Summer like weather was holding into late October, and conditions were looking favorable for a day of cutting at the Pass, so I made plans with Dan, Joe and John to head up for some saw time. The plan was to meet early at the Pass and work on the RTS area. Laurie, Matt and Austin were also planning on coming, so we left early from Dan’s house and made our way up Highway 58.
After a quick pit stop at Gold Lake, Dan and I pulled in and opened the gate. A few minutes later, the rest of the crew showed up and we drove our way up the haul road to the top of Twilight. At the top Twilight we scoped out the approach via Lois Lane but decided that Amber’s would be the better choice. There were some fresh elk tracks at the top of Duck Soup, and after cutting a couple of logs out of the way were parked the rigs and were ready to go.
The plan for the day was to head up hill and work on cutting some of the endless trees that seem to grow on the run (even with our work over the last several years) and then spend some time in the afternoon on the runout. Packing the saw and gear up the steep slope is always fun, and soon we were working away…
We cut until about noon or so and then headed down to take a break and enjoy some lunch and a well-deserved break. After lunch, John, Dan and I headed down to the runout to open a few lanes that would hopefully pay dividends later in the year. It got pretty warm in the afternoon, and I had to remember to hydrate as well as take my helmet off multiple times to dump the sweat out of it!
Around 3pm or so we called a day and headed back up the hill to the trucks. It was time to enjoy a cold beverage and I didn’t turn Dan down when he offered me a cold Ninkasi Hazy IPA from his cooler.
The next order of business was to get brats on the grill, so we pulled out the grill, meats and condiments right at the pickups and decided to grill right on Amber’s. It wasn’t long before they were ready, and we quickly devoured them after a hard day working on the hill. I grabbed the tripod from my bag and snapped a few photos of the group, including the shots below.
A bit later, it was time to head down, so we loaded in the truck and drove down from Amber’s. Dan and I wanted to drive around towards the big corner, so we turned left below the top of Twilight and worked our way up the haul road. The mountain was looking good from the truck as we drove up and then back down, with the only ingredient needed for opening being snow. All in all, it was a great day to be on the mountain, and I hope the next time I head up it’s to make turns! Until then, here’s a parting shot from the day of a tasty Pumpkin Patch Ale from Rogue Brewing.
