Week 5: Harvesting Lodge Poles

Sept 28th, 2007

This week has been all about refilling our stash of lodge poles for building worm fences. This picture was taken a few weeks ago, and the actual pile was a lot smaller when we got to it this week. Probably less then 75 poles left. Later, after the pictures from the week, I have an "after" photo of the same pile and how much we accomplished with a little help from a few friends...




This is where we worked. Southern Tahoe region outside of Meyers, CA once again. This is the most remote area we have worked yet, and it wasn't actually an urban lot like we normally work in, it was a tree felling area that was burned about a year ago. Unfortunately for us, there was a problem with us being there using our lowly saws, because there were huge machines that could cut down, limb, and make into 10 foot poles at about 6 times the speed we could.




As pictured here. These monstrosities literally could take down 4 trees at one time. So, on Tuesday we actually got to saw and cut down some trees. I don't have any pictures of this feat, but I cut down 3! Yup, count em', 1, 2, 3! It's not a lot for the kids on saw crews, but this was the first time since orientation that I had used a saw for more then a fence. It was fantastic! I had a blast. The trees fell exactly where I wanted them to, and there were no complications. Because of the machines though, we were no longer able to cut trees on Wednesday or Thursday.


Instead we were "forced" to either go to another area, or help the man in the machine by rolling barbed wire that was in his way for the price of as many 10 foot poles as we could carry... A worthy cause!









Below is a video of us putting the poles into the trailer. It's intense, and I will tell you why... these poles weigh anywhere from 10 pounds to 80 pounds a piece. Some are live, some are dead, and we needed both. Sadly, the heaviest and most cumbersome are the live trees and that's what we had most of. There were a few logs where we needed 3 or even 4 people to carry them.






Colton was our resident sawyer for Thursday making sure all of the trees were exactly 10 feet to fit in our trailer. At first, because of the size, we were unable to carry more then 20 logs at one time, but when they were 10 feet exactly, we were able to fit over 50 in every batch! That was way more then we originally figured we would have, so it was very exciting to know we were not only reaching our goal but surpassing it with flying colours.











Thursday afternoon after lunch, we were so pooped from moving over 300 logs that we all kind of napped for a while. It was an intense nap and needed by almost all of us. The video below is of us hooking the trailer up to our truck. It was a HUGE problem at this particular site because we had to unhook it every time it came back empty and physically (with our entire crew) turn it around in order to get it back out of the area. I would have taken a video of moving it, but we need all of us just to rotate it just 180 degrees.




The anticipated picture of all the work we did. There are so many logs there, you don't even know... that took 3 days and a lot of sweat to create. I'm still amazed at how much we moved and managed to make happen with one trailer.









This is Lake Tahoe on the drive back home, but I'm gonna tell a little story about Wednesday evening here instead of talking about the drive home which is rather boring...
Thursday was Andrew's birthday (our crew leader) and we knew that he wanted to try a Thai restaurant down the road from where we were staying in Camp Rich. Thus, last week we plotted in order to surprise him with a night out for his big day (he was turning 23, and we all know how special that birthday is...). It was a very involved plan including but not limited to pretending to have a broken truck, lying through our teeth about our educational experience for the week, and surprising the crap out of him! I wish I had pictures of his face when he realized what we were pulling, but needless to say, we were all very very happy with the outcome and the food was delicious as well. He was impressed we remembered his birthday, and also thought it was important enough to celebrate. Of course we couldn't do anything less, so I'm glad it came off so well. It was the highlight of everyone's week and it was a nice ending to a great project.

A month in!

Sept. 21st, 2007

Day 1: There were two fences to build, both on the same property because some lady in South Lake Tahoe thought it was okay to build her own fence, and then use the land around the fence to drive through. Obviously, the NCC was there to stop that immediately with our custom built worm and straight style fence.





Funny story about that lady though, despite disliking the fact that we were putting up a fence, she actually brought out a bag of grapes, and diet pepsi at lunch time. No one really drank the soda cause it's really hot, but the grapes were a nice touch. We all kind of laughed about it, especially when she then offered her toilet (which we are DEFINITELY not allowed to use).






