Clearing the Perimeter Trail
Around 10 years ago, when I was visiting the priory, the then prior, Rev. Master Oswin and I, took a walk on the trail that goes around the entire perimeter of the property. Fast forward to the present, my stepping in to the role of the prior in June of this year, and the perimeter trail has been in disuse for some time. Several sections have been blocked by downed trees, bending filbert branches and other shrubs or in the northern section, tall grasses. But here and there the path is still visible despite filling up with forest duff and mosses. It has been a pleasure over the last few months slowly working away at clearing it once again. As of this afternoon I’ve got about two thirds of it cleared well enough that one can easily walk it without getting lost or having to duck under or around branches from shrubs. What remains to be done is the northern portion of the property which as a result of wind and ice storms over the years has become an oak savanna filled with tall grasses. With any luck it will be fairly straightforward to clear a path there, though many downed fir trees will have to be navigated.
I’m a bit behind in photographing my progress but have included a few before and after shots from a couple months ago clearing some of the downed trees and restoring the trail. These photos come from the southern part of the property which is one of the lower areas and filled with mosses, ferns and a maturing Douglas fir forest. My trusty electric chainsaw can be seen in some of the photos. We have enough extension cords to provide power for the chainsaw anywhere on the 4.5 acres which is very handy!
In this first photo one can see how blocked the trail is. And as the filbert branches are pruned it reveals even more logs that need to be taken care of.
This second photo shows the large end of a dead oak tree that had been leaning dangerously on the fir tree to the left. It took a bit of careful cutting with the help of a rope and a hand winch to get it safely on the ground. And as the photo shows the logs needed to be cut up into smaller pieces before I could roll them off the trail!
Over the coming weeks, as I continue chipping away at sections of the trail, I plan to post commentary and photos of the progress. The two photos above cover perhaps 100 feet of the trail and I estimate the whole trail is about a third of a mile long, so we have plenty more to go!