Herman Creek large log and trail eroding around it 11-9-13

[payslee]

Had a beautiful hike up the Herman Creek Trail on Saturday, as far as Whiskey Creek.

Overall the trail is, as usual, in terrific shape. Someone had left a bunch of chanterelles lying around all over the place so we packed some of those out. The creeks as far as we went were all low still and easy to cross - Craig G said he got his feet wet on the connector trail from Green Point to Cedar Swamp.

Only one obstacle of note on our day - an awkward-to-cross log located in between the Nick Eaton trail junction and Nick Eaton Falls (the first fall you come to). Otherwise the trail is lovely

It was a little too big for my folding saw. The erosion on the far side meant you have to jump for it if you are short like I am. Nothing to hold on to if you clamber over
.

Some medium-sized people for scale. Scooting under is an option if you are little.

One of my favorite winter trails...

-payslee

[kepPNW]

Yeah, I was gonna post that one too. We passed by it this afternoon. There was another, quite a bit farther up (maybe on the Herman Creek Cutoff?) that I neglected to take a picture of, but was also extremely difficult to get over.

Lat: 45.6744194, Lon: -121.8225972

[Sean Thomas]

That log is pretty awkward to get around. I was up there a few weeks back and cleared all the brush around it but liek you said it was a little to big for the folding saw





after:





the other side:





after:

[kepPNW]

Wow! Nice job, Sean. It did look extremely fresh. You made a difference, there.

Someone (you?) also started a foot notch in it, but I'm not sure if our boots were just too big or too slippery or what, but we couldn't use it for a reliable stepping point over it. We were thinking that ten minutes with a hatchet would help make that a bit more failsafe.

As it is, there's a large branch wedged across it about 6-8 feet below the trail, and we could use that to step on for the hurdle. But that meant dropping back into pretty darn unstable ground on the other side.

[Sean Thomas]

Thanks, Karl. I didn't cut the foot notch but maybe I will go back up this Friday if it's a hazard. I agree, I remember having to go down the slope to get around and then stepping over the other side into a no mans land of broken sticks and debris. Advance thanks to the hearty souls who end up removing it!

[kepPNW]

Thanks, Karl. I didn't cut the foot notch but maybe I will go back up this Friday if it's a hazard. I agree, I remember having to go down the slope to get around and then stepping over the other side into a no mans land of broken sticks and debris. Advance thanks to the hearty souls who end up removing it!

Not sure the notch itself is a hazard, at least if you test it first. Crus put his boot in it, and it slid right out, so I didn't even try. It was a good thought, and probably worked alright when dry. We just used that lower approach, but getting back down had to rely on some rather tenuous roots/branches as anchors.

[payslee]

We used the notch but it's a very awkward sideways lift that I wouldn't want to do on a wet day. And while I am no mcds I think cut steps would be a lot easier / safer than trying to clear it entirely - didn't look like much was holding this up except its own weight on the slope.

And thanks for the brush clearing, Sean! I don't mind a log challenge now and then but the tread is getting really damaged from folks having to slide down slope here so I wanted to get it on the radar. Should have guessed it had already been visited several times by PHer's.

I will admit I was grumbling that whoever stubbed out the log didn't leave a single stub to hold onto, but I can see from your pics that the tree just came down that way - probably a lumberman's dream log

-payslee

[retired jerry]

hmmm - haven't heard from mcds recently

love his sequence of pictures

[kepPNW]

hmmm - haven't heard from mcds recently

His name came up more than several times on Monday!

[viking]

the large log is chainsawed out of the way and the next log has good stepping notches in it.
past casey creek trail conditions unknown
(work by others, I just witnessed the results)