61.5 degrees F and rising;
47% humidity and steady;
29.18" of Hg pressure and steady;
0.0" of rainfall in the last 24 hours;
4.5" of flow in the Cascades Brook;
Occasionally stirring wind 0.0 - 0.5 MPH;
Blue skies;
USFS Fire Danger Class is LOW.
Last night's work party did a fantastic job clearing a moderately graded switchback from the base of the Cascades to the plateau above. We had a great crew with bow saws, loppers, chainsaws, and brute strength to remove ice storm damage, drag limbs and logs, and make the path clear. There was a poor mountain biker who was descending the trail while we were in the process of rerouting it and that was sort of comical.
If you stop and think to yourself... "wait, but wasn't it like a year and a half ago that the ice storm happened?" you would be entirely correct. Last year we spent our time digging out the Cascades Trails from being totally impassible, as well as the Southwick Pond Trail. That took most of our effort to manage, and we were still doing ALB surveys on the side. Folks had managed to carve out a rough path up the Cascades, or just scrambled straight up the steep eroded side, and it wasn't pretty, it wasn't a good long term solution, but hey, it worked. This was our effort to go back to the days of a rational and walkable switchback up that the rest of the world could use without danger to themselves of the hillside. It is good that it is finally up and running. If we get fancy and have a little time we might place a stair or water bar in here or there in the future to make it more erosion resilient.
Thanks to the whole crew who went out there, worked really hard, and made things right again!
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