Forum Index > Trail Talk > A plea to the self-appointed Cable Line trail fixers
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huron
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huron
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PostFri Jan 27, 2023 7:01 pm 
Maybe I dredged up the wrong thread and should have started new. Anyway, good or bad, right or wrong, many people use and enjoy this deep ditch regularly. I'd like to help to keep it in better shape if possible and am inviting others to do the same. Went to find a tool today at local home stores. 2.5lb mattock is large for pack mounting. There's a telescoping Corona garden hoe with a sturdy handle, but blade doesn't look like it will last a day. Entrenching tool handles are too short. Any ideas for a tool that telescopes to backpack size and has a robust enough hoe end?

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Malachai Constant
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Malachai Constant
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PostFri Jan 27, 2023 7:50 pm 
I have a 10 lb axe-mattock which works well and is more burley than a Pulaski that works well but is to heavy to schlep up there. Probably best choice is a grub hoe and entrenching shovel.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus



Joined: 26 Jul 2009
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RumiDude
Marmota olympus
PostFri Jan 27, 2023 9:34 pm 
Huron wrote:
Maybe I dredged up the wrong thread and should have started new. Anyway, good or bad, right or wrong, many people use and enjoy this deep ditch regularly. I'd like to help to keep it in better shape if possible and am inviting others to do the same. Went to find a tool today at local home stores. 2.5lb mattock is large for pack mounting. There's a telescoping Corona garden hoe with a sturdy handle, but blade doesn't look like it will last a day. Entrenching tool handles are too short. Any ideas for a tool that telescopes to backpack size and has a robust enough hoe end?
Most quick short term bits of tread stabilization are just that short term. Long term solutions are rarely easy or quick. Of course even long term solutions can be wiped out during extraordinary weather events as nothing is really permanent. Sometimes all that can be done are just band-aid type things. Be aware that you will likely become frustrated with how quickly your work will unravel. If you can live with that, then go ahead. Most tools that are tough enough for trail work are both relatively heavy and bulky. A mattock like this one is a good one. Best of luck ~~~~~Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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RumiDude
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RumiDude
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PostSat Jan 28, 2023 12:58 pm 
I will add this bit of info, though I am not sure if it would work with the Cableline. Many times when I worked with WTA on ongoing projects, we would cache tools a short distance off the trail, hidden and protected from the weather. That saved us from having to carry tools in and out all the time. Of course this was usually in heavily treed old or second growth forest, so we had lots of good options to hide the tools. We could also do this out of sight of others, so nobody except us knew where they were. I never worked on a project where tools were stolen, but again that may be an issue on Cableline. Also, if you can find a place that has gravel and rock to use for treadwork, that helps. You can never have enough rock and gravel. A used dogfood bag made of tough plastic works well to haul gravel and rocks. It will hold more than you can carry It's likely you know at least one person with dogs. They are light and can be folded or rolled down small. Not quite as good as a bucket, but pretty good nonetheless. Having never been on Cableline and not knowing the issues there except as briefly described here, just let me say that some places just were not meant for trails. The soil, the terrain topology, etc., just isn't conducive for trails. That means you might just have to live with the mess that is or find another place to train. Rumi

"This is my Indian summer ... I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all."
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Fedor
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PostSat Jan 28, 2023 10:26 pm 
Malachai Constant wrote:
We go up Cableline close to once a week when we are in town. It has been what it is for decades.
I've only been hiking it for the past few years, but I always assumed that it's been like this for quite a long time. Other than sawing blowdowns, I don't think there's much that can be done to maintain it. Hauling gravel up to the mud flats might be worthwhile. Obviously that would take a lot of work. Or just accept the inevitable muddy boots/shoes when hiking it the majority of the year. I finally took rocks and pounded down the rebar that had been poking up through the wooden steps about a week ago.

mosey, zimmertr
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zimmertr
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zimmertr
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PostSat Jan 28, 2023 10:39 pm 
Fedor wrote:
I finally took rocks and pounded down the rebar that had been poking up through the wooden steps about a week ago.
Thanks! I've been eyeing that for a while myself. Great place to slip and get impaled!

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Fedor
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puzzlr
Mid Fork Rocks



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puzzlr
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PostMon Jan 30, 2023 7:20 pm 
An ironic aspect of the cable line trail is that it was installed by Boeing but was only functional for a few years before better intra-company communications systems became available on WT 1 and 2. A wasted effort that left an unsustainable "trail" behind. If you want a steep hard trail to climb, then relish the continued erosion and gullification of this route that should never have come into existence.

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Malachai Constant
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PostMon Jan 30, 2023 8:05 pm 
The tower on WT2 was put in by Boeing Computer Services to share excess space on Boeing Computers, it soon became obsolete as storage space and computing services became cheap through semiconductor’s technology advanced. Nobody does shared computing anymore as far as I know. I assumed Boeing sold the space to others but do not know. The power now comes from south WT1. The cable is dead now.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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puzzlr
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puzzlr
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PostMon Jan 30, 2023 9:15 pm 
My information came from a Tiger Mountain history hike with Tom Anderson who talked about the history of the cable line trail. Then after the hike a couple of us continued to the summit of WT 2 and talked to some Boeing employees maintaining an antenna up there. So yeah, Boeing still has infrastructure there, and the cable line has been dead for a long time.

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Malachai Constant
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Malachai Constant
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PostTue Jan 31, 2023 2:41 pm 
Went up today on the way up trail was in great shape as it was frozen. Pataches of snow on top. By the way down lower part had thawed and become slippery. View from top under high clouds, Rainier was visible. Log stairs eroding out. Thanks to whoever cut the windfalls.

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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