Month: October 2024

Nearly

  • GET 2024 day 7, Oct 7, Monday
  • Start lower Shipman basecamp
  • End town and home
  • Lopping and several large logs cleared

Yesterday I worked on the upper section from Myer Spring to Myer Cabin, but a lot of work remains. Low on food, low on energy, and low on electrons, my goal is to finish this upper section and return home for a town day.

The burned logs up near the cabin, and the spiky plants, have taken a toll on my clothing.

Several logs were cut and cleared today.

Before
After

It occurs to me that I have not shown any of the plants I have been lopping for a week. The berries on that one bush are unusual; normally none are visible.

A good deal of Gambel oak needed to be lopped on the upper section, slowing progress. Despite my best efforts, I could not complete this section, and 1200 feet of trail still needs lopping. My hope is to come back and finish this remaining stretch another day, hopefully by accessing Shipman via Springtime Campground.

At 4PM I start down from Myers Cabin, recording a track to the trailhead, and reach the car by 6, in time to struggle with Burma Road before dark.

Talus and Cabin

  • GET 2024 day 6, Oct 6, Monday
  • Start basecamp lower Shipman
  • End basecamp lower Shipman
  • Cleared over 40 logs, mostly no-cut

Today the work would be above Myers Spring, all the way to the saddle and Myers Cabin, about 0.8 miles in length.

First a few tangles need to be cleared.

Finally the logs start gettting larger in diameter, and a wedge can be helpful.

Along a talus field, brush still somehow finds a way to grow along the trail, and only along the trail, needing lopping.

The Myers Cabin ruins are burned in past fires and vanished, but a basement foundation remains.

The workday is long, and sleep comes fast.

Shade

  • GET 2024 day 5, Oct 5, Saturday
  • Start basecamp
  • End basecamp
  • Lopping and clearing logs

After lopping on exposed mountainside slope, it was a relief to move into shaded oak and conifer forest near Myers Spring, where several blowdowns needed to be cleared.

Before / After

Finished audiobook Planet of the Damned, by Harry Harrison.

Finished audiobook The Gem Collector, by P G Wodehouse.