Two giant pine trees had to be cut down at the campground, because they died from pine-bark beetles. Both right next to my campsite, so I’ll have even less shade from the sun. They were both over 200 feet tall with lots of big branches. The company that is cutting them, showed up with 3 boom trucks that reach to 75′, two big woodchippers, and several pickup loads of workers. About 20-22 workers total. They start their days with a safety meeting and then a group stretching time. Some have been working at their jobs for 20 years, but most for only a couple years. Their primary job is forest-fire fighting, but there are no big fires going right now.
3 campsites are unusable during their time here (3 days), which meant shifting people to different spots. One group of college-aged kids were extremely upset at being moved, and caused a big scene. They were only here for one night, thankfully. They ended up getting drunk and making noise past midnight. It was my day off and, besides, they were looking for a fight. So I didn’t get up and tell them to quiet down. But I felt bad for the other campers. The college-aged kids said they were going to write nasty reviews and make a complaint to my boss. Oh well. Also, I checked the bathrooms next to them after they left, and there was poop on the seats.
Back to the woodcutters, it was quite interesting to watch them work. They de-limbed the trees as high as the boom trucks could lift them, carefully dropping the branches next to the trunks. Then the other workers would feed those into the wood chipper, which was attached to a big, enclosed dumptruck. Once the guys cutting the branches couldn’t reach any higher, they put on their climbing gear and cut the higher branches as they climbed. Each branch was attached to a pulley and slid down a rope that was at a 45° angle. They landed in a safe zone on the road, away from campsites, vehicles, and bathrooms. They were mulched up, too.
Then when all the branches were cut off, the trunk was cut into short lengths and lowered to the ground the same way. However, a six foot log hit the road too fast and bounced high, landing on one of their pickups. It broke the windshield and did some damage to the roof and driver’s door. After that, they lowered them gently and cut the logs into 18″ lengths on the ground.
I would not like to be a tree climber. Being up so high and carrying so much weight (chainsaw, ropes, and pulleys). The trees would whip back and forth a few feet, every time the branches or sections of tree trunks were dropped. The climber would ride it out, like a cowboy. And you couldn’t afford to make mistakes at that height.
There were some new campers that came in on Thursday night. They had a reservation for the campsite directly under one of the trees that needed cutting. They set up tents and spent the night. When the tree cutters arrived on Friday, they asked me if I could move them. Luckily, my boss had just given me an updated list of campers, and two parties had cancelled. I was able to put them right next to the river in a much better spot. One of the campers asked if he could get one round slab, cut from a log, about 3 inches thick. The tree cutters gave him three and he was so happy. He’s making end tables out of two of them, and will figure out some use for the remaining one.
The tree cutters will return after the new telephone poles are installed, and will cut the bottom part of the trees down at that time. They are all good natured Mexicans, except for a black and one white guy. Everyone speaks Spanish on the job. They will be in this area for two weeks, working along the river and up the street from us. So, traffic will be restricted at times, but after today the woodsmen will only be in the campground when they need to use our bathrooms. I’ve enjoyed having them around and the entertainment they’ve provided.
iggyvandweller 