One of Melody's troop's service projects for the year was another round of replacing dead trees that were destroyed in the 2007 and 2003 wildfires in the San Bernardino National Forest. This time around we would be planting trees near Lake Arrowhead. We hit the road early in the morning, and during the drive on Highway 18 we were greeted with this sight:
We were very lucky with the weather, because the days before and after were unseasonably cold and yet this Sunday was just perfect.
The organizations that were managing the large group of volunteers that day were Tree People and Forest Aid. Somewhere around fifty volunteers met at Lake Arrowhead Elementary School, where most of us received a free blue plastic water bottle before being shuttled to the planting site off a forest service road nearby. Each group picked up their hard hats, a bag of 32 Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine seedlings, and digging tools, and were then escorted up a hillside to watch a planting demonstration. Then off we went.
We carried two types of planting tools: a scraping tool to clear off a spot for planting, and a blade tool to make a hole. Since Mel's troop split into two groups, we planted a total of 64 trees by lunchtime.
Melody, of course, had to make some time to catch ladybugs and butterflies.
(David, what kind of butterfly is this?)
Afterward, the troop drove to Lake Arrowhead Village to eat lunch and then called it a day. Melody and I lingered near the lakeside before deciding to head to last year's planting site on our own. Back on Highway 18, we passed several stretches of dead trees.
It was a short drive to Heap's Peak Arboretum and the Sequoia Trail nearby. The area where we planted last year's trees was near the halfway point of the trail loop, where it bends in a small switchback. Both Melody and I were sad to see that none of the trees we planted on the barren slope above the switchback nor on the slope below survived the year. However, in the area within the switchback was a nice row of two-year-old Ponderosa Pines, plus one Sugar Pine (second from the front, which is a slightly bluer color).
We had been told that each year-old seedling that we planted had less than a 50% chance of thriving, but from what Mel and I could see, only 10-20% of what we planted last year was still growing. It was worth the effort nonetheless.
The organizations that were managing the large group of volunteers that day were Tree People and Forest Aid. Somewhere around fifty volunteers met at Lake Arrowhead Elementary School, where most of us received a free blue plastic water bottle before being shuttled to the planting site off a forest service road nearby. Each group picked up their hard hats, a bag of 32 Ponderosa and Jeffrey Pine seedlings, and digging tools, and were then escorted up a hillside to watch a planting demonstration. Then off we went.
Afterward, the troop drove to Lake Arrowhead Village to eat lunch and then called it a day. Melody and I lingered near the lakeside before deciding to head to last year's planting site on our own. Back on Highway 18, we passed several stretches of dead trees.
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