Pete_Hickey
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
- Messages
- 1,976
- Reaction score
- 222
Early saturday morning, about 17 people met at the old Frontier Town parking lot at around 7:15AM. We carpooled up to the Elk Lake trailhead, which would not have held our cars, otherwise. Up in the parking lot, we started splitting into teams. Kanji and Suzie have been doing this sweep with me for several years, and were quick to join with me. There were two other guys. They looked familiar: "Aunt Polly!"
Now, some around looked at me a little weirdly when they saw me call a bearded guy, Aunt Polly, and others simply moved away, but I knew that Rik was not my Aunt Polly... For one, my aunt Polly is a bit shorter.
No, I had first met Rik and Eric when we stayed at Aunt Polly's Inn; a trip Tom Rankin had arranged.
Mick didn't go with me, and Dick didn't show up, which was unfortunate, because I wanted to have the team of Eric, Mick, Dick, and Rik, but we had a good team as it was, and headed off.
It seems that it had been raining lately, and the trail was wet most of the way to the junction of the Beckhorn trail. Stream crossings were a lot easier than one would imagine on those wet trails.
Our work was to clear blowdown from the Junction through Hunters Pass, to the summit. We hit our first piece about 50 feet past the junction. Reports claimed that there was a lot of blowdown on this path, and we were thinking that this might be the first year that we would be unable to finish. We set our turn-around time to be 1:30.
We ran into a lot of blowdown, but since we set up a very eficient way of working, where everyone was doing something, we moved along at a good clip. We were also helped by luck, whereby we hardly ever had a saw bind, which is always a slowdown.
Along the first part of the trail, there was a fair amount, and a good amount of large stuff. Once we hit the rocks, and started climbing into the pass, wh were running into numerous clusters of balsem. These are the kinds of things that are verry difficult for a hiker: thick and full of needles. Add to that that this trail has very thick on the sides, and we could understand the complaints. One problem we frequently encountered, was where to dispose of the trees we cut: there was no room to fit them between cracks of the trees.
We were moving along as fast as we coupd, given the circumstances, but turn-around time was fast approaching. Just as the clock struck 1:30, Suzie yelled, "The junction!"
Now, the junction is still a half mile from the summit, but since the Hunters Pass tail is longer, the junction is the mid-way point. We headed toward the top. Winds were.... well, they were interesting... They were ALMOST strong enough to knock you off your feet, which was surprising, because below treeline, there was no wind at all.
As we headed down the Beckhorn trail, we caught up to the other crew. My problem knee was doing its job again, and I had to move slowly down the slippery rocks. Others moved along at a good speed. The last few were back in the parking lot by 5:30, we said our good-byes and left.
Again, I had a great crew. Rik, Eric, Kanji, and Suzie are all fast movers and hard workers, and that is necessary when you have to cover about 15 miles, and clear close to 100 trees.
At least as far as blowdown is concerned, the Elk Lake trails to Dix are in good shape. Mud and sidecutting... They're coming up over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.
Now, some around looked at me a little weirdly when they saw me call a bearded guy, Aunt Polly, and others simply moved away, but I knew that Rik was not my Aunt Polly... For one, my aunt Polly is a bit shorter.
No, I had first met Rik and Eric when we stayed at Aunt Polly's Inn; a trip Tom Rankin had arranged.
Mick didn't go with me, and Dick didn't show up, which was unfortunate, because I wanted to have the team of Eric, Mick, Dick, and Rik, but we had a good team as it was, and headed off.
It seems that it had been raining lately, and the trail was wet most of the way to the junction of the Beckhorn trail. Stream crossings were a lot easier than one would imagine on those wet trails.
Our work was to clear blowdown from the Junction through Hunters Pass, to the summit. We hit our first piece about 50 feet past the junction. Reports claimed that there was a lot of blowdown on this path, and we were thinking that this might be the first year that we would be unable to finish. We set our turn-around time to be 1:30.
We ran into a lot of blowdown, but since we set up a very eficient way of working, where everyone was doing something, we moved along at a good clip. We were also helped by luck, whereby we hardly ever had a saw bind, which is always a slowdown.
Along the first part of the trail, there was a fair amount, and a good amount of large stuff. Once we hit the rocks, and started climbing into the pass, wh were running into numerous clusters of balsem. These are the kinds of things that are verry difficult for a hiker: thick and full of needles. Add to that that this trail has very thick on the sides, and we could understand the complaints. One problem we frequently encountered, was where to dispose of the trees we cut: there was no room to fit them between cracks of the trees.
We were moving along as fast as we coupd, given the circumstances, but turn-around time was fast approaching. Just as the clock struck 1:30, Suzie yelled, "The junction!"
Now, the junction is still a half mile from the summit, but since the Hunters Pass tail is longer, the junction is the mid-way point. We headed toward the top. Winds were.... well, they were interesting... They were ALMOST strong enough to knock you off your feet, which was surprising, because below treeline, there was no wind at all.
As we headed down the Beckhorn trail, we caught up to the other crew. My problem knee was doing its job again, and I had to move slowly down the slippery rocks. Others moved along at a good speed. The last few were back in the parking lot by 5:30, we said our good-byes and left.
Again, I had a great crew. Rik, Eric, Kanji, and Suzie are all fast movers and hard workers, and that is necessary when you have to cover about 15 miles, and clear close to 100 trees.
At least as far as blowdown is concerned, the Elk Lake trails to Dix are in good shape. Mud and sidecutting... They're coming up over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.
