Could it be that winter is already over? No more days spent playing in the snow grilling buckthorn over an open fire? No more slow cooking The Buckthorn Man‘s favorite recipes for Rhamnus cathartica and Frangula alnus beneath the moonlight? Well, I have savored the season, and every day I get to spend at the Scuppernong Springs. It pleases my senses while at the same time being morally exemplary.
People often ask me: “What is your secret Buckthorn Man?” Ok, here it is, my recipe for Savory Buckthorn:
triclopyr stump poison mixed to taste with marine anti-freeze
1 pair chaps
Safety helmet for everyone in the kitchen
Steel-toed boots
Deerskin gloves
Propane tank with “Red Devil” torch
Wheelbarrow or sled for transporting gear
Extra bar for chainsaw (optional)
Splitting wedges (optional)
Pick a spot where the buckthorn is thick and nasty; a place you suspect might look a whole lot better sans the woody weed. Don protective gear. Add gas and oil to the chainsaw and test the stump poison sprayer. Fire up the chainsaw and commence to prepping the buckthorn by cutting it into manageable chunks and poisoning the stumps to taste. Make a pile with dead buckthorn branches and braze it with the red devil until burning brightly. Cut, poison, pile, burn and repeat, until all of the buckthorn in sight has been eradicated. There you have it — Savory Buckthorn!
We have made modest progress this winter at The Springs, working on the left side of the trail clearing buckthorn in the area marked in red below.
On February 18th, I was joined in the “kitchen” by world renowned chef: Andre Buchtá. Nobody piles buckthorn on a fire like Andre! Below are some before and after shots documenting our efforts. I’m trying something new here by juxtaposing the before and after views side by side for easier comparison (click any photo to open the gallery).
This area is between signposts #1 and #2
After
Before
After
Before
After
Stepping back a few yards, the before view
After
Before
After
At dusk, as I tended the fire carefully turning the buckthorn logs until they were done just right, I heard the familiar sound of a sand hill crane and looked up to see the adventurous bird languidly floating overhead.
I took some time off to attend to things on the home front, but the pangs of hunger eventually became so strong that I had to return to The Springs to cook another batch of Savory Buckthorn. Andre again was my right hand, piling brush and tending the fires.
Time was running out at The Marsh. Since I punted back in 2011, the Buckthorn’s offense had rallied back to take the lead and we were stymied by their impenetrable defense. Ice Age Trail Alliance coach, Kevin Thusius, got the call from the booth: offensive coordinator, Village Administrator Dave Cox, said the only hope to save The Buckthorn Man’s efforts was a “Hail Mary” pass. Kevin looked to the bench for the DNR’s special teams players Don Dane and Mike Spaight, who hadn’t seen action in the game since last March.
Don, the wily veteran, called timeout. He suggested we rent an ASV machine, mount a DNR forestry mower head on it, and then throw it to Mike, waiting upland in the end zone.
As the last seconds ticked off the clock, I snapped the ball to Don and blocked the rushing buckthorn, holding them off just long enough for him to get the pass in the air. Mike, surrounded by a thorny thicket, caught the ball and mowed the defenders down as he cleared a path into the end zone.
Touchdown!
Here is a look at the field before the big play. Note that you can open the gallery and see the pictures full-size by clicking on any of them, or, you can hover your mouse over a picture to read the narrative in the description.
Here are a couple examples of how thick the buckthorn was becoming.
“Coach” Kevin, Marlin and Rachel
A dense thicket of buckthorn on either side of the trail.
DNR Special Teams Players Mike Spaight and Don Dane
Conditions were perfect for forestry mowing.
Mike and Don scoping out the terrain
Finishing prep on the mowing head
Mike gets after it!
I was working at the Scuppernong Springs this past Monday when Don called to say that he had lined up the ASV machine and they would be ready to start the next day. We had just enough funds left in the kitty, contributed by the Village of Hartland, and we had made the decision that its best use would be forestry mowing; that was a good call, as you can see by the amazing and outstanding work that Don and Mike accomplished. But our dance in the end zone will be merely a gaudy display if we don’t get more funding to treat the cut stubs. We are debating whether to do a basal bark treatment before they get covered with snow, Don’s recommendation, or, wait until the cut stumps bush out in the late spring to treat them with foliar herbicide spray. In either case, we don’t have any money right now. We’ll get flagged with a penalty, and the touchdown will be called back, if we don’t come up with something. Here is a map showing the area they mowed in blue, followed by an “after” gallery displaying the results.
