Trip Report

6 rugged volunteers met up with Josh Schrader of the Parks & Open Spaces in the main Spencer Butte parking lot at 9 a.m. Though the day didn’t look too promising, the skies were overcast and it had been raining all morning, we enjoyed little to no rain while we worked. We set out up the trail to remove peeler cores from along the trail near the trail junction with the Ridgeline Tie-in Trail. Along the way Ed, Josh, and I cleaned culverts and other drain features. Once at the trail junction we removed the peeler cores and filled the resulting voids with gravel.

Dalen drove a power-wheelbarrow back to get more gravel. Josh and Jim shared a white-knuckle drive back with a load of peeler cores, to say that the water-logged peeler cores made for a very front-heavy load would be an understatement.

While we waited for the power-wheelbarrows to return with more gravel Janet and I brushed out a couple of switchbacks that people and dogs have been shortcutting. Ed continued to clean and improve the drain features up towards the summit.

We enjoyed seeing the butte as spring is beginning to show. The trilliums are budding and will bloom soon. Janet’s keen eye alerted us to red elf’s cap fungus.

Once the power-wheelbarrows returned with more gravel we removed 8 more peeler cores and filled their voids with gravel. To make the trip down easier, Josh had brought a chainsaw to cut the peeler cores in half. With the peeler cores and tools strapped to them the power-wheelbarrows resembled medieval siege engines more than trail maintenance tools.

We made our way back to the parking lot and enjoyed some well earned snack.