Day #45: Salvage Logging and the Concow Fire..

Over the past few days, I've been extending my bike range. My goal is to make it to the top of Sawmill Peak--an elevation gain of 2,200 feet and an unknown number of miles away on logging roads. I asked Angel (my dog) if she wanted to come with me today. Smart dog that she is--she refused. We went a tad far for her yesterday; she wanted to rest at home.

So I headed out. It is Sunday and sunny, which means that the ATV folks are out.

I met a family of four out enjoying the logging roads. They had come over across the canyon from the town of Magalia. My goal is to ride my bike to Magalia someday...

I had to ride my bike across a fast flowing stream...

This is as far as I made it. Sawmill Peak is behind my bike. I stopped in a "clear cut" zone of Salvage logging. A two and a half hour ride today.

If you look closely, you can see the Fire Lookout on the top of Sawmill Peak in this zoomed in photo.

A pile of Salvaged Logs (cadavers) and the torn up staging area. There are many of these torn up staging areas on this bike ride. The devastation that the logging does is very difficult to photograph. It is much worse than it appears in this photo (and subsequent ones).

Salvage logging in a clear cut fashion. This is right on the edge of the beautiful Feather River Canyon (northern branch). In the clear cut areas, the logging roads were all washed up and torn up from water run off. And all of the water, mud and debris runs down, unhindered, into the beautiful Feather River Canyon. This cut is on the very edge of the canyon.

The mountain looks as barren as the moon. And the water rushes down 1,500 feet or more to the Feather River. Goodbye trout!

A logging road that goes straight up a mountain...and the rain water is channelled down the road. In a normal year, we get around sixty inches of rain. This year is 120 percent of normal thus far. And from the condition of the logging roads, you can tell we've had a ton of rain.

The Concow Fire occurred in 2008 (the day we moved into our cabin). We were evacuated for a couple of weeks, in two seperate events. The fire burned some thirty five thousand acres--and pretty much ended at our cabin. This fire was a stand replacing "crown" fire. The worst kind.

I've been watching the forest recover over the last two years. The photo above shows an area that hasn't been logged. The burned trees fall down gradually--starting with their uppermost tips. Plenty of bio mass prevents water runoff (and the dead trees fall down in segments--almost by design). Bottom cover plants turn green. The area has had an explosion in the turkey population. The deer are doing well too.

Juxtapose the photo above, with the brown de-nuded clear cut areas. No life has returned there.

But don't we need the wood? In this recession, there is a wood glut. The mills have plenty of wood in their inventories. The Feather River is one of the more picturesque places in northern California. There really was no good reason to log this beautiful canyon area.

I found some nice raccoon tracks on my way home. This must be one large raccoon. The track is as big as my hand...

Back and front paws are evident in these tracks...

Day #44: Someday Sawmill Peak...

On my bike today. I brought Angel along for a longish ride. She is getting quite good at running beside me.

A sunny day---we still have plenty of puddles for Angel to drink from.

Just down the road from the cabin, you can see my goal: Sawmill Peak. 4,000 feet tall--Sawmill Peak stands guard over the Feather River Canyon and the town of Magalia. The utility lines in the foreground are phone lines. We have no electrical service on the Ridge.

A closeup view of Sawmill Peak...

These are logging roads. Huge logging trucks haul their cadavers on this road.

And a small shack. Plush accommodations by Concow standards...

Day #43: The Cove (a must-see documentary!)

My turnaround spot...on the way up Sawmill Peak...

Last night Joni brought home an excellent (but very disturbing) documentary. The Cove is about the dolphin slaughter in Japan, where 23,000 dolphins are murdered every year. For no good reason. The documentary is very graphic--and involved some high tech Trespassing to obtain footage that is very difficult to watch. I highly recommend this movie.

One of the lines in the film is memorable: "You are either an Activist or an Inactivist". True. And after watching the film, here are some easy things that can be done to end this abhorrent slaughter of dolphins.

If the Japanese dolphins are saved and this barbaric practice is ended, we will have the courageous, illegal, direct action of this film crew to thank. And much of the story revolves around their creative hijinks to pull this feat off. They have my admiration!

This movie has been on my mind since seeing it last night. The dramatic footage within this movie is a sentinel event. It is akin to the footage of the journalist being shot in Nicaragua in 1979 which turned public opinion against the Somoza regime and against American intervention in Nicaragua.

Rain today. Sawmill Peak is around six or seven miles away reached by some Jeep roads. My goal is to be able to ride the 2,000 foot ascent on these bumpity logging roads to reach the Fire Lookout at it's summit. From the Lookout, a network of roads descend down the canyon, and then up the other side--to the towns of Magalia and Paradise.

This ride should get me in shape. And when I can ride this thing, I will be ready for the Wildflower 65.

Today I rode up the road until my hands got cold. I didn't wear gloves. I then turned around and rode back to our cabin. This is a good workout...

Days #40, #41 and #42: Home to Concow...

I haven't set my butt down to write for a couple of days. Time to catch up.

On day #40, I drove home in the evening across the Sacramento Valley where elk, eagles, and hawks guided my little car. It is spring in the Valley, which means that large winged creatures are passing through. Spotting an eagle is easy this time of the year.

When I got home, Joni and I took a walk with our new headlamps. Caught up on this and that while walking in the dark.

Day #41 was my lounge around the house day; recovering from work. Just a couple of short neighborhood walks with Angel the dog.

Today (day #42) I tried to train Angel how to run next to me as I rode my bike. Did the long loop with dog in tow. By Angel standards, she did okay; she only stopped to "sniff, drop and roll" once. It is cloudy, but the air temperature is warmer. Not raining today (but threatening to). I saw my first robin a month ago.

As for biking, this is much more aerobic than going out for a gentle daily stroll. Especially with hills in all directions around our little cabin. I look forward to extending my roaming range. Get to know more of this wilderness community.

Joni thought she heard some Trumpeter swans the other day---flying high in the sky overhead. Reminds me of Jack Turner's excellent description of Trumpeters in Teewinot (with thanks to Greentangle for turning me on to this writer). Jack was on top of a mountain with Trumpeters flying overhead. He estimated they were flying at 25,000 feet.