Flint River Clearing 2009 Part II

During the last several days the Flint River dropped 3.5 feet, which put it back to the same water level as our previous clearing project on this river section, back in March 2009.

Unfortunately the recent high water which carried away the debris we had chopped up in Flint River Clearing I, brought us some new surprises. There were now new piles of trees where we had previously cleared the paddle trail with chainsaws, in addition to the newest downfalls in the river!

It was a very productive day but it could have been better had we not had mechanical problems with both chainsaws. My trusty Stihl™ chainsaw stopped running at full speed and would get bogged down. I’ll take it apart again to track down the problem.  Hopefully, it’s a simple fuel line obstruction.

Ken’s McCullough™ chainsaw worked fine, until the chain stretched and came off the bar.  This is ‘normal’ for us as we run the chainsaws without lubricating oil to prevent contamination of the river.  It’s hard on the machines (and our wallets), but is a necessary part of our due diligence. With my chop-saw already down for the count, it was at this point that Ken realized that he didn’t have the required McCullough™ wrench! Deprived of modern marvels, the remainder of the day was spent using pruning shears and a bow saw.

We saw blue heron; hawks; geese; ducks; fresh water clams; various species of fish jumping; minnows swimming; turtles; squirrels and deer. We also heard owls hooting and saw fresh beaver sign.

We spent 8.5 hours on the river. As with the Flint River Cleanup I, it was dark by the time we finally got everything off the river; packed up and headed for home. Wet; muddy; tired; scratched and bruised, we had a successful day and a great time.

GPS mileage 7.94 miles.

A lot was done but there is still more to do so we’ll get to go back and play in the river another day!