Farewell

Update from April 4: many small patches of rideable snow at the top with some water mixed in. Snow free after maybe the first 300 vertical feet of descent.

Accessed it coming up lower Mrazek and aside from a few rideable muddy patches it was good.

Some puddles and mud at the top, otherwise it’s pretty dry as you descend. The big problem is the access to this trail: the top of North Fork, Met-Win, and Mrazek are all covered in snow, slush, mud, and puddles and should not be ridden. If you’re going to ride Farewell, climb straight up it; don’t climb up North Fork.

So it is a black diamond due to a lot of rocks, its steepness and tight switchbacks. Thanks to Don and his friends at COTA for keeping this trail groomed!

What makes this trail a black diamond?

Farewell is all clear. The M-F closure is also lifted. The only thing closed up there now is a few mile stretch of Mrazek, just east (downhill) of the Farewell intersection. Just be prepared for the forest to look very different on upper Farewell.

3.5 med-large trees down on upper Farewell within a mile of the Mrazek intersection. Snow is gone. Riding well!

Closed as of Aug 27, 7 days a week for logging due to IFPL going down to 3

It’s riding really great! Getting to it is another issue!

Cleared the last two trees and cleaned up the messy one on the corner with the little rock spine on the exit.

Snow free. Rode up Mrazek and down Farewell on June 7, 2024. There are about six trees across the trail down from the intersection. All easy to get around. About seven easy to bypass trees on upper Mrazek.

Farewell is clear. The trail conditions are awesome, knowing that Farewell is naturally loose.

As of June 7th when I rode down from now cleared Mrazek, I counted a total of 20 deadfall trees. Most are within 1/2 mile of Mrazek intersection. There are about 4 in the first 1/2 mile, and one 1/2 way up. They are all pretty easy to get over/around except for one or two near the top.

Deadfall on trail at the top 1/3 of trail. Otherwise all good.

Nasty erosion and sand pits on many exposed areas especially near the “lookout”. COTA has been notified to fix

Riding great! Switchbacks at the bottom are super dusty so be careful towards the end

Totally clear and riding fantastic.

Cleared the last few trees on 6/3. Still some patchy snow near the top but short sections.

First 2.5 miles clear, then patchy snow, then solid snow. Could not make it all the way to the junction with Mrazek yet.

Single tree removed yesterday. Trail in great condition.

Trees have been cleared. Dusting of snow on top.

Farewell is riding well and ripping as always but getting there via Mrazek is a chore due to tons of downed trees right now.

Happy to report no damage from the little fire last weekend (July 3-4), though you can see some of the work that was done to keep the fire “little” near the junction with Mrazek.

Noticed a lot of loose sand on the lower switchbacks and several scars from people skidding out on the turns. Ride it gently, folks, there’s still a lot of summer left!

Clear almost to very top. Snow at top.

Clear of snow up to the rock drop at the top of the climb, one tree down on the flat section above the falls before you hit the long sidehill climb

Sweet conditions after yesterday’s rain. One 12” tree down right at the start (by the Mrazek intersection). Another low bridge tree a bit farther down.

There’s a new tree down at the bottom just before the road.

Went up Mrazek and down Farewell. Maybe one small rideable patch of snow at the top. 3-4 good size trees down at the top from low to waist height. No problems getting over them.

As Eric reported: deep snow and 3 deadfalls for 0.5mi before Mrazek. I was hoping to connect to the top of Mrazek, but ended up turning around. Avoid for a while unless you’re looking to do an out-and-back!

snow free until about the last half mile to Mrazek where it seems to be continuous. That’s when I turned around. There were 3 trees over the trail shortly before I turned around. Biggest one was 8 to 10″.

We cut the deadfall out near the Mrazek Intersection. Get it while you still can.

It’s riding very good right now, totally clear of any snow/ice. There is one downed tree up high, sort of close to the intersection with Mrazek.

Rode down Farewell 2 days ago. Came across a deadfall at LAT: 44.043728 / LON: -121.569244. Too big to move by hand ( sorry).

Thanks COTA for the brushing done on farewell!

Got a first hand look this afternoon and the clear report was basically true but there are a couple leaners near the top that should probably be taken down. 6-8″, easily visible and duckable. Still some hike a bike due to snow but not terrible.

Trail runner on Southfork told me that the deadfall has been cleared up to Mrazek (aka all clear)

Inspired by Rob, I rode up Farewell 2.5 miles on 5/19 until I reached deadfall and snow. There are a couple of 6-8″diameter trees down and then a 100 yards further where I turned around there is a larger tree on and parallel to the trail. The dirt is in great shape, but the trail is in need of a big brushing work party to re-open sight-lines, especially higher up where it hasn’t been brushed for a couple years. I used to be the trail adopter for Farewell, and will talk with COTA about putting together a work party in the coming weeks. It would be great to get a big group to help out and I will post an update here.

Did an out and back. Rode 2.2 miles to where the trail actually starts going DH…when you turn around of course. No snow, no blow down. Best conditions I’ve experienced on that trail in awhile! I marked as running well because you can’t ride the entire trail until NF or Mrazek are open anyway. Basically the out and back is running perfectly!

Cleared the big tree Alex found.

First mile or so going up is dry. Then got into patchy snow. At about 1 1/2 miles up the snow was deeper and I turned around.
2 foot diameter tree is down across the trail about 1/2 mile up.

In great shape, still a nice ride while you can.

There’s moisture up top, but the hard turns are still dust pits.

Clean and open. Switchbacks getting a bit dusty and deep…

Farewell is in perfect condition with zero snow and zero deadfall. Get some before it dries out again.

