FF Episode 45: Snow Groomer: A Recreation Technician's Artistry: Transcript

Paul Wade [00:00:13] Welcome to Episode 45 of Forest Focus. Brought to you by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region. In this episode, we learn how to carve a trail as a snow groomer. Wait. Scratch that. We try to learn. Behold Mount Shasta. Trust me, it's there. We are in this winter wonderland to meet this guy.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:00:43] Jeremiah Tabor. And I am a Recreation Technician.

Paul Wade [00:00:47] We met Jeremiah at the Pilgrim Creek Snowmobile Park, seven miles of nicely graded road by the state off Highway 89 on Shasta Trinity National Forests, McCloud Ranger District. This is Paul Wade with the Forest Focus staff. It's March. I'm here on a weekday for a ride along in this beauty a Piston Bully 400 snow groomer. And to learn more about what Jeremiah does as a recreation technician. At around 4000ft, we unleash the beast into the wild, which looks like Bob Ross painted the trees and added a beautiful dusting of powdered sugar all over the canvas. How far away do people come?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:01:36] We get people from Redding all the way up here and. Fall River. Maybe a little further, but. It depends. It's I think, where people come from, like Tully Lake and like Oregon or like out there of. That I can be area which is, like north of, Fall River where most Fall River Redding people come up to this area. But there is a snowmobile parked, called Ash Pan that's on the 44. There's only about an hour, so it's a shorter drive for. I think people from Red Bluff are ready to go to. But this time of year, we're just this year. And generally they have really thin snow. So a lot of people have been coming up here and using this park more. So I think that's why I've seen probably more just. You know, some years are different.

Paul Wade [00:02:21] It says snowmobile park, but who is actually using this area?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:02:25] It's mostly snowmobiles, but we do get some cross-country skiers. Yeah. I mean, it's a nice groomed little trail, and it's pretty flat, you know, coming out of here, out of the park, you can, you know, ski pretty far, quite, quite a few miles without hitting any, you know, rugged terrain. But, but, yeah, the snowmobilers like to come out here, and it's a good place to launch. And we got a warming up right there. So they got a wood fire stove in there and they can hang out and, you know, all day. And so some people only have like 1 or 2 sleds and a big family. So they take turns on them and they hang out of the park and make it a whole like picnic day or whatever. But but yeah, for the most part, you get, you know, some serious snowmobilers in here, and they got some nice machines that are made for climbing hills and playing in the powder. And what our, our groom system does is it gets them out there faster, more efficiently, so they can save fuel and and also to. So they run into a problem they get they like seen those groomed trails so they can get back on and back to safety quicker.

Paul Wade [00:03:22] And who owns this land and where do these trails lead.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:03:27] Yeah. So we're on national forest land. It's a pretty checkerboard it around here with private, you know, timber companies. There's like 3 or 4 of them out here, but. Yeah. So our trail system goes in and out of private and Forest Service. Yeah. The whole deal is that the state funds this program. They, you know, paid for the share, they got the equipment pay for our time. But, for service personnel is the one. Operates the whole thing. And then, yeah. And then we're on Forest Service roads is what we're grooming. Well, this road will take you to I mean, we'll take you out to Madison Lake because we're where most people go from it. But, I mean, you can keep on it and end up either on highway 97 out there by tenant. And that's just, I think south. Go. And then if you go another direction out by more like Medicine Lake, you can end up out there in the lava beds and even further out there. I forget the highway, but it's like Killy Lake area.

Paul Wade [00:04:30] That would be highway 139 and Perez. And don't even think about accessing the area from that side.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:04:39] Yeah, but I don't know how far you can get at this time of year. They don't plow the road. So, like, right here is where we stop plowing unless they're doing logging operations. And they'll plow it out to wherever they're logging. But we don't. We fly out of the park and that's it. And then just when it melts out, it is time of year. It's opening it. So, yeah, you can look on your Google Maps or whatever and it'll say, you know, this, this road's nice and paved and get you all the way to here. But that's only if there's no snow.

Paul Wade [00:05:06] And with my orientation figured out, we were off into the wild white yonder. On board. We have our safety gear, a chainsaw if we encounter fallen trees, food and drink, and a hopeful outlook on the weather as snow continues to fall.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:05:24] But yeah, you can already see it's kind of cleared up a little. Where it's trying to. I think they only forecasted 1 to 2in today. And then it's.

