After the Trail Crew's May 31st effort didn't go as well as hoped due to the first hot workday of the year, problems with two different chainsaws and slower than expected progress, we were looking for better luck on June 14th and got it! Temperatures were about 15 degrees cooler, chainsaws worked and we made good progress as we took another step toward finishing our portion of work on Sequoia Trail.
We split into two crews again with one starting at the N. Escape Rd trailhead while the other headed up 236 to the section of trail above Slippery Rock and below the highway. We had hoped to finish this area last workday, but the chainsaw issues left us with a couple of hours remaining.
Lower Crew
Rory and Chris took half of the crew to the North Escape entrance of the Sequoia trail to continue the QC (quality control) part of the work. The portion of the trail that the crew completed the previous workday are top notch and look visitor ready.
Chris spent the first part of the morning cutting back small logs that were too close to the trail. Rory used the battery powered pole saw and hedger-on-a-stick to cut the brush and dead branches from the lower hinge of the tread and clear three feet back along the top slope.
Chris found a burn pile that needed clearing to maintain the ten foot buffer for burning and then cut it down for compaction. We worked our way slowly up the trail. This work was time consuming and it can be difficult to know where spending effort is worthwhile. The results I saw show that the crew's standard for quality work is still high.
After lunch, half a dozen of the crew members who had worked on the 236 side of the trail came down to join us. Tom, with a fresh S-212 training (National Wildfire training course on chainsaw safety and use in wildland settings), shadowed Chris as he cleared a burned tree that had fallen across the trail since last workday. There are long stretches of the Sequoia trail where the steep slopes make burn piles impossible so we've become clever about where to stash dried material (fresh cut green brush gets dragged, however far, to the closest burn pile).
We held out till just before 2pm and then hiked back to the cars to call it day. There are at least four large trees that the State Crew will have to remove from the trail with a grip hoist and a couple structures to put in place before the trail will see hikers but I'm still proud of the work we've completed so far.
Upper Crew
Like the work on the other section of Sequoia, it was largely detail work as we finished widening the final section of trail below Hwy 236 and carried debris to a large burn pile area. Five burn piles had already been completed on earlier workdays, so we added the material to a partially constructed sixth burn pile and then started a final seventh pile.
By the lunch break the trail had been cleared, all the debris added to the burn piles and all seven cut down, which meant a lot of work by a dedicated sawyer. It seemed like a good time to cross 236 and head down to see how the other crew was doing.
As we headed out to meet up with the other crew, it seemed like we weren't the only ones looking forward to lunch. A California Sister butterfly landed on the boot of one of the crew and refused to move on. Even starting to walk didn't change things much as the butterfly held on tight and appeared to be eating. Apparently our work had stirred up something and created lunch for the butterfly.
California Sister on Boot
The crew put in 161 hours and thanks to Daryn Bieri, Nan Bowman, Jim Brooks, Rory Brooks, Karen Cheeniyil, Santhosh Cheeniyil, Cecil Coe, Tom Condy, Katherine Davis, Drew Granzella, Ryan Granzella, Tommy Ha, Cammie Hunt, Janie Leifhelm, John Martin, Mike Peasland, Dale Petersen, Marc Shaw, Doug Smith, Chris Young, and newcomers Robert Chen and Addison Sember, for a successful workday.
by Mike, Chris, and Jeff
photos by Mike