Reverse "TIMBERRRR!!!"

This time of the year, it's not unusual to see members of the Shelton Trails Committee and volunteers doing the much beloved leaf-blowing and raking along the various Shelton trails and the Rec Path. This year we had the additional task of clearing blow-downs from the tropical storm and the early snowfall. Mostly it's been a matter of pushing aside fallen branches and chainsawing the larger limbs that had obstructed the path. The Boehm Pond Trail, accessed from Far Mill Street, was in need of some work.

Click on photos to enlarge

We started the day clearing leaves and brush, occasionally having to do some heavy-duty cutting and moving of the larger blow-downs.

Whoa! A monster tree had been uprooted right across our trail, and there was no easy way to bypass it!

Bill ponders the situation. Should we cut down, or up? There was a chance the the chainsaw could get pinched and irretrievable (temporarily, at least) if we cut the wrong way. Bill correctly concluded that we should cut downward.

Rich is about to cut through the last inch when, BOING!, the trunk, now topless, snaps back to a position of attention!

The weight of the root ball was enough to bring the trunk, now minus the weight of the rest of the tree, back to its original position.

Job well done, everybody go home!