Paul Wade [00:05:35] Going to clear up tonight. We start plowing immediately past the parking lot on road 13, heading northeast with the paved Stevens Pass Road 3 to 5ft under snow or at least hip deep. Don't ask.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:05:52] So right now we're just doing what's called track packing. We're just going to drive over the fresh snow and track packing.

Paul Wade [00:06:00] Got it. Not plowing already. I'm learning new lingo. And this machine isn't Uncle Earl's snow removal business.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:06:07] Kind of condense it a little bit more so it's easier to groom when you come back. And it gives gives you a better, consistent trail for processing the snow. And then, we're also coming back this way to is one track back. And so I'm saving fuel by not running my tiller back there right now. And so I'll just drive over to this track back in, move the snow I need, cut out the drifts and then I'll when I come back, I'll, drop that tiller through the snow.

Paul Wade [00:06:35] Condense, groom consistent trail processing the snow tiller. Cut out drifts. We get into these terms a little later, but for now I look around to check for any red buttons or switches, possibly something saying eject on it as I suddenly realize how out of my element I am. Jeremiah calms my nerves and explains more about the machine. We are comfortably cruising it.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:07:05] I wouldn't waste video on this. This is like I said, it's going to be boring for like an hour and a half. So Casper is the name of the company that makes these out in Germany. And that's why you'll see in the front there's an emblem that says it's a king, but it's a on the side it says Piston Bullet 400. That's the model. So it's kind of like a Ford F-150. It's the best of all. 400. I think it's kind of the standard for this kind of job. Like most city parks have these there's there's different manufacturers of this kind of machine, this, you know, a groomer. But. They just state being a government entity got a contract and they got a bunch of these. And this is kind of the mid-size model. Did they make a one just bigger to 600? And that's that's a little too big for what we need. In fact, this one was a little big for what we needed. It becomes I think you're about 16ft wide. And they had the the tiller and the blade on this cut down to 14.5ft so we can get it on some of our narrow road systems.

Paul Wade [00:08:11] I ask about the front business and the plow or blade, since that is what we're staring at for hours. When Jeremiah showcases its capabilities, it looks like a piece of a transformer. Okay, I'm going to reveal my geek side like Rampage from the Decepticons mixed with that P-5000 Powered Work Loader Ripley used in the movie aliens. Okay. Back to reality.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:08:42] Okay, so this is a 12 way blade. Yeah. So you've got the some. You call them ears or wings. But yeah, there's one function that says. I. That was poor. There's two more of down you got, girl. And then you've got tilt. Then you got side to side. And they all are necessary in this machine. I mean, some people, you know, especially beginners, when you're teaching them, how to move snow and stuff, they just do this and then, you know, like this.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:09:11] But, as you get. We're, familiar with this machine, and you start realizing.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:09:19] Yeah, it's it's a 12 way blade for a reason. You know, it helps you kind of manipulate the snow into areas you need. Yeah. You'll see. There's, you know, there's lots of hills that we're making cut back on such things. So there's just this big dresser for the hillside like this, and we're cutting straight and inside of it, we're trying to cut a nice level trail. And that's what we believe is. Big help in that situation.

