Trailblazing complete on Peterson Ridge

The new Peterson Ridge Trail is officially open.

A crowd gathered at Village Green Park Saturday to celebrate and honor those involved with the planning and construction of the new and expanded trails. They were there not only as hikers, bikers, and horseback riders, but because many of them had worked on the trail.

The Sisters Trails Alliance (STA), along with the Sisters Ranger District and several local volunteers, have been key players in the past 10 years to make it all happen.

The Peterson Ridge Trail is as beautiful as it is challenging, drawing tourists and residents to Sisters Country's trails to get away from it all.

"It's been a major project," said Sisters Trails Alliance board member Ken Serkownek. "We've built 20 miles of new trail in the last two years."

Many groups came together to make it all happen.

"STA is a well-run organization," Serkownek said. "We're out there doing, rather than just having meetings and talking about it."

Sisters Trails Alliance began in 2001 as Sisters Trails Committee.

Many of the members, like Serkownek, are regular hikers, bikers, or riders along the trail system.

Chairman John Rahm began working on the trail in 2001 and presented a proposal to the Forest Service.

"The trail used to get sandy in the summertime in the heat," Rahm said, "so we put in two tons of powdered clay over three years. We also put in some water bars for the trail."

"When John Rahm was trying to get this going, it wound up in a vision statement," said Bill Anthony, Sisters District Ranger, who stepped forward to honor Rahm's many contributions to the trail system. "It wound up in a vision statement, and John helped write it."

The City of Sisters Vision Statement starts by saying, "Sisters is a safe community...that invites walking and cycling." Appropriate words from a cyclist whose passion for cycling prompted him to work so extensively on a trail system for so many years.

"John has already been honored by the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce as Citizen of the Year," Anthony said. "And we want to honor him, too."

The Sisters Ranger District presented Rahm with a Forest Service vest, a certificate, and an engraved crosscut saw.

As a leader of STA, Rahm was acknowledged for bringing various trail user groups together and securing funding.

There are now 28 miles of PRT system, with 17 miles of new mountain bike and hiking trails and four new miles of equestrian trails.

"It is because of John's leadership and energy, and successful partnerships between STA locally and others regionally that great ideas became great accomplishments," Anthony said.

Cycle Oregon was a key contributor early in the project, donating $10,000 to STA for the environmental impact statement in 2003, a required element in building the trails.

"We're fortunate here in Sisters to have a ranger who 'gets it' and understands the value of a trail to our community," said Jerry Norquist, executive director of Cycle Oregon, while directing traffic to the trailhead for the ribbon-breaking ceremony.

Creating a separate trail for horses was a key improvement along the trails system.

Kim McCarrel, an equestrian member of the STA board, rode her mare Texas from the rodeo grounds to watch the ceremony. She has been involved with STA for three years.

"Part of the old bike trail became a horse trail," McCarrel said. "The horse trails start at the rodeo grounds."

Half a dozen children made a mad dash for the ribbon, officially marking the opening of the new Peterson Ridge Trail.

Sisters resident Vernon Renner was one of the first to walk the newly dedicated trail.

"This trail is wonderful. I do some hiking," said Renner, who both hikes and bikes. "I hate to be close to traffic and this is perfect. My doctor, May Fan, encourages me to bike more and my wife, Katie Lindbloom, got a bike last year."

Gene Trahern, STA board member and avid runner, has been responsible for maintenance on the trail and coordinating work with the Eagle Scouts, who he says have been invaluable in completing work on the trails.

Three Eagle Scouts earned their Eagle Scout rank working on the PRT. Jeff Wilder of Troop 188 was the first, directing his team to install signposts along the trail. Cody Swartz and Garrett Trahern worked on trail construction. The most recent Life Scout (the rank just prior to Eagle Scout), William Cyrus, just finished installing posts along the trail toward earning his Eagle Scout rank.

"They learn leadership skills from their scout project," said Trahern, father of Garrett. "Last year we had 1,200 volunteer hours on the PRT. Over 600 of those hours were Eagle Scout hours, over half the workforce for the year."

Kathy Deggendorfer's Roundhouse Foundation has been another key financial contributor to the trail system, along with Mike Ilg, contributing $9,000, which the STA matched with an $11,000 contribution.

Local artist Clay Warburton was commissioned to design a new logo for the STA's T-shirts. Blazin Saddles bike shop and Eurosports will be selling the shirts.

The trail will get its first event workout on Sunday, May 30, when the Sisters Stampede and Mountain Bike Race kicks off at 7:45 a.m. (see related story, page 9).