Sagebrush personal hiking blog
The hope wns to complete the second quarter of lopping, extending up to basecamp, but a lot of Gambel oak had grown close to the trail and needed to be removed.
I toss the cut vegetation as far from the trail as practical, but it is a lot. The area does not have a lot of ground litter in general, but I sure added plenty today.
The drainage to Myers Spring had a trickle of water, great news, so I will not need to carry more water up from the car.
My short saw broke, when the nut at the hinge came loose and fell off somewhere on the trail.
Fortunately a spare saw was waiting at the car. From there half the trail to basecamp was cleared, about a quarter of the trail up to the ridge.
What a vigorous long day of lopping! Here is a podcast recommendation that helped me work: A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs, by Andrew Hickey.
My original plan to resume a hike on the Gila X Loop fell through. But I had a crazy idea. Russ from the Forest Service sent out an email many weeks ago to several trail groups, requesting work on sections of the Grand Enchantment Trail. What if I spent the month that I had planned hiking a long trail, to instead hang out on my favorite long trail, doing sawing and lopping? I wouldn’t be putting in many miles, and the scenery wouldn’t change as often, but I would get plenty of exercise and be outdoors. I got permission from the USFS to work, through NMVFO, and here I am.
Burma Road to Shipment Trailhead is very rough, and I’m glad an entire trail crew did not have to drive on it
The last time I was at this trailhead was in 2021, as part of my MRT adventure, adding a section of the GET to return home
Lopping begins just past a private in-holding, and soon brush starts to get thick, but the tread is fairly visible.
After a few hundred feet of lopping, I stop brushing and begin hiking to the first possible water source in a drainage, now dry. Hiking towards the next water source at Myer Spring, darkness falls before reaching my goal, and I set up camp.