Paul Wade [00:09:47] Jeremiah mentioned leveling out trails. I don't own a snowmobile. I've. I've seen cross-country skiing, and I tend to bag peaks in snowshoes. So who benefits from his snow grooming artistry?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:10:00] No, it's mostly just, snowmobilers. And, you know, the quality comes out good enough for skiing. We try to do our best to make things levels possible and filling all the deficits. And because you imagine a snowmobiler coming down here at 23 miles an hour and you hit a little bump that you left, you know, a little speed bump, so to speak, of snow. And that's pretty uncomfortable to sled. And if you're going even faster, which some people do, you can get, you know, blocked off your sled. So, you know, it's a safety issue. And it's also an esthetic thing. It's, you know, trying to make the trail. It's nice and smooth as possible. It's challenging. You know, it's especially with the different temperatures we're not at by like ski resorts where we have a lot of different terrain we cover, we go up high and then come down low and then go up high again. So we just in a single day, even if it is cold out and freezing temperatures, will encounter different types of snow, different densities. And we'll have to adjust, you know, for what we're doing there. And that's why, you know, there's all these buttons to, adjust your tiller. You got tiller speed, you got tiller depth, which is how far those teeth cut into the snow. You've got up pressure down pressure. You got flow. Then you can address your down pressure. All these things are. Necessary to kind of keep that nice corduroy pattern. And some days, you know, when you're just driving out here and you don't have fresh snow, you're just re grooming a trail that got, you know, kind of tore up from a lot of slick use. You're just trying to put that nice corduroy pattern back. Sometimes you have to really get that pressure on that tiller down. You have to get those teeth coming in deep and you have to go a little slower. So it gives it time to kind of process and snow to where it needs to be, where you cover up just your, machine strap, you know, so those aren't showing, but and then some days you fail, you know, you can't get it perfect. But. You just gotta move on. You know you can't spend all day out here.

Paul Wade [00:11:58] Corduroy. A fashion in the 70s, for sure. But does the youth totally understand that term? Sorry, I digress. I ask Jeremiah what a recreation technician does during each season.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:12:11] Well, for the winter time, it's, grooming operations. And we also do sled patrols. You know, I'm an FPO, so we go out there and we check compliance with green stickers, and then, just, you know, we check for resource damage, which is part of the, the grant agreement, the ground operations. And we also maintain the facilities out here in the bathrooms and the grooming, for the, where we. And then in the summertime or springtime, fall, we manage campgrounds. We do just about everything you can imagine to keep those things operational and opening. And closing. I'm kind of, I'm the head guy for, like, the, the big maintenance projects and, also the, the water operator for the water systems because they're public water systems. And we have one especially that needs, special attention. It has a coordinator and that requires, a D1 level. Distribution operator, which I have that license to do that. Yeah. What I do is I.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:13:15] I manage to prepare and do all the reporting on public matters. That's, you know, following EPA standards and.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:13:23] Guidelines, you know, for. And all the policy that falls under, you know, it depends on how big your water system is. But we have the smaller ones. They qualify as a transient non community. So we have to test it.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:13:35] When it's open seasonal system. That also changes how. You know, it's regulated. But these are the.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:13:42] Spigots you see at the campgrounds. And when you have one campground that it's an actual.

Paul Wade [00:13:48] And hope well. Jeremiah added that the water tests are done at several spots. Pipes. Well, if all goes. Well, then the county approves the campground open. The water is then tested once a month. Did you catch that acronym FPO?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:14:10] FBO is a force protection officer. So it's like I think they considered a level two. Law enforcement. We can enforce federal regulation codes and federal regulation for enforcers.

Paul Wade [00:14:20] Well, we'll get back to you more on what a recreation technician does, or at least what Jeremiah does, just in case we have folks listening in, just heard their ideal job. Now, the Pilgrim Creek Snowmobile Park, is considered an OHV or off highway vehicle area.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:14:40] It's mostly just on our district is just through the snowmobile clubs. And, this actual program of grooming was started in the 60s by volunteers who were avid snowmobilers. And they had their own clubs and they basically wrote up grants, sent it to the state and state. That's how it got started. And then it got to the point where the Forest Service, because we're putting these machines in these, parking lots and parks on Foresters land. So we it just happened in partnership that we were, we're managing and recreation OHV. It just kind of goes hand in hand.

Paul Wade [00:15:16] Jeremiah and his staff conduct community outreach, trying to entice a continuing flow of volunteers to help maintain these OHV trails. For the most part, the public follows the rules, but problems do exist.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:15:32] I think the biggest thing we run into and it's. It's hard to manage, but it's, just trespassing because there's a lot of checkerboard between Forest Service land and private land. You're going in and out, and that's where we provide for free the public. These are the maps of the trail system where they can sled. But it's like, you know, be mindful of these areas that are private because you can't get stuck in a snowmobile. And the most common damage you will do to resources is you have to cut a tree out of your way, like a little like the top of a tree. You're on state, you're on 8 or 10ft of snow, but then you accidentally plow into three well or something. And it's easy you can't get. Sled unstuck unless you cut part of the tree away. And that's. That's the biggest resource damage we've seen out here.

