David Yount Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Static Point - Trail Work – Saturday 10/20/2012 -10:00AM ________________________________________ Static Point is a robust climbing area that has a longer climbing season and better climate than many western Washington crags and it’s closer than Index (as the crow flies). With 800-feet of clean rock, most routes are 6-pitches tall, including the celebrated route Online 5.10B 6 pitches. You can climb all year long at Static Point (although the approach will likely involve some snow December to early February); several routes were first climbed in January. The granite slab faces south and dries quickly. A sunny day in winter the climbing can be at it's best, as the friction of climbing shoe rubber reaches it's maximum at 49F, I've read. This awesome crag sits in a near-wilderness environment and needs some trail rehabilitation. Washington Department of Natural Resources and Snohomish PUD know about this overgrown trail issue and they were pretty amenable to our going up there and cutting Alder trees from the abandoned spur road so as to maintain a walkable path. I will be headed out with a chainsaw, 1-gallon gas, 1-quart bar oil, a 30-inch bowsaw and bypass loppers. Another couple chainsaws are helpful and we also need people to toss logs off the road and uproot small sprouting trees. Bypass loppers and hand pruners, also necessary. A couple pickaxes, couple shovels and especially a McLeod would all be useful to help re-establish some eroding trail tread. I’ve developed a backpack that can carry all my gear including extra clothes, food and water. But I also know that everything can go into a standard backpack and the saw can be carried by clipping the handle to a padded shoulder sling. By that 3rd weekend in October I'm sure there won't be an elevated fire danger with a ban on gasoline powered engines on PUD property. Dave Yount. Driving Directions East on US-2, thru Monroe and on to the town of Sultan. On the east end of Sultan, take a Left on Sultan Basin Road. About 11 miles after leaving US-2 the pavement ends, the road gets a bit steeper. At 13 miles from the highway you reach the registration station (and toilets) at Olney Pass near Spada Resevoir. A little further, drive through the Yellow Gate on the right. On the South Shore Road (road Nf-6129 around the reservoir) in about 3 miles, probably a little less, cross a bridge (over the inlet to Spada Resevoir) and the parking will be on the left side of road. The abandoned spur road begins on the right side of the road, several large boulders block this spur road from vehicles. We’ll meet here at 10:00am Static Point - parking and hiking map As of September 2012 the Gate on the South Shore Road at Spada Resevoir can be determined to be Open or Closed by checking online, or making a phone call http://www.snopud.com/PowerSupply/hydro/jhp/jhprecreation/jhpsultan.ashx?p=1500 425.783.1774 Karen Bedrossian 425.783.8804 Barry Chrisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Yount Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 (edited) The Work Party is shaping up - Saturday October 20, meet at 10am at the parking pullout at the beginning of the closed spur road. Bring your chainsaws, extra gas and 2-cycle oil, bar oil, safety glasses, eaf muffs or earplugs, work gloves, bypass loppers and a pack to carry your gear and food and water. Edited October 9, 2012 by David Yount Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obwan Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Just a reminder - rain or shine, no experience needed. C'mon out anyway. If you don't have tools - I have an extra crosscut saw, loppers and a couple machetes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Are there any carpool rendezvous spots closer to Seattle in the planning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Count me my GF Colleen in with hand tools. Don't own power stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 jesus, pat, that girl manages to get managled even w/o throwing razor-edged tools into the mix! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Someday she'll probably kill me in my sleep with one, but until then...paaaaarrrrtaaaaaayyyyy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Yount Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Tomorrow, Saturday’s trailwork at Static Point will be an historical event. It will be the 4th Work Party I’ve led at Static Point and only the first time I’ll have help. Thanks for all the replies via PM to my individual invites; I look forward to meeting the several hardy soles that intend to participate. Well, let me correct myself. One of my Trail Work Parties I did get somebody to show up. I operated a chainsaw for 8 tanks of gas and Don Brooks hefted and tossed all my cuttings off the road. Don’s presence was unannounced and frankly a complete surprise, but together we accomplished a great deal. If anybody has an Easy-Up that would be so great, to stand underneath while getting suited up and preparing; please bring it! Without intending to be pedantic or Papa Smurf I do want to share what I’ll bring in case my personal experiences with trail work experiences in Fall in anyway help others. First, a big beach towel and a complete change of clothes including shoes and rain jacket and hat. Sure, my car has a solid heater, but it’s makes me insta-happy to have dry clean cotton clothes after working in the damp. I stuff all my work clothes into a garbage bag at the car. Second, a thermos of coffee or tea or soup. Best is to carry a 1 thermos with coffee with me, and have a second thermos with soup in the car. Since the weather forecast has precipitation and cool temperatures