There were 11 crew members this month and with these numbers we were able to split up. Dale P. took one crew and they went up the trail from headquarters to Sequoia Group Camp and did not find the reported tree down on the trail. They then went across Opal creek near the amphitheater to Skyline to the
Sea Trail. They followed that to Dool Trail and did some brushing along
the way and went up Dool to Middleridge and did a little brushing along
the way.
They came back down Dool to Creeping Forest Trail and followed it back to Skyline to the Sea back to Headquarters. There was not much to do on these trails. There was one tree across Creeping Forest less than a quarter of a mile up from Skyline to the Sea. It was only about 8 to 10 inches in diameter and was laying on the ground and was easy to step over. They did not take the hand saw on this portion of our expedition so we could not take it out.
They came back down Dool to Creeping Forest Trail and followed it back to Skyline to the Sea back to Headquarters. There was not much to do on these trails. There was one tree across Creeping Forest less than a quarter of a mile up from Skyline to the Sea. It was only about 8 to 10 inches in diameter and was laying on the ground and was easy to step over. They did not take the hand saw on this portion of our expedition so we could not take it out.
I took the other crew on what I thought would be a lazy walk through the park. There were two areas that was worked on over the last few months so it was time to take care of them. One area was on East Ridge on the other side of Hwy 236 and the other was the 115 foot section along Blooms Creek.
I had a bright idea to take East Ridge from the bridge on the road leading to Hihn Hammond road. It was long when we found the first of what would turn out to be 8 areas with trees from 1/2" to 24". Plus we only had hand saws. The first area was an oak, which was covering about 30-40 feet of the trail.
The next section was a tree that fell all over the trail.
Bill did a great job tackling it in quick time and it could be hear "He's so strong. He's our hero" :-)
The next one blocked the trail completely and it was so dense that you couldn't see through the mess.
We could see through the mess at lunch time
and at the end of the day you could at least walk over the trees. This will be for next month.
I would like to thanks Dale P., Bill, Janie, Tom, Herman, Gene, Janette, Francis, Peter, and Michelle. We put in 7 hours for a total 77 volunteer hours. Hope to see you next month.
See you on the trails
Jeff and Dale P.
Bird Count
1 Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma)3 Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)
1 Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
1 Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
5 Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis)
1 Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)
2 Chestnut-backed Chickadee (Poecile rufescens)
1 Brown Creeper (Certhia americana)
5 Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus)
1 American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
4 Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
1 Orange-crowned Warbler (Oreothlypis celata)
1 Hermit Warbler Setophaga occidentalis)
1 Wilson's Warbler (Cardellina pusilla)
3 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) (Junco hyemalis [oreganus Group])
2 Black-headed Grosbeak )Pheucticus melanocephalus)