I have been running down at Ae quite a few times recently and though there is a significant amount of logging going on, i.e. you can see from the pen to the widowmaker slope  the trails are still runnable for dogs with fit feet

The Bowling Alley - The trees that were down have been cleared

The Chicken Loop - The trees that were down on this trail have also been cleared, but the are forestry ops on this trail and sometimes the forwarder has been left on the trail and has made it difficult to pass with a team.

Who Dares Wins - There has been a lot of hardcore dumped on this trail though it is well pressed down and still a usable trail, but there are substantial walls of timber at the side of this trail near where it joins The Chicken Loop.

The guys have been starting work at 6am so if you are down during the week, it is probably worth avoiding The Chicken Loop & Who Dares Wins due to falling trees.

I have managed to run all the trails and none are blocked, or IMHO unusable, however the trucks have not been in to haul the timber out, upon which I am sure some of the trails will become a tad rutted....

Cya
E
www.sleddog.info

thats great, thanks very much!    have been wondering what is going on and whether or not to bother going across,
kelly

I believe there is a new wind farm going up in there somewhere. Our guys were pricing it up at the end of last year...
Cam

Hope you priced in a very round about route in, with good husky rig serfaces all the way 

Yeah the wind farm is there with a number of turbines, not sure if there are more to go up, but the number was increasing over the last season, no impact to us, so far....

Cya
E
www.sleddog.info

I have been down at Ae again and the trails are still usable, though the wall of timber which was towards the end of the 'Who Dares Win' trail as you head down towards the 'Widow Maker' seems to be decreasing. The trails are pretty dry so there has not been any truck damage that I noticed !!

Here is a picture I took about 4:30 am on Monday morning, this one is taken from the raised area lading to the toilet block, lookingh back across the car park and dog pen -



Below is taken acroos the access road from the front of where my van was, the tree line that can be seen is on the far side of the trail leading down the 'Widow Maker' trail, though that was being worked on and will probably disappear soon too 



Cya
E
www.sleddog.info

My thanks to all who have been updating the forum with Ae conditions.
I have been REALLY busy lately and not had a chance to inform the users of current 'goings on'.
I think the logging currently happening is a necessary evil. The  Bowling Alley, Who Dares Wins and Chicken Loop trails were constantly being affected by windblown trees and it was going to get worse as more and more were blown down in the middle of the forest as it was allowing the wind to get to the trees bordering the trails.
Also, once harvested there will be no more need for heavy traffic for another 20 years or so.

I have been assured by the FC that they will put the trail back to fit for purpose (leisure use as opposed to commercial use) for this coming season.

I changed the access for the lorries in that they now access the log piles through the main gate. I felt that the trail from the gate up to the car park had deteriorated, so by allowing the lorries onto that they will need to regrade it once they have finished hauling- so we get a new trail for nothing.

I was and am appalled at the hardcore road they put down on the Who Dares Wins and a meeting is scheduled to discuss this. I think this will take major works to put right and might be worthwhile building new bespoke trail next to it- though where the cash for that comes from god knows.

On a positive note the top loop has been regarded and last time I ran it it was very good. The last few times I ran at Ae I was parking at the junction of the main drag and the quarry road and using all the Twisty Turbine trails. A good few miles can be ran up there and for some reason the midges were not as bad as at the car park!
There has- and will be a couple of small organised horse rides on the trails- I think this is a good thing as they happen in the summer and don't bother us, it proves we are willing to accommodate other forest users and it also adds weight to our argument for suitable facilities and trail surfaces for leisure users, and of course it reminds the Fc that leisure use does not only mean mountain biking ( I feel very strong about this- mountain biking is getting flogged to death by all of the FC districts)

There is also the RAC Rally being held in Ae next month. Whilst this will NOT be held on the DSS trails they have approached us to have a press day on a 2 or 3 mile loop in a couple of weeks time. I think this is worth considering as they will pay money for the hire of a trail and this can be used to fix the damage they make- which will be negligible on already damaged trails and there could be some left over to fix other parts of the trail-i.e
I would like to put in a short trail between the start of the Bowling Alley and the top of the widow maker turn (thereby missing out the widow maker turn).

Thats about it for now- the DSS partners are still keen to preserve the mushing aspect of the Ae- indeed they still want to regrade Castle O'er also.

The new cafe at the offices will be open soon and they are hoping that mushers will help keep up their turnover in the winter- when mountain biking goes quiet.

If there are any questions then please feel free to get in touch.
Steven Lindsay

I remember you mentioning that there were going to be alternative trails available while the work was taking place at Ae, is there any more information about these trails, including where they are?

Cya
E
www.sleddog.info

I cant remember saying that.

There are no alternative trails at the Ae for mushing use.

As previously stated I would advise using the top trails- certainly the surfaces are better just now and there is no harvesting up there.

Access can be made from the normal gate or from the top gate, which is further up the glen from the Ae village side.

There is a horse event tomorrow night being held from the car park, so would also advise to keep away tomorrow night- at least until they have finished.

Soz, must have picked you up wrong 

Cya
E
www.sleddog.info

Been back at Ae again, trail resurfacing does not appear to have started yet and there is still forestry machinery up from the Widowmaker.

The junction where the 'Who Dares Wins' trail joins the 'Chicken Loop' is VERY muddy.

I was not up the top 'Windy Turbines' area but have heard that the trails are good up there. Some of the other trails are over-grown to varying degrees, but all are passable, depending on the ability of your dogs.

The trail repair folks certainly have there work cut out if there are going to be a selection of trails available in time for the SDAS rally, probably just as well the SSHC is the 2nd rally to be held there and not the first.

Cya
E
www.sleddog.info