2021-1-26, Three Blowdowns, Heublein Tower Area

 On 2021-1-26, I cut three blowdowns, in the Heublein Tower area, two on the Metacomet Trail.  I recorded GPS Waypoints at each of the blowdowns.  The Waypoints appear on this map.


001.  A hemlock blowdown on an unblazed trail I like to use.  Someone had already cut branches that would interfere with safely getting over the blowdown.



I made two cuts, the first from underneath and the second from above.


002.  This was actually on a bypass trail that had developed around a complex blowdown that fell maybe in June of 2020.  


I made one cut, but that one cut was difficult because the blowdown was embedded in the frozen ground and was a little thicker than the frame on my 36-inch Bahco bow saw could accommodate.  I had to finish the cut with my 18-inch pruning saw and then I had to lever the cut piece out of the frozen earth with a small tree I cut down for the purpose.  I used a branch as a fulcrum.



003.  This was a new blowdown that fell among pieces of a blowdown I had previously cut.  I made three cuts, all with my bow saw and all from above.  I'm not sure why the saw didn't bind.














David Reik

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