[pct-l] Trail clearing with horses and chainsaws

[Cat Nelson]

>From the few PCT day hikes I've done, I have to say trail crews are trail
angels too.
On Sep 25, 2012 2:10 PM, "Edward Anderson" <mendoridered at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I am a Back Country Horseman and sometimes a volunteer doing trail
> maintenance on the PCT. The two Sections that I have worked on are
> California Sections D and E. We are allowed to use chain saws. That saves a
> lot of time.
>
> Of necessity, I have also cut many trees during my ride from Mexico to
> Canada on the PCT. I only cut them when there is no other option to get
> past with a horse. I cut about 50 in that category. Nine of those were on
> the first few miles going north on the PCT from Cascade Locks. That was in
> 2009.  That part of the PCT was apparently not being maintained because
> almost all of the hikers were walking along the highway to the town of
> Stevenson for a 0 day and then taking the shortcut to return to the PCT.
>
> Last November I volunteered with other Back Country Horsemen, PCTA
> volunteers and others on what came to be called the Vasquez Rocks Pionjar
> Project. We wanted to create a safe tread across a sloping and sometimes
> slippery slab of rock about 80 feet wide. It is located about two-tenths of
> a mile north of the Hwy 14 tunnel - just south of the park boundary. Hikers
> and equestrians have fallen there - bones had been broken, It ended up
> taking seven days for an average of six to eight people to complete it. Our
> leader was Trail Gorilla Pete Fish. He trucked in many heavy tools owned by
> the PCTA. Two of them were very heavy Swedish-made Pionjars (Jackhammers).
> BCH Ray Drasher hauled them and other heavy equipment from the trail head
> to the work site with his two mules. The rest of us hiked in, carrying more
> tools and our lunches. That's seven round trips. We would have needed many
> more volunteers if we did not have the help of the mules.
>
> MendoRider-Hiker
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>  From: Devon Taig <devon.taig at gmail.com>
> To: pct-l <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 7:24 AM
> Subject: [pct-l] Trail clearing with horses and chainsaws
>
> As I was walking across Oregon this year, I ran across a trail maintenance
> group (I think from the PCTA) near Three Fingered Jack.  They didn't have
> horses or chainsaws and were facing the daunting task of clearing dozens of
> trees using handsaws that had apparently fallen during a wind storm the
> previous winter.  When I inquired why they weren't using horses and
> chainsaws, I was surprised to hear that they were banned on that part of
> the trail.
> I'm not clear as to why such a ban would exist in the context of people who
> are actively performing trail maintenance.  It would seem to be at least an
> order of magnitude easier to clear a trail with a chain saw and a horse
> than by hand.  I would like to think that when I donate to organizations
> that do trail work that they aren't hamstrung by federal bureaucracy that
> impedes getting important work done.  Can anyone shed some light on
>  this?
>
> Devon
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