Packwood Lake, which was formed 1200 years ago by a large landslide, is a 462 acre natural lake located on the western side of the Cascades at an elevation of 2875 feet. This magnificent destination can be reached by hiking four miles or driving a 4WD vehicle. As you hike along the lake, you enter the Goat Rocks Wilderness, which is accessible only to those hiking or on horseback. The island in the lake seen here is small and is off limits since someone started a fire there a few years ago. Some of the water from the lake is piped several miles to a power plant which supplies electricity to four local towns.
In this photo, Chad and our crew leader, Forest Service Ranger Crystal, use the 2 man saw to cut this tree which has fallen across the trail. Since our crew was so small (Chad and me), we were limited in what we could accomplish, and tree removal was our first responsibility. We removed a number of trees of various diameters and also replaced a rotting post holding a wilderness sign-in station.
As you saw through a large fallen tree, the top part of the trunk tends to close and bind the saw, so a wedge is hammered into the kerf (cut) to keep the channel open, allowing the saw to operate. After cutting the trunk, we have to roll the sections off the trail, and when that is not possible due to weight and/or length of the sections, another cut is required.
One day, Rangers Steve (orange hard hat) and Rich (yellow hat) joined us and we worked on installing several retaining walls where the trail was eroding and sloughing off down the embankment. Since equestrians make use of this trail, it is important to keep it wide and safe for all users.