Nine crew members showed up and at first it seemed we had just one chain saw so was trying to sort out were to best utilize it when John mentioned that he also had a saw. We split up into two groups, one with Peter, Michele, Chris & David B, heading out Gazos Creek Road to Middle Ridge Road, the other off to parts of the Eastridge trail.
Chris, David B, Michele, and Peter drove out Gazos Creek Road to Middle Ridge, where there were reports and photos from Kurt Leal from January-April of trees down in several locations. The key we were given at HQ didn't work on the lock on the gate at Middle Ridge, so we walked. David volunteered to carry the 24" chain saw that Chris brought. We all agreed.
We first came across an 8-10" tan oak across the road, which Chris made short work of with the chain saw. (So quick that I didn't get any photos.) Next, just a few yards up the road was another 8-10" tan oak, but with two trunks and a bunch of brush. This one took a little longer, but it wasn't difficult.
Then, about 1/2 mile further along the road, yet another 8-10" tan oak. Someone had done about half the work, leaving a lot of the trunk and brush in the road. We finished the job. Photos coming from phone. Another 1/2 mile or so, and we came across yet another tan oak, which had already been cut, but we needed to push and pull it to the side of the road.
The last two photos from Kurt were of trees on Dool and Meteor, near Middle Ridge, but between Chris having hiked there a week earlier and confirmation from hikers we met, we determined that those two had been done already. We hiked back to the car and headed out. On the way, we passed an old, rotted redwood that was not blocking the road, but looked unsightly, so we stopped and moved it completely off the road.
Chris then remembered from his recent hike with a group of kids that there was a large oak with brush across the trail on Dool, a little way off of Gazos Creek. We decided to check it out and, sure enough, a large part of the trunk of a large oak had cracked and was leaning over the trail, with the end of it touching the trail and a lot of brush hanging down. This proved to be the biggest job of the day. We cleared all the brush and cut as much of the trunk as we could reach with hand saws, getting it well clear of the road. While Chris, David, and Peter were doing that, Michele worked with a hand saw on a 4 foot long, 4-6" log that had been lodged in the trail long enough for hikers to wear a path around it. She managed to clear it, with a final assist from Chris.
2nd Crew
The Eastridge crew headed out on the Pine Mtn trail where we encountered a couple of items that were on Kurt's list. Heading toward Skyline to the Sea on the Hihn Hammond connector trail the first two items on our list had already been taken care of. Heading up the Pine Mtn trail we encountered a messy, aren’t they all, 10” tan oak. John’s saw made quick work but the clearing of all the foliage took a bit longer. Further up the trail we came across item #4, several tan oaks that had completely blocked the Pine Mtn trail to Buzzards Roost. After a little confusion as to where the trail actually went we cleared just the portion where the trail ran. There was far too much debris to hide. We headed back down to Blooms Creek campground for lunch. After lunch, Curt & John braved Pine Mtn Rd in Curt’s little Smart Car and took care of a couple more Kurt items. Jan, David P. and I drove to the other end of Blooms Creek campground and headed up the other side of the Eastridge trail looking for a 20” tan oak. We never found the tan oak but with Jan wielding the loppers, did substantial brushing of mostly huckleberry bushes that were taking over the trail. Headed back to the clubhouse and finished up around 3pm.
The crew put in 63 hours and thanks to Norm, Chris, David B, Michele, Peter, Jan, John, David P., Chris, and Curt.