See more current trail clearing post: Trail Clearing Again
We put in a lot of hiking miles in the mountains each year and this year is starting out great. As the years progress, however, we’ve noticed a problem that has plagued the western forests where we love to walk – wooden obstacles. I’ve always carried a small small Stihl hand saw to clear branches that created obstacles in the trail and that’s always worked fine until recently. The numbers of dead trees in western states like New Mexico due to beetle kills, drought, and other maladies is both sad and truly staggering. These tree kills here in NM tend to be concentrated around the 8-9 thousand foot elevation range but are a problem at any elevation over 6 thousand. Apart from the obvious environmental catastrophe that this represents, the dead trees constantly falling over into established trails represents a huge hassle for trail users. Over the last decade, my little hand saw has become less and less effective against the sheer volume and the size of dead timber we’re finding on the trails.
Another thing we’ve noticed is that the US Forest Service apears to have a lot more trails under thier responsibility than they can take care of. From what I can see on the trails I hike on in New Mexico, the forest service is not able to keep up. See one article about this FS issue here. Out of necessity, I began to clear trees from trails I use after it was apparent that no one else was going to do it.
Generally, people using trails will make some type of detour when trees fall on the trail. The result is a serpentine trail that zigs and zags at the slightest obstruction. Since few hikers carry hand saws, they try to move around obstacles rather than take the time to clear the trail. We’ve seen well developed trails around downed trees that, when accumulated over the length of the trail add considerable distance to many hikes.
Over the winter, I invested in two new saws to help take on the challenge. The Silky Big Boy and the Silky Katana Boy are capable saws that can cut up to 10″ and 20″ logs respectively. I’ve had a blast cutting stuff out of the way with these saws. Here are just a few examples.
The work can be somewhat dangerous and great care must be taken to anticipate where logs are going to go when cut. Some of these things are under great pressure and releasing that pressure with a saw can be very exciting.
The new endeavor has been not only rewarding but just another great motivation for getting outside and heading up into the hills. Getting to the trees is a great workout. And cutting through a 20″ ponderosa pine with a handsaw is one hell of a workout as well. My advice? If you hike, buy a small handsaw and help out. Start with small branches. As you gain more experience, get a bigger saw and take on more complex chores.
UPDATE: I purchased the Katana Boy and the Silky Bigboy 2000 for trail work. For most folks, I’d recommend the Bigboy which, while smaller, is large enough to take care of all but the most challenging logs. With both, one can take care of almost anything that would block a trail in New Mexico.