March 27, 2007
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Clearcuts
It was nice today, so I took a little trip up into the mountains.
I’ve been wanting to head out Forest Service Road 62 (6200 on some maps), since it connects with a logging road that goes almost to the top of Mt. Persis. So I did.
I didn’t make it to the top of Mt. Persis, only about half way. The road was getting kind of hairy. Mostly just steep. I didn’t take any pictures, because I was too busy obsessing over the coolant temperature and oil pressure.
I did, however, get a bunch of pictures of clearcuts at lower elevations.
This is a clearcut. Note that the whole area has been cut clear. Hence the name.
Some little trees are tagged to prevent them from being completely decimated in the process. Usually very small ones. These will grow up to be the next farm forest.
Once upon a time, loggers had to leave stumps like this behind. The forest was so dense, and the trees so large, that they had to make notches in the trees and put planks into the notches, just to have a place to stand. Modern loggers don’t do any of this. But they leave behind some of the history of the forest, even if they don’t leave behind the forest itself.
The valley you see below is the Skykomish River valley, which runs east to west (right to left in the picture). The peak on the right is Mt. Baring, and the peaks on the left are Jumpoff Ridge. All these pictures were taken in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
Comments (3)
it’s sad to think of how many of those died because I need soft absorbant toilet paper. my butt feels very guilty.
I suppose I should count myself lucky, I live in a place where not all that many trees are cut down for anything, as there just aren’t a whole bunch. a friend in NJ, she has to see places she used to run around as a kid, all the trees cut down for houses or other such things. Meh. In conclusion, people suck. trees should learn how to use throwing stars.
amazing pics
You should include map links with stuff like this!
If you click the images, you’ll end up at Flickr, and there’s a map link.
But the nearest town is Index, Washington. This is minutes off of highway 2.