The Winners!
Since early this summer, there has been a blowdown across the AT that the Sawyers have been "champing at the bit" to take care of ..... Big Tree Jr. This is a very complex blowdown, further complicated by being a large and solid tree, not a dead rotten one. The plan was to wait until there wasn't a lot of traffic on the AT and then, the Sawyers would tackle the problem of BT Jr. This month's work trip was The Day and with four of the club's sawyers on hand, Big Tree Jr. finally went down for the count and became a 'former blowdown'!
The following eight pictures and the photo above were taken by sawyer Richard W. (the photo above of the sawyer group was with the assistance of some hikers who came by):
Big Tree Jr ......... before the sawyers.
Work begins ......
The trunk has been separated from the root ball.
Dismantling BT Jr. begins, now that the trunk is 'down' and within reach.
The first of several happy sawyer pictures as BT Jr. is 'dismantled'.
Another happy sawyer after a successful big trunk cut.
Big main trunk cut .... sawyers still smiling.
Action shot ..... sawyer teamwork!
♦ ♦ ♦
What hikers see now ...... the work crew that put in at Humpback Picnic and hiked to Humpback Rocks Parking came through the former Big Tree Jr. blowdown area after the sawyers had packed up and hiked out and this is what was left (notice how the fog has thickened up, too!):
AT Sawyers were here!
Wow, guys ...... what a terrific job on a huge, complex, dangerous blowdown!! Everybody had a safe day .... the most significant accomplishment of all. Our Sawyers are The Best ...... on this project: Ed P., Richard W., Chris W., and Eric J.
(Photos: First 9 photos by sawyer Richard W.; next 4 photos by Merlot; last photo by Lori A.)
Good work guys. I am surprised that the root ball did not rotate down as that was our fear all along. That tree was the biggest and most dangerous looking obstacle I have ever seen.
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