We have family coming next week, so we really wanted to finish a project that we have been working on for some months now. We wanted to complete clearing the trail from our cabin up to the main logging road that runs above our site.
Our 50 acre property was clear-cut logged some 15 or so years ago. It has grown back in alder forest, about 20′ tall. In the satellite photo of the area, you can see our site as a lighter green rectangle amongst darker coniferous forest. Running through the upper half of our property is a big half-loop of old logging road. The base of this road is in relatively good condition, but the road itself is overgrown with small alders, conifers, and the ever-present salmonberry and thimbleberry.
This spring, we completed a rough trail leading up to the start of the logging road, which we called Ostara’s Path. What we were working on this week was bushing out a walking path along the logging road on our property all the way out to the main. And we had less than a week to complete it!
It’s amazing what you can do when you feel a wee bit of urgency. I was a force of destruction. Armed with a pair of big tree nippers, I dropped trees up to 3″ in diameter and over 15′ tall, as well as clearing all the brush. Ken followed up behind me, clearing fallen chaos that I left in my wake. We weren’t using any power tools. From experience, we have found that using hand tools is the fastest way to clear this kind of brush. The little trees and shrubs are too small for the chainsaw, and too big for our bush cutter. As well, it is hard to get enough clearance to use the power tools in the thick brush. Nope, best way was to send me in with the nippers. I just crawled in low underneath all the tangle and snipped away like a mad thing. It was amazing how quickly we got that road cleared!