Hunting began a few days ago and the Chippewa Forest has trails that they maintain for hunters to travel on. Don’t think of the trails that lead to scenic vistas or mighty waterfalls as the trails here are strictly functional. Minnesota has relatively flat terrain and in the interior that’s quite noticeable. There’s hardly any elevation gain and I’m always surprised when we find something resembling a hill. Hunter Walking Trails and trail systems that contained a fairly wide path and is mowed in the late summer (mid-August/early September) to encourage grouse and deer movement.
Karl about to buck up some trees
Grouse are the main targets off of these hunting trails although there are folks who bear bait as well off of them. They’re closed to motorized vehicles unless you happen to be a Forest Service employee. For the last two weeks I’ve been working with various people such as Karl of fire, Jerry of recreation, or Corey my supervisor in clearing the trails of downed trees so that they can be mowed.
Corey prepping for some sawing
It started off with Karl and I riding along in the UTV patrolling the trails as we were the only ones available to start clearing. Karl was the sawyer and I, as his swamper, removed the cut pieces from the trails. The Carter Lake Trail System was cleared in a single day. Later that week I cleared one side of the Meadow Lake Trail System with Jerry while Sarah and Karl took care of the Eastern half. This week Corey and I rode separate ATVs to handle the Tower Lake Trail System while Karl and Lee cleared Webster Lake’s on the UTV.
I got to ride this bad boy!
I gotta say that it was a strange realization that I got paid to ride around on an ATV or UTV. The first time I ever rode one was back in Washington in a rustic town named Curlew that my friend Mack grew up in. Lemme tell you, riding around in the mountains can be terrifying while comparatively, riding here in Minnesota can be considered relaxing. Except for the fact that you need to watch out for swamps. There was a near miss or two earlier in the season with stocking surveys.
While we clear the trails of downed trees, two other folks work on mowing. For this part of the process we have the Bobcat and an ASV which both have huge mower attachments. These are shared between all three ranger districts (Blackduck, Deer River, Walker) and well- let’s just say the ASV has seen better days. The Bobcat which is kept at the Supervisor Office in Cass Lake is in great shape though.
Sarah operating the troublesome ASV.
Timber’s been having a hell of a time dealing with damaged trailers and faulty machines (no fault of our own). We’ve got one more week with the mowers so some of the crew are working today even though Fridays are our days off.
PB&J’s often don’t fare well.
Pacific Northwest meets Minnesota 