To hell and back

Well that was fun, as most things are when they are a challenge that you meet and overcome. Doubly great if horsework is part of the challenge and triply so if it doubles as a weekend get away with the wife.

We went out to the Green Mt. National Forest this weekend to help them remove bridge components from the wilderness. Wilderness= no wheels, no motors, and lots of other rules. The bridge was already cut into small pieces and hauled to an old grown up woods road where we could get it with a sled. The abutment pieces were creosoted 8x8s and 4x8s that had been in the woods from the 60s and were very heavy.

The trail was tough in spots, especially the first 800′ on the way back, up hill and washed out, and tight. Our scoot broke, but we fabricated new parts from the forest, and finished a job in two days that everyone thought would take longer. It helps that the pieces of bridge on the bottom of the pile were lighter, and so each trip we were able to carry more. It also helps A LOT that each pass of the scoot improved the trail for the next trip, and that the horses and I learned the trail and reached a degree of comfort with challenging sections. I am very pleased with this team!
We were able to get all of the material out of the wilderness, and the majority of it all the way down to the highway.
It was a great job, a great relationship boost between DAPNet and the Forest Service, and the only part I won’t do again is backing into a narrow wilderness road with deep ditches on both sides from a busy state highway!