Tons of snow patches and deadfall remaining on Farewell. We hiked as much as we rode today. It was worth the effort. Mrazek from the Three Creeks trailhead down was awesome.

There are a couple of really big trees across the trail within a half mile from the top. Big enough that they’re hard to climb over and no ride around options. Keep an eye out on your way down!

Parked at the bottom of the Whoops on 5/3 and rode up to Farewell and then up to a fairly large tree down about 1/2 mile from the top. No snow and no other trees down up to here. Trail could use a bit of brushing and some tread work in places, but overall a hoot.

Forgot to mention…the road to Tumalo Falls is now open and even has a fresh coat of gravel

Lower half was in great shape today. Sparse snow patches that top out at around 1″ and no real mud concerns. Once you pass the lookout and begin entering trees again snow gets much deeper.

Made it to the top today but there was lots of hike a bike through deep snow in that last half mile. Probably not worth the effort. Cleared 2 more trees at higher elevation. Now 100% deadfall free

Leaving the status as winter mix but the lower 2.5 miles are very close to “riding well”. I turned around right at 6000ft where it turns into solid hike a bike on a 29er but a fat bike would probably be able to clear the 2-3 inches of snow. A few soft sections and some ice lower down but the good dirt far outweighed the bad on this day. Cleared 4 trees below 6000. There could be more higher up but below that is 100% clear.

Mostly rideable. Choppy hard snow at the top, patchy clear ice first third. A couple of trees down.

The flatter section up top near Mrazek is post holed, choppy, and not very rideable, but once you get to the views it gets very good – probably good enough to ride up on a fat bike without much pushing.

I cleared most deadfall from Farewell. All High up the trail near Mrazek. I had a saw issue so 2 trees left. 1 is hung up awkwardly at head height so be careful if you clear it.

Cleared a bunch of trees on this. Still 6 bigger ones remain with one of them about 20″.

Today was glorious. Trail is clean and clear. Small patches of snow off in the shady woods near the top, nothing that affects the trail itself. Couple of small rideable puddles too.

Clear of deadfall. Thanks Don, Ed and Russel.

We picked the perfect day to climb Farewell. Tacky, moist tread bottom to top. About 3 trees down towards the top – one is vertical along the trail. Thank you rain.

Fire above Tumalo falls has grown to 125 acres as of 8pm. Nobody will be accessing farewell till this fire is contained. Road is closed.

Trail is clear of snow and trees for 2 miles (5800 ft), about .1 miles from the start of the steady downhill. A few small snow patches on the way up but then hit consistent 4 foot piles. Now’s the time to get it before it’s all blown out!

Ran the creek trail and up Farwell the other day. Some small snow patches but basically clear for about 1.5 miles up the trail (5650 feet) and then it gets real…. But, if you want a little extra climb and the views, you can get a nice extra climb in on a ride/run.

Rode down from Mrazek today. Perfect fat bike conditions. Maybe 4-6″ up top and quickly getting down to 2″ or so. Super fun!

All clear…??

A new tree down near the middle of the trail during the steep switchbacks. Also, 1-2 in of snow on the top 1/4 on the trail

Cut out the one tree down at the top this AM. Also brushed out some other tight spots with a couple of helpers. Should be riding as fast and good as it gets when it dries out a bit more.

Still one tree down at the top, plus some soft corners and squishy spots. This trail is a favorite of peds and their dogs these days too. Damp beats dusty, despite a few squishy spots.

One tree down at the top, besides that it was good

Relatively tacky after the recent precip. :)

Descended Farewell 7/19/16. Recent rains helped, still moon dust in some corners. Overall in good shape.

Upper section before the historic burn is riding well, but after that expect any significant corner to be moon dust.

Thanks for all the hard work to clear the blow down and repair the trail!

Cleared today by Cog Wild and Robert Axle Project. WOOT

As Richard said, lots of trees towards the top including a couple huge ones (3′ in diameter). No snow. Then a bunch of trees on Mrazek but Phil and Mike (I believe) were busy working there way up with a chainsaw between the last two road crossings. Thanks guys.

Just rode Farewell Bend to Mrazek to Shevlin today (6/2/16), The last 2/3 mile near the top of Farewell Bend had 60 downed trees, it was clear to that point and a great big THANKS to whoever had been out there clearing the blowdown up to that point
because somebody was workin for sure. From the intersection of Farewell and Mrazek towards Shevlin (Bend) there were 130 downed trees in the first probably 2 miles. After the rock outcrop/view area heading towards Bend/Shevlin there were only 7-8 more trees down in the next mile. About half of all of these trees were 4-8in in diameter and could be cleared with a bunch of guys with hand saws. The other half were 10-15 in with one tree on upper Farewell that was probably 34 in in diameter and maybe a tad larger. So in total, close to 200 trees down. I just ventured up Mrazek a hundred feet or so towards Rd 4601 and Happy Valley and saw a dozen trees down in that short distance. It’s gonna take a lot of work to clear things out up there.

Per friend’s report from two days ago: frequent downed trees start just before radio towers on Mrazek and continue until about halfway down Farewell. There is more bike hiking than riding and seemingly more downed trees than standing.

Well the FS didn’t lie. There are three trees down that are easy to get over. Then there’s another three which are a challenge, and a massive root buttress which pulled out and eliminated about a 15′ chunk of trail (easy to walk around) but that’s pretty much it and no snow till 5800′ (less than a mile from the end). At that point things get bad – real bad. There sporadic snow, but it’s the incredible number of downed trees that prevent progress. Seriously, it’s going to take a lot of work to cut those out.

Three trees down on Farewell. Easy to get over. Report from the FS