Paul Wade [00:16:21] Not to say I'd stick to trails either, but the park is built, made, created, what have you. For this reason, there are maps with designated areas, and part of that reasoning is safety.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:16:35] We have wilderness intrusion. So there's, Mount Shasta Wilderness area. There's a lot of places. Just a few in particular that people like to go and sneak into with their snowmobiles and, and, that's a no no. So we go check on that, make sure signs are posted and. We document that stuff as part of our agreement with the state. We give them that data so they can see, what's actually occurring out here with their, trail system. Yeah. So there's a few play areas, and we have a marked on our map there, big flat areas that get a lot of snow. And they're just wide open where people can open up the throttles and play around. But yeah. And then a lot of guys, there's a couple of hills that they like to go out and play on and do some climbing. Test their abilities, I guess. Yeah, you get off trail right now, especially where we're at an elevation. There's not a whole lot of snow, and you can easily damage your sled by, you know, catching a rock or a storm for there's options. But most people are taking this trail system to get them further into more, snow, you know, into deeper snow conditions. In that way, everything's covered up. You know, so to speak. You know, all the stones and all the little things that can cause issues. And then when you're sitting on six feet or more of snow, it's there's kind of a. More comfort there to play around than it is on right here, where we've only got 1 to 2ft. If we did it in one shot, I was grooving right now. We could pop out at three in about three hours, about an hour from the park. Right there, just kind of west of Elm Flat, but. Well, since this is a. You know, a fresh groom after a couple of storms are going to have to track back it. I'll turn.

Paul Wade [00:18:23] Around and. Through it. As we approach Trout Creek Campground, I wanted to know more on what snow conditions create, what decision a to groom or not to groom moment.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:18:37] There's a there's a few is there's one. We don't really want to go out during the storm because our, you know, our work's just going to be covered up by more snow. And it's, you know, it's dangerous. We can get caught in the system and winds a big, safety issue. You know, a lot of these trees will come down in the trail. Just from wind and, you know, heavy snow. So we kind of like to go after the storm past, and then we, we take that new, fresh snow and, we try not to go out on the weekends because it's, you know, busy with snowmobilers, and we don't want to, you know. Cause any kind of. You know we don't want to. We want to be on the trail with them, because what we're doing is we want to groom the trail and we're processing the snow. And then once it's groomed, it needs time to set up, which freezes. And if snowmobilers go right through that, when it's setting up and rig that, it'll set up.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:19:29] With snowmobile tracks in it and it'll be hard to groom and it'll just be uncomfortable to ride on. So.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:19:35] And then it's also a safety issue with, these guys will be coming around the corner and they will see us and will.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:19:40] Panic and run off the road, so to speak. And. It's just it's just.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:19:45] Better during the week and there's less traffic, you know, after a big snowstorm that's, you know, put a lot of powder in, you know, drier snow. Let's dance. No, we'll. We'll we'll wait. You know, even a few days after the storm's passed, I just hopefully let that snow kind of condense a little bit more. Because we've been out here with this machine and we've had trouble just driving around, you know, just because the powder is just. So, it's dry.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:20:13] You know, it doesn't pack very well because it's, you know, really cold. And, and it's difficult just to, you know, we just try to get around, let alone having to work and.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:20:25] Drag that tiller back there, which weighs about 1,500 pounds. So it's essentially an anchor. And when we're dragging around with this machine, which, you know, probably roughly weighs anywhere.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:20:36] 15 to 16,000 pounds without the blade.

