


My turn on the big rock:


Shaky shot up a small hill climb:


Bates was dusty as all hell, stopped at the upper spur at the end, and did a little more photo shooting for the contest thread...then came down the hill, aired-up, and made our way home.
I stopped at Gales Creek real quick to scout the camp ground (never went down there before)
Once we got back on the road and were coming down the hill I saw that Aaron had ran someone off the road:


>
>
Just kidding of course, Tragic none the less. It appeared as if everyone was ok, but that's still a nasty flop.
That's all I got. Aaron will be posting up a full report of whats happening with Saddle Up soon.

 

[BPB]

After we left we be lined for food in Beaverton. After getting taco bell and blizzards from dairy queen (all while listening to XM's Love channel) eric got us lost. ( See the torx report) After combating portland's biker gangs we ended up in downtown Portland. After arriving in battle ground Dustin departed and eric and I went to a gay rodeo with our women and then we got drunk and hired cowboys to dance with our women.. here are the few pictures that survived.

 

[AwesomeXJ]

So yesterday I got up to saddle up at 12:45 for the meeting with Jahmaal Rebb from ODF at 1:30. We got to talking while waiting for BPB,Torx, and Eric to arrive. It seems The contractor in charge of blasting the hillside to harvest rock filled in the hill climb to move the blast hole driller to the top of the hill and when they blasted they de-stablized the whole hill and now there is a large crack that runs along the left side of the trail. Because of the large crack and subsequent smaller fractures causing a potential for harm to the public. Saddle Up is closed to ALL traffic. There are boulders stacked and the entrance on the hill climb side and a huge log at the other.
...the hill climb is filled with gravel anyways.

This is the new area we have available to us to make the new trail. We will be cutting a completely new trail. We will be keeping it single Black Diamond and Double Black Diamond. The trail will be built in 2 parts. This side being the more pressing trail due to the current hill climb being taken out of comission. and another section to tie this side in down to the top of FB5, to be completed later.

...
We are waiting on TOPO maps and plans from Jahmaal then we will put together outings to route and flag the new trail. We NEED to get on this because reforestation will be coming in at the end of the year to replant the hillside. and we need to have the new route at least flagged by then so that they can plant around it. We have a whole lot of work ahead of us, a lot of walking and marking and walking again. This will not be an easy task but I believe we have enough manpower and support to complete this rebuild. We need to work together to do this right. To make this a trail that years from now we can look back and say "I helped build that!"

 

[TORX]

BPB, Dellstopjeep, and I made the trek out Saturday afternoon to get the scoop on Saddle Up.

BPB was at the helm of the Ex_Stocker, and I think we only caused two major accidents on the way out.

Dellstopjeep, and I along for the ride.

I didn't expect the damage to be that bad, but after arriving and hearing the update, I was thoroughly surprised.

Hill climb of the past.

The crack in the hillside. I tried pushing the hillside off, but couldn't get enough leverage.

We walked to the top, and discussed options. Nice day at TSF.

After the meeting, we debated on hitting some trails, but ultimately we wanted to get back to watch the Olympics and drink. To cure Dellstopjeeps grumpy mood we began listening to the Love station on Sirius. We stopped at Taco Bell for a feast. Then decided we wanted Dairy Queen, so we parked by the fountain at McDonald's while Siri found the closest Dairy Queen.

Dairy Queen had a sharp corner on the approach to the drive through, so low range was used. Of course then BPB couldn't make the corner in the drive though and had to three point it. 2Low would have been handy.

While enjoying our ice cream we set off exploring Beaverton's back roads, singing along to love songs.


We found some pretty good views above the city, and eventually popped out in downtown Portland.

From there we made our way back to our side of the river, and only managed to piss off one other driver and his family. All in all it was an enjoyable day.

 

[NW99XJ]

Dairy Queen had a sharp corner on the approach to the drive through, so low range was used. Of course then BPB couldn't make the corner in the drive though and had to three point it. 2Low would have been handy.

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:

 

[kenny811]

How come Torx got to ride in the front seat?

 

[LJ dude]

While enjoying our ice cream we set off exploring Beaverton's back roads, singing along to love songs.

How romantic! :roflmao:

 

[LJ dude]

We are waiting on TOPO maps and plans from Jahmaal then we will put together outings to route and flag the new trail. We NEED to get on this because reforestation will be coming in at the end of the year to replant the hillside. and we need to have the new route at least flagged by then so that they can plant around it. We have a whole lot of work ahead of us, a lot of walking and marking and walking again. This will not be an easy task but I believe we have enough manpower and support to complete this rebuild. We need to work together to do this right. To make this a trail that years from now we can look back and say "I helped build that!"

When are you guys planning on going out to mark trail?

 

[AwesomeXJ]

When are you guys planning on going out to mark trail?

After we've done a lot of walking and studying the landscape a bit. There will be a thread created.