The view from the trailhead
Recall the picture of Kevin, Marlin and Rachel above, this is what the background looks like now.
Looking back east at the south side of the Village land.
The pictures were taken walking from east to west
The amount of buckthorn they cut and the area they covered is phenomenal
This is the second biggest oak at The Marsh and it was surrounded by a wall of 8′ tall buckthorn
This is the far western extent of the mowed area
Turning back and walking east now
The view of the Village land just to the west of the detention pond
The preservation, restoration and protection of the primary environmental corridor in the Village of Hartland is too vitally important to leave in the hands of ad hoc groups of volunteers, especially when considering that the Village is one of the primary land owners in the corridor.
Yup, this is coming from the same pen that wrote a post called Freedom that includes this gem:
Our Political “law” is nothing but the arbitrary WILL OF MEN and WOMEN. Government exists to direct and control our minds; the “State” is a figment of our collective imaginations.
On one hand, I’m challenging the legitimacy of the government’s claim of “authority”, and on the other, I’m asking the Village of Hartland — the powers that be, who “speak the law (exert jurisdiction)”, in these parts — to step up and take leadership. You can rightly question the sanity of The Buckthorn Man: is he schizophrenic, or just pragmatic?
I’m still trying to sort out the meaning of Village Board President David Lamerand’s response to my presentation and I have confidence that the Village will act in good faith to address the concerns I have raised. You can listen to an audio of my presentation to the Village Board on January 25, here, beginning at the 5:55 mark. Thanks to the Village Clerk, Darlene Igl, for providing the audio.
It has been an exceptionally benign winter so far, perfect in every way for cutting and burning buckthorn in the forest. On Thursday, January 28, I was joined at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA by Andy Buchta and Ben Johnson. We had a flawless day continuing to open up the views to Ottawa Lake from Hwy 67 and the SkyDance Pet Lodge parking lot.
The northeast edge of the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA at the property line with the Skydance Pet Lodge
We lit 5 old piles and made three new ones.
I think one or two more days work here and we will have totatly opened up the view
Andy stokes the flames
On Friday, January 29, I was joined by a new volunteer, Jeff Saatkamp, a member of the Ice Age Trail Alliance at the Hartland Marsh. I brush cut buckthorn saplings on the Waukesha County Land Conservancy property and Jeff and I poisoned the cut stubs. Thanks Jeff! I’m looking forward to working with you again at The Marsh. As a bonus, Cheryl White the new executive director of the Waukesha County Land Conservancy, stopped out to visit and we had a marvelous time exploring the property. Cheryl brings a wealth of experience and skill to the job and I’m looking forward to working with her
A gorgeous morning at the old Parker Brothers Homestead site
The views of the target work area
I feel priviledged to be the caretaker/steward, along with Pati Holman, of this beautiful property.
A spring flowing into the Bark River
I hope to see the creation of the Bark River Water Trail, per the Village of Hartland Comprehensive Development Plan: 2035, recommendation
Views from the homestead site
After images.
On Monday, February 1, I was joined at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail by Andy Buchta and Lindsay Knudsvig in the morning, and Ben Johnson later in the day. Thank you all for volunteering your time and energy to restoring our Kettle Moraine treasure!
Lindsay, just came off working 4 night shifts in a row! Here he preps the first pile.
Before image of a huge red oak.
Here is that red oak again.
A couple of other oaks we opened up.
Later that evening, around 6:30pm, as Ben and I were tending the fires, I happened to be looking to the east through spreading oak branches at Orion’s belt in the sky. Just then a bright light emerged and I called out to Ben, “Look!” and we both watched the meteor expand into a huge white ball before it disappeared at the horizon.
The holidays are over but The Buckthorn Man, heedless of the wind and weather, is still celebrating before the blazing buckthorn yule with his friends. Fa la la la la, la la la la his chainsaw sings in merry measure, as the buckthorn falls fast as the year passes. Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!
It’s been a great winter season so far for cutting and burning buckthorn, with just enough snow cover and moderate temperatures. I’ve been busy at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail and the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA and, thanks to a lot of help from my friends, we’ve freed some oaks from their buckthorn chains and opened up some exciting new vistas. It’s buckthorn cutting season, my favorite time of the year!
On Thursday, January 14, Andy Buchta and I worked at The Springs in the area marked in yellow on the map below.
I really appreciate Andy’s generous, volunteer contribution; he works hard and we make a good team.
This area is just down the trail 100 yards or so from the parking lot on Hwy ZZ
We spaced out three fires along the west edge of the thicket.
