Yay…I get to reinstall everything. I love WordPress 99% of the time, but it is a bit more susceptible to being hacked. Give me a few days to bring everything back. If you signed up as a user, you may have to reregister. Sorry, guys.

Head over to the River Parks official facebook page, or the Turkey Mountain facebook page for free Warrior Dash tickets:

www.facebook.com/riverparks

www.facebook.com/turkeymountain

At last month’s trail maintenance day at Turkey Mountain, we quickly discovered that the ground was much to hard to perform any type of hand work. Shovels bent in half; picks shattered as they contacted the dry, hardened earth. OK, that might be overstating the situation. The good news is, we have officially gotten plenty of rain to loosen things up around Turkey Mountain.

So…let’s do this! As a part of the new monthly schedule, we’ll be meeting Saturday, May 14th, 9:00 AM, at the Turkey Mountain parking lot.

For more info, comments, questions, etc., you may contact River Parks, post on Facebook, or comment on here on TurkeyMTN.com.

Success! Not even an unplanned rainstorm overnight could deter a number of dedicated Turkey Mountain enthusiasts from taking a 2 hour hike, then meeting at River Parks for an informal discussion/brainstorming session. Honestly, we have a ton of info to sort through. We’re going to have another gathering in a week or two to continue digesting on what we’ve heard today.

Big thanks to Dan Hudson and IMBA, and all of the Turkey Mtn bikers, equestrians, and hikers who showed up today!

Turkey/IMBA ride cancelled. Turkey/IMBA HIKE created! 9 AM today at Turkey Mtn parking lot!

We’ve had a number of people wondering about the Saturday (tomorrow) morning group ride. Channel 2 is stopping by, and we’re really hoping to have a good group out there riding tomorrow morning. However, Dan and I agreed that if we wake up to pouring rain, we’re going to go ahead and meet at Turkey at 9 AM in our hiking boots, rain coats, and cameras, just to get a good perspective on water shedding. Everyone is welcome to join, even though it won’t be as fun as riding bikes. The meeting from 2-4 PM at River Parks will proceed as normal either way.

River Parks has been working for some time on having an IMBA representative come out to Turkey Mountain. Although you may not be a mountain biker, you may have heard of the International Mountain Biking Association. IMBA is a non-profit organization that helps encourage low-impact riding, volunteer trailwork participation, cooperation among different trail user groups, grassroots advocacy and innovative trail management solutions.

We’re happy to confirm that we will be having an open meeting with Dan Hudson, an IMBA Trail Solutions representative, this Saturday (April 23). Everyone is welcome to attend, including landowners in the Turkey Mountain area, bikers, hikers, and anyone with an interest in the future of Turkey Mountain.

A few of the things we will discuss:

• Powerpoint presentation discussing sustainable trail and community solutions
• Dan’s observations from riding Turkey Mountain
• The future of Turkey Mountain trails – what will likely be needed regarding trail renovation/trail maintenance in the near and long-term
• How to bring the community together – how hikers, bikers, equestrians can all be brought onto the same page, and how we can all be involved in keeping Turkey Mountain vibrant without getting tangled up with personality conflicts, authority structures, user group conflicts, etc.
• Outside-the-box ideas – anything that other cities/mtb areas are doing that might be of interest
• Ideas to make Turkey Mountain more appealing to city officials, promoters, etc.
• A discussion about the landholder situation at Turkey Mountain – how have other cities/mtb areas dealt with similar situations
• User conflicts – How do other areas handle problems such as the recent “cable across the trail” incident?

The meeting is just one part of Saturday’s full day of activity; weather permitting, Dan will be a part of a group ride at Turkey Mountain Saturday morning at 9 A.M. Currently, the weather appears to not be cooperating. However, if conditions are right, we will be riding.

The open meeting begins at 2 P.M. and will go until approximately 4 P.M., and will be held at River Parks, 717 S. Houston Ave, Suite 510. River Parks is located in the Houston Center, 5th floor, above Baxter’s Interurban Grill.

For the last couple of days, Turkey Mountain has been on fire. Literally. An estimated 100 acres of wooded area has been burned by the quick-moving blaze. Thanks to 30+ MPH winds and difficult terrain, firefighters had difficulty containing the fire, and ended up utilizing bulldozers to create multiple fire lines around the west side of Turkey Mountain. So where does this leave Turkey Mountain enthusiasts?

• Most trails are still open, including all trails belonging to River Parks. The Red, Yellow, and Blue trails are still open. In fact, nothing east of the powerlines has been affected. Only once you cross into the interior of the west side will you encounter the burned areas
• 2-3 miles of trails have been bulldozed to contain the fire. Several sections of the snake, parts of the pipeline trail, and other non-named trails have been doubletracked overnight. Trail rebuilding will have to be a priority in the next few months.
• The affected area will no doubt bounce back quickly. Larger trees were not as affected as smaller trees and brush, and a lot of dead growth was cleared away.

More information and updates are still to come. Based on multiple visits to the area, however, it is reasonably safe to say that the main fire has run its course. The fire lines clearly worked well, despite their heavy damage to the trails. We can only hope that awareness has been raised regarding the potential for disaster when common sense isn’t followed. If anyone has further information or comments, feel free to leave it in the comment section below.

The brush fire at Turkey Mountain continues to slowly move north towards the Pepsi factory near I-44. Latest estimates are that the fire is only 400 yards from the Turkey Mountain/Pepsi factory boundary. Reports indicate that the fire hasn’t caused any substantial damage, other than burning away underbrush and small vegetation. One squatter tent has been threatened by the fire, but the resident could not be reached for comment.

Thanks to Scott Robertson/918XC for the below video: