I led an amazing WTA crew on Notch Pass 2 and 3, whereby our only mission was to finish clearing the trail using chainsaws (WTA led a crosscut saw group on Notch 1 the previous weekend). This was a fabulous opportunity to give some new sawyers on my crew the experience they needed. I sent one crew of three up Notch 2 and then, when that was done, to start working down Notch 3. Meanwhile, we as a crew of 4 went down to about 1/4 mile from the Quil intersection to remove a tangle of trees that had come down in a pile. It took us 2 hours just to clear the branches and debris well enough to even be able to analyze what we were working with and how we would clear it safely.
Anyway, long story short, it's cleaned up. We left one overhead log partly due to time but more due to the fact that this is NOT listed as a stock trail and one of our sawyers, who is 6'-2" can walk under it without ducking and with plenty of room to spare. So we realized that if we cut that tree out it would be with the objective of having fun and gaining more experience, not actually clearing the trail. And it was starting to pour and the heavy winds of last weekend were beginning AND it was getting later into the afternoon with an uphill hike out in front of us. Safety first and always keep the objective in mind.
Our team cleared a lot of stuff from Notch 3 all the way up and down the trail. This included a tree that crashed on the lower footlog. The log is not damaged, fortunately, but the tree smashed the handrail. So hike that log with care until a future WTA crew can get in there to fix the handrail. There is one other spot, right at the end of the middle footlog, where a tree fell away from the trail and took the tread with it. Also will be repaired by WTA in the future, but not difficult to navigate it even as is.
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