On the right you can see the effects of two huge cottonwood trees that crashed down among the thicket on the right side.
My sprayer sprung a leak — Andy got the spare from my truck
The first pile burning down
Second pile ready to light
Third pile started
Andy works the third pile
We cleared out around one really nice oak
Thanks again Andy!
Sunset over the Scuppernong River Habitat Area
On Saturday, January 16, we returned to the north side of the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA to work on the south side of the SkyDance Pet Lodge property. Thanks again to Dennis Lutynski for agreeing to let us clear the buckthorn on his land and integrate the open space with the state natural area. Our goal is to open the views into Ottawa Lake from Hwy 67 to show off this beautiful landscape; hopefully, this won’t cause any accidents by drivers rubbernecking to take in the scenery.
Four view of the work area looking north from the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA border into the SkyDance property — west to east.
The view from the parking lot at the SkyDance Pet Lodge
Steve, Lindsay, Chris and Andy
We accomplished quite a bit!
It turned out to be a gorgeous day.
Various views looking north from the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA acros the SkyDance property.
The new view from the SkyDance Pet Lodge parking lot
Ben and Lindsay discussing fertility cycles…
The blazing Yule Log
On Friday, January 22, Dr. Dan Carter, Senior Biologist with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, led a field trip at The Springs to teach us how to differentiate between exotic and native phragmites. Dan organized his analysis into an excellent post on his Prairie Botanist blog.
Dr. Dan Carter, SEWRPC; Eric Tarman-Ramcheck, DNR; Maggie Zoellner, Kettle Moraine Land Trust; Lindsay Knudsvig, Kilkenny Family Project; Mariette Nowak, Wild Ones; Cheryl White, Waukesha County Land Conservancy
I captured his work in the field in a series of videos, which are concatenated below. The exotic identification comes first and then we visited two sites to see all of the characteristics of the native species.
This patch of native phragmites is just west of the gaging station bridge over the Scuppernong River
Almost all of the phragmites in the valley encompassing the headwater springs of the Scuppernong River is of the exotic variety, while the huge expanse of phragmites in the Scuppernong River Habitat Area, that is visible from the marl pit bridge or the Indian campground, is native. The later information was a revelation, as we had always assumed that it was exotic phragmites, and had considered it as such in the NAWCA grant proposal.
Exotic Phragmites australis ssp. australis, John Hrobar standing on the deck at the Emerald Spring, photo by Sue Hrobar
Native Phragmites australis ssp. americanus, view into the Scuppernong River Habitat Area as seen from the marl pit bridge over the Scuppernong River
I really need to get more science in my life; that was fun!
Finally, on Saturday, January 23, I was joined by Andy Buchta and Ben Johnson at The Springs. We worked in the area marked in red on the map above, near signpost #1. Anne Korman, the new Superintendent Kettle Moraine State Forest – Southern Unit, Lapham Peak Unit and Glacial Drumlin Trail – East, stopped out to visit and thank us for all of our hard work. You’re welcome Anne!
Imagine a burning pile of buckthorn in the foreground of this shot
and another pile here
and a third pile here,
We carved space in the thicket right up to the two huge oaks behind Andy and Ben
Ben and Andy comparing notes
The Buckthorn Man
Well, it’s time to don my gay apparel and cut some buckthorn, Fa la la la la la la la.
After a long hiatus, The Buckthorn Man has returned, chainsaw in hand, to The Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail. The winter of 2014-2015 was one of relentless attack on the bane of the Kettle Moraine and by the time I quit cutting there on April 1, 2015 my reservoir of aggressive energy was exhausted. I took solace in the Alchemy At The Springs wrought with Stihl and Sweat: “Out of Darkness, into Light”. There is light at the end of the buckthorn tunnel at The Springs and, with a little help from my friends, we will resolve the dissonance of buckthorn into the consonance of prairie, woodland and meadow.
The Buckthorn Man recorded this video on new year’s eve while standing on the west end of the buckthorn alley.
Therein I sketched out a plan for this winter’s cutting season describing burning snow covered brush piles and shining a light into the darkness of the buckthorn thicket. A resolution is the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones — the act of answering or determining — and I think I have an excellent approach to cutting buckthorn this year. We are going to focus on the area outlined in yellow on the map below. This is the last upland area within the loop trail that is still covered by a buckthorn thicket and I don’t think more than a handful of people have threaded their way through it recent years.
