| Ranger's Logbook, By "D2", Ranger Deb |
Wednesday, June 10th, 2008
Weekday Report for June 3rd through 5th, 2007
Greetings, everyone. My name is Deb, and I am a colleague of Mikki D. I work
on the backcountry trail crew. We have been getting out to do trail
maintenance, but it is slow going as the snowpack was heavier than usual.
We are a few weeks behind where we would normally be by now.
The big job early in the season is logout, but we also try to do other work.
Drainage is always a concern, as water is the biggest enemy of trail tread.
The brush continues to grow as well. We often don’t have the time to cut it all
back to spec, but we try to get the worst of it as we go through.
On Tuesday, June rd, my partner Jen and I went to the Johnson Medra Trail
#1383. We started at the North Fork of the Teanaway, and headed up
Johnson Creek. Blowdown was pretty light. We ended up cutting about 7
logs in the first couple of miles. It was raining, so Jen was able to see where
the water was going and improve the drainage. The first creek crossing will
need some work when the water goes down. Right now it would be a difficult
step for a horse, and also difficult for a bike tire. We found all of the crossings
running high, and got our feet wet wading through. At about two miles, I saw
an ominous blank spot in the trees ahead. Sure enough, an avalanche had
come down a small gully, bounced off a rock bluff on the other side of the
creek, and headed a little way down the trail. The damage wasn’t too bad, but
we’ll need to cut a couple small trees and clear a lot of debris off the trail. No
point in doing that until more snow melts. There are patches of snow all the
way, some a couple feet deep still.
We turned around and headed back down to the junction with Jungle Creek
Trail #1383.1. We have some work to do at this creek crossing too. There’s a
stump with an attached rootwad to move. Next time we’ll bring the right tools
for the job. We found a few small trees down and lots of brush. But the big
surprise was where a log jam diverted the creek onto the trail for about a
hundred feet. I snapped some photos, and we’ll return with a bigger crew to
do the necessary repairs. There are patches of snow on this trail too. We
made it to the second creek crossing.
With what we’ve seen so far, we know it’s going to be a busy summer. Maybe
not so much blowdown to cut, but plenty of other problems to fix. We know we
had avalanches all winter, especially near the Cascade crest. The crew is
anxious to get out there and see what happened to the trails. It’s likely that we’
ll have some tangles of trees to cut out, and maybe some destroyed tread.
Who knows?!
A reminder about the Table Mountain closure…Certain roads and trails are
closed to motorized travel from October 15th to June 15th to protect soils and
wildlife. June 15th is rapidly approaching and the trails are opening slowly.
Even though it will be legal to ride, the tread will still be saturated and prone to
damage. It’s recommended that trail users avoid these areas until the trails
dry out.
HAPPY TRAILS!
Greetings, everyone. My name is Deb, and I am a colleague of Mikki D. I work
on the backcountry trail crew. We have been getting out to do trail
maintenance, but it is slow going as the snowpack was heavier than usual.
We are a few weeks behind where we would normally be by now.
The big job early in the season is logout, but we also try to do other work.
Drainage is always a concern, as water is the biggest enemy of trail tread.
The brush continues to grow as well. We often don’t have the time to cut it all
back to spec, but we try to get the worst of it as we go through.
On Tuesday, June rd, my partner Jen and I went to the Johnson Medra Trail
#1383. We started at the North Fork of the Teanaway, and headed up
Johnson Creek. Blowdown was pretty light. We ended up cutting about 7
logs in the first couple of miles. It was raining, so Jen was able to see where
the water was going and improve the drainage. The first creek crossing will
need some work when the water goes down. Right now it would be a difficult
step for a horse, and also difficult for a bike tire. We found all of the crossings
running high, and got our feet wet wading through. At about two miles, I saw
an ominous blank spot in the trees ahead. Sure enough, an avalanche had
come down a small gully, bounced off a rock bluff on the other side of the
creek, and headed a little way down the trail. The damage wasn’t too bad, but
we’ll need to cut a couple small trees and clear a lot of debris off the trail. No
point in doing that until more snow melts. There are patches of snow all the
way, some a couple feet deep still.
We turned around and headed back down to the junction with Jungle Creek
Trail #1383.1. We have some work to do at this creek crossing too. There’s a
stump with an attached rootwad to move. Next time we’ll bring the right tools
for the job. We found a few small trees down and lots of brush. But the big
surprise was where a log jam diverted the creek onto the trail for about a
hundred feet. I snapped some photos, and we’ll return with a bigger crew to
do the necessary repairs. There are patches of snow on this trail too. We
made it to the second creek crossing.
With what we’ve seen so far, we know it’s going to be a busy summer. Maybe
not so much blowdown to cut, but plenty of other problems to fix. We know we
had avalanches all winter, especially near the Cascade crest. The crew is
anxious to get out there and see what happened to the trails. It’s likely that we’
ll have some tangles of trees to cut out, and maybe some destroyed tread.
Who knows?!
A reminder about the Table Mountain closure…Certain roads and trails are
closed to motorized travel from October 15th to June 15th to protect soils and
wildlife. June 15th is rapidly approaching and the trails are opening slowly.
Even though it will be legal to ride, the tread will still be saturated and prone to
damage. It’s recommended that trail users avoid these areas until the trails
dry out.
HAPPY TRAILS!
| Log jam on Jungle Creek. |
| Wildflowers up the Teanaway |
| Near the Stafford / Standup Trail Junction. |
| A beautiful view from the Teanaway! |