Paul Wade [00:20:40] Do you want more lingo? Priority, Jeremiah tells us more.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:20:45] Yeah. We're on what we call the Trout Creek Loop.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:20:48] Part of our trail system. And this is actually.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:20:51] What we call like priority number three are, our first priority. And second priority is, is the, Pomeroy route, which is, that's what it's called on the map. And it's it's the 19 road or not known as Military Pass route. And that's basically the road that you get on from Golden Creek Park, and it goes straight up.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:21:10] To Deer Mountain Park. And then you turn around and then come back through that.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:21:15] And then our second priority is Ash Creek Loop, which is. You know, shoots off the 90.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:21:21] And goes around. Ash Creek Peak.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:21:26] And reason we have that on our trail system.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:21:28] Is it's it's got a lot of good heel climbing areas, and a lot of people like to go into the bowl of ash, preview and.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:21:35] Play with their snowmobiles and do high marking, and there's good powder up there. But then that that little loop cuts back on to the 19 a jackrabbit slam, which is a good like, flat play area that a lot of people like to. You know, practice carving. We're just sitting. Have lunch. Let's go. When it's on a clear day, it's got great views of the east.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:21:58] Side of Mount Shasta.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:22:00] I guess forced focus wasn't good enough for priority 1 or 2. But then I heard more bad news.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:22:07] This loop right here. You know, if we did it in one loop, it would be probably 4 to 5 hours. But today it's going to take probably close to seven just because we're going to track back in. And then once we tie in to the other loop, the street, you, turn around there and then come back and actually put the groomer down and. Room when we track that. So we're kind of doing it twice.

Paul Wade [00:22:35] Seven hours. My silence was deafening. But Jeremiah is an artist and perfection can't be rushed. Plus, remember I did mention hip deep snow.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:22:51] Which is necessary. A lot of the times to get a nice, consistent, groomed trail. It's better to track, pack fresh snow and give it 20 30 minutes if you can look at the minimum. And then it's even better to leave it for a couple hours or overnight and then come.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:23:08] Back and plow it out and level it out and groom it. But you know, what.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:23:14] We're doing today is this is good. It's just perfect timing. You know, just track back it and we'll sit here for a couple hours before we come back over it again.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:23:22] And then it'll grow nicely.

Paul Wade [00:23:25] For the fashionistas out there. I was more concerned about. Will we see corduroy today?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:23:32] Yeah, but it's also what we're doing. We're grooming the snow. You know, they call it processing. The snow is we're we're basically warming it up and we're taking, you know, not to get too in-depth on the science and vendor you're taking in. You're kind of cutting up the snow. Flakes. You know, you're kind of rounding off the edges on those spiky flakes and things, and it allows it to melt. So just a little bit, you know, and it kind of like, allows it to condense and become a more consistent and dense.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:24:02] Trail as opposed to leaving air pockets, you know, having it melt in some places and not others.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:24:09] So? So we track packing fresh snow.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:24:13] Causes that to have it first. And then you go over it again with the chiller. And that does it again and causes, you know, more consistent.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:24:21] More consistency on the trail.

Paul Wade [00:24:23] We were now track packing with dirt road far below and headed into private land where the landscape was scarred by the 2021 Antelope Fire. As we float on top of the snow, not plowing through it, we travel through a timber harvest area and realize how far we are into the backcountry. Colored markings on certain trees are the only color we see. It is stunning. And you realize we are working. This is something that Jeremiah has done hundreds of times.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:25:00] It's a job for me.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:25:02] And it used to be, you know, you know, it was a new experience at one point. And then, you know, this is most things and you enforcers have always been fun to learn do. And yeah, you can.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:25:11] Do it long enough. You're kind of like, okay, man, you have kind of mastered that crafting. What, stimulating or like anything else you get familiar with. But. But it's still, you know, I tell myself it's nice to get paid to be out here and do this stuff, but I'm not doing this in the wintertime. I have another partner and go out with them. I get paid to snowmobile, you know. Yeah. So. And some guys, you know, they're out doing snow surveys. You didn't need to ski. You know, you got to ski into these places and ski out. Now this is great news because you're out here and you don't see people for.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:25:41] Days.

Paul Wade [00:25:42] Not to paint a romantic picture. Recreation technicians also have the stressful job of getting those popular campgrounds ready for the public. Depending on the location, a massive amount of people itching to get to their favorite spots and recreate what follows is a constant drumbeat of follow the posted signs the camp hosts and patrolling recreation technicians reminding folks of current fire restrictions, pointing out obvious signs of wildfire dangers, dealing with trash, and misuse of facilities. Oh, by the way, this soapbox moment was brought to you by Leave No Trace principles and to pack your trash out. Now back to a grooming problem. We are outsloped. yep. More lingo.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:26:32] I'm outsloped.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:26:33] Okay, so I don't want that because when you're on a sled that's going to to push you downhill. So I can fix this coming back to. But I'm going to do it just because I was already kind of talked about. So I need to take more snow from right lane.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:26:46] We should let it come over this side. And I can.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:26:50] Feel that in my seat. When I'm driving, I don't see like I can't see it in the trail. But I can feel it in my machine if I'm going to lift it out to the left or right. It's just that, you know, it doesn't come naturally. That's fly by, that you're.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:27:06] You know, the edge of your seat or whatever. It's certainly a learning experience for me.

