Trail maintenance

The guys took the weekend off, but I was real happy with the amount they have got done. Also talked to the forestry folks about burning. They have eased the restrictions so that it is now possible for landowners to burn without the special accreditation (that I don't have). But it is weather related. You have to call on the day to find out if there is no burning, only accredited burning, or burning for landowners. With as many piles as we have, it will take several days to finish it.

Sister, Cousin Johnny and his wife helped down at the creek land this morning. Got stuff done. Including dragging out these two cedar posts.

This is the old deck. First time I've seen it since the hurricane. Steps going down to the river are in pretty good shape. Huge cypress tree across the dock down at river level.

injinji said:

Sister, Cousin Johnny and his wife helped down at the creek land this morning. Got stuff done. Including dragging out these two cedar posts.
View attachment 4908427
This is the old deck. First time I've seen it since the hurricane. Steps going down to the river are in pretty good shape. Huge cypress tree across the dock down at river level.

View attachment 4908428

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Looks like my deck this year. LOL. I see some envy worthy lumber in natures wake. Hope you can rough mill before buying. A thought and a nod as I wish. My water feature is a sprinkler or dog.

Enjoy and just more than you want to at a time. Peace.

MICHI-CAN said:

Looks like my deck this year. LOL. I see some envy worthy lumber in natures wake. Hope you can rough mill before buying. A thought and a nod as I wish. My water feature is a sprinkler or dog.

Enjoy and just more than you want to at a time. Peace.

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I've got a big pile of cedar logs, but most of them will be posts. The local millwrights say that any cedar that broke in the hurricane will splinter when the saw hits it. I do have a cousin with a saw mill, but he's in his 70's, and we both have way more than we can take care of. Plus it is hard ass work running a saw mill. As far as actual work goes, most days about 2-3 hours is all I'm good for. Hard to get a lot done that way.

injinji said:

. . . . . . . . Steps going down to the river are in pretty good shape. Huge cypress tree across the dock down at river level.

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The wife and I went back down after supper for our walk. Took a couple more pictures. The down cypress was not huge. Not really even big. I was listening to Sister and she must have been talking about the other tree on the dock.

We signed the paperwork for the block grant. (actually we e-signed. No paper involved) In rough numbers we will get $11K for the 20 acres of longleaf, and $45K for 65 acres of hardwood. I knew what the different ages and types were bringing, but I hadn't done the math. Much better than I was thinking. We will be paying out maybe $11K for clearing and then a grand a year or so for seedlings when replanting.

We should find out in a few days what the timber Sister and I own together will pay.

The crazy thing is we bought the riverhouse after the hurricane, but it was illegible for the grant. That part of it was about $16K. It will help with all we have spent down there.

So, you named yourself after a pair of toe socks?

Metasynth said:

So, you named yourself after a pair of toe socks?

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Yes. I use them as liners under my Darn Tough's, but the toe socks are more photogenic.

injinji said:

Yes. I use them as liners under my Darn Tough's, but the toe socks are more photogenic.

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Uh...socks on socks? I have no words...

All the dead trees are down and they are working on getting the piles in shape now.

Metasynth said:

Uh...socks on socks? I have no words...

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Also no blisters. Most hiking blisters are caused by the sock and foot rubbing. This way sock rubs on sock.

injinji said:

Also no blisters. Most hiking blisters are caused by the sock and foot rubbing. This way sock rubs on sock.

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Both injinji and darn tough are good enough to prevent blisters on their own...lol. Probably #1 and #2 in the hiking sock world at the moment. (Darn tough being #1)

Do you have a lot of blister problems?

Metasynth said:

Both injinji and darn tough are good enough to prevent blisters on their own...lol. Probably #1 and #2 in the hiking sock world at the moment. (Darn tough being #1)

Do you have a lot of blister problems?

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I don't do enough long mile days anymore to worry about it. Life gets in the way of my hiking. And the no questions asked return policy of darn tough does make me think twice about putting too many miles on the toe socks. They cost about the same, but do not have a free returns policy.

The last time the river got up into the slough, I turned down the flow of water. The next day there was a leak in the pipe stem going from the well head to the valve. The well is about 50 years old and it had just flaked off a section of rust. I had to turn off the pump and adjust the flow going into the slough to get pressure up at the house.

Tuesday afternoon Cousin Johnny helped me patch it. We used the flex seal paste, cork and rubber gaskets all held in place with hose clamps. For two days I kept the valve wide open to let it cure. Then the slough was getting close to the right level, so I eased off it a little. So far so good.



The hole was to the left, right up against the valve.

While we working on the patch, we drained the tank to let more air in. We found out the air flow valve thing was broke, so we put in a new one. Now I have 35psi and even with the valve running into the slough, the pump was only running when I turned on water up at the house.

I burned 5 test piles this morning. They did alright. I used the handheld blower to get them going. My neighbor who is going to help me has a PTO blower that hooks to his tractor. That will be a big help. I got a little bit of a "sun burn" from standing too close to the fire with the blower. All in all, I'm pleased with how they burned.

This was a couple of hours ago.

Not too bad.

I cut up a little spot for gardening three disc widths wide. Will be planting some corn or something else tall. With the trees gone, there is a clear view of the road from the back yard and vice versa.

injinji said:

Sister, Cousin Johnny and his wife helped down at the creek land this morning. Got stuff done. Including dragging out these two cedar posts.
View attachment 4908427
This is the old deck. First time I've seen it since the hurricane. Steps going down to the river are in pretty good shape. Huge cypress tree across the dock down at river level.

View attachment 4908428

Click to expand...

Beautiful logs, I love cedar,it's beautifully colored. Resin extraction from pines turns into a party.....cedar resin is hot in design. I extract pine tar and oil from resin rich parts. Bushcraft is a blast.