I’ll begin my day with long johns which I’ll likely remove as I begin to get into the work. Pants with no cotton will greatly increase your comfort!!! I’ll also begin with a wool sweater and my rubber Helly Hansen jacket, but remove the rubber jacket as my body temp picks up. An Outdoor Research Seattle Sombrero or a typical construction site hardhat both work well to keep the head dry and provide a brim to keep the face dry too. Otherwise, a baseball hat (beneath a wool hat) helps to keep the face dry. I’m bringing 3 pairs of work gloves, to help keep my hands and fingers dry and warm and nimble. I have a huge backpack that can carry plenty of extra clothes, gear and tools. The flavor of this work will be walk-and-prune. There won’t be many instances where we’ll be working at one area for more than 5 minutes. I expect we’ll be back at the cars 3 to 4 hours after we leave the cars. If you need to leave earlier that’s totally fine, just show up and give us what you can. The driving likely takes longer than you imagine, please start early! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 All I can say is DO NOT GET IN FRONT OF DAVID YOUNT WHEN HE'S GOT A CHAIN SAW. The man is a trail clearing tour de force. Thanks for a great day in some interesting weather and an uninterrupted 10 hours nights sleep afterwards. I've never kilt so many trees in one day before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_warfield Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 (edited) I have participated in similar events at Little Si, Vantage, and Smith and thoroughly support climbers taking care of their favorite areas. Didn't kill any trees at any of these areas but hauled gravel in a pack, moved a lot or rock around, and did a bunch of shoveling. But Washington is unique as we all know and usually involves lots of biomass. Edited October 21, 2012 by matt_warfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Last time I went to Static I drove to the TH. Times have changed. As Mr. Brooks teaches us, you can effortlessly pull alder, cedar, and hemlock seedlings out like weeds after a good rain, up to about an inch caliper in some cases. Makes cleaning up a trail SO much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Yount Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 10.20.12 Static Point – Trail Work Party – TRIP REPORT What a great day! The last several miles of dirt road approaching Olney Pass, there are several logging sites right along the road. Back in the early 80’s playing paintball along Sultan Basin Road I remember some logging in the area but these current operations surprised me. Some sites seemed finished and several sites are still actively logging. Sharp at 10:00am I met James (sorry I called you "Frank"), Pat and Colleen at the parking pullout. We loaded packs and began our hike up the road. The road was my interest, I already knew the trail would not need the work of a trail crew. My plan was to hike the spur road to where the steep hiking trail departs the road. That way, we’d have a clear idea of the total package. We could do our trail work as we returned down the road. Just 5 minutes from the cars I realized with a shock that I had brought the wrong pair of boots. These boots featured a vibram sole that was 1/2 delaminated on the left boot. Just 20 minutes later the sole fully separated and Colleen picked it up and handed it to me. About an hour after leaving the cars, as we reached the very wide creek crossing just 100 feet before the steep hiking trail, both Frank and Pat couldn’t believe how much the road had changed thru the many years. Since the spur road was fully decommissioned in 2009 it has quickly vegetated and closed in. Although there were only 5 or 6 downed alders crossing the road, there was plenty of other work to attend to. I fired up the chainsaw and put to rest 100’s and 100’s of various trees that had rooted at the edges of the road and whose branches were touching in the middle. Frank, Colleen and Pat tossed my cuttings off the road, they made further cuts with bypass loppers and they uprooted countless smaller trees by directly pulling with their hands. I wish we had some photos to share but honestly the work was endless and at times I may have smiled as trees were flying overhead and a particular song ran thru my mind, Our merry band of foul weathered friends continued this dance for an hour, and then another hour and another. The only stop I noticed is when I needed to refill the gas in the saw. I went thru 10 tanks of gas that day, nearly a full gallon of gas. Bringing 3 pairs of work gloves was a very wise plan; just as my hands were getting fully wet and beginning to get cold, a new pair! With slight drizzle of rain, and much hail and graupel, rare sunbreaks and temps never as high as 50F, we worked for 6 hours with never a break for lunch or conversation. I could tell somebody else had been out there with a saw and made many many cuts, several feet off the ground. I was able to quickly finish their work and cut these down to the ground. When I get into a rhythm, I get into a flow, and I don’t feel like doing anything else but keep on keeepin on and so I did. The time flew. The little trees fell. The weather was absolutely wild! We were just several hundred feet below snowline and it was gorgeous to look up on the forested slopes and see the white snow from the prior night. At 4:30pm the crew was glowing from the accomplishment and thought it reasonable to head back to town. I continued solo another 90 minutes until the fading light reeled in my aspirations. It was during this final chapter that my left boot fully exploded and I was walking on my sock. I returned to the car at 6pm and fully