That night, we had dinner at camp, and by popular demand (which I will never understand) we had ramen noodles, but to make it as healthy as possible, we bought a few different veggies to cook up and put in it. It was very nice actually, especially if you didn't add too much of the salty stuff. Unfortunately for us, we left a few things out (much to our crew sup's dismay) and bears came around the camp that night, and every night after that.




Day 2: Two more fences to build, and a 2 acre plot to reveg. Again, we were in South Lake Tahoe, and both fences were on the same lot, but this time, the fences were being built because of other people that didn't live there. You could see the tire tracks from the road. I used the chainsaw this day, and let me tell you, it is hard work; you can feel the burn.






Around noon when we take lunch, we were done with the second fence, and the other half of our crew had gone to reveg at another site. What they didn't know was that our van was about to die. Yup, right there in someone's driveway our van up and quit. So, being the hardcore chicks we are, 3 of us get in front of this 15 passenger van and start pushin'. Uphill. Both ways. It was intense to say the least. By the time our sup had come back with the truck we had it up and over the hill and on flat ground so we could jump it. It worked after that, but everytime we wanted to start the van, we had to put it in neutral first and then into drive.
Day 3: The night before was windy, and we thought there were tons of bears in the vicinity (very possible). I actually had my tent picked up around me and I kind of freaked out to say the least. But the next morning found us well, and Andrew our leader was very well when he found this sweet sweet chainsaw at the US Forest Service's garage. It has a 48" bar, and let me just mention that there are actually only 3 people in the entire state that can use this saw to it's fullest potential.






































This was the range right in front of where we were working for the day. It was beautiful (but windy) and the clouds were everywhere. Once again we had two more fences to build on the same lot. They were both much longer so they took the whole day to finish. It was well worth it, and they looked rather dashing.


























This is Becky on the saw. It's intense work, and all of us that are certified to use it get quite the work out, even on fences. I almost feel sorry for the chainsaw crews because you can literally feel the burn in your forearms.









That evening before dinner was even done we saw a family of black bears in plain sight. It's kind of not a good thing actually because they have been retreating further and further into the city area, and not just Lake Tahoe, they have been seen as far as East Reno. Unfortunately for the bears, every time they are caught in a people-dominated place, they are tagged, and when they are tagged twice they are taken in to be euthanized because they are then deemed as pests. It's "necessary" apparently, but it's still a very unfortunate thing that could be helped by being very careful with food and other such items.
That evening for dinner we had Tortilla Pizzas. It was suggested by the man to the left, our crew leader Andrew. He doesn't even eat with us, but it was probably his best idea ever (other than the fish tacos from the week before). Tortilla Pizzas are basically quesadillas with pizza sauce instead of beans and salsa. They are freakin' genius, no joke.




















That evening while driving to the 7-eleven to pick up hot chocolate because of the cold, we saw our first set of snow clouds. Not a good sign. We were slated to have 2 inches of snow, and I'm pretty sure we all prayed that it would at least spare our campsite, and be gone by morning. This was not to be the case.














Day 4: It wasn't much snow, but it was enough to cause a lot of sleet and rain and thus some people had soaked tents and sleeping bags when they woke up. I was lucky as far as getting wet inside the tent, but most definitely had to deal with a very wet, very gross tent in the morning. Once more we had two fences to build, and actually the USFS didn't think we would get as much done as we did and had to come up with projects for us to do. We rock the fencing world.
That is actually a range behind all of those clouds, and at 8:30 in the morning, it is not something you want to see. I was wearing 4 layers, and I was still cold until about 10 am.










Needless to say, I was an unhappy Beth. Completely disgusted with the weather we went back to work...











Thus, when it cleared up around 10:30 am, I was a much happier Beth...

















As pictured here.













