June 2011 Workparty

[clydesdale]

The current plan:
Date: JUNE 26 (next Sunday)
Time: 8AM
Where: Turkey Creek Trail Head just past Key Bridge on Key Road.
What: Plan is to mow and lop the overgrown sections of Turkey and if we have time Wine Creek. We can split into two shifts if we get enough people.

Because of storms over the last week, the where and what could change, so please let me know if you can make it and stay tuned for any updates.


Respond by Wednesday, June 22 to:
Daniel Allen
[e-mail]

[Angela]

10 people have signed up for this work party so far - Daniel will post additional information on Saturday morning. Keep an eye on this forum due to somewhat unstable weather conditions.

This trail needs sawyer work as well as mowing/loping hope we have enough people to get most of Turkey cleared and mowed! Wine will probably have to wait!

[Angela]

Just came off a recon of Turkey as final prep before tomorrow's work party - nearly five hours - 30+ spider webs, 15+ small diameter trees removed, a lot of trail debris, there is at least 4 miles that need to be mowed and 10+ good sized trees - we only have 10 people confirmed and two maybes so the work will not be able to be finished tomorrow with the number of volunteers we have. If you have some time tomorrow morning to volunteer for a few hours it would be greatly appreciated. Ill post a few pictures when I get home so you can see the urgency of the need - at many spots I literally was hoping I was on the trail since I could not see it at all. Would be a shame to lose this trail and I can tell you those last two miles are fading away quickly! Let me know if you can spare some time.

[Angela]

A couple of the trees that will need to be dealt with:









And a nice rider than can be left in place!

[Angela]

Where is the trail? The majority of this overgrowth is in the last three miles of Turkey Creek.............

[kconner]

would love to come help, regrettably I will be out of town....

[Angela]

Just left Turkey Creek many thanks to Tom Zeaser, Nevin & Becky Lambert, Phil & Sherri West, John Pilcher, Paul Farrow and Susan Messick - Daniel and I completed the ten volunteers for braving the heat, humidity and the wilderness of Turkey Creek to make this work party happen. Needed that second shift but understand that other commitments made that impossible. We were able to complete the mowing/lopping for the last 3 miles of trail and took out quite a few of the trees. Still have at least two miles of trail that needs to be mowed and the one monster Sweet Gum tree to battle plus three or four more trees. If we can rally some volunteers and set another date in July we can get this trail finished up. Ill post some pictures when I get home!

[Angela]

Getting ready to roll, been a while since I pulled a b.o.b - between that loaded b.o.b. and waving the frond in my left hand to catch the webs it was like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride through London coming down that first hill....





Big challenge here was finding the actual trail so we could clear it!



This is necessary equipment but definitely adds some heat.....





Made it through to the other side -



John Pilcher put the new DR Mower through its paces -



The finished product - this section is great now, just needs some wheels!



This downed Sweet Gum tree was huge, luckily when it fell it broke into two pieces....

Tom and Nevin - the DR mower isn't coming across this downfall...



Phil and Sherrie - will have to go around or climb over to continue lopping the trail!



Daniel contemplating that pro level 20inch chainsaw with serious power........................



This tree is probably going to have to have its very own workparty scheduled!






Great mowing by the DR teams....... Thanks so much!

[dgaddis1]

Thanks for the work guys and gals, it was hot out there today. I spent the morning almost FUBARing the rear brakes on my car....trail work would have been much more enjoyable!!

[Angela]

Well get that car repaired , we'll hopefully have one more chance to finish up the work on Turkey (sometime in July) - after that our attention will have to turn to start getting the trails ready for the Baker's Dozen. Would love to do something on Wine in the Fall if we can - I think both of these trails are a bit at risk!

Looks like the storms this summer are going to keep the chainsawyers very busy.

[azdrawdy]

Big thanks to all involved.

To Daniel: You have to admit that the chaps, gloves and helmet add at least 20 percent and 15 degrees to the humidity and temps

MD

[clydesdale]

Absolutely!

[seenvic]

A huge thanks to each of the ten who worked. Especially to the Allens who scouted it, planned it and then worked it. I was not there, but prolly could have been had I prioritized this. It is easy to find an excuse to miss trailwork.

To call a spade a spade, it is pretty bad when we can only ten folks out to do a job we need 15-20 to do, while the lot at FATS is pretty crowded on the same day.

Actually, for the mowing, 10 is a good number. It just needs to happen more often. Small, but more often workdays need motivated leaders who can scout it, then lead it. I close on my houses July 20, and then I will be a motivated leader once again.

[Angela]

Actually you were correct in your first thought, we really needed the 20 just a first and second shift on Sunday. For a work party of this magnitude and the logistics it takes to make it happen ......better to do it the way we have in the past with shift 1 followed by shift 2.

Takes quite a bit of work to get a day set that people can come (between schedules and weather )and then starts the fun (and this is a pretty concise summary):

• You need to make sure both DRs are up and running, all chainsaws sharpened and running
  
• Tools for all the other workers
  
• Have the recon riders go in to identify trees down and other barriers also identify the areas of greatest need a day or two in advance
  
• Transport all equipment, tools and supplies out to the trail with the plan of attack to get into and out of the areas that need work
  
• Get the work done and then transport everything back and get it all unpacked and back where it belongs
  
  

Better in my opinion to have a full on Mow-a-Thon and get it out of the way. We are at risk now of leaving this trail half done which means it won't get the needed wheels and then this work would almost be for naught.

People have been stepping up and having smaller, informal and more frequent work parties at least for the sawyer work because of all the storms. The smaller more frequent are great as long as you have a leader and don't keep relying on the same volunteers over and over again. People get burned out if you work them too frequently! Those are relatively easy to set up - a saw, a certified sawyer, fuel and a spotter and you are good to go.

[seenvic]

Not going to disagree that two shifts in one day is a fine plan. It has proven to work well in the past.

But the first shift needs to start earlier than 8AM is there is going to be "shifts". No one wants to start a shift at 11AM or Noon. 6AM and 10AM....maybe. I'd rather have the 6AM shift.

Other than the mowers being harder to move to the woods than chainsaws, a 2-5 person work day with the mowers/hedgers could be very effective.

Your bullet points are great. Your point of yesterday being for naught if the rest isn't done is well taken. I should have been out there yesterday and just didn't plan well to make it.

[Angela]

Agree on the time particularly this time of year when the heat and humidity are stifling! In this instance we simply didn't have enough people for a second shift so 8am was fine.

I'd personally like to see a small work party of sawyers (probably 3) one morning in July to work on that big Sweet Gum tree that is down. I think it's going to take that to get that cleared in a reasonable amount of time. It is such a huge tree and the chunks are very heavy. Fortunately it is less than a mile from the end of Turkey Creek.

On the other if you feel inclined to lead a work party to get the remainder of Turkey cleared we probably have another 4 trees down (right now) in the first 3 miles of trail that need to be taken out and about 2 miles (4 if you count both sides) of mowing to be done. I'll be happy to help get it set up and if you give a date I can put it in the newsletter that will be going out in the next couple of days.

We could finish up Turkey and if we have a lot of volunteers maybe we can set up those two shifts and at least take a partial pass at Wine as well. Let me know!

They have a work party scheduled at Boyd Pond on the 23rd and I know we have some folks that want to participate in that work party.