One of the things we love about Echo Ridge is the fact that something for everyone is packed into small area. A lot of us love to ski with our Dog Friends and Echo Ridge is one of the areas to allow dogs on some of the groomed trails. The sport of "Skijoring" is growing in popularity in our area and we have had requests for events, lessons or contests. Nothing makes some people more happy than the sight of their pet running with them through a winter wonderland.
Before the most recent expansion of the trail system, "Nowhere to Hide" was considered a snowmobile trail, but we occasionally groomed it and it received only minimal motorized traffic. This was a popular alternative to the more strenuous "Zoom" trail for people with dogs. With our expansion Nowhere to Hide was turned into a skier only trail. It has become a key link in a skate skiing loop around the perimeter of the area. The new snowmobile trail "Somewhere to Ride" is a much more strenuous ski than its predecessor, and we are seeing an steady increase in snowmobile traffic on that trail.
Some have suggested opening "Nowhere to Hide" up to dogs. This would not preclude its role as a link in our skating loop. We groom this trail with our heavier machine which results in a very firm platform. However little doggie footprints have a way of marring the clean skating platform and digging up the perfect classic tracks.
As a throwback, "wooly" three-pin touring kind of guy, I say "go for it". There will stil be over 15 miles of skier only trails at Echo Ridge for the purists. But being public land, naturally the Forest Service stewards of Echo Ridge have to weigh the public opinion of all the users. So what do you think? More trails for dogs?
