[KarlK]

Mike Liu, until recently the Methow District Ranger, is on a mission to restore the abandoned North 20-Mile lookout trail. Mike recruited me to help with this ambitious project, and I reached out to retired Seattle Fire Fighter and Winthrop resident Don Hecker to ask if he might also be nuts enough to take the bait. Don does an immense amount of trail restoration work in Methow region, is an expert certified hand with a chainsaw, and does not wear out easily. The N-20 Mile trail gains some 4400 feet of elevation in 7.3 miles (according to my GPS) through a ghost forest charred in the massive 2006 Tripod Fire to reach two historic lookouts, a D-6 cupola constructed in 1923 and a L-4 tower built in 1947. (Eric Willhite places the trail distance at 6.4 miles; http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/north_twentymile_peak/history_206.htm, but I think Eric did not take the first mile of old-road-walking into account). When we started cutting out this neglected trail on May 21, there were, as we later estimated, about 400 trees across the trail. We cut out the first 2.2 miles on May 21 (with additional help from the indefatigable retired NASA scientist Tuck Stebbins of Mazama), and reached the 3.7 mile point after returning on May 22. We returned on May 29, and by late afternoon our work extended to the 5.6 mile mark, where we stopped cutting owing to depleted bar oil. We then hiked the remaining 1.7 miles to the lookout, along which Mike counted "only" 102 remaining logs, mostly in the first mile or so. We plan to get to those soon. Packing a chainsaw and all the fuel, bar oil, tools and PPE that goes with it, along with your water, food and clothes is something of a chore (my load on May 29 was just over 47 lbs, and next time that stuff will have to go to about the 6.5 mile point at about 6800' elevation). If you have any interest in helping to pack chainsaw-related stuff, let me know. A mule or horse or two would be another good option.

Ranger (Retired) Mike Liu on N-20 Mile trail, 5.21.19

Tuck & Don, N-20 Mile trail, 5.21.19

Mike and Don clearing debris from N-20 Mile trail, 5.22.19

KarlK, N-20 Mile trail, 5.22.19

KarlK bucking at ~5mi on N-20 Mile trail, 5.29.19

Mike & Don, N-20 Mile trail, 5.29.19

Don working on about the 300th tree, 5.29.19

Mike, Don & KarlK in N-20 Mile lookout, 5.29.19

1947 L-4 Tower on N-20 Mile Peak, 5.29.29

Mike and KarlK, 5.29.19

[RichP]

Way to get to it. Thanks, fellas.

[iron]

what an ugly mess. thanks for all that work!

[rbuzby]

Excellent work! GPS over estimates hiking distance. Usually by around 10%.

[KarlK]

My GPS has been pretty darned close when compared to (many) bicycle-odometer-measured distances. Nevertheless, I think the 7.3 mile figure is a bit high owing to additional locomotion associated with bucking trees. Edit: hmmm, based on my round trip stat (13.9 miles) the adjusted trail length is 6.6 miles. Well, it seemed further than that, but I concede that Eric Willhite's distance estimate is probably closer to the mark.

[reststep]

Thank you for clearing out all those trees. Looks like I should try and get up there this year.

[Anne Elk]

Clearly, for some, 60 is the New 40. Impressive work!

[KarlK]

[fourteen410]

Nice work! I remember that trail was littered with blowdowns. Thank you

[Brushbuffalo]

[jdk610]

Hey guys, I will be in the area this coming week and would be happy to haul a load up the hill. PM me if this would be helpful.

[Bryan K]

Amazing work guys!!! Thank you for your time and dedication

[timberghost]

Great work and welcome to me world of trail work!!

[Stefan]

Impressive!!!!

[Brushbuffalo]