Some people (me included) consider rockhounding a fun activity. ?However, when an active mining claim is involved, work is the word that comes to mind every spring. ?Dean and I headed out today to do some trail maintenance and sign posting. ?We spent 90% of our time at the claim working!!! ?Our first project was to remove a large!! boulder perched near the trail. ?This boulder weighed 7 tons(at least it seemed like it) and was near a steep drop off. ?I didn’t get a picture of the before but here is the after.

Dean is working on widening the trail near a steep dropoff.

Our next project was to remove a section of large tree that had fallen across the trail. ?It wasn’t exactly necessary to remove it, but it was awkward to cross and in a place that was quite steep.

Section of tree that we removed.

These two projects were the hardest of the trip, and from here on we hiked the boundaries of the claim and placed signs informing others about the claim.

Mostly this meant nailing signs to snags.

One of the few photos of me.

Dean preparing a sign for the trail.

Placing a sign near one of the corner posts.

We did get to spend a few minutes collecting some nice Tahoma Agate, and we had a great day and view of Mount Ranier.

Thanks for joining us.

chasfire