I have been working with a group of Conservation Corps guys removing creosote logs in the closed area at the end of The Spit past the lighthouse. It is pretty strenuous work – some of the logs are huge and we have to move everything out by dragging it out either by hand or by machine. They brought a small excavator, but it cannot get into the middle where there are quite a few logs. The logs have to be removed for environmental reasons. They are really bad for everything around them.
Excavator Being Off-loaded from the Landing Craft
It is moistly sand and is littered with trees and logs that have been left there many years ago, as well as some that wash up. A bit of history is out there as well… some of the old anti-submarine net anchors that were spread across the Strait to stop enemy submarines (yes, seriously). The crew chief with them showed me something really cool… one of the anchors that the net was hooked to. It was a huge steel and creosote timber buried tens of feet into the ground to stabilize it against all the net had to endure from what nature could throw at it. He has seen these before, and said they weigh several tons each. They also have to be removed, but that is a huge project to undertake and will be done in the future.
Anchor for an anti-submarine net
Today, however, the logs were dominated and shown no mercy. I drove the 6X6 Polaris Ranger out the last few days and used it yesterday to drag a couple of things on the beach and haul a few smaller pieces. Today I took it into the middle of the closed area, over some of the worst terrain we have here.
Polaris Ranger Surveying What It Has Just Conquered
Anyhoo, that Ranger just impresses the hell out of me. That is one very tough vehicle that is quite capable of doing a whole lot more than you would think it could. I drove across this field of logs in the picture WHILE pulling heavy, creosote-laden logs to stage them for removal. It really made me miss four-wheeling in Big Red (my old Jeep) even more.
Tomorrow I get to go do some more though. It was supposed to be my day off, but they need help to finish this project so I am changing my days off so I can help and we can hopefully wrap the project up tomorrow.
I guess I will just suffer through some more off-roading. Damn the bad luck…
