Olallie Mountain Bike Trails on State Park Land. Just off the John Wayne Pioneer Trail accessible by exiting of Exit 32 off 90, driving South to the roads end and parking by Rattlesnake Lake.
As a result of multiple trails along the I-90 corridor closing to mountain bikes, members of BBTC petitioned and in 1995 a proposal was made for a trail system. Of which Olallie and South Fork Snoqualmie are a part of.
Mountains To Sound Greenway (MTSG) is in charge of completing the trail design with Evergreen providing technical expertise on the specific routing to help ensure a high quality mountain bike experience.
Pictured here is a soil sample.
So far MTSG has flagged a route, the next steps involve bringing in varied fields and obtaining permits.
So exactly what is our role within this project? There is a 4.5 mile stretch of road to trail conversion and a lower 4 mile piece of new singletrack.
Right now MTGS has crews working on clearing the upper section, Mountain Bikers could assist the process by brushing in the flagged route on the lower section. Since funding is set to expire, and many of these experts charge hundreds of dollars an hour to get the project permitted, it's pretty important to get the ball rolling.
So our role in the immediate future would be to make certain that the trail itself is made as fun as possible. In areas where it's possible to bend the trail, it makes the trail much more fun.
So this is where we could have an impact. When brushing in a trail as long as we stay within a reasonable parameter to the flagging we can bend, curve, dip, and rise the trail so we can bring an influence of "flow" to the trail.
Otherwise the tendency is to just blaze a straight uninteresting path.
The problem with many multi-user cross country trails is that they are not built with mountain bikers in mind. MTGS has routed the trail to have a nice steady grade, but there are so many little details that can make a trail fun for bikes, and minimize conflict.
While hiking up the proposed route, i felt that it has great potential. i'm pretty happy with the general route, but that's not to say i am not without concern...
There are places where the trail runs a little too close to wet terrain.
Areas where the routing is such that it will run a downhill rider around a blind corner.
But these concerns do have solutions. We can be excited when we think of the potential. But not so excited to throw caution to the wind and leave the process and hope things turn out ok. That's inviting problems, problems likely dealt with by future volunteers in the form of work parties doing "fixes". While some things once done cannot be undone, and therefore unfixable.
Alot of the appeal for a quality backcountry cross-country ride is the element of exploration, and discovery.
The importance of having interesting trail as we ride, and the focus on a great cardio workout should not go without the consideration of the overall outdoor nature experience.
This is the intangible, where you can have the trail move closer to view the side of a cliff, or move from one side of the ridge to the other, or to ride through or toward an interesting draw, or meadow, ride closer to a viewpoint.
The current route for the most part does a fair job, but again there were a few spots where a soft re-route could totally enhance the experience.
So if we can show we want to be a part of the process, we can maximize the quality of the trail to the utmost worthiness.
If we can demonstrate good strong turnout, we will hold more sway in the process.
This is the first and quite possibly the last real backcountry project that will come to be, so close to Seattle. Just a quick drive off of 90, a true mountain nature experience.
i want to be a part of it, and help make the dreams mountain bikers envisioned in 95 more in focus and closer to reality, i hope you feel the same as me.
As a result of multiple trails along the I-90 corridor closing to mountain bikes, members of BBTC petitioned and in 1995 a proposal was made for a trail system. Of which Olallie and South Fork Snoqualmie are a part of.
Mountains To Sound Greenway (MTSG) is in charge of completing the trail design with Evergreen providing technical expertise on the specific routing to help ensure a high quality mountain bike experience.
Pictured here is a soil sample.
So far MTSG has flagged a route, the next steps involve bringing in varied fields and obtaining permits.
So exactly what is our role within this project? There is a 4.5 mile stretch of road to trail conversion and a lower 4 mile piece of new singletrack.
Right now MTGS has crews working on clearing the upper section, Mountain Bikers could assist the process by brushing in the flagged route on the lower section. Since funding is set to expire, and many of these experts charge hundreds of dollars an hour to get the project permitted, it's pretty important to get the ball rolling.
So our role in the immediate future would be to make certain that the trail itself is made as fun as possible. In areas where it's possible to bend the trail, it makes the trail much more fun.
So this is where we could have an impact. When brushing in a trail as long as we stay within a reasonable parameter to the flagging we can bend, curve, dip, and rise the trail so we can bring an influence of "flow" to the trail.
Otherwise the tendency is to just blaze a straight uninteresting path.
The problem with many multi-user cross country trails is that they are not built with mountain bikers in mind. MTGS has routed the trail to have a nice steady grade, but there are so many little details that can make a trail fun for bikes, and minimize conflict.
While hiking up the proposed route, i felt that it has great potential. i'm pretty happy with the general route, but that's not to say i am not without concern...
There are places where the trail runs a little too close to wet terrain.
Areas where the routing is such that it will run a downhill rider around a blind corner.
But these concerns do have solutions. We can be excited when we think of the potential. But not so excited to throw caution to the wind and leave the process and hope things turn out ok. That's inviting problems, problems likely dealt with by future volunteers in the form of work parties doing "fixes". While some things once done cannot be undone, and therefore unfixable.
Alot of the appeal for a quality backcountry cross-country ride is the element of exploration, and discovery.
The importance of having interesting trail as we ride, and the focus on a great cardio workout should not go without the consideration of the overall outdoor nature experience.
This is the intangible, where you can have the trail move closer to view the side of a cliff, or move from one side of the ridge to the other, or to ride through or toward an interesting draw, or meadow, ride closer to a viewpoint.
The current route for the most part does a fair job, but again there were a few spots where a soft re-route could totally enhance the experience.
So if we can show we want to be a part of the process, we can maximize the quality of the trail to the utmost worthiness.
If we can demonstrate good strong turnout, we will hold more sway in the process.
This is the first and quite possibly the last real backcountry project that will come to be, so close to Seattle. Just a quick drive off of 90, a true mountain nature experience.
i want to be a part of it, and help make the dreams mountain bikers envisioned in 95 more in focus and closer to reality, i hope you feel the same as me.