Paul Wade [00:27:11] All I see is snow. Snow and more snow. I can't make out hills, peaks, the sun and 14,000 foot. Mount Shasta never made an appearance all day. No clue where the road is. Does he get lost?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:27:28] But yeah, this is the trail system. I've gotten lost on many times, as you can tell. It's like where you don't know where the road is. And so you can.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:27:36] Be anywhere between some trees. Right? Right. Yeah, this is probably my favorite. Trail loop, whatever you want to call it. The green. Just because it's a little different country and it's usually a little more technical and tighter like, yeah. We have a lot more snow after. There's no. And then there's some really cool views of Mount Shasta when it's clear skies and. Unfortunately, anyone can see that. The news I'm speaking of today. I don't know, it's.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:28:14] Pretty year like this condition or these kind of conditions.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:28:17] Are like like clear days. You know, obviously you can see more. This is kind of nice once in a while to have something different. Kind of mist, fog mountain like.

Paul Wade [00:28:29] If these piston bullies break down the parts. Facility is located in Reno, Nevada. They also can send out mechanics if necessary.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:28:38] Yeah, we you know, we have breakdowns, which we do in. If we can deal with it in house.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:28:43] Which we have a lot, it's we saved a lot of money, you know, doing it ourselves.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:28:49] If you're comfortable, it's the state's equipment. So we always ask first and then they have an account and they just say, yeah, just call up the parts person.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:28:56] And have them ship it to you. You know, if you want it.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:28:58] Overnight. We will pay for that too.

Paul Wade [00:29:01] With big snow years, hundreds of miles of trails. How many people are trained to snow groomed, and what's the ideal situation to maintain this program?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:29:13] Yeah, it'd be nice, you know, in theory to have, you know. 4 or 5 operators that, you know, do this regularly, but we don't have the staff. And then. So we relied heavily in the past on volunteers. Those volunteers. You know, like you say, got older, passed away or just.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:29:30] You know, don't have or aren't in the shape of an ability to do this. Machine get.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:29:36] A lot of years. You know, in theory, you can, like, have a night crew and then fuel up and in the morning, the day, come on and get the rest pushed out real quickly. And then that way you you time to go out. Patrol. Don't play around if you're a volunteer. That's what the volunteers are doing. They want to see a group so they can play on it.

Paul Wade [00:29:56] We are in some amazing terrain right now. While not banking like a fighter jet, we are cutting through trees and hitting some slopes which brought up the avalanche topic.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:30:08] And we do actually have a couple avalanche awareness areas on our map that our trail or group trail system goes through. But it's. Not typically. You know, the avalanche would.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:30:21] Typically threaten the trail system and riding on the trail. It's just if you get off the trail and start playing in the valley called boondocking and in the trees and stuff that that you are in that, you know, known avalanche prone areas. Don't think we're going to. You don't need to dig.

Paul Wade [00:30:41] Wait, what was that? So you've heard if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around. Does it make a sound? What's the point of all this grooming if the public doesn't know about it?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:30:54] Yeah, we have a.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:30:54] Portal that we enter. You know any kind of information on what trails we grew? What conditions.

