Ah, at last, a day without rain! Our small Tuesday Project team took advantage of the drier weather to tackle a number of problems. First up was a trip up the Race Brook Trail to remove a large hemlock, duck under blowdown. Below is a shot of the hemlock (which was much infested with the wooly adelgid by the way) with the branches removed in preparation for bucking.
With all in readiness, the area checked for dangers and an escape route planned and cleared, Cosmo set his saw to work cutting the trunk off at ~ 20' from the stump.
With a bit of persuasion, the deed was done and the root ball was stable enough to keep the trunk up in the air making for an easy cutoff at the root ball. As you can see below we left the trunk on the trail at the far end, an easy step over. We did this as Richard, the section Maintainer, intends to use the trunk as a retainer for a retaining wall along this steep side hill section of trail.
Next we traveled to Goose Pond Rd. and the open area at the trail parking area. Those black flies were out in force and biting so work was between slaps and waves to deal with the little buggers! We loaded Cosmo's truck up with a busted up cast iron bathtub and some sheet steel; staked out a good number of rocks and obstructions to be avoided by the brushhog later in the season when we will mow the area; bucked up several deadfalls in the field and lugged the pieces to the nearby piles; and lastly mounted 2 new signs directing drivers to the parking area just beyond the AT crossing of Goose Pond Rd. Hopefully, with will solve the problem of folks parking on our neighbors grass.
After one more stop, at Perlman's in Pittsfield to get rid of the scrap metal, we called it a day. Another satisfying day of Fun in the Woods!
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