The areas in red above mark the three locations where we cut buckthorn in the last week. The blue circle indicates a large wetland area that is relatively open. I am going to focus on clearing the area within the yellow circle this winter and just see how far we can get. Each workday will consist of: picking a central location among the buckthorn to start a fire, digging a hole in the snow, cutting and collecting standing dead buckthorn, lighting a fire, and finally, feeding the fire with the surrounding freshly cut buckthorn. This is the approach that The Friends of Lapham Peak (and many others) use and I have found it to be very efficient and effective. So, if you are looking for something different to do on a cold winter day, watch my Upcoming Volunteer Events calendar feed on the Home page, or, better yet, subscribe to my volunteer workday events calendar via the Volunteer page, and meet me at The Springs or any of the other excellent places where I volunteer.
On new year’s eve day Andy Buchta joined me and we had a fine day cutting and burning in the topmost area marked in red on the map above. Thanks Andy!
The worksite is straight ahead
standing where I parked my gear and looking south and then…
southeast
I knocked off as much snow as possible and then “dug” into each pile with the chainsaw and stacked the wood for lighting.
Andy lit one new pile as we moved into the thicket
We made a dent in it…
Pati called — risotto dinner waiting at home…
On Sunday, January 3, I returned to work in the area marked in red on the right on the map above. During our recent workday with the Southeast Wisconsin Trout Unlimited group on the Scuppernong River, DNR Fisheries Biologist Ben Heussner suggested we return to the area when there was snow cover and transport brush piles over to the river to use to backfill behind the biologs we installed. That is what The Buckthorn Man is discussing in this video.
I realized then that my original plan to burn all the brush piles there was no good, instead, we should make new piles and burn fresh buckthorn. It’s hard to believe that a liar like The Buckthorn Man could have any friends, so I was a little surprised, and it warmed my heart, when Andy Buchta, Lindsay Knudsvig, Ben Johnson, Joe Winn and Chris Mann showed up to help me. We had a great time, got a hell-of-a-lot of buckthorn cut, and revealed 5 or 6 large burr oaks and a cluster of 4 huge black oaks that you can see in the background of the group shot below.
That is my sled in the distance at home base in the worksite
A closer look at “base camp”
Looking to the right…
and left for “before” shots
Lindsay arrive shortly after I did and we got the first piles set and lit.
Andy Buchta feeds the fire
Joe and Linsday
Ben Johnson getting his licks in
Chris loves this…
Joe and Lindsay on a lunch break
Lindsay, Ben, Joe, Chris and Andy
That is “base camp” on the right
This is the same perspective as the first picture in the gallery
Clearing buckthorn to expose an oak tree is what it’s all about for me. We got to do it again on Tuesday, January 5 when Andy Buchta joined me in the third area marked in red on the lower left of the map above. I scoped out the worksite and identified three spots to make fires and we got after it.
The weather reports on the nightly new have been sounding the alarm that “bitter cold” temperatures are coming — be very afraid. Nevertheless, I did appreciate the bright sun and comfortably warm conditions on Tuesday while cutting some monster buckthorn trees. The highlight of the day was uncovering 3 relatively young burr oaks.
I didn’t sleep at all last night; I couldn’t stop my mind from trying to unravel the mystery that I had experienced. Pati always encourages me to tell my “Santa Story”, which I got from reading Astrotheology and Shamanism Christianity’s Pagan Roots by Jan Irvin and Andrew Rutajit, and that is a good place to start to describe my “trip”.
The Amanita Muscaria mushroom grows in northern climates under fir, aspen, or birch trees. Pati and I found huge patches of it on Grand Island in Lake Superior and I even found one at the Indian Spring. The shamans in northern Europe watched the reindeer and noticed how much they loved this mushroom. They saw that, even more than the mushroom, the reindeer loved the urine that they, or their mushroom loving brothers, relieved themselves of. The shamans experimented and came to understand the dramatic effects this mushroom could…
From the left: Dr. Krall, Dr. Notbohm, Dr. Gospoderak, Dr. Heussner and Trail Boss Don Dane in front
Ok, they aren’t really doctors, they’re “only” Fisheries Biologists and Technicians, but metaphorically speaking, they do heal trout streams and they shared their skills with the willing and able volunteers from Trout Unlimited — transforming them into “Trout Stream Therapists.”
The headwaters of the Scuppernong River are still recovering from the human interventions that created THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG.
Submerged for over 120 years, the original river bed was all but lost. Immediately below the upper pond, shown above, was another embankment that created the lower pond, the site of a sawmill, cheese factory and finally, a hotel. Downstream from there, where the “big bend” points the river west, they built a goldfish farm.