Now it's time for a little story of what happened the last afternoon before going back to Reno. We work for the Forest Service as most of you know by now, and that means that they take care of all fire damage to Lake Tahoe. So as an educational fieldtrip, they took us to the airport in Lake Tahoe where they are finishing up a very interesting process for mulching the areas that were burned. It's called hydromulching.





These are all the supplies they use: recycled biodegradable paper, a glue-y substance, green dye, and wood pieces. This sticks to the ground, but they get it up in the air with these....










...sweet one seater planes!













Then the guy standing on the wing acts as a green stuff gauge, and he tells this guy below to turn it off.











He was really awesome and answered any questions I had. I asked him all about how boring it gets, and what they do in their spare time, and he told me that he liked to decorate his helmet, so I took a picture of it. Then I took another set of pictures of a landing plane cause I thought Dad would dig it...































































That's the whole crew. Everyone, plus a research assistant that works for the USFS as well and works with us a lot.











The End.

Week 3: South Lake Tahoe

September 16^th, 2007

Pictures have arrived, and because of the timeliness of the night, my lack of sleep this weekend, and the fact that I just ran out of time, the pictures are going to tell my story this week with small paragraphs in between. Enjoy!

Off to work, it's in the 40's and we are loading wood for our first fence of many for the week.

This is our dwindling pile of wood. Next week's adventure will involve cutting down more in order to restock.

This is our first site, and the white line is where we are building a worm fence.













Finished fence numero uno! That afternoon, we went to pick bull thistle in a lot that we had been to the previous week. There was so much more left over that we still aren't done.
























This is one of the outer-lying ridges of the Tahoe Basin. I look out at this every morning when we leave the US Forest Service parking lot from Myers, California.










This is our campsite, we eat here, sleep here, and chase away bears here.


























This is Roland, he is the trail builder's crew supervisor. He stopped playing soccer long enough to let me take a picture.

















This is Adam, he is the crew leader for the trail crew. He says that there is no Captain in him, but pictures speak louder then words....

















Corn meal mush. You let it sit overnight, and then fry it for breakfast. Despite it's lack of taste, it has a great texture and it was really nice to have a hot meal at 6 in the morning.









There are very few places where you can have campfires, and luckily we are allowed. Apparently, based on the other crews that my roommates are in, we are living large because of this.























Day 2, and there is one fence to fix (the one to the left, it's already finished in this picture), and two more. In comparison to past weeks and our track record for not finishing fences in a timely manner, this is crazy amounts of impressive. 2, 90 foot fences, and the fixing of one 40 foot fence. Holy wah!







Fence No. 2: I used the chainsaw this day, so all of that fancy work is my fault. When we cut off the tops of the posts, you have to attempt to keep it as even as possible, not as easy as it sounds.









And fence no. 3: This one went in like a dream. Only one split post, and we knew we could fix it the following day when we came back to the same site to build yet another fence on another lot.









Day 3, and those two blue hard-hatted guys are our crew leader and supervisor discussing the state of the second fence that we had built. This cute 20 foot fence that they happen to be leaning on was built by yours truly and one of our English internationals, Andy. It was almost perfectly proportioned and overall very well done if I do say so myself.






Fence no. 2: These people had a fence built because they were encroaching on Forest Service land. They had dog training equipment over the line, and that's just not allowed. We were extra careful because the lady of the house was not happy that we were making her move her training equipment.







Ahhh, Lake Tahoe. We camped less then 1/2 a mile from this spot, so it was our nightly hang out place. We learned Korean games, played soccer and volleyball. It's such a beautiful lake, and you can honestly see 60 feet down it's so clean and clear.








Day 4 and we are tired. 5 fences, and lots of weeds picked and it's time for more weed picking in the Tahoe Keys. This area was once entirely a marsh-like land and so many people moved into the area that they concreted over it, and many a rich person moved in. It's a beautiful view for picking weeds though, this I will say.

Thus concludes this weeks installment, and I think the pictures are a nice touch; they definitely help me remember what happened, and I hope they give you a clearer view into my time here.