There’s something about backcountry trail work. Out of cell service, away from the crowds, and rough and raw trails that see very little use. That was what the Orogenesis Klickitat Sisters Stewardship Campout was all about. Two days of trail work on the remote Kilckitat Trail outside of Packwood, WA. The goal? Piece together the longest mountain bike trail in the world. That is the vision of Gabe Tiller and Orogenesis.
Earlier in the year, we sent Gabe and his crew a 5lb bag of Loam Coffee while working on a trail in California. This time, since this work party campout was only a few hours from Portland, that meant driving Nacho the Van up to hang out, serve coffee, and take photos for Trail Builder Magazine. It couldn’t have been any better than it was. For a former school passenger van, Nacho has now spent a lot of time and miles on backcountry gravel roads.
The plan was simple: get up early, get all of the coffee equipment set up, and have coffee brewing by the time people woke up. Whenever I do events from inside Nacho, that means setting up burners and getting water heating as soon as possible. My go-to brew method is always a pourover. I brought with me our Ethiopian Guji Mormora Natural coffee. Something about brewing and drinking coffee outside always makes coffee taste that much better.
One by one, people came by Nacho to get a cup of coffee and, oftentimes, a refill later on. I’ve now served coffee to trail builders more times than I can count. It’s always my favorite place to be. The conversations are always fun as strangers become friends as we’re united around a common goal of trails, and in this case, trail access.
After coffee, introductions, the safety talk, and the trail and project background, everyone broke into different teams and headed out. It was another 45-minute drive to the place where we accessed the trail. The plan was simple. Clear fallen trees and trim back brush. This segment of the Klickitat Trail needed love. You could tell it doesn’t get used much. It’s remote. Wild. No cell coverage, which meant lots of GPS systems.
I followed a crew around for the rest of the day and took photos. It’s always humbling when people willingly volunteer and give up their weekends to work on trails. Some drove a good distance to get there. It’s a thankless job and all physical labor. I think I can speak for everyone there; Gabe and Orogensis’s compelling vision has captivated us. While many are familiar with routes like the Continental Divide Trail, the Orogensis will be over 5,000 miles long and connect three countries together once completed. One will be able to ride a mountain bike trail from British Columbia to the tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.
Putting it all in perspective, the trail work on a few-mile stretch seemed small, but this is how it works. Piecing one trail together with another at a time. Serving coffee was the bare minimum we could do for those who worked hard and gave up precious time to create a better future for more mountain bikers. I encourage you to follow along with Orogenesis and even give support.
Words by Sean Benesh. Photo by Gabe Tiller and Sean Benesh
Loam Coffee Founder and Brand Manager
Email: sean@loamcoffee.com