Jereimah Tabor [00:31:01] Are like out there? And especially like, what conditions? Like in the park. It's a good spot to put in. Like, you know, for instance, you know, they're plowing out like about a mile and a half from. Deer Mountain. They have a logging operation and then they will be cut to the left. So you got about a mile and a half where you don't have a trail. And then once you get past that, you. You're good to go. Yeah. So we try to update that for you.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:31:27] Go home every night. I don't know how often that gets used and how people actually look at it.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:31:36] It's also on the avalanche down where she has to handle any sort of site. That, Nick Meyers and his crew. Maintain that. That one's where you sign. So there's a little dropdown menu for trails and stuff. You can find that report on there. Yeah. And I put that even on the report on the website. I think I'll go home at the end of the day, and all I could get done was track packing, you know, this trail. But at least they know that they can plan, like if they want to. You can go off this area, but. You know, a lot of people, I think, just drive out to.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:32:08] The park and just go for it. And they just they can, you know, visually. Turn in what's been you know for not but and.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:32:18] Sometimes they don't care.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:32:19] They're just going out to their specific spot. Yeah. That they, you know, always don't even whether they're going to have to go through a group. I think.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:32:28] I just see, wait,

Jeremiah Tabor [00:32:30] I'm not on the trail.

Paul Wade [00:32:31] Dang it! I must have jinxed it.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:32:35] So it gets we're we're on like ten plus feet of snow right now. So it's easy to get lost, but especially in these more thinned down areas. So this is private as you can tell. Let us discuss the forces that. I zigged when I should have zagged.

Paul Wade [00:32:53] Part of the reason I was disoriented was from wait for it. Here is more lingo. Flat light.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:33:01] Yeah, the light's flat. Like. Yeah, there's not enough contrast to. Show you.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:33:06] The terrain. Now let's go back a bit to making sure the public have the means to recreate on their public lands. We wouldn't be a federal agency without some complaints. We certainly can't please everybody all the time. But for Jeremiah and the staff at the Shasta Trinity National Forest, it seems all about earning trust and developing understanding. But yeah, for the most part.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:33:33] People know that, you know, we can't get out here.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:33:35] And do everything. You know, there's gotta work in between storm systems. And we go, we have mechanical failures and breakdowns, and we get to do what they.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:33:44] Most districts have.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:33:46] You know, somebody staffed in the front desk for that information. Like, you know, it gets confusing, easy to call, you know, from 8 to 430. You know, some of these you see there and it's like, and they either know it or they'll go.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:33:58] Find out the answer, you know, like, oh, the way you know, some people, which is not bad. It sounds redundant, but it's like we'll go on the website and they're like, okay, website says this, but is that true? And it's good to do that once in a while, especially if you're thinking, yeah, it doesn't make sense. Like, is this road really open right now? And then you can, you know, talk to that person like, oh.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:34:17] Actually, you know, you know, there are times where we forgot to update that or, or it didn't go through. Like.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:34:22] I can't tell you how many times I've updated the group number. And then I'll go back, check it.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:34:26] And be like, oh, it didn't take, you know, like it just didn't get processed through the portal, I don't know. You know, technology's not perfect. So it's good to hear that.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:34:37] Voice from, you know, an actual real person saying.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:34:39] Yes, is this way or yes, that's. Or. No, it's.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:34:47] Yeah, I think.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:34:48] Are district does a really good job, especially in recreation. Reporting.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:34:54] All the info you need to know before you go.

Paul Wade [00:34:57] As a person who enjoys climbing peaks in all seasons, I can attest to knowing before you go is crucial, but at times frustrating. While our websites might not be a complete one stop shop, going into the unknown requires a lot of research and knowing who has firsthand knowledge of the recreational area that you're going into. Trip reports from previous climbers, volunteer groups, snowmobile clubs, county tourism boards calling a business, and state officials. They all could help. Dial in your plan A with a, B, a C or even a plan D as backup. And speaking of having a backup plan. We're stopped.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:35:47] Well it's just the yellow one? Which is.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:35:48] Good. I mean, if it were red it would be it would serious, but it's like, yellow is kind of figure it out. Like, you'll get home, but red is like, stop and fix it right now.

Paul Wade [00:35:59] But it's not a skull. As long it's not a skull.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:36:02] It's not yet. Yeah, it's something with the engine. We're good.

Paul Wade [00:36:07] The engine must have heard us talking about parts and it being a little old.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:36:14] Yeah. So now that we've.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:36:15] Tracked back it, we're going back over it. We're moving a little bit more snow, trying to get it smooth as possible.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:36:24] And then behind us we get the tiller going which is processing the snow further. And then what it's doing is it's chewing it up and it's putting a little pressure. On top of that snow and the curtain behind it's dragging, which is giving it a quarter.