changed clothes in fading light on the forest floor. For the Spring Trail Work it would be fabulous to have 1 to 3 gas powered brush cutters. That would be the ideal tool to have in hand. And there are still 3 large alders crossing the road that I didn’t have the comfort to cut near darkness because my 30-inch bowsaw was safely returned to my car, and so if I goobered and got my chainsaw pinched in the trees I wouldn’t be able to free it. It was wild just last week meeting up with Jim Donini with the American Alpine Club and Jeff Young on the Conservation Team with the Access Fund to do trail work and other projects at Indian Creek in the hot sunshine in Utah!! Too bad the weather was just about as challenging as it could be; thanks a million for showing up and working so hard!! And a special shout out to Colleen who has only began climbing very recently but agreed to help with trail maintenance at a climbing area she had never heard of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obwan Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Dave - great report, I was not Frank - James; but as you say not much time for socializing or breaks. One had to keep working to stay warm - that's the wettest I've seen the woods in awhile, snow fall was timely and nice. You are an animal with that saw and sure enough don't get in front of it. I love your trailhead car! But the Sultan Bandit was there lurking, and had our arrival time down - very convenient. The MF'er got some trail booty - my chainsaw, that I left about a half mile in to get those alder logs you mentioned on the way out. It's common for trail workers to leave gear and stuff along the way, using as needed on the way out. I even made a special trip back in, looking for it in some pretty wet clothes - but no luck. I'm always trying to make lemonade out of lemons, so no BFD - all I can say is this dude trolls this website and does the Index/Static breakin's. The good news it may have kept him from bashing in my windows - and if he went another half mile would have found my pack. I could have done a better job of stashing the stuff - but figured no one would be crazy enough to be out there. It was 30 years old and on it's last legs, and maybe he got $20-30 bucks for it at the local Pawn Shop for drug money. All I can say is, he better keep looking over his shoulder - as next time it will be a sting operation, and there will be some ass kicking going on. This is probably the same dude that hit my windshield with a rock tossed from his vehicle as he drove toward me near Olney Rd a few years back. I might have to see if Santy Claus can fix me up with a new one next month. Other than that - I thought we done good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genepires Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 no good dead goes unpunished. no wait, that is not how it is supposed to go. sorry to hear about the saw. real lame and I wish I could believe in a hell. makes living with these douches around easier. good on ya all for the public service. (except Pat, he has a huge karmic debt to repay. random propane fires and big rock trundles amongst the many) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Down one chain saw but up one ice climbing partner , obwan, although when u see me flail up a lead u might wish you still had the saw instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivan Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 jesus, don't you guys get it!?! cc.retards are only supposed to COMPLAIN about problems, not actually go out and try to fix them... trail work being done down at beacon rock this saturday if ya'll didn't get yer fill - nothing funner than waging war on poison oak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Gay weed lover's meeting this Sat, otherwise we'd consider it. What else to do until the snowpack shapes up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Yount Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 tvashtarkatena and I were having a conversation about that very topic; it's usually more productive to get out and do some trail maintenance rather than point out that various government agencies aren't doing as much as you want them to. I find that the pruning I do in Arizona and Utah seems to last much longer than in western Washington. I'll return to a climb several years later in the SW and the approach trail is wide open and I can see those cuts I made several years prior. At Static Point it's become an annual event to keep the road clear of branches and encroaching bushes. The steep trail at the end of the road doesn't need much help, it's located in old growth trees with very little understory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obwan Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 when u see me flail up a lead u might wish you still had the saw instead. Flail doesn't come close describing my skill, I mentioned I was just a hacker - when all else fails; then I use finesse. I was thinking this winter, I could use that saw for some ice sculptures and have you give me some lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Actually, making a lamp out of ice would be very cool. Not sure a chain saw would be necessary...a drill with an 'anal offender' (18" x 3/8" bit) would probably do the trick. Good idea, Obwan! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyf Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Dave helped me out with my own little project a few weekends ago. (Eight tanks of gas consumed for that one, too.) I can also attest to his prowess with a chainsaw! Thanks again, Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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