Mid Valley Chapter

midvalley@oregonequestriantrails.org

About Our Chapter

We meet the second Wednesday of each month at Pop's Branding Iron Restaurant on Santiam Highway in Albany. We start arriving at 6pm for a no-host dinner, and at 7 pm our business meeting starts. This allows time to visit, talk about horses and plan informal rides before the meeting starts. We have an interesting speaker who usually speaks before the meeting. Our chapter is a fun-loving group. We are always excited to have a new member join our group.

The Mid Valley Chapter has been around for many years and has enjoyed an active membership of worker bees willing to work hard in any kind of weather. Our projects cover local areas like McDonald Forest and Ball Hill Park in Corvallis as well as farther reaching areas like Sevenmile Horse camp and the Santiam Wagon Road in the Willamette National Forest, and Cultus Corral in the Deschutes National Forest. Our annual Jokers Wild Poker Ride raises the funds to keep our tool trailer full of the needed tools to support any trail project big or small. In addition, the Poker Ride fundraiser provides for materials like gravel and poles needed for trail work and horse camp maintenance.

Within our membership, we are fortunate to have young members willing to get out in the woods and work hard, plus more seasoned folks willing to not only work hard but also to really share their expertise in the ways of the woods and the tools needed to get the job done. In both 2009 and 2010 the Mid Valley Chapter won the Jack Peasley Award. This award honors the chapter with the most Field Service hours in that year. What makes this award so special for us is that it not only represents hard working folks on the trail but it also represents how committed our members are to being trained and to providing training to others.

Volunteer Positions

Work Party Coordinator: Joel Starr, Joe Taylor, Sally Shaw
Historian/Archivist: Janice Urban
Poker Ride Chairman: Carol Scharfer
Chain and Crosscut Saw Certifier: Joel Star

Chapter Officers

Chapter Chair: Teresa Stutz
Vice Chair: Lisa Gomez
Treasurer: Mark Lehnert
Secretary: Joyce Canan
Field Service Representative: Sally Shaw– MacDonald Forest
Field Service Representative: Joel Starr – Willamette NF, Deschutes NF, PCT

Chapter Publications and Events

Joker's Wild Poker Ride

The Mid Valley Chapter puts on the Jokers' Wild Poker Ride on the last Sunday in June every year. The poker ride is at the fantastic TE Ranch near Philomath, Oregon. The ride lasts 2-4 hours and goes over hills and through creeks. The scenery is fabulous on the hill tops looking at the mountains of the coast range and the surrounding communities. The chapter gets together the Saturday before to ride and mark the route. Members can camp overnight at the TE camp facilities. On Sunday, Mid Valley OET members volunteer their time to make this ride a fun event for other equestrians. We have raised money with this event to build trails and horse facilities and to stock our equipment trailer with the tools needed for these work parties.

Oregon Equestrian Trails Queen Size Quilt Raffle – Hand Crafted and donated by Trish House Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20 To Purchase tickets Contact Rose Mahoney 541-760-0048 To See the Quilt and Purchase Tickets go to Equine Exchange in Corvallis or The Jokers Wild Poker Ride June 24th Philomath (Drawing will be held at the ride)

Horse Camps

The Mid Valley Chapter has recently built two horse camps. Both of these offer great camping and riding opportunities that aren't used as often as they should be. Next time you plan a horse trip, visit one of these camps. They both do not require reservations and the only charge is for parking your rig.

Seven Mile Horse Camp

This camp is located near mile post 59 on Hwy 20 out of Sweet Home. It is located on the Old Santiam Wagon Road, where wagon ruts can still be seen from when the wagons crossed the Cascades. There is a pioneer tombstone near the Wagon Road. We have gotten a grant and installed a cement pit toilet at the camp. There are several camp sites with corrals and fire pits. We have built a water source for horses from a nearby spring. Riding west on the trail leads to Mountain House Restaurant. Riding east on the trail leads to the bridge we built with the assistance of the OSU College of Engineering students in May of 2003. If you continue east, you can almost ride to Sisters. Plans are in the works to actually continue the trail all the way to Sisters in the future. This spring, we will begin work on the loop trail which will connect the camp to the Wagon Road.

Cultus Horse Camp

We are very proud of our work and accomplishments at this camp. This camp is located off Century Drive east from Mount Bachelor out of Bend. Cultus has several corrals and a water pump for horse water. Mid Valley chapter has partnered with a youth work crew to maintain the horse corrals and trails at Cultus Horse Camp. The camp is close to the Pacific Crest Trail. It is also only about a 15 minute drive from Quinn Meadows Horse Camp. If you can't get a reservation at Quinn, which can be difficult during the summer months, you almost surely can find an open spot at Cultus, and it does not require a reservation. There are trails to ride out of Cultus to reach the PCT, or you can trailer to the many other riding opportunities in the area.

Photos of Our Activities


Disassembling the Elk Creek Bridge in the Willamette National Forest		Taking down the Elk Creek Bridge and building a safe water crossing. Willamette National Forest

Joel Starr holds a tailgate safety discussion before a work party in the Willamette National Forest		Members stop for lunch during Cultus Corrals Work Party in 2010

Cultus Corrals Work Party in 2010		Our Mid Valley Chapter's tool trailer

The registration desk at the Joker's Wild Poker Ride		Joker's Wild Poker Ride Prizes

Chapter members relaxing after the ride.		BBQ Chicken lunch at the Joker's Wild Poker Ride

Relaxing with your best friend after a great ride!		One of our Jokers Wild sponsors and more prizes.

This is the horse water at Seven Mile		Cement pit toilet our chapter has installed at Seven Mile.

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