Paul Wade [00:36:38] And having track packed what trails were needed. We start heading back as trails get heavy traffic. Jeremiah and the staff will return for a fresh makeover, but there has to be some time for fun and games, right? What about building a fortress, an igloo, a giant snow creature?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:37:01] [LAUGHING]

Jeremiah Tabor [00:37:02] No, but I have thought about just putting a random like jump off ramp for snowmobiles, like just on some brain at the end of the.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:37:11] Trail, or some.

Paul Wade [00:37:12] Grooming trails for 7 to 8 hours without a soul in sight. What about wildlife?

Jeremiah Tabor [00:37:19] It's rare. I mean, they're out here, but yeah, I've seen. I've seen tracks more than wildlife in mountain lion bear tracks. One time I thought I saw wolf tracks, but then, believe it or not, ten miles from the snowmobile park were these people in park? They were out jogging on the trail with their. There, big old dog. It was one of those Great Pyrenees. So that's what I was seeing in. I see pine marten.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:37:50] Coyotes, you know, but.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:37:52] For the most part, you know, this machine's pretty loud and everything hears it coming, so it just. I've always. It's red too, so it's a big, shiny, loud red thing. Most animals don't hang out. Check it out.

Paul Wade [00:38:05] Just to cover a question we know we might get in the future. No, we didn't see any librarians or lizard people. I was on the lookout, though. One thing I did find that was utterly enjoyable and entertaining was the movement in the formation of the snow built up on the blade. It was mesmerizing as we returned to the shed. Also known as the home of the Piston Bully, I learned more about Jeremiah's other assigned duties which might appeal to you. He climbed trees to trim and minimize hazardous branches. He also climbs trees to collect cones for replanting and reforestation purposes. He does patrolling of camp areas and dispersed campgrounds to enforce fire restrictions. Here is another assigned duty that's actually pretty cool.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:39:00] The other thing we do in recreation.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:39:01] For fun is we have a couple. The historic lookouts that we rent out to the public.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:39:07] And we have to maintain those. So we get to drive out to these places and work on it. When you're at a big project on.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:39:13] You know, it was a. I think at 23. Tread stair.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:39:19] Case that we.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:39:20] Replace. Just took the old one out and totally rebuilt the new one. I've rebuilt shutters, one of our lookouts and you know that we retain a.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:39:31] They're old and falling apart. And we're just. Keeping them safe for the public to keep using. So there's always something there.

Paul Wade [00:39:37] But after grooming 55 miles and seeing one set of snowmobile tracks, I asked Jeremiah how he ended up as a recreation technician on the McCloud Ranger District.

Jeremiah Tabor [00:39:51] By chance, I mean I don't and didn't necessarily pick this career. I was in college at 20 and it seemed like a good seasonal job and, you know, kind of fell in love with working out in the woods. And, and you get to meet all kinds of people and a lot of good friendships. And things have happened over the years from just working here. And, and it's also great to serve your community. I mean, you get paid to be a public servant is, you know, I it's one of my favorite things about the job. But recreation is always what I've worked in for about 20 years now. And it's I think I've stayed in it because it's just pretty diverse, especially in our area, in our district, we have a lot of different things we do, you know, on any given day. So it's not monotonous. It's very, it's very fun. It can be challenging and that's part of the fun. But, if you're up for it and you like those challenges, I mean, it's a good place to work.

Paul Wade [00:40:43] I think I have what it takes to be a snow groomer. So I get to sit in the admiral's chair. Jeremiah goes over the controls. If you went snowmobiling in that area and noticed one small area wasn't perfectly groomed with that corduroy effect, yeah, that was me. Thanks to Jeremiah and the wonderful recreation staff at the Shasta Trinity National Forest for letting us tag along. You truly make enjoying the outdoors in all seasons more accessible. Thanks for listening. For those who are curious to learn more, go over to the Show Description page and click on the links to find more episodes. Search for Forest Focus podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and if you have any questions or suggestions for the show, email us at. Small Fest R5 ft podcast@usda.gov. Until next time, enjoy your public lands. Please remember to recreate responsibly. Know before you go and learn what you can do to prevent wildfires. Take care. This podcast is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and the USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.