Back on the Trails Again

Starting back into the trail re-blazin' and clearing groove.

I feel like an animal scratching my way through the forest, throwing sticks and logs to the side with saws and blades for teeth and claws.

I pity the wood that gets in my fevered trail-clearing state. Rocks are sometimes a different story. It's like they've got a mind of their own. And sometimes one will say to me, "I'm staying right here". You win...this time, rock. Gone are the days where you could buy rock and stump clearing sticks of dynamite over the counter at Canadian Tire. That and your 12 gauge pepper gun. The good ole days.

I've declared a Jihad on those spikey, dead hemlock branches that threaten to impale me at every turn. This is my new boot-to-the-head workout.


After a day working the trails I can take a picture that's destined to be the centrepiece of my tabloid TV 15 minute segment....

Soggy Trails

I took the day off my day job due to pouring rain.

That gave me time to work on Deerwood trails. Was a bit miffed that some trail sections I'd just cleared had pooled water in the middle. This wouldn't do. I week's work wasted. The trails just can't get bogged down like that.

So, the morning was spent blazing new trails, and the afternoon chainsawing them.

I think it's time I switched to the new 20 inch chainsaw bar - the sharpened 16" chain cuts on a downward curve....

And the new trails are smoother, more direct routes, so it's all for the best. I think designing trails is one of my favourite things. The way the forest is experienced when trailing through. Going off trail is always an adventure.

Old Surveys

Was checking the Deerwood property line the other day and noticed the orange spray paint I'd applied to trees last autumn have faded quite a bit.

Seems your regular, run of the mill orange spray paint don't do too good on tree bark. I've picked up some special tree marking spray paint, but haven't tried it yet. Plastic flagging tape is pretty good too. I'm not going as far as priming wood stakes and painting them red because the boundaries I mark are only with an orienteering compass - red stakes are for the pros.

Below is a nifty photo of a crew of surveyors at camp circa 1870. That's when the first survey work was done in the Parry Sound district. Not too long ago was it?

Surveyors' camp in Parry Sound District (1870s).

Office Trail Blazin'

After a soggy first attempt at a trail to the office, I decided to stay 'high and dry' by blazing a new trail to reach the construction site.

Blazing forest trails start by marking a route to be cleared with orange nylon ribbon.

At least, that's how I do it.

You could also blaze a trail by hacking off three sections of bark around the trunk of a mature tree (the better to see from all directions). The hatchet scars are called 'blazes'. But that ain't my style.