We’ve updated the calendar through the end of October, which is likely the end of the hiking season as well. As usual, there’s always the potential for the occasional short-notice event to be wedged in there, too.
Tag Archives: trail maintenance
We don’t need no stinking chain saws
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
Trail 4 hazard reduction
On July 25, several folks showed up to perform hazard reduction along the ridge top section of Trail 4. A few perilous spots on the upper switchbacks were fixed up and considerable blow-downs removed.
There were five of us in this little party…
Trail 4 Crew, July 25, 2014
From left to right: Randy Kenyon, Jerry Costello and Jan Caldwell. Not shown: Bill Walker (behind the camera) and Greg Evans.
Coal Ridge — Hay Creek tour
July 3, John Frederick and I took advantage of a nice day and open Forest Service gates to do the tour of the Coal Ridge — Hay Creek drainage area. We went perhaps a quarter-mile up Trail 4 with the big chain saw, did a little clean up and then drove to the Trail 3 trailhead at the west end of Hay Creek Road.
Trail 3, most of which is old roadbed, is in excellent shape for the first mile (and likely for at least another three after that). It offers a broad vista of the west end of the Hay Creek watershed, including the Whitefish Divide.
Trail 3 – looking west towards Whitefish Divide
Moran Basin Road (Road 5241), the last stop on our tour, has problems. We encountered a bad slide about two miles in where a collection of trees had slid down the bank, roots and all, spilling across the road. I cut out the first pile, but we encountered two more about a quarter-mile farther up the road. Until the Forest Service cleans this up, Moran Basin Road is navigable only by ATVs and bikes. Update: By July 8, the road was open. Someone (not the Forest Service) had removed enough debris to allow passage by regular vehicles.
Slides on Moran Basin Road – July 3, 2014
National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act aims to improve trail maintenance
This is interesting, especially in view of our own goal to increase volunteer trail maintenance activity in the North Fork’s portion of the Flathead National Forest.
Mind you, there’s no extra money here. Instead, the bill instructs the Department of Agriculture to come up with policies to encourage and increase volunteer assistance to relieve the public trail maintenance backlog. Still, better official support at the top of the food chain for our trail concerns can’t hurt . . .
A bill encouraging the U.S. Forest Service to improve its trail maintenance received widespread support from Montana outdoors groups this week.
The Montana Outfitters and Guides Association, The Wilderness Society and others heralded the introduction of the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act by Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, and Tim Walz, D-Minnesota. The bill would expand the use of volunteer help on trail maintenance and codify how the Forest Service prioritizes its maintenance backlog.
Further reading:
Press release from Rep. Cynthia Lummis’ office
Full text of the National Forest System Trails Stewardship Act of 2014