Trail crew/creek restoration Day 3

Day ~3 Tuesday July 11, 2017

Today we were split up into 2 groups. My group went to South Twin Lake and did some trail maintenance. It was a nice trail that went around the lake. It was fun watching everyone so eager to work.  Jesse and Chase were easy to work with and seemed to like their jobs. It would be a good job for our youth. I was happy to hear they have a lot of volunteers. They cover a large land base and are a crew of 6 and work in pairs. It was fun to see people get out of their comfort zones and do some work with the hand saws and the pulaski. 
We had the pleasure to meet a Fish Biologist by the name of Tom Walker. He said he has been working for the Deschutes National Forest since 1989.  He had us doing some restoration efforts on Soda creek as it comes into Sparks lake. Sparks lake has no outlet and the sediment that drops into the lake is slowly turning the lake into a meadow. We worked on soda creek and placed logs in areas to help disperse the water through out the meadow. We also placed logs around willows that were planted for the creek stability a few years ago. Because of the short growing season they were still very small. I liked the fact that Tom was in one forest for his entire career. I feel like his own experiences working on the land and witnessing the changes is very valuable.

I enjoyed yet another good day in the mountains. I will miss this campground and I will miss this part of the Deschutes River.

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