Tiptoe

Where the Caterpillar is sitting is the spot where the end of the neighbor’s clear cut from several years ago met up with our property line. It is also the spot where tangles of big leaf maple, vine maple, wild cherry and tall fir trees intermingle in our disaster zone.

An experienced logging bulldozer operator, which Mike definitely is, can make a surprising entrance into the forest. He was able to maneuver around at a tiptoe pace to bury a couple of old growth stumps that are too big to dig out, remove a couple of trees that are pole quality and get to the heart of the damage area. The reason he buried the stumps with piles of dirt is because it creates a soft berm for the trees he will be falling. He can usually save the tree at full length by using this technique.

Out of this tiny path he has pulled out about ten trees that make two to three logs in each and nearly a log truck load of wood to eventually be processed into firewood.

This process is slow because of the amount of storm damage. We are hoping to have our side of the mess cleaned up before the neighbor moves in to begin their logging for the year without danger from our trees or the fencing that is currently mixed into the mess.