The Trail Crew has been making good progress on Pine Mountain Trail and as the end of the year approaches we were hoping to punch through to the fire road crossing before the holidays settle in. There was another record tying turnout of 29 so we were able to reach the fire road on the Nov. 15th workday! Map: Yellow-Storm Cleanup, Orange-New Work, Circle-Down Fir
The day was a little of everything for the Crew - From removing new debris that fell on already cleared trail during recent rain and wind storms to spending more time than expected removing a large Doug fir that blocked the trail.
Of course there was the usual bush whacking as we removed post fire regrowth from the trial corridor.
Despite the challenges, the large turnout allowed us to break through to the Pine Mountain Fire Road by the end of the day.
Of course 'punching through' is different than finishing the work and a LOT of debris was left scattered along the upper trail that will need to find a home along with the usual trail widening and fine detail work at the end before we move on. It'll take several more workdays to complete before we're ready to cross the fire road and begin work on the upper section of trail.
But it was a nice milestone as we approach the end of the year.
The crew put in 211 hours and thanks to Fremont Bainbridge, Daryn Bieri, Nan Bowman, Aiden Bowers, Jeff Bowers, Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, John Collins, Tom Condy, Laurel Enders, Talu Gonzalez, Drew Granzella, Ryan Granzella, Mimi Guiney, Tommy Ha, Andrea Lee, Janie Leifhelm, Bill Lock, Jack Marshall, John Martin, Janette Mello, Joe Mitchell, Mike Peasland, Devdutt Sheth, Chris Young, Daniel Zichuhr, newcomer Andrew Fiatal, along with Emily and Juan from the CCC crew who joined us for the day.
NOV 8 - Chainsaw Training
The BBVTC took an off Saturday earlier this month for an internal chainsaw training and safety review for our usual sawyers along with several others who wanted to learn more about saws for personal use. The training was on one Crew's members property outside the park that provided several cutting challenges along with time for saw maintenance and safety discussions.
With the amount of debris in the post CZU environment chainsaws are a critical tool, but also where safety is first, foremost, and always the number one concern.
Now for Flora and Fauna from the day
by Mike and Jeff
photos by Chris, Dayrn, Jeff, Mike, and Tom