Sagebrush personal hiking blog
The work continues on Apache Kid, clearing several tangles and large logs.
Not as much trail distance today. But sawyer maxim is “Slow is fast.”
Tomorrow will be something different.
Finished audiobook More Tish, by Mary Roberts Rinehart.
Today my plan is to only saw, and leave the loppers at camp. First the route goes through a burn area with many standing snags.
And then we get to aspen, early growers after a fire.
The aspen is really encroaching on the trail corridor, and it would have been hard to resist lopping if I had brought the tool.
Several tangles of trees are cleared. I can see from saw marks that a crew has already gone through cutting, but many fresh trees are down since then.
Often trees can be moved off the trail without a cut, but long aspen and many-branching fir ensures that plenty of sawing was needed.
Being late in the season, possibly no one else will hike this trail before winter snow and wind. Try not to think about all the fresh blow-downs that will happen before the next hiker…
I drove to Springtime Campground in late afternoon, and was pleased to see the facilities in good shape. Sometimes a high water event will flood the normally dry creek running through camp, and mess up the road, but today all looks fine among tall Gambel oak and a few ponderosa.
Hiking up Apache Kid Trail, it was surprising how much oak was on the trail, considering that we lopped this section in 2021 with NMVFO.
Approaching the ridge, fine views to the east reward the climb.
At the intersection with Shipman Trail, a fallen tree hides faint tread on Shipman. This is unfortunate, because NMVFO worked to make the trail clearer here on their last project.
My goal for today is San Mateo Spring, which I have seen with good water, and at other times completely dry. Today the trough is dry, but a slow leak at a pipe joint going to the trough may be enough to keep me supplied with water.
Camp is at a nearby saddle we used on a backpacking trail project in 2021. Cell reception there is possible, though spotty.
There are enough blowdowns to keep me busy for days. Sorry, loppers, you will have to wait.