One of Burnham's odd jobs

[Burnham]

I'm on the calendar to help a crew remove several illegal structures from FS land near one of the bigger ski areas on Mt. Hood, next week.

Should be interesting. I've had similar tasks on occasion through the years...some are built hell for stout and are easy to work on, others are so rickity that you have to stay tied in the whole time. These have apparently been built and used by snowboard gypsies .

I'll try to get some pics during and after...here's some "befores" that were sent to me.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Well I'll be danged! Tearing down someone's Fort!

 

[top_notch]

Damn!!! That's legit! We have forts on our mountain, but none built that high up in the trees! How high up does the snow get there in the winter?

 

[Burnham]

Yep, I'm the Man, no fun allowed on the National Forest .

 

[CurSedVoyce]

HA! Did you wear a mask like Deva ??

 

[Burnham]

Damn!!! That's legit! We have forts on our mountain, but none built that high up in the trees! How high up does the snow get there in the winter?

At that elevation, 10-12 feet. Those are summertime use structures, it would appear.

 

[Burnham]

It's on for next week, Stephen.

No, I go undisguised; that way my reputation precedes me and gets bigger, too ...though the LEO is going to be along just in case; not at my request, but it's not unusual to do so in an operation like this.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

And here I thought you would carry your own
LEO is always good to have JIC.
Our FS LEO up here, and I am about to go kill a tree up in his woods, is really a nice guy. I think he is in his lower 30s. Just come across very personable.

 

[top_notch]

Ahh, I see. The ones we have here are inside the ski area and are used in the winter to hangout in while on the slopes. I believe some of the FS folks here refer to them as "Opium Dens".

At that elevation, 10-12 feet. Those are summertime use structures, it would appear.

 

[Burnham]

Ahh, I see. The ones we have here are inside the ski area and are used in the winter to hangout in while on the slopes. I believe some of the FS folks here refer to them as "Opium Dens".

The ski runs above Timberline Lodge are open all year, and the summers are big times for ski and board schools as well as gatherings of board and ski bums, aka gypsies. These sites were used for both living in and partying at. They are not actually at the ski areas, but down the mountain near the ski village. Tons of garbage, human waste, vegetation and tree damage. Not pretty, and while I'm sure they were having fun, the resource damage is not acceptable to a responsible natural resource management agency.

 

[top_notch]

I see where you're coming from. Thats terrible. The ones on our mountain are more of day use areas, they are kept up pretty well...no garbage, and are built out of the leftover slash and logs from the beetle kill removal operations on the mountain. Most of them are single level and usually built by tying the logs together with bailing string instead of using nails and such. I think they actually might get blown up when found, but that might just be a rumor. Good luck on those.

 

[Che]

They look like the deer stands here....except they don't have poison ivy covering the trees.

 

[SkwerI]

It's on for next week, Stephen.

No, I go undisguised; that way my reputation precedes me and gets bigger, too ...though the LEO is going to be along just in case; not at my request, but it's not unusual to do so in an operation like this.

You keep this up and you're gonna have to get Carl to send you one of his hats, none of yours are going to fit any more.

 

[Burnham]

Well, Skwerlito...this isn't my first trip to the rodeo . Back in the days of crazy direct action timber harvest protests it ended up that as many or more tree sitters abandoned their posts when I rolled up in what eventually became my very recognisible to them truck, than I actually took measures against...reputation can be a powerful tool. My stock was high in those days...now I'm just an old beat-up climber with little to prove .

Not that anything of that sort will go down on this situation.

 

[simplypete]

Dude, I've been around a few "420 shacks" before and those are definitely them. They are just a place to hang and smoke when the weather is foul. My guess is your right about people living in them for the summer months being as how the snow sticks around for so long. When I was a lift mechanic we would find the darndest things around those shacks. All different types of pipes, coke and meth pipes, bottles of wiskey, bamboozelers(pipes made from the bamboo that ski resorts run lines and post signs on), beer and lots of lighters, even things such as two way radios and leathermans.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've never heard of a 420 shack.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/leohcvmf8kM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[gf beranek]

The tree sitter's in Fresh Water built many somewhat crude in appearance but substantial platforms in the trees. Occupied them for 2 to 3 years and could have been more if not removed "forthright." Heights near 200 feet for a few platforms. And, with traverse lines set between trees at greater heights.

Their rigging was scary. Most of it was Truckers blk/org poly. Much of it weathered by UV and abrasion, and far beyond spec for life support.

In retrospect of the actions taken at the time, where we no doubt inconvenienced the protesters in their enthusiasm, we may have actually saved some lives in the long run.

 

[SkwerI]

Party pooper.

 

[gf beranek]

No doubt, Brian. We incidentally confiscated the drugs and paraphernalia during the protests too. For the most part it was just a big party was going on up in those platforms.

All of which has been a very touchy subject with a lot of folks. I am glad that I was there to record the happenings.

 

[Burnham]

Same story up here, Jer. Same crappy rigging with poly, black and red.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Sounds sure of destiny for disaster...

 

[vharrison]

Burn, good luck with that!

 

[flushcut]

It's always fun to tear stuff down.

 

[Burnham]

A fun day, had a big crew of volunteer NW Service Academy young adults to sherpa the gear and clean up the trash and the mess my climbing partner and I put on the ground.

Its a weird setup, having to cut a platform out from under yourself .

Pictures...