Turn Around, Don’t Go Around!

Posted: June 20, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

This is the theme of this website but I need to promote it more often.

If you come across an obstacle you can not get over while staying on the trail, turn around and go home, do not drive off the trail to go around the obstacle. It could be a tree, a huge snow drift, a rock garden, whatever. Turn Around, Don’t Go Around!

This past Father’s Day weekend, I was out on our trails and found many, many trees down across our trails. More than a few of these trees had been driven by many vehicles.

I had my electric chainsaw with me, not to do trail work and clear trees but just in case something fell while I was in and had to get out. Well, I did as much tree clearing as the one battery I had with me would allow. I did go back the next day with a freshly charged battery and did what I could.

Here is a tree down across the Hobbit Trail (16E76). A few rigs had already driven around this tree.

This one required a snatch block to get the right angle to get the tree off the trail once cut.

I figured that would be it as at this point of the season many rigs should have driven this trail. But not too far down the same trail was another. This one was also driven around.

It could be dragged a little further to the right but it is clear of the trail.

There were more trees but I didn’t get pictures of all of them. I also left many trees across the trail that were easily driven over and not causing vehicles to go around. The tree below was on the Middle Fork Trail in Blackwood Canyon. The blue & pink tags were for an 200 mile endurance run taking place.

Again, I didn’t get all the photos, before and after, for each and every tree.

Before only…

No saw required, just grab and drag. With the rig, not by hand!

I’ll contact the Forest Service to get someone out to block off the side trail created here.

Before only, this on is dangerous, so I dragged it down.

Most of that was Saturday the 18th. Long story but I had to go back in on Sunday the 19th. On the way out, I did some work on the Rubicon that I passed on doing on Saturday. This is just after the turn at Forest Road 03-04.

My Kobalt 80-volt electric saw worked wonders. Especially after putting a fresh chain on it. I was working the two smaller trees and then the bigger one, going back and forth. After cutting trees on the Hobbit Trail, I wasn’t sure how many cuts I had left. I was about two and a half cuts short of what I wanted to accomplish. From now on, if I bring the saw, I’ll bring both batteries!

If you’re headed in to the Springs, please cut this one back a few more feet. Thanks. Below is what my saw took off those three trees above before the battery was drained.

It ended up being a very productive weekend out on our trails.

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Rubicon Ronin