Recently Mt Bachelor created a new trail from their West Village area to the Pine Marten Lodge that is accessible for free to hikers. This new trail, called the Evergreen Trail, is over 4 miles long, is wide and has an easy grade. It comes with a bonus, as  hikers can also take the lift down for free! So a lively bunch of  21 CONC folks did this hike on Thursday, August 22.

The weather forecast called for a slight chance of showers after 11 AM, then a chance of rain and thunder showers after 2 PM. We got an early start in hopes of beating the rain, with fingers crossed that there would still be decent views of the mountains.

We lucked out! We set out from the base in cool temperatures and high clouds. We spread out into the Hares and the Tortoises, with everyone going at a pace comfortable to them, and with lots of opportunities to enjoy the nice views along the way. We made it up to Pine Marten Lodge in a couple of hours, and although the trail is open to bikes we didn’t encounter any bikes as we hiked up.

After a nice lunch at Pine Marten Lodge, about half the group decided to continue on to the top of the Rope Tow trail at about 8200 ft. This trail is also new this year, and ends at an overlook next to the remains of the top of the rope tow. From there, a much rougher trail continues on to the summit.

Then came the reward! Just as the rains began, the last of our group got on the chair to head back down to the base. Even if you’re an old hand at riding up the lift in winter, riding down is a new experience, as it offers a front row seat for views of the Sisters and Broken Top.

Everyone agreed that the whole experience was really fun, and we talked of making this a regular part of our hiking schedule.