Umatilla National Forest 2 - Summer 2010

The crew spent this Hitch up at Summit Camp at the junction of the two trails we would brush and log out. We started on the Blue Mountain Trail when on the ridge, overlooked the Malhuer National Forest and was a sight to see. That section of trail was a three-mile stretch through Lodgepole Pine reprod and beautiful alpine meadows. The wildflowers are beautiful companions and the meadows make for a great lunch spot. The other trail that was on the agenda was Lost Lake trail, and yes, we found the lake. Tucked away about a mile from our camp, we rested there surrounded by craggy rock faces and not much else. On day eight, we finished brushing that trail which totaled 2.5 miles.
The crew was very happy to have a day in the middle of the hitch to leave the loppers behind and work on a re-route project that needed some obvious work. In just one day they put in fifteen timber check dams to restore the old tread that was severely rutted out. There were a total of twenty-one check dams and three water bars put in to help rehabilitate the damaged trail.
Chip, Mary, Dan and Katrina are holding strong and working hard through high temperatures and long days. We are planning on seeing Crater Lake on our off-time, and Dan's parents are traveling all the way from PA to come out and see the place. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel but we definitely want to enjoy our last hitch together before we send everyone off in only 2 1/2 weeks. Whoa.

Trail Stats:
5.7 Miles brushed/logged out
1/4 mile re-route
21 check dams
3 water bars

The Crew came into the second Hitch rested and relaxed from time well spent in La Grande, OR mostly. It’s the nearest town with all your off-time needs (motel, showers, food, laundry, and a movie theater). After three days, however, you’ve seen all you can see and have done all you can do in La Grande, so each member was ready to get back out into the field, a very familiar field at that.
On Monday morning, we drove the same drive on the Forest Service 52 Road, towards Granite. This time we stopped a little short of a two mile hike in and just camped at a lower access trail head, right next to out Truck and Trailer. Hence, “The Secret Life of Luxury.”
First, we started with 44 liters of potable water, so no filtering for a while, and we had plenty of food storage at our disposal and believe you me, we took full advantage of that. Pan-seared Salmon the first two nights for dinner. Eggs in the morning for breakfast. We brought the Coleman 2-burner stove which attaches to a propane tank, so no more pumping and filling fuel bottles for us, no way. Along with the stove came the oven, yes an oven that sits on top of the stove. We tried it for the first time and had Apple Cake which was delicious, and the girls made Daniel brownies for his birthday. Yeah! Okay, let’s get back to the site. We had Granit Creek all to ourselves and it was running cool and clear ever since the water level has gone down with the coming dryer weather. The Beach was the place to be after the long hot days brushing on top of the ridge or finishing the re-routes. And it wasn’t a beach at all. Piles upon piles of river rock left by the pioneers dredging techniques searching for gold in the late 1800’s. But it was our beach and it was great.
We also tried a new schedule this hitch, nine, nine hour days to give us an extra day off between hitches. So we were getting up earlier to get out of work around 4. That was real nice to have the evening to eat, read, swim, eat, slackline, and watch a movie. Yes, a movie. Remember, Luxury.
So we had a celebrities stop by and entertain us. They really appreciated the work we were doing here in the North Fork John Day Wilderness. Jim Gaffigan, Zooey Deschanel (twice), and Philip Seymour –Hoffman to name a few. We figured it a nice treat to watch an actual movie rather than just quote and talk about them all day.
OH YEAH, the work we did. I almost forgot it was work we were having so much fun. Dan Neff was our Hitch Leader and he had the crew in tip-top shape. Unfortunately we lost Jake due to health and timing. He is doing well and we wish him the best in Portland. The crew logged out a 180 year-old Ponderosa Pine that had fallen across the trail, ‘Big Benjamin’ as he was named by Chip. Big Ben measured 46 inches in diameter and is the biggest tree we’ve encountered on the trail so far. Well, biggest we’ve had to cut through. He was a 5 hour project with cross-cutting, disconnecting, chopping, moving and clean-up. With that, we finished up more tread work and completed brushing the Granite Creek Trail. This hitch we finished two re-routes of trails that had been washed out by the river or over grown and gullied out by high water. Those re-routed totaled 320 ft, and the new tread we grubbed in was over 250 ft. We brushed 5 ¼ miles over the 9 day hitch. Overall it was a great hitch with plenty of dessert.
The crew is planning on camping locally in the Eagle Caps Wilderness and then head near Portland for the Fourth of July. Celebration of Independence. America!

Boy-Howdy!

