October's workday looked to be a full day with chainsaw restrictions from the Murrelet nesting season lifted and problems on Dool, Pine Mountain and Sequoia Group Camp trails, to deal with.
The biggest issue was going to be a 5-foot Doug fir on Dool just below Gazos Creek Fire Rd that had closed the trail since May. We had requested the State Trail Crew leave a splitting maul and steel wedges at HQ so we could split the rounds as they came off the tree, but unfortunately the request fell through the cracks and sent us on an early morning scramble to find replacements and that delayed starting the work. Fortunately the Pine Mtn/Sequoia Group Camp crew decided to head out for their work rather than wait for the Dool crew to get themselves on track.
John’s Crew: Sequoia Group Area and Pine Mt
While the majority of the group was waiting at the tool shed for Mike to return with supplies, a small group of us (Peter, Janie, Steve, and me) headed out to clean up the down trees at the Sequoia Camp and on the Pine Mt. Trail. What we encountered was a challenging day of "blowdown jenga". It can be pretty difficult to safely untangle a blowdown but everyone did a great job discussing and strategizing how to clean up some big messes.
At the Sequoia Camp an oak had fallen across the trail and was caught up in three other trees and dangling over a wooden guard rail, not good. We dismantled the fence and then surgically removed pieces of the main oak and took down the smaller trees it was hung up on. In the end, we laid the main oak down, cut it up, and cleared the trail.
Less than a quarter mile down the trail there was a 3ft diameter madrone that had sheared off and was laying across the trail and down the slope. We started bucking up the downhill portion of the tree to remove weight and pressure on the piece across the trail. In no time we had the trail cleared and had pushed the large sections of logs safely off the trail.
The last project of the day was a hike up the Pine Mountain Road and then down the Pine Mt. Trail to clean up a 2ft diameter redwood and the surrounding debris. Unless you have done trail work before, you will never know the overwhelming feeling looking at fifty feet of trail covered with dirt, trees and limbs and then two hours later proudly taking a photo of a newly groomed piece of trail.
The crew was amazing and headed home around 3 o’clock for a much deserved rest. Steve, who is one of the several endurance runners that gets their volunteer hours needed to enter their races with BBVTC, suited up for a run up the Skyline to the Sea Trail and then he was off running.
Mike’s Crew: Dool Trail
Once replacement splitting tools were located in the Sky Meadow maintenance area, we drove out Gazos Creek and made the short walk down the Dool Trail to the tree and yes it was big! Park staff had closed the trail because of the tree and it appeared a few wayward hikers had tried to get around it.
As usual, getting the first round cut and pried loose from the tree proved to be the hardest part of the day and it was after lunch before this task was completed. We removed additional rounds until we had about a 5ft opening and also spliting and hiding the rounds that were removed from the tree.
As work on getting the first round busted loose proceeded, Jan and Lisa hiked up the trail to check on a reported problem on upper Dool near the Middle Ridge Fire Rd. They found the top section of an 8-10 inch downed Tan Oak blocking the trail and with a handsaw they were able to cut the tree, associated limbs and brush. A couple of hikers came along and helped move everything to the side to clear the trail.
It was a successful and long day for the Dool Trail crew but it felt good to have the chainsaws back in service and being able to make significant progress in clearing the trails.
A total of 11 people were out and it was a long day with the Dool crew with them not getting back to the tool shed until 5pm. The crew put in 104 hrs and thanks to Herman Aster, John Collins, Bill Fjellbo, Jan Fjellbo (who first came out in 1985), Peter Gelblum, Janie Liefhelm, Steve Nagayama, Mike Peasland, David Philleo, Chris Young, and newcomer Lisa Mauney.
by Mike, John, and Jeff
photos by John, Chris, Mike, Jan, and Lisa