Volunteer to leaf blow a trail

 We need some folks to take a leaf blower for a walk! I provide the blower, gas and ear protectors. You walk a section of trail blowing leaves and kicking off stones and branches. All 30k need to be done! Flexible for time. Contact me via the Forest Lea Mtb Trails facebook page. 

trail conditions

Trails are drying out nicely; higher trails are good to go, lower areas are still wet, ski trails are still snow and mud. 

I recommend riding up Jolly Roger, around ART and Deer Run, then across the bridges to the Pines. At the end of pines turn around and ride back. This keeps you on the dry trails and avoids the ski trail return. Olivers and Q has wet places still; the back trails are likely good but you have to deal with the ski trails to get there. 

Trail updates

 Snow is gone from the trails, but the ground is still frozen in most places. If you can get out while it is cold (i.e. mornings after a freeze), the mountain biking is really good. But, when it warms up, the frozen trail turns to mud. 

The ski trails are still snow covered in places and have not thawed yet. Mud season is just on the cusp of starting. 

If you are sinking in or the trails are mush, please turn back and ride elsewhere. 

trail conditions - a mess!

 

Trails are poor. About 70% are still ice/packed snow and the remaining is water. Please stay off them!

The forest is mostly snow free but the trail is not; the xc ski trails and the road are still snow covered. The big rain yesterday is pooled in many places and some are mini lake sized. 

Where the snow is melted the ground is saturated and unstable. If you are sinking in, please go find somewhere else to walk or ride (even the parking lot is poor!). Your ruts pool water, slow down the thaw, and last into summer making the trail rough. After the snow goes from a section of trail, it needs a couple of days to thaw and drain.

Spring trail conditions

It's spring! Much earlier than the past couple years (check back in this blog to see the past melt dates).

But... there is still lots of snow in the woods, despite your green lawn and short sleeve weather. The photo is from Sunday March 21. The fatbiking is still really good; the singletrack is 100% snow covered and will be for the next couple weeks. Since it gets so packed, it takes longer to melt than the surrounding snow, but the whole forest is still snow covered. My guess is maybe April 10ish? I will post updates as snow leaves and ground shows. 

Yesterday I saw the first mountain bike go by on a car roof rack on the way to the trails, only to return 5 minutes later. I can also see that this blog got 300 reads over the weekend! Hang in there til the snow melts.