Saturday Evening, Post snow Trail Update

We can see whitecaps on the mountains, even though most snow melted in the valleys. The trails may be snowless by noonish on Easter, but expect soggy conditions. Ride with care. Rick, me, and Keith plan to get out with a chainsaw tomorrow and get rid of the nastiest of treefall -- the spear on Preserve line, and then we'll proceed up Shale and clear any other downed trees. jill

Trail Conditions Mar 22, 2008

Spring is here ???? Not according to Mother Nature !!! Woke up to freezing temps and a few inches of wet snow here in the Lykens Valley this morning. Trails will be wet and snow covered for a day or two. FYI.

Good Friday and Easter Weekend Riding

It's on! You may encounter some very cold temps and snow on Saturday morning (calling for 22 degrees and chance of snow), but Good Friday should be decent and possibly Easter if the weather stays away for Friday evening. Watch for downed trees in fast sections. Don't get speared on Shale Run.

We DO have some trail gods to thank. I really don't know who they are, but there's always evidence that folks stop and clear what they can off the trails. Rick carries a saw with him, obviously others do too - so THANK YOU! I'm trying to talk Rick into riding on Friday and if we do, we'll try to clear as many trees off the trails as we can. The majority of trees will need a trail crew and a chainsaw, but there's a couple we may be able to do ourselves. Possibly the Earth Day weekend we could clear trees with chain saw.

Space Ship Update

Rick didn't want to drive to the top of the mountain yesterday just to get a picture of the spaceship, so I'm improvising and sharing a picture of a similar ship. Yes, I know its not something from Mars -- its a weather station. But its the biggest dang weather station I ever saw and it really is funky looking -- like a martian is about to crawl out of it. As soon as we get a picture, I'll share. In the meantime, this is a similar-looking weatherstation. If you didn't read the other post, it is located on the top of Broad Mountain near the hang glider launch area, in the huge field on the very top. It sits dead-center in the middle of the field.

Snow was Short-lived - Trails should be ok

The snow came and went yesterday. We saw white at the tops of the mountains up to about 1:00 pm, and then gone by 3:00 pm, so the trails should be clear of snow. You'll still encounter a bumpy ride from rain washing and downed trees. Keep an eye out when riding some of the faster sections - there may be a tree in front of you. jill

Sunday March 16 Trail Update 7:30 am - Snow

If you are planning to head to the Weiser State forest to ride the RCST trails today - don't! Well, if you really want too you can, but expect snow, wet and cold conditions. It's currently snowing at 7:34 am. It's a wet snow, but it'll make trail riding less than fun today.
jw

There's a Space Ship on Top of Broad Mountain In Weiser

It sure looks like a space ship...I was wishing I had a camera to get a picture. It's in the huge field on the very top near the hang-glider launch. Rim Trail acutally circles around the field where the ship is sitting. I'm sure Rick and I will be over there tomorrow to get pictures. Its really cool. Big...weird...all kinds of gadgets on it.

I FINALLY got on the trails today and have much to report.

• Dismounted no less than 10 times to crawl over, under and around downed trees. We have work to do. Keith said he'll be "Trail Boss" now that he can't ride until his wrists heal.
• Was thinking how bumpy the trails seemed. Duh...maybe it's because it poured raining two weeks ago? And maybe the trails are really washed at spots. Yup...you will notice a much more bumpy ride. There's some serious washing at spots and rocks are exposed. Most noteable washed areas:
• Rattling Creek at the "gully" where the water is supposed to run (its one of the biggest rock gardens on Rattling Creek).
• Fawn Kill at the log pile -- there's actually standing water in there.
• Shale Run - watch for the tree on the downhill with a branch sticking deadon in front of you -- I wish i could have moved 'cause that one is dangerous if you don't see it coming and are flying down there.
• Schreffler to the turn on Dry Run. Very washed, still soggy, a tree or two will slow you down if the washing doesn't. Its not screaming fast anymore!

Will try to get out and get a pic of the space ship tomorrow. Amazingly, even with standing water in spots and several soft spots - there's no mud! I love our trails. I bagged a race today at Blue Marsh 'cause I knew after last night's rain Blue Marsh would be a quagmire of mud. I'm glad I bagged it...was a great day in the woods.

jill