Don't Jump Over the Chainsaw

It seems that since National Trails Day is this Saturday, all the trees are committing hare-kari (or Harry Caray if you're a Chicago fan).  The trees are all falling over.  One such case was reported by Val Gossett along the RecPath near Oak Valley Road.

Not too bad if you're flexible and don't mind a bit of Limbo when you hike or bike.  As it so happens Jim and Bill were able to go out Wednesday and clear it during the week to make everyone's Trails Day walks a little smoother.

It took a little while but they were able to get the tree down as it was raining,  Here's Jim checking out some of the other trees that were leaning along the RecPath.  Jim made a keen decision that these were posing no imminent public harm, and did not have to be cut down in the rain.

No sooner had Jim stopped sawing.  A trail runner came thru and "hopped over the chainsaws" which were still hot and streaming (and hopefully with the chain stopped), and kept running thru the work zone.  Now, you can come to a couple of observations: 1.) This runner was really lucky and should buy a lottery ticket, or 2.) The runner should stop next time and ask if it's OK to proceed, or 3.) We should close off the trail before doing any work and make people run out in the road or bushwack.  We would suggest Door #2 because we like our trail users and want them to keep coming back.

Helpful Trail Safety Tip:  If you hear someone chainsawing on the trail ahead don't just run by them without checking first because they or you could get seriously hurt.  Don't assume that trail volunteers can see or hear you just because you can see us.  Someone, possibly you, could be crushed by falling trees or cut with power equipment.  Nobody wants that to happen.  Work with us to make sure everyone has a safe and enjoyable time on the trails.

So on a cheerier note; come on out Saturday to one of the Trails Day Hikes in Shelton, or elsewhere, and enjoy the trails. It should be fun, particularly for families with smaller children.  See the Hikes and Special Events page for more information. 

I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK

Yesterday the FBN Tree Clearing Service (a crack division of Shelton Trails) took down the remainder of an oak tree that was shading the Eklund Native Species Garden - (see the Garden Blog for more photos). The tree was leaning over the deer fence that we installed last spring, and taking it down was a little fussy to avoid crushing the fence. And to top it off our "cloudy" afternoon began to drizzle after we started; a nice 38 degree drizzle that left everbody soaked and cold at the end of the job.

Here's a photo of Rich putting tension on the 5/8" pull rope with his come-along as the tree is being notched. Rich looks official with all his safety gear, and he has positioned himself as far away from the tree as possible. Bill is even further away behind a 36" oak taking this picture.

Here are Rich & Bill setting up the pull line earlier. We used the pull line and wedges to steer the tree where we wanted it to go. It's good to work as smartly and safely as possible.

Helpful Trail Tip: Bill had a bright idea to bring his extendable pole saw along to set the rope high on the tree trunk. The higher on the tree you can set the rope the more leverage you get during felling.

Well the tree landed almost where we wanted it too. But, the garden was still frozen and shouldn't be too disturbed. The main point was that it didn't crush the fence. Terry and Rich are bucking up the tree while Bill hauled off everything to the brush pile.

This should make a nice fire next winter. An occasional load of firewood is one of the benefits of being a trails volunteer. All we need now is for the Parks and Rec guys to chip up the brushpile when they have time in their schedule.

After we were done at Eklund we went over to Silent Waters to look at clearing some of the vines and briars near the bridge. We want to set a bench on top of the dam so people can enjoy the view, and we wanted to see the best way to do the work. Maybe this is something that Parks & Rec could tackle over the winter as a filler job, otherwise we trails volunteers can handle it. We also looked at the condition of the old Curtis Brook Bridge. Some joggers still like using it even though there's a new solid bridge right next to it.

Bill wanted to just patch the hole, while Rich & I were for taking it out. They were able to jump up and down on it without falling into the Brook - this time. Maybe we'll leave it in place as a science experiment in how long something will last without maintenance. Something to discuss at the next trails meeting I guess. With that, we decided to head home to get warm and dry. Hopefully Bill didn't come down with Swine Flu.

