Like most of 2020, the Trial Crew's November workday was a little different than usual as we helped Camp Campbell repair trail damage from the same fires that have shut down Big Basin trail work until spring. But it was a beautiful SC Mountains fall day regardless, cool in the morning and mild by afternoon. Perfect trail work weather that reminded us why we miss not being out every month!
Camp Campbell Entrance
Lodge Spared from AUG 2020 Fire
Despite the erratic work schedule this year (if you're keeping track, that's only five workdays out of a potential 10 through Oct,) we had a good turnout of 13 that included Janette Mello who hadn't been out in over a year, Marja Vanden Hende who last worked with the Trail Crew about 10 years ago, and Rory Brooks who hadn't been out since the 1990's. It was great to see them all and a reminder of our long history.
Marja now works for Camp Campbell and had asked for assistance in clearing the trails while Rory designed the Trail Crew logo back in the 90's and was quick to notice we had modified the logo on the 50th anniversary shirts, replacing the shovel image with a McLeod.
After the usual morning gathering, and making sure Janette, Rory and Marja, got 50th anniversary shirts, we split into two groups with those wanting a lot of uphill hiking taking on the camp's Outer Loop Trail will those wanting a little less uphill handling the Inner Loop Trail.
Morning Gathering
Two Crews Formed Up
Chris’ Crew work on Outer Loop Trail
John Collins, Devdutt, Jeanette, Shaymal, Aaron, Rory and myself followed Marja around the outer loop at Camp Campbell Saturday to help with some trail work.
We made straight for the largest tree on the docket for the day which was a Doug Fir about four feet in diameter. John had brought his Stihl with the 32" bar so we let him and Devdutt work on the plan of attack for that while the rest of us made some adjustments in the trail alignment beyond to avoid a large ash pit that formed under the old trail. I had the crew's 24" saw and used that to clear the new trail path of a few burned trees had fallen in the fire. We used the cut sections to place some log cribbing on the downhill slope to provide for a level trail tread when filled. Getting some of those cut sections free and moved into the right space was tricky without a rock bar or Peavy but we managed with a lot of grunting and some small cuts to relieve corners. John and Devdutt had good luck removing rounds from the big tree and by lunch our new trail was looking pretty good.
4’ Douglas Fir
We did a little work in defining some new steps that lead back to the original trail but left that work to be completed another time. There was still most of the outer loop to navigate and I wanted to make sure we did as much of the heavy work as possible. We climbed up to the top of the outer loop doing some small brushing along the way. Tan Oaks had bent over from the heat of the fire. There was a couple spots that required some small chainsaw work to clean up: a trip hazard log and branches at eye level. We also found a tree blocking the trail whose crown was hanging off a hill side. I made a cut to drop the weight off the tree and then made two more cuts to remove the piece blocking the trail.
Aftermath of Aug 2020 SCZ Lightning Complex Fire
Burned Out Root Pit
We shortly thereafter met up with the inner loop team who needed assistance clearing out a good sized madrone that was blocking the trail. John set to work dealing with that while I went with Marja, Rory and Shaymal to scout out the rest of the outer loop. The last tree of the day was a Madrone that seemed harmless enough but when cut caused the entire uphill portion to roll down the slope. A very good warning of how the burnt terrain require an elevated awareness of risk.
Bridge Damaged in the Fire
Around 3pm we called it day and headed back to the beautiful Camp Campbell headquarters where Dale, Mike, Rory and myself joined Marja and Jill for pizza. Thanks Camp Campbell it was a great work day!
Mike’s Crew
Since we weren't familiar with the trails, and it was difficult to determine what was a trail and what wasn't after the fire, the camp's executive director Jill Gary lead the Inner Loop Crew as it headed out. (Although the trail system behind the camp was extensively burned, the camp buildings were undamaged.)
It didn't take much hiking before we encountered our first problem, a small madrone with the usual assortment of branches and debris that was cleared in a short period of time. Afterwards we did some marking of trails so they were easier to follow, cleared a 12-inch tan oak and then just before lunch a 10-inch madrone that despite its size brought down a lot of debris with it.
With the Inner Loop Trail work completed, and after eating lunch back at the camp, we decided to join the Outer Loop Crew who were still working up the hill. With no reported problems between us and them, we decided to travel light with only a couple of small hand saws, loppers, a McLeod and Pulaski. But of course Mr.Murphy of Murphy's Law stepped in as we encountered our biggest problem of the day, an 18-inch madrone along with a second smaller one and lots of branches and debris blocking the trail.
Having only small hand saws we decided we could at least clear the small things along with all the debris and leave the bigger problem for a chainsaw. Madrones of course are one of the most dense hardwoods, so even cutting the smaller stuff with hand saws took a lot of effort not to mention finding places to disperse all the slash. Just as we were finishing the work we could with handsaws, we heard the Upper Loop crew above us and they worked their way down to finish the final clearing with a chainsaw so we could completely reopen the trail.
After one more stop, we were finished for the day and headed back to the main camp area for pizza, garlic twists and homemade apple crisp, as thank you's from the Camp Campbell staff.
The crew put in 109 hours and thanks to Rory Brooks, John Collins, Dale Elliott, Michele Gelblum, Peter Gelblum, Marja Van Den Hende, Shyamal Kapadia, Janette Mello, Mike Peasland, Dale Petersen, Aaron Poulos, Devdutt Sheth and Chris Young, for an enjoyable trail workday. Even if it wasn't Big Basin.
By Mike, Chris, and Jeff
Photos by Aaron, Dale E., and Mike