GARTRA has had a great year in 2022. We just held our Christmas party and there were about 30-40 folks in attendance. It was a great time to get everyone together and celebrate the past year.
Our sponsors Wooly’s, Cycle Gear, Highland Park and All Terrain Powersports along with GARTRA made sure there were plenty of door prizes. I think everyone left with something. If you need bike stuff, please support our sponsors they support us.
Board Member Elections
We held our board member elections and below is the GARTRA Board for 2023:
President: Bill Shilling
Vice President: Chris Fowler (New)
Treasurer: Sam Shaw
Secretary: Ryan Morgan
State Liaison: Bruce Dreher
Board Members at large:
John Medicus
Nathan Wascher
Scott Abernathy (New)
Hannah Shilling (New)
Here are some of our accomplishments from 2022:
Hooch Dual Sport Ride (Fund Raiser for the club) [John Medicus-Dual Sport Committee Chairman]
John put together a great ride again this year. He had help from many others in the club to pull everything together, but John puts in a lot of work all year in preparing for this ride. He and Bruce work together to create a 2-day route that everyone always enjoys. This is GARTRA’s primary fund raiser and keeps the club’s bank account in the positive category.
Locust Stake OHV [Frank Spencer-Trail Captain]
Locust Stake has been “Temporarily” closed for the past 5 years due to erosion issues. We have been in discussions with the USFS to re-open the West side section up and around the trail head and begin to address the erosion issues on the East side. There is a proposal to add in new single track on the North side across the street in the unused OHV acres. At the moment, these are just plans and proposals, but it is a step in the right direction.
Oakey Mountain [Frank Spencer-Trail Captain]
GARTRA worked with the USFS, The Great Outdoors Fund and Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative to re-purpose the closed camp site at the North Trail head into a Day-Use-Area. This includes six picnic tables, six grills, and six dedicated parking spots. Yamaha provided a grant, and the USFS got all the materials with these funds as well as a bit of RTP funds. This was arranged by the The Great Outdoors Fund, and GARTRA provided most of the volunteer labor. The work was spread out over six workdays in eight weeks. We also rebuilt the loading ramps on both the North and South trail heads. There was a new kiosk installed on the North trail head. Some general trail work was completed each weekend as well. The new day-use-area came out AWESOME. Oakey’s trails got pretty beat up this year with all the rains, but with the great working relationship between GARTRA and the USFS, we hope to have the trail maintenance addressed this winter.
Windy Gap [Ryan Morgan-Trail Captain]
Got in a few good workdays at Windy Gap. In discussions with the USFS to add in a small section trail just below the road on the North side of Windy Gap, then clear the old east Tibbs section creating a loop. Again, these are just discussions, but all are going in the correct direction.
Davenport OHV [Bob Connett-Trail Captain]
The USFS allowed GARTRA to mark this trail system directional as a test to see if it would be positively accepted by the community. They have gotten lots of feedback on the new directional trails, and it has all been positive. Bob gathered all the signs and arranged a few workdays to get them put in over the winter closure. By the time things opened in the Spring of 2022 it was a directional trail system. We got a small number of workdays in over the year to address some of the muddy spots, but mother nature seemed to want to have a rainy weekend the second weekend of every month in 2022. Early in the fall, the USFS closed the system temporarily to re-route the hill climb that has been getting rutted out quite badly. That re-route has been completed and the trails are back open. This new re-route added about ¼ to ½ mile of trail to the system and the feedback from folks who have ridden it has been great.
Houston Valley [Larry Odem-Trail Captain]
Larry had a few monster workdays this year to clear all the debris from multiple storms. This has added much needed hours to the required RTP match needed for Houston Valley.
Whisenhunt [James Wascher -Trail Captain; Nathen Wascher-Co-Trail Captain]
Whissy got in a lot of workdays this year and the trails are in great shape. We also re-built the bike loading ramp. GARTRA is in discussions with the USFS to mark most of Whisenhunt directional this winter. This will take a ton of effort from out volunteers so once we get the official go-ahead please come lend a hand. Once marked directional, Whissy will be a much safer and enjoyable OHV system. We are also in discussions with the USFS in putting back a few trails that had been closed as well as opening the kiddy trail near the parking lot that was approved in 2016.
Town Creek OHV [Chris Fowler-Trail Captain]
Town Creek is still there and going strong. Some progress on holes and bridge work got done this year, but there is always more to do. Chris will be putting together a few workdays soon to address trail hardening work needed on the bike loop. Keep an eye out for the notices.
Fall Foliage Ride ( John Medicus-Dual Sport Committee Chairman)
This is our other fund raiser for they year. The ride was successful and some of the best weather was seen in a very long time for this ride.
Hope everyone had a great year, and you were able to get in some awesome riding. I am looking forward to all the great things to come in 2023.
Regards,
Bill Shilling