logging in ASPEN

[spencerhenry]

i am not cutting aspen, i am cutting within sight of the city of Aspen. have been working on this project now for almost a year, and finally started cutting today. Aspen Colorado is populated by a majority of ultra-liberal tree huggers and general greenies. :( i am proud to say i am doing,to my knowledge, the only timber cut in all of pitkin county (one of the richest in the country). only cutting standing dead lodgepole right now, but may move into green aspen, and green lodgepole.
the guy who owns the property wants to log it for a couple of reasons, but one i am sure is to pith of the county. the county has been trying to buy his property for years. they have told him he cant build his own house on it! court battles for years and finally they say he can build 1200 sqft (on about 60 acres). they have tried to condemn his property so they can buy it for a park.  >:(cant wait to see a log truck rolling down Main Street in Aspen. will surely pith off all of the tree huggers that see it. i fully expect a court order to stop me from cutting after the first couple of loads. little do they know,  i have already dropped about 2 loads of trees, and will have another 2 on the ground by noon monday. ;D
should have pictures next week. will try to show a load of logs coming down the switchbacks above town, and at least a picture of a loaded truck going past the Hotel Jerome, on main street. i cant wait 8)

[Ron Scott]

Spencerhenry,

Keep us posted on your Aspen operation. You are working in one "sensitive area". Are you on Ajax Mountain or any of the ski area at all?? I've stayed   in Hotel Jerome some time ago and agree that logging trucks rolling past it will make for an interesting log haul.  ;)

[spencerhenry]

i am cutting on smuggle mtn. opposite town from ajax. nobody would bat an eye if i were clearing land for another ski run. i think i spoke incorrectly, there have been timber cuts in pitkin county, but they are always for ski area expansion. all the greenies are peculiarly silent when the cutting is for the ski area. but the Mount Sopris chapter of the sierra club files lawsuits against ALL timber sales in the valley. millions of bdft of timber has rotted away while the sale was in court! >:(

[David_c]

Funny how that works isn't it. All these greenies have no problm with things that they want; but heaven forbid someone does something that they dont want. Have fun.

[SwampDonkey]

Is that were John Denvor has a memorial with all his songs etched in stone? I think 'Annie's Song' got written there when John was inspired by the place they just moved to. I'm not a fan of Denvor per se, but he wrote and sang some nice songs. I don't own a single album of his. It would be fitting that the area is full of environmentalists.

[Engineer]

Somewhere I heard recently that all the millionaires are being forced out of Aspen and surroundings because it's getting too expen$ive to live there, due to all the billionaires moving in.   :(

[spencerhenry]

i believe the average home price in aspen is $2,100,000.

made alot of friends today driving my skidder up a VERY popular road to hike. i bet i passed at least 35 hikers along the mile or so of public road. ;D was with great joy that i drove a skidder up a road that has not seen forestry equipment in at least 8 years. took a couple of pictures from the skidder looking down at aspen with the ski runs in the background. i only have a regular camera, so i wont be able to post pictures until i get the film processed. will be done cutting, and finish pictures on friday.
cut several trees today that i got 2-33' logs out of. all of the top logs were still over 8".  total height of some of the trees was about 100'. had one that was still 4.75" at 85' great to be out in the woods again. i had a though on the way home from aspen, i am probably the only one in all the traffic that was logging today.

[Furby]

Well it sounds like you are enjoying this little project, and I'm enjoying reading about it! 8)
I'll be looking for those pics.

[spencerhenry]

had a little thought last night while laying in bed, i need to lookout for mine shafts. there are tailings piles all over this property, and there are a few open shafts. the ones i am now concerned about, are the ones that arent open until the skidder drives over them. so far so good, but cave ins happen around here from time to time.
cut and skid about another 25 trees today, had 2 that a 6' choker wouldnt fit. start hauling tommorrow, hope to get some pictures of the truck heading down into aspen.

[David_c]

Glad  to see all is going well. Can't wait for pics.

[bitternut]

Don't forget to use your jake brake when going into town.

[Dan_Shade]

I wouldn't make a ruckus until I were done  ;)

[woodbowl]

Hey Spencer H,
    I lived in Carbondale for a little while in 1987 after I finished taking a Scandinavian log home building course. I helped Skip Ackerman at his log home building buisness south of town. How's he doing now?  I made a camper out of a 1969 International school bus for our travels. We could "NOT" find any where to park it and live because it was aganst the law. It was permited for the residents to have a camper if it stayed empty. There were some more crazy laws too. That part of the country is just beautiful but it is the most backwards county that I have ever been in. We finally wound up in a campground down by the river. I sure didn't want to leave but a poor boy like me just starting out with a family didn't stand a chance of making it in such a ritzy place. I kinda' felt like the ordinances were designed to get the rich in and the rest out.

[spencerhenry]

skip ackerman is still building log homes. i think he is semi-retired now, but his yard is still there, though the property has been sold.
around here, there are alot of ultra-liberals, that think they can save the world. sierra club, aspen center for environmental studies, wilderness workshop, the list goes on.
i had two logs hauled today. ran a pickup in front of the log truck to tell all the tree huggers to get out of the way. the first load was almost all 33', a few 37', stacked with center of the top log at top of the stakes. the second load, was almost all 37' with a few 40', and a couple of 50'. stacked as high as possible, higher than the stakes in the middle. drove the skidder down behind the second truck. there were many places where the edge of the road was less than 6" from the tread of the tire. if you went off, you would end up at the bottom, in someplaces over 600' vertical down. my trucker is good, missing the inside bank by inches, driving on the EDGE of the road. it is tough to pass a hiker with a pickup. havent scaled the loads, but i would bet i have at least 15,000 bf. biggest loads i have seen, except for length. hopefully some of my pictures will turn out well, will take them in for processing tommorrow. all in all a good 2 days in the woods. ;D

[woodbowl]

Spencer H,
   If you see Skip in passing, tell him I said hi and we're doing well. He will remember that old bus right quick like. If you get a chance, you aught to go see the log house he built for his Mom and Dad.   All I can say is Wow.