Bear Mountain Construction – Jan. 20, 2012 – Mud Dog in a Fog
Friday, the old adage of “When the going gets tough the tough get going” fit our volunteers as we gathered at the Crystal Springs Marina in a dense wet fog that had descending on the area overnight. Cold weather in a dense fog are not ideal trail building conditions as we motored slowly across the water for the long hike up to our work site. Our seven years of trail building in all manner of weather conditions told us this would a “Mudder”, meaning the freshly dug soil would stick like molasses to our tools and would quickly make each boot feel like it weighed ten pounds. We reminded some of our new Traildogs before departure to add a plastic sheet or trash bag to their day packs to provide a place to sit for breaks and lunch.
Hoping that the noon sun would burn off the fog or at least lift it off the mountain, we hiked the two miles up the mountain from where we moored the boat on Little Bear Creek. Talk was at minimum as we lugged our day packs and some new tools up the old road that serves as a short cut to the new tread, with the heavy fog quickly drenching our hooded outer wear. Even our fit seasoned volunteers find breath a little shorter as we approach the summit after coming up over 500 feet in elevation in less than a mile.
At the summit the fog is a gray, wet curtain of silence; no wind, birds, or any normal deep woods sounds penetrate its sound dampening effect. We are currently working in an area of ancient old hardwoods, cherries, white & red oaks and hickories who stand like silent sentinels in the dripping fog. We are unable to see the crowns of the trees as visibility is only about 100 feet. We passed through an area that is home to a small invasive shrub-like tree about an inch in diameter that grows in thickets of thousands mixed with the devil’s own “Thorny Walking Sticks”, making it difficult to disburse the downside construction debris. Attached are a couple of pictures of our crew at work in the fog.
Fortunately the tread is an old road bed; it is good deep soil and easy to work, except in the fog, helping us make great progress despite the conditions. At the end of the day we could crow that we have now added over two new miles of completed tread to the LOViT’s now over 32 miles of trail. The USFS’ hardy machine crew, about a half a mile of ahead of our crew, continues to claw out new tread through brush, boulders and rock ledges. The USFS’ dedication to supporting this trail development can’t be overstated as they continue to dedicate scarce resources of men and machines from ever tightening budgets to this now seven year effort to drive this trail to the Blakeley Mountain Dam.
Next week we will be on the trail again and, hopefully, the fog will go back to Oregon where they are used to it. We will rally at the Crystal Springs Café parking area at 8:30 for the ferry ride to the base of Big Bear Mountain. Due to the length of our hike to the work site, we are starting at 8:30 am. The forecast for Monday and Tuesday looks very inviting, so pack a trail lunch and join us on this great section of elevated trail.
Have a great weekend.
Jerry