Project ReWard — Expedition Three

Once again, we headed out Saturday morning to work on the problem spots of Ward Creek.  This time, we polished off Barringer Foreman and had time left to take a bit off the slide area and even scout Pecue.

Most of the logs and tree trunks left at Barringer Foreman were submerged, but the water was low enough to get to them and clear them out.  We pulled some by hand and some with ropes.  The fun ones got the heavy tackle.  Pulling the grand trunk was exceptionally fun; even free floating, it was quite stubborn.  We ended up towing it upstream to swing it around root end first, and it still ended up quite firmly hung up on the bridge.  Eventually, we pulled it completely through, and there was much rejoicing.

The water was low enough at the Derelict to reach quite a few more problem pieces, but someone was fishing from it as we passed.  We figured with much of the day already spent and more to pull than we’d have time left, we may as well skip forward to the slide area for a bit of a visit and not disturb the fishing.

We’re definitely going to have a lot of work to do at the slide area, so we started with a good bit of sawing plus pulling the first big piece from the upstream end.  The tree at the start of the video is across the remaining low-water channel, and the main trunk is quite large and long.  (It is huggable, but not by much.)  Cutting that with an 18″ hand saw or pulling it intact are both going to be difficult, but if it comes to that, we’ll manage.

With Mike nearing the end of his endurance and a potentially long Sunday on Bayou Fountain ahead for me, we stopped work just a bit earlier than usual and headed upstream to lay eyes on Pecue.  We knew it was going to be thoroughly blocked, and a quick check confirms that the Ward Creek lumberyard at Pecue is indeed very well stocked.  At least we’ll have a definite sense of accomplishment when it’s clear.

So, that’s three weeks in the books.  With luck, we won’t get too much rain this week.  If the water levels are comparable, we should be able to really attack the Derelict Bridge at Buzbee Drive and rid it of its considerable load of lumber and the like.  We’re looking forward to it.