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Willow Springs/Katydid February 20, 2021

2/24/2021

Willow Springs Woods/Katydid Saturday February 20
We came to Katydid several days after the latest of our recent snowfalls, and hiked in through deep, light powder. It certainly slowed us down - two fires when we normally might have five or more, but ya gotta play the hand you get.

Luckily, we had a large, hardy group of volunteers who were unfazed by the conditions. We dragged logs on the sled, hauled them by hand, and finally, by day's end, had beaten the snow flat in close proximity to the fires.

Next week we'll be out twice, at Cap Sauers Moraines on Saturday and Paw Paw Woods on Tuesday March 2.

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February 18th, 2021

2/18/2021

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Paw Paw Woods Saturday February 13
This was our second visit to Paw Paw in two weekends; this time around we had chain sawyers from Atrium Landscape to keep us hopping. We also had help from two first-time Palos volunteers, Joy and John, as well as Tom the almost-newbie, having been out at some past date(s). Great to have them too; we needed their unflagging energy to get all the cut stuff through the deep snow and onto our fires.

It was an interesting process, with some slipping and sliding and my gait resembling that of an intoxicated man. This weekend, with fresh layers of snow, ought to be equally interesting, though the occasional sun and (slightly) warmer temps ought to allow some settling and compression of snow making it more navigable. We'll see.

The weather has been both challenging and memorable. I was fortunate to go walking Monday eve when snowfall was intensifying, and had the local streets and area around Lake Katherine almost to myself. It was stunning, even with visibility down to a couple hundred yards at best. I returned from a strenuous hour-and-a-half feeling invigorated. Lovely!

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Paw Paw Woods February 6, 2021

2/11/2021

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Saturday February 6, Paw Paw Woods
It was scheduled to be one of our Atrium Landscape days but the crew was forced to cancel, putting all the pressure on Kevin, the only certified and suited-up chain sawyer present. He did fine, cutting enough to keep the rest of us busy dragging and burning.

It was a pretty day, with deep snow that we started out wading through and eventually tramped down to a hard pack around our single fire. Early on there weren't many trail users, though a few came along before quitting time. Maybe it was the cold; under ten degrees at the start, maybe 12-15 at quitting time. With little wind and lots to do you don't really notice the cold, especially once the fire starts cooking. I believe we numbered nine, some of the usual suspects plus our friend Marc whom we hadn't seen in a little bit.

We'll be back at Paw Paw on February 13, this time with the Atrium crew expected. Ought to be a good time!

Diana canceled her scheduled workday at McClaughrey on Sunday Feb. 7 due to cold temps, and Bob Arentz never scheduled one at Cap Sauers that afternoon for the same reason.

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February 04th, 2021

2/4/2021

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Saturday January 30, Cranberry Slough Nature Preserve
We had another busy Saturday, with chain sawyers from Atrium Landscape thinning tress and the rest of us burning. The fuel burned much better than the soft, wet stuff of the preceding week, and the fires got seriously hot in a hurry. Snow didn't begin falling until the afternoon, a blessing for us in getting our work done.

I was gratified to see many people hiking the preserve throughout the morning, as well as the occasional cross-country skier. I'm surprised, though, we don't see more skiers, wondering if X-C skiing is becoming a lost art. I also wonder whether the paucity of snowfall in recent years has something to do with this.

In my recent ski treks at Swallow Cliff I seldom see another skier, and finding a set of usable tracks is also not that common.

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Willow Springs/Katydid February 20, 2021

February 18th, 2021

Paw Paw Woods February 6, 2021

February 04th, 2021

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