There is an old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, well you are going to get the thousand words. On November 4^th Frank Williams, Bob Voyles, Dale Lawson, and myself met at Rippee creek to survey the damage from a storm that hit Rippee creek earlier this summer. Of course not one of us thought to bring a camera so the reader will just have to picture the work that we did.
 

The damage was apparent as soon as you get to the parking area. This area had been cleaned but in the woods next to the park there were huge logs that had been washed down the creek. It was quite apparent that we would have our work cut out for us.

Dale brought an extra horse for a pack horse so we loaded two chain saws, chain oil, and fuel onto the pack horse and began our trip up Rippee. Evidence of a large flood were all around us as we road up the road. There were large deposits of river gravel in the field and trees were bent over from the force of the water. As soon as we entered the river channel we began our work in earnest. Frank Williams mover ahead and with his big loppers and began to trim out the trail. There were small trees, vines, and branches all over the place. Soon we encountered large trees that had been washed down the river and were blocking the trail.
 

I lost count on how many trees that were blocking the trail. Each one had to be cut out and moved off to the side. I must have gotten off and on my horse, Dusty, thirty times before the day was done. In places we could not even see where the old trail had been. Even our esteemed trail boss Dale Lawson was confused as to where the old trail was. Everything looked so different. Bob Voyles estimated the flood waters were, in places, over seven feet high. Huge trees had been washed down the creek and stacked one upon the other. We were able to work around these log jams. At the largest log jam we met a fellow that was harvesting the logs for his portable saw mill.
 

We worked steadily up the river for three hours before we reached the place where we usually have lunch. It had also changed completely. We stopped for a much needed lunch break and rest. After lunch we turned around and headed back down and continued to clean and remark the trail. By the end of the day the trail had been cleared and all agreed that we had done a good days work.