Trail construction

Untitled-2, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

Making duff, mineral soil and rocks do our bidding.

Proudly completed trail

IMG_1559, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

Aaron, Scott and Patrick

Falling!

IMG_1550, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

After making a back cut and hammering in some wedges the tree falls. We later stripped the bark off and cut the tree into sections.

Face cut

IMG_1525, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

Using an axe you chop out a 45% angle. Cutting a clean face leaving no Dutchman(hard to explain but very bad).

Cross Cut saw

IMG_1503, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

In a wilderness area restrictions limit felling to hand tool(that means no chain saws). The bark is striped from this tree that will soon be a bridge. We strip the bark so that any rock dust that has been blown into the bark will not dull the saw. The cut that is being made is the "face cut" it determines the direction of falling.

Moffat Tunnel

IMG_1500, originally uploaded by stevempassmore.

At the base of the James Peak Wilderness is the Moffat Tunnel. 6 miles long and ends at Winter park. Above the tunnel is the Continental Divide. We got to tour the vent building that pushs the diesel exhaust out.

James Peak Wilderness. For the last couple days a group of 6 corps members including myself have been doing trail maintenance. Frank our contact with the Forest Service Recreation has been instructing us and leading our work. Mostly we've been clearing trees that have fallen on trails, building drainage and improving or creating trail.

The Blue Mountain Fire made the local news paper and CNN local. Completely unrelated: A group of us ran into the filming of The Real World (MTV) in downtown Denver on my birthday. It was hilarious how staged it is. MTV must have a deal with the local authorities since they had 4 officers there. Must be more important then enforcing the law.