And then, an Addendum
I read yesterday’s journal after it got posted. I noticed something I missed.
The theme yesterday was supposed to be “Hi, we’re still out here, we have these things going on, welcome summer…” and we got all that on there; but there was something else going on that apparently was a little too subtle for me last night.
Sure, there was a tree across a trail that gets used a lot, summer and winter. It could be a hazard, a nasty thing to run into after dark. We got the gear and started cutting it.
The jack pine (don’t get me started) was suspended on both ends; a challenging first few cuts. My favorite saw, 30+ years old, 1.25hp, >80f/s chain speed is cutting almost acceptably. I’m trying to watch for spring-back and keep my chain from hitting the old railroad grade and all of it’s cinders and shot rock and make sure my bar is nowhere near anyone… and the young person who accompanied me out there, the one who noticed the deadfall in the first place, and the one designated to roll the cut rounds off the trail…is completely absorbed, constructing a pair of stools (one with a back rest), out of the first two rounds I cut.
Up until last November, the Rangers would grudgingly gear up, get out to a deadfall somehow, cut the cursed thing, roll the rounds off the trail as far as we could, and get out of there. This is what happens when a whole new generation gets stoked about outdoor recreation infrastructure development and maintenance; it’s sometimes subtle; but always awesome. I really mean awesome. I was in awe, with a running chainsaw in my hands watching the young man grabbing wedges I had to cut ‘cause my chain isn’t joined correctly, leveling and trueing the seat-round. He muscled a 220kg round around so that the butt end of the tree would act as a back rest for the first stool.
He stood up the 2nd or 3rd round to be an accompanying stool for the first.
I said something four-lettered (‘cause anything said out loud while holding a running saw never ends up being longer than four letters somehow) and finished the cutting.
We looked at each other once it got quiet, he with a slightly familiar grin. “Try it” he goes. I was sweating and I’ll never tell anyone how actually tired I was after just that 20 minutes of cutting, so I did. “A little edge-y” I said. Back to the saw. We chamfered the edges. I sat again. Perfect.
Old Rangers need to sit back and be ready to help, answer questions only when asked and watch these younger Rangers just take over and jump us to new quantum levels.
When you are on #4 next time, try a rest-up on the new stools. They are not flashy, you may not notice them immediately; but there they are. Take a break, look around, appreciate all the new, young Rangers we’ve got working out there, thinking, creating…
Do Take A Hike. Z
