After our first workday on lower Sunset Trail on Labor Day weekend it seemed like it would take months to cover the 0.7 miles to Middle Ridge fire road. The under story regrowth was preventing us from even starting the usual work of clearing burned debris and building burn piles. To say we were overwhelmed was an understatement.
But what a difference a couple of workdays makes!
Our October 1st effort was only the third on Sunset, but we had developed a strategy for dealing with the Ceanothus that covered entire areas, including the trail itself, with a small weed whacking crew pushing ahead to remove the regrowth so the main crew could quickly get to work clearing debris and building burn piles when they arrived.
Another group working on clearing a 4ft diameter Douglas Fir, which was the easy part. Kile said we couldn't rotate the log so it would be parallel with the trail as that would prevent water runoff, so the butt end needed to face the trail. We didn't have a grip hoist, so most people rocked the log from side to side to break the adhesion with the ground while a couple of others pushed on the end with their legs to slide it off the trail. I had my doubts, but Kile said it would work and it did.
The coordinated effort has allowed us to cover increasing amounts of ground each workday and by the end on Oct. 1st we were about two-thirds of the way to Middle Ridge. We even had time at the end to take a 5+ minute hike up to Middle Ridge to see our goal and get an idea what work lay ahead (lots of large down trees!).
Looking down Sunset from Middle Ridge
With a good turnout of 19, the burn pile total for the day was six piles completed and one left in progress, so a very productive day!
Working Dirty
The crew put in 150 hours and thanks to Daryn Bieri, Nan Bowman, Alison Breeze, Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, John Collins, Quinn Edgemon, Dale Elliott, Tommy Ha, Janie Leifhelm, John Martin, Janette Mello, Ted Merrill, Whitney Mitchell, Mike Peasland, Devdutt Sheth, Bruce Washburn, Chris Young, and newcomer Devon Morgan for the efforts.
by Mike and Jeff
Photos by Bruce, Dale, Daryn, Mike, Nan, and Whitney