Clearing the Way

A little snow falling here this morning on the last day of March.

A lot of the work we will be doing this spring will involve clearing overgrown areas of the woods around the Log House.  Both Mindy and I are determined to make the nearby areas of the Lodge accessible for easy walking with many interesting and relaxing points of interest that guests can take advantage of.  One of the main areas in need of clearing and trimming is the field directly in front of the Log House.  We've already started to clear that and I'll post some pics of that and what we're doing with it here shortly. 

Another area I'm working on is located a little ways down Blue Jay Way along the ridge that overlooks the tailings, Hooper Mine and the view to the east.  We want to set up picnic tables, benches and a campfire area here as a picnicking area.  In winter it will be a ski trail that can be used to get a great view of the area.

 Before clearing

 After Clearing

 The Clearing Tool

In addition to a small chain saw, I use the above clearing saw to cut smaller undergrowth and small trees.  It's a very effective tool for doing this kind of work.

Here's the saw in action (Video)

 My friend Andy Virgil has been helping me on weekends throughout the season with electrical work.  Here he's trouble shooting some funky wiring along the outside of the building so that we can get the overhead spotlights working again.

And today we had a group of business owners from around the southern Adirondacks stop by on a familiarization tour to get to know North Creek, North River and Garnet Hill Lodge.  They were very nice and enthusiastic about what we're doing here and we look forward to working with them in the future. (That's me in the back with the hat on, and Mindy right in front of me).