Specialty gear, maps and info available at Siskiyou Outdoor Store; proceeds support Siskiyou Mountain Club’s trail maintenance work
By Art Van Kraft for Ashland.news
Outdoors lovers have a new headquarters with the opening of the Siskiyou Mountain Club‘s Siskiyou Outdoor Store in downtown Ashland on Thursday, April 13. The store is tailored to the needs of hikers and campers, offering maps, special equipment and often vital information with advice on area backwoods trails and camping.
“Really our bread and butter are the interpersonal relationships we build from people that come into the store or meet on the trail,” said Austin Klopstein, who operates the new store at 33 N. 3rd St., Ashland, accessible through the Underground Marketplace entrance. “Our interests span from hikers on the Pacific Trail to people who like to walk around Lithia Park.”
“The outdoor store helps raise funds for the greater mission which is our trail work,” Klopstein said. “The organization has been around since 2010.”
Delaney King and her son Nolan, who moved to Ashland from Indiana a year ago, were shopping at the store over the store’s opening weekend. A self-described avid hiker, King said she wants to introduce the trails to her son, who attends Ashland High School.
“He needs to do community service,” Delaney said. “I think seeing all the trails and helping with this would be a great way for him to engage in the outdoors.”
The outdoor store is already known for carrying somewhat obscure products — at least, that’s what attracted Ashland resident Sudee Jacquot.
“I heard about the opening and I came to find down soap to wash my dad’s sleeping bag,” she said. “I used to be a great hiker and I still love to hike, but a disability made me slow down.
“In 2014, I did the Camino in Spain and I love it, but it was hard. The Camino de Santiago in Spain is the longest trail with routes and starting points over hundreds of miles,” Jacquot added.
The Siskiyou Mountain Club also has its business headquarters at the store location. Klopstein said they organize summer interns that go into the field for eight days clearing trails and work closely with the National Forest Service.
“This spring’s Conservation Corp has 21 interns out this week,” he said. “They are clearing trials from debris and cutting fallen trees with cross cut saws like the one hanging up the wall over my head.”
Klopstein is anticipating a lot of trail work needing to be done due to damage caused by the snow loads last winter. He says the Mountain Club volunteers supplement the work that is done by the National Forest Service and receive a small stipend as pay.
“We also have volunteer outings where the public can come out for a day or two to help clear trails,” he said. “The outdoor store helps raise funds for the greater mission which is our trail work. … We have 1,800 people on our mailing list.”
The store offers a wide variety of specialty equipment from compasses, maps, backpacks — and, yes, even soap it’s safe to use on down sleeping bags without ruining its water-resistant properties.
The Mountain Club’s store is located in the underground mall below the Ashland Fly Shop. The Siskiyou Outdoor Store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.
Art Van Kraft is an artist living in Ashland and a former broadcast journalist and news director of a Los Angeles-area National Public Radio affiliate. Email him at artukraft@msn.com.