It’s a long journey back to Class I Trout Stream for the Scuppernong River, and the kind of work that the DNR coordinated with Trout Unlimited last Saturday is slowly but surely going to: “fix the water”, as Tracy Hames, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, would say. As of now, the headwaters of the Scuppernong River is still a Class II Trout Stream, but we have seen a lot of habitat improvements made over the last couple years and the fish counts improved in 2015.
Fisheries Biologist, Ben Heussner, identified 12 work sites and explained the plan for the day.
My right hand is still healing from surgery for Dupuytren’s Contracture (Ben and “Gus” had offered to straighten it out for me), so I enjoyed shadowing Ben as he visited the work sites. I’ll document them in the order that we encountered them that morning, including video, and before and after pictures for each site.
#impromptu
We did not have enough biologs to accomplish all of the original goals and Ben and Gus made the call that it would take too long get another load from off-site. Below, Josh and Gus saw an area just upstream from the gaging station bridge, that was not on Ben’s plan, to do a little therapy.
Josh and Gus did the best
they could with hand tools working between the bridge and site #8
Another peak upstream
#8
Biologs were dropped off by the gaging station bridge
Reviewing the plan
Nicely done!
Later that afternoon, Lindsay and I walked up the river
and got some pictures
after they backfilled with brush
#6 & #7 We did not get to.
Since The Buckthorn Man cut all the brush, it’s pretty slim pick’ins to fill in behind the biologs. Ben suggested we wait for winter and use a sled to drag brush over from some distant piles.
#5
Ben and Lindsay
Mission accomplished!
A few pics upstream from site #5
Remnants of the goldfish farm
I’m going to take these pipes out!
#4 We did not get to
#3 The Big Bend
The structure on the left we put in last year
increased the flow over the old biologs
problem solved!
#2
You can see some of the supports for the old boardwalk
Ben explained that there are 3 feet of elevation drop from the mill site up ahead downsteam to the big bend
The old mill site and cheese factory
Lindsay pulled a lot of cress to open up the channel here
Brook trout love the deep pools in this stretch
#1 The Hotel Springs
A before shot
And after…
#9 Downstream from gaging station bridge
A peak upstream before we visit site #9
It took a while for Ben to make the rounds and he had a suggestion for where to place the biologs
Heh, NP Ben!
Delivering brush to backfill behind the biologs
Another peak upstream
Later that afternoon we walked up the river
Nice work!
A brush piling brigade!
#11 The Marl Pit Bridge
December 12!
Looking downstream from the bridge
and upstream from the bridge
We celebrated the last workday of the year with another classic Trout Unlimited brat fry.
Jim Weirzba did the cooking!
Heh Boyd
Dr. Gus, Dr. Ben and Dr. Josh
SEWTU Rocks!
Thanks again to everyone who participated. We got a lot done — it was a great day.
Buckthorn is resilient, stubborn and persistent — kind of like The Buckthorn Man!
I’ve been watching the buckthorn stumps resprouting at many of the locations where we cut last Winter, and the Winter before for that matter. I always try to get some poison on the stumps right away — I prefer to kill them dead immediately — if I can. Some professionals prefer to ignore the freshly cut stumps and instead, plan time in their schedules in the late Spring or early Summer, when the cut stumps have bushed out with fresh growth, to hit them with poison in the form of a foliar spray.
There are challenges to applying poison to cut stumps in the dead of Winter. You’ve got to have some kind of anti-freeze in your mix to keep your spray bottles working, or, keep them near a fire when you are not using them. And, depending on the snow conditions, you are likely to miss a lot of the smaller stumps even if you take your time. Nevertheless, I think poisoning the freshly cut stump is the best way to kill the buckthorn and the method that results in the least collateral damage i.e., when foliar spraying and over-spray lands on native plants near the buckthorn resprouts. I welcome your comments and opinions on the pros and cons of these two approaches (or the neglected aspect if you have one.)
Well, that being said, there was a lot of stump resprouting in areas that we cut last Winter. In some cases, the sawyers simply chose not to spray the stumps, despite pleading to do so from The Buckthorn Man, and in other cases, the stumps were missed, or the poison was applied but failed to do it’s job. When I returned to work at The Springs last September, I prioritized the areas where there were a lot of buckthorn resprouts and recut and poisoned the stumps. There were also many fresh buckthorn seedlings to cut as well as black locust. Here is a map of the areas I focused on this Fall that will be discussed in the galleries that follow:
This area is down the main trail heading counter clockwise on your left.
