in Quarry Ridge (Moderator: Schrader)

I've been out snowshoeing at QR the last two nights. The snow is awesome, but the sticky wet snow and wind took down a ton of trees. I am guessing 5-10% of all trees lost their top, and all the the trails are impassible by bike due to trees down or honeysuckle bent over covering the trail. A tree branch or something obstructs the trail about every 20 feet.

The trails are pretty much closed to snow bikes until a group can get out there and clear all the fallen branches and honeysuckle off the trail. I'm busy until after New Year's. Maybe we can organize a day in January sometime.

Jeff

Jeff, Tom, Steve
Give me a call or a email on the work email when you want to cut those out.  I'm not on the forum as much with ski season here.  Sounds like it will take a work party, not just a few dudes.  I'm available mid January.

I just finished finals and would be free to help whenever.

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If we did this on a Friday or Saturday, I could come out and help.  I've never been out to the trails in snow season.  Does it get really deep where you need full on snow suit and boots type gear or are the trails fairly well used and shoes and jeans are good enough?

Any chance anybody has been out there - what are the conditions?  Still need tree work?  If so, is it stuff a single person can clear by hand without tools or is it more significant?  Or is it all clear and rideable?

I haven't been out there but from the sound of it you might need a chain saw and some help. I could come out sometime this week if anyone is free.

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Santa brought me snow shoes and a machete, I'm going to play with the new toys at QR tonight and clear out as much as I can.  I don't have a chainsaw but I'll bring a hand saw to get through any medium sized stuff. Of course I'll have a bike too if it's clear enough to ride.

I was out for about 1.5 hours today.  Between a little riding, a lot of pushing, hand breaking of twigs, following the snowshoe path and trying to find the actual trail in several places, that got me very very  roughly around the main loop once.  In summary I'd say - the bottom flat "return path" especially where the new stuff was cut in needs a lot of clearing and actual finding of the trail.  The main uphills/downhills need just a little trimming but basically needs some  bikes on it.  For that "up over and down the hill stretch I was able to clear 90% of stuff by hand.  Many trees just needed to be shaken off and they magically rose up off the trail.

There's a lot of "improvised" trail as I just followed mostly where the snowshoes went, sometimes it's on the trail and sometimes not.   I got confused as to where the heck I was several times.   I'm sure that's fine for the winter, we just need to ride in what's been blazed - the snowshoe pack is sufficient in some places but not most of it.

Richard, if I can get my clothes to dry here at the office in the next few hours I'd be willing to come out and ride and clear trail with ya, based on what I saw today.  I was sweating like a pig after pushing, riding, hiking out there for that time.

Richard and I are going to meet out there at 5, with some hand tools, snowshoes, and bikes.  If anyone wants to come out and help clear and help get some more wheels on the snow feel free.

You just might see me there...

My snowshoe tracks are on the trail for the most part, or just a few feet off due to trees in the way. There is a big treetop hanging over the trail balancing on some little trees right around the beginner loop cutoff on the long downhill. Beware!

I found shaking raised a few of the trees. 90% of the stuff down can fixed with hand tools.

Jeff

Scot and I stomped and hacked our way around the bottom of the trail and then rode up and down the downhill.  I'm pretty sure there are some deviations from the normal trail but you can ride a whole loop now.  A lot of the trail can be pedaled as is but it'll need some traffic to be truly rideable, it's just a few fat tire tracks away from being a stellar place to play in the snow.

There were some snow board tracks out there too, there are probably some sweet lines down the sandy bowl.

My snowshoe tracks are on the trail for the most part, or just a few feet off due to trees in the way.

Yeah, for sure.  But here are a few places where shortcuts had been walked, or no trail was - that we followed at least initially if we lost the trail, and at least one place that hadn't been walked - or else we invented some new winter trail :D.   Point being, until we get more bikes riding things in well it might be a bit confusing to people on the bottom return.  I think more than one person has been snow shoeing out there, some people had been walking in boots out there, some people had been snowboarding.  So we were doing a lot of detective work (it was also night!).  All of the new trailwork made it confusing because once in a while in the snow you'd pick up on the old corridor - and I had not realized a new connection had been cut between the bottom of the tunnel trail to the original downhill, so riding up the old downhill I twice inadvertantly ended up at the bottom of the tunnel trail instead of at the top QR!  Very easy to lose bearing in the snow!

It was a lot of fun though, we were out for about 2.5 hours last night.  The bottom/return really needs bikes on it, and it needs compaction.  Please people get out and start trying it, and if you have to push your bikes through try to walk off to the side.  The main downhill is totally rideable though, both up and down - be aware if you go this way to keep an eye for a right hand turn half way up, or you'll flow straight to the bottom of the tunnel trail.

This is a nice option for winter.  QR feels a hell of a lot bigger place in snow!