Wild raspberries!

August 17-19.

Dakota and I returned to retrieve the bridge planks from the Alaskan Sawmill bridge. We took the bridge apart in the creek and then floated the main beams back upstream. We left five planks there, one to go across the main beams in the middle, and the other four to lie parallel with the main beams, two on each side. These were leaned up against a tree and will be put in closer to trapping season and once the bog freezes.

Wild raspberries are big and plentiful on the trapline.

The rest of the planks we hauled back to the Cabin Trail and we used a few of them to fix the bridge closest to the cabin. The rest of the planks are stored behind the cabin. We'll use them to fix the other two Cabin Trail bridges on a later trip.

On the way back from what is now known as "Broken Bridge Trail", the old quad (2001 Yamaha Kodiak 400 with about 20,000 kilometres on it), overheated and we had to leave it for a few hours in the 30 Celsius heat. Man it was hot on this trip! The quad overheated on South Trail, so we were only about five miles from the cabin and a cold drink.

The old quad has a 1 7/8" ball on it, the same as the quad trailer. The newer quad (2006 Yamaha Kodiak 450) has a 2" ball, so I couldn't use it to haul the planks. The high heat and work pulling the load up the massive hill on Broken Bridge Trail, put the old 2001 out of commission for awhile. We went back later and got it after it cooled off.

This part of Broken Bridge Trail is covered in wild raspberries.
Notice the drop down to the Alaskan Sawmill bridge behind the quads.

This photo shows the incline behind the quads that drops down to the tributary that had the Alaskan Sawmill bridge on it. This is about the middle of what is a 300-foot drop from the top of South Trail down to the bridge. Beyond that point, the trail name changes to the Old Forest Trail. It leads into some spectacular old growth forest.

The Old Forest Trail has six bridge crossings on it, of which only two have any size to them. However, even the small ones are deep and they need to be crossed on logs when using a quad. Later with the skidoo, I wont need any bridges at all. Since the flash flood I haven't been back down Old Forest Trail, but I'm sure those bridges were all taken out too. I won't go back there now until the bog freezes in front of the Alaskan Sawmill bridge.