I just remembered when I landed there in May of 2012 in a 172, I landed to the north, and was going to then taxi down and take off to the south. The first 1000' of runway 36 was clear, but then we started to notice lots of the same size large rocks. So I turned around and took off to the north. I wonder if there is someone in Beaver Marsh who keeps doing this. OPA had a Beaver Marsh work part in I think Sept/Oct 2012 so they must have cleared everything then. I've got a couple of hunting cameras, maybe we should fly out there and put em up and see if we can't catch any suspicious activity. I assume it doesn't have a fully fenced perimeter?

chosstronaut wrote:I just remembered when I landed there in May of 2012 in a 172, I landed to the north, and was going to then taxi down and take off to the south. The first 1000' of runway 36 was clear, but then we started to notice lots of the same size large rocks. So I turned around and took off to the north. I wonder if there is someone in Beaver Marsh who keeps doing this. OPA had a Beaver Marsh work part in I think Sept/Oct 2012 so they must have cleared everything then. I've got a couple of hunting cameras, maybe we should fly out there and put em up and see if we can't catch any suspicious activity. I assume it doesn't have a fully fenced perimeter?

I am for the cameras! There is no fence and no good signs either. It looks like it's abandoned, which is why it's getting abused, in my opinion.

If you are going to remove the larger rocks from the runway, make sure you pile them all in one area near the trees upon which the Trail Cam will be mounted. This way you will get multiple shots of the culprits as they do their illegal deeds.

I utilize numerous Reconyx Trail Cams on my properties and it is amazing what and who is photographed.

MAU MAU wrote:If you are going to remove the larger rocks from the runway, make sure you pile them all in one area near the trees upon which the Trail Cam will be mounted. This way you will get multiple shots of the culprits as they do their illegal deeds.

I utilize numerous Reconyx Trail Cams on my properties and it is amazing what and who is photographed.

Good idea putting the sharp rocks where the deranged individual(s) can be photographed moving them to a dangerous location.

Could be Bigfoot!!

Seriously guys, I don't think vandals put those rocks on the runway. That airstrip hasn't had much maintenance if any for quite some time. The soil is pumice from Mt. Mazama. The pumice is so loose and easily displaced the freeze/thaw cycles, rain and wind blowing the surface away cause rocks to work their way to the surface. They grow there so to speak. You would probably have to have a rock picking party once a year and keep them under control.

tcj wrote:Seriously guys, I don't think vandals put those rocks on the runway. That airstrip hasn't had much maintenance if any for quite some time. The soil is pumice from Mt. Mazama. The pumice is so loose and easily displaced the freeze/thaw cycles, rain and wind blowing the surface away cause rocks to work their way to the surface. They grow there so to speak. You would probably have to have a rock picking party once a year and keep them under control.

There was an OPA work party there in the fall of 2012, I never saw it afterwards but I assume it was pretty clear at the time. With the people placing rocks on FS roads out side of Bend, on Table Rock Airstrip, Pinnacle Ranch Airstrip etc. I wouldn't be surprised if they where placed there by humans. Your are very right that on the looseness of the soil there, and I also kind of wondered the same thing my self, but looking at the picture those are pretty big rocks to just pop up in a year. Would be interesting to see what goes on there with a camera non the less

tcj wrote:Seriously guys, I don't think vandals put those rocks on the runway. That airstrip hasn't had much maintenance if any for quite some time. The soil is pumice from Mt. Mazama. The pumice is so loose and easily displaced the freeze/thaw cycles, rain and wind blowing the surface away cause rocks to work their way to the surface. They grow there so to speak. You would probably have to have a rock picking party once a year and keep them under control.

Seriously full of it.

Never been there. Is it that loose and silty? If it packs at all and there is plant growth, I have a hard time imagining enough erosion occurring or enough soil water saturation to make rocks like that appear in less than a year's time. I've seen weirder stuff happen though.

Zzz wrote:Never been there. Is it that loose and silty? If it packs at all and there is plant growth, I have a hard time imagining enough erosion occurring or enough soil water saturation to make rocks like that appear in less than a year's time. I've seen weirder stuff happen though.

I saw erosion similar to what tcj described. Which is common anywhere in the Cascades. I am familiar with it.

But...

Also, the large sharp nasty rocks, in my opinion, were on very hard packed dirt that did not indicate any significant erosion. The rocks were relocated (opinion).

Please see post #1. Those rocks looked placed.

The runway has been there since 1942

First post to BCP - and a bit of a necropost to this thread, but this seemed to be the best place to ask if anyone has flown into Beaver Marsh this year? I ask because I was thinking of a making a stop there on Friday (Oct 3.) Naturally I'm interested in the condition of the field. Thanks!

JimLogajan wrote:First post to BCP - and a bit of a necropost to this thread, but this seemed to be the best place to ask if anyone has flown into Beaver Marsh this year? I ask because I was thinking of a making a stop there on Friday (Oct 3.) Naturally I'm interested in the condition of the field. Thanks!

You did it right! It's nice to have all the information in a single topic, for...posterity.

Welcome to BCP.

Zzz wrote:

JimLogajan wrote:First post to BCP - and a bit of a necropost to this thread, but this seemed to be the best place to ask if anyone has flown into Beaver Marsh this year? I ask because I was thinking of a making a stop there on Friday (Oct 3.) Naturally I'm interested in the condition of the field. Thanks!

You did it right! It's nice to have all the information in a single topic, for...posterity.

Welcome to BCP.

Thanks for the welcome. I did land at Beaver Marsh today - it was definitely dusty and not the best condition, but I managed to get in and out using a C-172 rental (no wheel pants) without damaging the plane (as far as I can tell .. or admit to!) I got some pictures and some video that I'm not sure what to do with - I suppose I should post a pirep or pictures to shortfield.com.

JimLogajan wrote:

Zzz wrote:

JimLogajan wrote:First post to BCP - and a bit of a necropost to this thread, but this seemed to be the best place to ask if anyone has flown into Beaver Marsh this year? I ask because I was thinking of a making a stop there on Friday (Oct 3.) Naturally I'm interested in the condition of the field. Thanks!

You did it right! It's nice to have all the information in a single topic, for...posterity.

Welcome to BCP.

Thanks for the welcome. I did land at Beaver Marsh today - it was definitely dusty and not the best condition, but I managed to get in and out using a C-172 rental (no wheel pants) without damaging the plane (as far as I can tell .. or admit to!) I got some pictures and some video that I'm not sure what to do with - I suppose I should post a pirep or pictures to shortfield.com.

I would like to see your PIREP. Please post a link here?

8GCBC wrote:I would like to see your PIREP. Please post a link here?

I think the following link should take you to the shortfield.com explorer page with Beaver Marsh in the center; click on the marker for pireps, pictures, and videos, including some I just added:

http://www.shortfield.com/sfx/index.php?sno=19365.*A

Taxi video should give some idea of runway condition (the director didn't allow any re-takes):

This doesn't add much, but since I took it I may as well post it: a simple pan of the area after shut down:

Hi Jim,

Very cool. Thank you.

Brings back memories.

FEB-2012;

Thanks Jim for the PIREP.
Its good to see thats its still usable. Dan