If anyone can put you at ease as a passenger in a rattling camper van descending overgrown 4x4 roads, it’s Paul Thomasberg. A natural storyteller with a surfer’s drawl, he delivered a highlight reel of his decades-long mountain biking career as he navigated around potholes, through mud, and across gravel washboards.

“One of my strengths as a racer was riding blind lines,” he said. “I was always good at that.”

Here, on rough roads in a remote corner of the Fremont-Winema National Forest, his well-honed reaction times were proving useful in getting us to the trailhead in one piece, as well.

Thomasberg—mountain bike Hall of Famer, former pro racer, and prolific trail builder—wasn’t the last person I expected to meet when I signed on for a weekend of volunteer trail work, but he was definitely closer to last than first on the list. Volunteerism doesn’t usually mean meeting industry pros and world-class athletes. But I was quickly learning that trail work on the Oregon Timber Trail comes with its own set of rules.

Earlier this month Oregon Timber Trail volunteers convened on the site of the 2018 Watson Fire in the Fremont Tier to kickoff a multi-year rehabilitation effort. One local—Michael Norris of Paisley—recounts his experience at his first OTTA event.

Over the past two weekends a couple dozen intrepid volunteers tackled the 65,000 acre Watson Fire rehabilitation effort. We’re happy to report that the trail is all clear and open for riders!

We worked hard, got a lot done, rode together, made new friends, shared stories, ate good food and went home satisfied that we had given back to the trails we love to ride! Wow; what a great weekend! I've been on lots of trail work trips and this was one of the best I've been on. Logistics and everything else came together without a hitch.

Our first stewardship event of the season and 3rd annual Fremont Tier Stewardship Campout tackled the last section of the Fremont National Recreation Trail that had yet to see our saws, loppers, and shovels. We encountered snow, sun, rain, and an endless sea of ceanothus.

Our fourth Stewardship Campout of the season was also the was also the quickest to fill up thanks to the collaboration with ultra running community and Go Beyond Racing. These trails not only intersect with the PCT but also serve as the course for a sold-out 100 mile running race. 

Our Willamette Stewardship Campout focused on less than a mile. But what a mile—"Derrick's Deadly Switchbacks" descend 1,000' in this short distance.

After our work event's thunderstorms and snow flurries in the Fremont Tier over Memorial Day weekend we thought for sure we had left winter behind us. Nope. The forecast near our work site on the Deschutes Tier called for a "Heavy wintery mix."

The Fremont Tier continues to hold its intrigue—the most remote of our Stewardship Campouts also was the first to fill up. Thirty-five hard working volunteers cleared and improved roughly 130 miles of the Oregon Timber Trail over the course of our 6 day event.

Three days of trail work and mountain biking in the ruggedly steep Old Cascade Crest area.