As mentioned in a previous post, we got Trail 2 mostly cut out on July 2. Yesterday (July 6, 2015) a group of us went in with a chain saw and finished up a few of the balkier items, especially a big old spruce blocking travel at the 2.5 mile (4 km) point.
Barring additional blow-downs, the trail is clear.
Bill is happy now
Randy, Sue and Greg look pleased, too
Randy Kenyon and Bill Walker spent a few hours yesterday (July 2, 2015) almost clearing the first 2.5 miles of Trail 2.They’re leading a hike up this trail in just over two weeks, so a little maintenance was in order.
Trail 2, the Moran Creek Trail, runs about 3 miles (4.8 km) from a trailhead on Moran Basin Road (road 5241) to the top of Coal Ridge. It is the most popular route for visiting the old lookout sites along the spine of Coal Ridge.
There was a modest number of blow-downs across the trail, some minor and some requiring a bit of work.
That wasn’t too bad
A few required a lot of work, especially a big, old spruce that fell down across the trail at a long, shallow angle
This is going to take a while!
Cleared!
Randy feeling victorious
Downed spruce were by far the biggest nuisance.
Another fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into
Not quite out of the way yet
Unfortunately, we had to leave one monster as a (cough) step-over until we can get back up there with a chain saw. We’ll clear up this little detail in a few days.
This one needs a chain saw
A few of us took ‘Silky’ saws up Trail 4 last Saturday to test them against this past winter’s collection of blow-downs. They’re not as fast as a freshly sharpened chain saw, but they are surprisingly effective — more than good enough for routine trail maintenance. The biggest ‘Silky’ folding saw (pictured below) weighs in at just over 2.5 pounds (1.2 kg), roughly one-tenth the load-out for our smallest chain saw, with accessories and fuel. We also carried a smaller, lighter ‘Silky’ (less than a pound, 0.45 kg) that worked just fine for most obstructions.
Trail Clearing with a ‘Silky’ Saw
Unless you’re facing a substantial clearing job, a high-end, light-weight folding saw is a perfectly good alternative to a much heavier and more costly chain saw. In fact, these folding saws are so handy that a number of us are starting to include them in our standard backpack inventory.
Trail Clearing with a ‘Silky’ Saw
Well, now. What have we here? An actual list of at least some of our upcoming events.
It seemed like the thing to do at the time.
We’ll update the Calendar page further as our schedule firms up.
We did it. After a lot of effort spanning two full hiking seasons, Trail 4 has been located and walked from end to end. In the process, we learned a little history. Those of you who have been involved in this chronic project at one time or another will realize just how significant this is.
Here’s how it happened: A few days ago, we put together a very short notice hike in the Moran Basin area with the vague notion of maybe exploring some long-neglected tread. There were three of us (myself — Bill Walker, Debo Powers and Greg Evans). Since the other two had never been on Trail 2, we chose to go in on that route. See the Moran Basin Trails article for the layout.
After having lunch and enjoying the views from the remains of the old Coal Ridge lookout, we decided to keep pushing southest along Coal Ridge to see if we could locate the junction with Trail 4.
View Northeast from Coal Ridge
This is where things got interesting. We found the Trail 4 turnoff… and something else, as well. Right at the point where Trail 4 dropped down off the ridge, was the remains of another old lookout, predating the more familiar ruins further west. [Update: I am informed that this was more of an observation platform than a lookout. Still, it was a pretty neat find.]
Lookout Remains at T4 Junction
Old Ladder at Lookout Remains at T4 Junction
From there, knowing we were only about 1.25 miles (2 km) from known territory, we decided to try hiking out on Trail 4.
Ready to Go Northeast on Trail 4
As we hoped, the tread was still visible. Other than a few blow-downs, we had little trouble following the old trail.
The final highlight of the day was reaching the furthest limit of the previously explored section of Trail 4. As you can see, everyone was quite pleased with themselves.
Back in Known Territory – 01
Back in Known Territory – 02
We wrapped up the expedition without incident, walking out to where John Frederick was waiting to provide shuttle service (we radioed ahead once we made the Trail 4 decision).
A good day.
The last “Flathead Forest Friday” meeting centered on recreation, including a report on the trails maintenance budget. It seems things are looking up a bit . . .
The Flathead National Forest will have about $553,000 next season for trail work, which is a little better than previous years. The budget was slashed to about $363,000 during federal sequestration last year and was about $477,000 in 2012.
According to Becky Smith-Powell, the Forest’s recreation program manager, more than $200,000 of the trails budget will go toward capital expenses, with the remainder going to staff and other items.
There are 2,257 miles of trails in the Flathead Forest, including motorized vehicle and ski trails. By comparison, Glacier National Park has about 700 miles of trails, and its trail budget runs close to or at $1 million annually.