Areas like this will revert to buckthorn jungles before you know it.
Poison on a freshly recut stump.
Example of a cut stump that bushed out with new growth.
Another before image.
And one after.
From there I moved to the North end of the loop trail. I think recutting these stumps is a must to facilitate a successful prescribed burn.
Before images…
And after…
This area is just east of the marl pit factory ruins.
Before….
After…
Along the cut-off trail.
Before…
After…
On the North loop
Before…
After…
Believe it or not, I had doubts about posting anymore of my work online and I didn’t bother to take before and after pictures on many occasions.
It’s been a while since we last heard from The Buckthorn Man. I’ve been laying low, or maybe laid low — a little of both I think. If you recall, I spent over 3 months during the late Spring and early Summer working on mold remediation and it may have been enough to save the house, but, I’m not sure about the home.
I traveled bit and finally got back to work at The Springs in September with a sense of urgency. The symptoms of Dupuytren’s Contracture in my right hand got much worse over the last year and, with surgery scheduled in November, I tried to get a few projects done that have been on my mind for a couple years.
The surgery was a success and the scar will be good for many jokes about “the time I tried to stop my chainsaw with my bare hand.” I should be back to work in a few weeks.
I wanted to be conscious during the operation and practiced a lot of bio-feedback using Heart Math and relaxation via Transcendental Meditation so I could stay calm and aware during the procedure. It was very interesting and I got a good look inside before they stitched me up.
The first thing on the agenda was to build a new bridge over a drainage canal to make it easier to access the cut-off trail from the main trail. The area is circled in Yellow on the map below.
I hope you like the Gallery feature of the new website. Check out the story-line in the captions.
First step was a reroute of the …
first 50 yards or so of the trail…
where it merges with the main trail…
near the marl pit factory ruins.
Paradise Springs sans pond
The dam sprung a leak.
Ben Johnson uses a dolly like some people use duct tape.
Let’s go!
Ben can visualize a structure…
and make it happen.
I improved the trail while Ben applied the finishing touches.
I love the new location for the connection…
to the cut-off trail.
Next up was the little spur trail down to the Indian Spring that looked more like a gully (see the Blue circled area on the map above.) Rainwater was collecting on the trail above the spur trail intersection and washing the sand out. I did this project in two days: installing two water bars above the junction to divert the water off the trail and then, installing steps and water bars on the spur trail.
First water bar where the downslope makes a turn
Second water bar location, again where the downslope makes a turn.
“spoils” excavated from the water bar construction…
were used to start filling the gully at the spur trail junction.
The lower of the two water bars.
The stone was salvaged from the pools at the…
Scuppernong Spring and the Indian Spring.
The Upper water bar…
At the first location shown above.
Back again to finish up work on the spur trail…
that leads down to the Indian Spring.
I used salvaged wood from home…
and the site where the bridge was moved near the Hotel Spring.
This could use one more step to bring it up to the height of the trail.
It was tough to divert the water out…
of such a deep gully.
Water bars going down the path.
It has held up pretty well in the heavy rains we’ve had since I put this in.
We’ll keep an eye on this.
I have been wanting to lift this boardwalk out of the muck for years (see the area circled in Redon the map above.) I was really inspired by the work that Ben Johnson led last year when we raised two boardwalks up out of the mud (read here and here) and I called on Ben again, and my old buddy Lindsay Knudsvig. We had a great time!
This broken hickory would provide the pedestals needed to raise up the boardwalk.
The 4″x6″ beams under this boardwalk…
trapped water that would submerge the deck…
by a few inches during wet periods.
Ben got the demo started while…
Lindsay and I brought over the hickory logs.
We cut notches in the support pedestals…
to stack them and…
lay the 4″x6″ runners in.
Ben and Lindsay Rock!
We barely paused for lunch…
and we wrapped up in time…
to take a leisurely walk around the loop…
and catch the sunset.
Well, I hope you like the new site. I won’t be posting much at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail anymore. This is my new home, so please do click the Follow button on the main page to get email notification when new stories are posted.
On February 18th, I was joined in the “kitchen” by world renowned chef: Andre Buchtá. Nobody piles buckthorn on a fire like Andre! Below are some before and after shots documenting our efforts. I’m trying something new here by juxtaposing the before and after views side by side for easier comparison (click any photo to open the gallery).
I Am The Buckthorn Man 