Bill sent out an e-mail about our next trails work party - This Saturday at 9:00 at the end of Constitution Boulevard by Summerfield. More flagging and clearing for the Northwest Passage -see you there.

And if you want singing lumberjacks click here. We're far too serious for this silliness.

Briar mayhem along the Northwest Passage

A small group of diehards lead by Jim, Carol, Luis, Terry, Rich & Bill met at the basketball courts at Riverview Park on a cold December morning. After debating current events, and stamping our feet to keep warm we decided that the snow was too frozen to rake leaves along The Bluff Walk, so we decided to rough clear the trail through the briars along the Northwest Passage instead. So we went up to Constitution Boulevard North to work our way south through the open space corridor along the powerlines.

It turned into a surprisingly nice morning with only the noise of the the birds singing, loppers snicking, and the quite schwing schwing of Rich with his two machetes. (he always has 2 of everything). The briars and Russian Olive were so thick here that a rabbit would have to walk backwards in order to get thru the thorn maze.

Helpful Trail Tip: Hedge clippers work pretty good on briar patches if you're equipped with thick gloves, a heavy coat, and flannel lined Carhartt pants. Safety glasses would also be good too if you don't already have glasses. The briars showed no mercy.

Here's Carol, Luis, and Bill clearing a hole thru the brush. Suddenly, the peaceful tranquility of a winter Saturday was jolted awake by the sound of loud power equipment. Bill had fired up the gas-powered Stihl hedge trimmer that is possibly our most evil looking tool, but it is pretty effective with the thorns along the powerlines.

Here's a picture of Bill looking like an extra from a Steven King movie. Run away.

Helpful Safety Tip: Create a safe work zone around each worker depending on the tools involved. Bill looks scary, but he's OK if you stay about 15 feet away. Rich on the other hand kept trying to point at things all morning when we were talking, but forgot that he had a machete in his hand. Thank God he's not Italian, and doesn't use too many wild hand gestures.

Here's a picture of what it looked like after we did the rough cutting. The buzzards kept circling us, which was a little troubling, but we all made it out in one piece. Additional work will be needed , but at least you can follow the trail now. All told, about 3/4's of a mile of new trail are now roughed out from the junction with the Turkey Trot Trail up to Constitution Boulevard North at Summerfield Condos.

There is a small stream and swamp crossing north of Independence Drive. Rich and I carried in some of our old boardwalk sections from The Missing Link (we love to recycle). We'll position them in place during the coming weeks. The section near the stream is wet and will require stepping stones and maybe some small boardwalks, but it is open now as long as you have good boots. Look for an update on future work parties and enjoy the holidays.

Happy hiking.

Sparks a-flyin

Emma took a picture of me cutting a number of the rebar pieces in half last night (into 20"-24" lengths). My neighbor; Rick Swanson, was kind enough to loan me his cut-off saw & it worked well with the rebar.

(Rick has helped the Trails Committee before. He is an auto body artisan and restorer of Model T's & classic cars. One of his Model A's won the First-in-Show prize at the History Center this Sunday. He also welded up our pile masher that we used on the Lane St. Boardwalk. If anybody needs quality work done on their car I would highly recommend him.)

It takes a little while to cut the rebar in half, but it should make it easier to drive pins into stony soil when building steps. We used some of the rebar to set the new stairs at Riverview, but it took a while to pound in the 4 foot pins. Kelly Walsh generously donated the scrap rebar for our use on the step repair.

HELPFUL SAFETY TIP: Did you know that rebar gets REALLY HOT when you cut it with an abrasive saw? I did something stupid & picked up the end of one of the pieces after I cut it. My goggles were fogged up & I was rushing to do something else, and I thought I was picking the cool end of the bar with my bare hand, but Noooooo. I dropped the rebar like a hot rock, & headed for the first aid cabinet. After a couple of hours of soaking my hand I now have a nice blister impression of rebar corrugations in my left palm. It's not quite as bad as the evil Nazi from Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it was another of life's little learning experiences that I will avoid repeating. See the photo below of ear muffs, goggles, GLOVES, and rebar laying on the ground until they have FULLY cooled. I've read that most accidents happen near the home - that's because that's where the knuckleheads live.