Well, it was a beautiful day on May 22nd when the crew finally met and got to know each other. The smiles had traveled a long way from MI, NC, PA and VT to a little town in western Washington for orientation and training and the stage was set. After 5 days of brain-busting risk management and SCA intros, wilderness first-aid, and plenty of power points, everyone was icthing to move camps and start the hands-on component of training we like to call Workskills.
Be it that it may, the Pacific Northwest played up to par and dumped untold inches of rain on the crew while on the trail learning and experiencing new skills and ideas. No matter how soggy their rain gear became, the enthusiasm and excitement for the season shone through the dark gray clouds and that kept spirits high.

Once officialy "workskilled," this happy little 2matilla crew (as we like to call it) began the short road trip crossing the courageous Columbia River down into Oregon. Each member is now taking sometime to clear their mind and prepare for the first hitch, which will be 10 days starting at the Granite Creek Trail Head, leading into the NFJD Wilderness.

Monday morning, June 7th, will start our season. We will find ourselves in the morning commute, on foot, clearing trail, one step at a time.

I am a nature/adventure lover who has moved around my entire life. Seriously, for not being an Army Brat I had lived in 4 states by the time I was seven. However, there is something about the Great Lakes that always seemed to call me back.
Working with my hands and helping to conserve our planet is a passion of mine, so this internship is right up my alley. I love working with wood and metal and have a couple of years of metal/wood working classes under my belt and can make some pretty cool stuff or just repair things. I also love to volunteer and help my community. From volunteering at the local theater to doing work for the National Relief Network I have picked up a love for helping others. I would have to say the most rewarding work I have done so far is the work I did for the National Relief Network in 2001. We went down to South carolina to help clean up after a flood had devastated the area. While out there, we helped tear down and rebuild a church as well as clean up debris. It was by far the most rewarding experience I've had so far.
I am crazy excited to get out to Oregon and start getting my hands dirty and making a difference.

Hey ya'll I'm Brian but a lot of my friends call me Chip because I look like I could be named Chip. People have also called me by just my last name Roach and when I was a freshman in high school a senior called me David all year, for the same reason because I look like one but he was pretty dumb, so call me whatever you feel comfortable with, I respond to it all now.
I'm a very talkative. I like to tell stories and hear about other people’s adventures. I have been fortunate enough to travel to some awesome places and had some really formative experiences from them. I found my love of the outdoors from attending a backpacking outwardboundesque camp. I can get into any type of sport professional or outdoorsy. I'm psyched about this summer for two reasons because I get to camp the entire time and I feel that the best way to get to know some is by spending a lot of time with them outside camping and getting smelly sweaty and dirty with them.
I can't really sum up anything about myself here but I hope you guys are as amped as I am to get brawndo working on the Oregon Trail, minus the cholera and without wasting ammo on the squirrels.

Make it a great day!

The crew will be completing 12 weeks of service mainly within the North Fork John Day Wilderness Area in the Umatilla National Forest. The mojority of the work will be log out, brushing and tread and drainage work along the river trail. The Umatilla National Forest, located in the Blue Mountains of southeast Washington and northeast Oregon, covers 1.4 million acres of diverse landscapes and plant communities. The Forest has some mountainous terrain, but most of the Forest consists of v-shaped valleys separated by narrow ridges or plateaus.

The landscape also includes heavily timbered slopes, grassland ridges and benches, and bold basalt outcroppings. Elevation range from 1,600 to 8,000 feet above sea level. Changes in weather are common, but summers are generally warm and dry with cool evenings. Cold, snowy winters and mild temperatures during spring and fall can be expected.

From rolling benchlands to the granite outcrops of the Greenhorn Mountains, the rugged North Forest John Day Wilderness provides diverse landscapes. Much of the wilderness is composed of gentle benchlands and tablelands; the remaining of steep ridges and alpine lake basins. A continuous vegetative canopy covers most of the land, including dense virgin stands of conifer species like Douglas-fir, white fir, western larch and lodgepole pine.

This wilderness, which is broken into four segments and traverses two national forests, is known for its big game and anadromous fish habitat. Headwaters of the Wild and Scenic North Fork John Day River is in this wilderness, accounting for many miles of steelhead and trout habitat. Dominant wildlife species are elk, deer and some bear. Many small game and nongame species also inhabit the area, as do mountain goats.

Over 100 miles of trails serve both hikers and horseback riders where the lay of the land calls for long-distance trips with many elevational changes.

PREHISTORY AND HISTORY

The North Fork John Day River corridor was used in prehistoric and (written) historic times by the southern Plateau Indians. In particular, ancestors of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) are said to have used this area extensively in prehistoric times for hunting, fishing, camping, root digging and berry picking.

Gold mining was the primary activity which first brought substantial numbers of people to the Blue Mountains in the 1860's, and evidence of this "gold rush" still exists along the river. Evidence of this history includes various structures for habitation and use, mines, prospect holes, and other related developments. Other minerals such as silver, copper, lead, zinc, chromite and manganese were produced in small quantities.

Courtesy of the US Forest Service website.