Marion Mountain Trail Logging?

[Perry]

Any info?...
http://members.boardhost.com/sgva/msg/1241477824.html

[ajwoodzy]

Any info?...
http://members.boardhost.com/sgva/msg/1241477824.html

When I got a permit in January, the sign in the Idyllwild station said it was closed till Mid-April...it should be open now.

[Andy]

Perry, I would guess that it has to due with culling out the dead and or infested pines. Last fall we were up around the seven pines area and the loggers were goin' to town!

[jfr]

We saw some active logging on the Marion Mountain Trail while backpacking to Little Round Valley this past weekend. On our return hike Monday they were hauling out the logs via helicopter, as the side of the hill was so steep and inaccessible. The helicopter was quite loud, the sound booming out all through the valley, and it was flying for hours on end, but I'd rather suffer with noise than have them trash the forest floor while dragging the wood out. Good thing I packed some earplugs!

What was truly annoying was that they had a "Road Closed" sign about midway down the trail, near where the helicopter was working. We had little choice but to hike right on through, as the only way around was about a day's hike! We timed the helicopter's flights and hoofed it hard past its path, so as not to get an errant log or branch dropped on us from above. A very exciting way to hike, what with the added danger and adventure!

They primarily thinned out the smaller trees, cut the lower branches off the ones left standing, and also felled many of the big old dead ones. It wasn't clear-cutting by any means. There are lots of trees left standing, and the forest seems more roomy there. They logged all the way to the State Park boundary line, and the difference in the forest was striking once you entered the state park - it almost seemed "stuffy" by comparison!

At the moment, the area is still a mess, as they were just getting going in hauling out the felled trees and branches. All in all, I think that the forest will be OK again after they are finished cleaning up and some time has passed. It may take a couple of years for new undergrowth to cover the scars and stumps, however.

This was my first time on that trail, so I can't tell you what it was like before the logging. But I WILL say that that was one seriously steep trail! What a workout! The one truly good thing about the logging/thinning was that I got a nice breeze while hiking it!

Here's a link for some of the pics I took of the logging (for some reason photobucket arranges the pics in reverse of the way I uploaded them, so start at the last picture):
http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm106/jfrpix/san-jac-logger/
Click on the pics to get the larger sized versions.

Happy hiking!

[Florian]

They call it "fuel reduction". We were camping at Boulder Basin last week and saw logging activity. Also a helicopter flying out logs from Marrion Mtn area.

-Florian

[Florian]

I have a picture of the notice posted at the Boulder Basin campground but can't figure out how to attach to a post.

-Florian

[Florian]

Here's the notice...



Seems the forum doesn't allow attachments. Just links to outside images.

-Florian

[Florian]

Well, that didn't work either. Sorry.

-Florian

[Florian]

http://img24.yfrog.com/img24/4374/p1110734r.jpg

See if that link works. Sorry for the other posts. :-/

-Florian

[Cobber99]

Use this code Florian:

Code: Select all

[img]http://img24.yfrog.com/img24/4374/p1110734r.jpg[/img]