Happy Sawyers Clearing Trails from 5/10- 5/22

It’s been a busy two weeks for us! We’ve had assistance from a few spectacularly skilled sawyers to open up some well loved trails, we added a fourth hardworking paid staff member, and as of the 22nd, started a trail-cutting jamboree at Poplar Flats Campground with some wonderful volunteer friends of ours. If you’re looking to get involved with us and the talented volunteers at Poplar Flats, check out our volunteer schedule and tag in wherever you can. We’d love to have you!

The trail work and general conditions we got the past two weeks are as follows:

Thanks to the volunteers who braved the heat and ticks to help maintain the Scatter Creek trail. It’s a huge help, and we’ve already gotten positive feedback on the work accomplsihed!

5/9-5/10 Scatter Creek trail: We wrapped up our work party on Scatter Creek Trail, clearing brush to the Wildenress Boundary. The Ceanothus had overgrown the trail, and thanks to the help of six volunteers, the first two miles of the trail are now back to a much higher standard. Bad brush continues for another half mile beyond the boundary, and a trail user reported 25 trees down between the boundary and the lake.

5/13 Cedar Creek: MVTC staff and 2 volunteers logged out past the falls. A decent sized slide near the first meadows generated a large amount of clearing. This trail is now clear of logs and snow until approximately mile marker 5.5.

5/14 and 19 Driveway Butte: Cleared out to the summit, patchy snow up high still. Pretty light log load, about 11 or so, with one very egregious log that required 3 skilled sawyers(2 of our staff and a volunteer) a full day of prep to cut safely. The next week, some light tread work and a few drains were done to bolster last year's work with the Washington Conservation Corps, and a few drains to address potential issues. The wildflowers are still pretty on this hike, and the cooler temps make for a great day hike.

5/15 Libby Lake: The two Nicks’ were able to enlist a few of our skilled volunteers to help us log out to a consistent snowpack at 6000’. Pretty light log load (15 logs) mainly where the burn was at the very top of the initial climb. The FS's tread work at mile marker two held up great over the winter.

5/16 Oval Lake: In case you forget—we often do—trees commonly continue to fall even after they’ve been cut out. Nick and Allen had to re-cut out the road to the trailhead and then to the wilderness boundary…again! They managed to clear another 0.5 miles past where we had previously left off(we currently sit at a mile past the Eagle Creek Trail junction), and it looks as though the log fall gets heavier and persists through the footprint of the 2018 Cressent Mountain Fire.

5/20 Wolf Creek: Two Nicks and an Aaron went out for another decent push to the meadows, encountering a lighter load up to 5 miles. Be aware, however, that the forest used to be thick past this point and thus burned severely in the Cedar Creek Fire. With the recent wind we’ve had, I’d bet my night-time cowboy boot slippers there’s decent cutting to be had up ahead of where we left off.

Lookout Mountain: Cleared by two volunteers to the summit. There are still a few patches of snow on the trail and Balsam roots in bloom, though niehther will last long with the coming warmup.

5/21 West Fork Buttermilk: Sensei Allen had given us a warning of a large pine down before the wilderness boundary, and boy, was he right. Saw master Nick had it wrapped up and was buffing up the damaged tread in about an hour. We managed to cut out 20ish logs in a mile and a half- it’s typically log heavy on this trail, and a landslide at 3.5 miles had halted log cutting operations beyond in 2024. The slide itself is easy to navigate, but I can’t vouch for what it looks like past that point. The Willows are beginning to crowd the tread, so if you enjoy hiking with hand pruners, think of us and cut a few back!

North 20 Mile: Two volunteers made their annual pilgrimage to clear the North 20 Mile trail up the West Chewuch. They reported fewer blowdowns than in years past and cleared five miles of trail to the snowline on the ridge.

5/22 Several trails got work done as part of a large work party organized by a long-time friend of the Methow with an arsenal of talented trail work-loving friends and supported by MVTC. It’s also open to anyone looking to lend a hand. More to be reported in the next edition of the ‘‘Log Blog”.

North Lake: 2 very skilled and energetic volunteers cut "a heavy amount of good sized trees" up to the wilderness boundary. Judging by how rugged they looked, they weren't exaggerating... One could expect to see more logs, and likely getting harder to pass the closer to the lake you get. The worst of the brush was cut back 3 years ago, and volunteers still say it’s not bad.

Twisp Pass: One of the Nicks(me) and 4 volunteers cut 8 log in the first mile and a half, taking our time to refresh our crosscut skills, definitely a light amount and mostly easy to pass each time- but a few hikers did reported seeing several more logs before the snow turned them around at the heavily cliffed section.

Louis Lake: Cleared out by 2 MVTC staff and 2 volunteers just about to the lake, missing the final 2 miles of trail. Snow encountered around 4,500’. While there were fewer logs than usual, that final stretch can be pretty hefty with trees across the trail.

Williams Lake: MVTC staff and a volunteer made it about 0.5 miles from the wilderness boundary and noted "heavy cutting." While the trail was logged out to the lake in 2024, this year’s blowdown would indicate, so be advised that you'll likely find more fallen trees across the trail beyond the boundary.