It lived through the arrival of Columbus, welcomed Lewis and Clark to the West and survived the rise of Portland hipsters. But last winter a particularly strong gust of wind brought a titanic Douglas fir crashing down in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.

© Jessie Larson / US Forest Service Forest Service employees and volunteers worked to open a pathway through a gigantic Douglas fir in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.

Normally, even a tree the size of a Saturn rocket would barely be noticeable when it fell. But in this case, it blocked the Jefferson Lake Trail, an increasingly popular path into a beautiful section of wilderness backcountry.

At first, forest officials considered rerouting the trail around it, since nobody short of Sasquatch would have a chance of climbing over it.

But then came an audacious idea: a team of volunteers and Forest Service employees would cut a pathway through it.

"It was a really cool opportunity for people to basically walk through the tree and see all its rings up close," said Jessie Larson, the volunteers' trail coordinator for Deschutes National Forest.

It wouldn’t be easy. Even lying down, the tree rose as tall as a basketball hoop. Cutting out even a narrow segment would mean hauling out a piece of wood that weighed thousands of pounds.

© U.S. Forest Service A group of Forest Service employees cut through a giant Douglas fir blocking the Jefferson Lake Trail in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness this summer.

Toughest of all, they wouldn’t be allowed to use motorized tools due to the tree’s location inside a federally-designated wilderness area.

“This was the largest tree I've cut out of a trail in 11 years of working for the Forest Service," said Drew Peterson, acting wilderness specialist for Deschutes National Forest. "Add to that we can only use primitive tools, mandated by the Wilderness Act, and we found ourselves in a pretty unique situation.”

Instead of chainsaws, they would employ a cross-cut saw old-time loggers often referred to as a “misery whip.”

But it would be worth it to add another attraction to a pathway that’s been a work in progress since the 2003 B&B Complex wildfire brought extensive damage to the Jefferson Lake Trail.

"It was really overgrown until Mark and Holly Scott adopted the trail and helped with a big push to clean it out and keep it open and clear," Larson said.

Most of that work involved loppers and small handsaws. But cutting through this historic giant required something else entirely.

Support outdoors journalism: Stay informed on the most important issues facing Oregon’s outdoors and the environment by subscribing to the Statesman Journal.

© US Forest Service A group of Forest Service employees cut through a giant Douglas fir blocking the Jefferson Lake Trail in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness this summer.

Led by veteran trail crew leader Wayne Chevalier, a group of 10 volunteers and Forest Service workers headed about a quarter mile up the trail this past summer.

The team started by clearing the tree's thick bark. Then, they brought in a ladder to start cutting from the top.

"Even tipped over, it was around 4 feet over my head," Larson said. "Using a cross-cut while standing on a ladder was definitely harder. You can't use your body weight at all — it's all arms."

Normally, sawyers on a cross-cut use two-person teams with one person on each side. But in some places this tree too large.

"In the middle of the log, with both handles on the saw, you'd only have about 6 inches of pull on either side which isn't enough to expel the chips/sawdust from the middle of the cut," Peterson said.

So, they used single-person sawing for segments of the tree, before going back to two-person teams. Teams cut for about 15 minutes each, pounding in wedges as they went, before passing to the next person or team.

Finally, the slot was cut.

But then they faced an even dicier problem: removing an 8,000 pound "round" from the middle of the tree to open the gateway.

"We put a choker cable around the round that attached to a ratchet puller we secured to a nearby tree," Peterson said. "After we made two vertical cuts, lined up just right, we were able to get the round rolling."

The sheer weight of the round provided yet another challenge. After about 20 feet, the round stopped directly in the middle of the trial. The team couldn't move it. So, they improvised, adding a small twist to the trail.

"We weren't going to be able to move it again," Peterson said. "So now the trail now zigs around the round and back through the gap in the tree, adding a little character to the trail."

More: Fifteen years ago, a titanic wildfire in Oregon's Cascade Mountains forever changed how we view wildfires

The entire process took about six hours. But the result is being able to hike down the trail and count the rings of a fallen giant that sprouted before Oregon was a whisper of an idea. According to a volunteer who carefully counted those rings, the tree’s age when it fell was 560.

"An operation like this really does take a village, especially when you're using primitive tools," Peterson said. "Doing it this way wasn't necessarily the easy way — but it was the right way.

“If you get the opportunity, take a hike in and experience this tree," Peterson said.

© Jessie Larson / US Forest Service Forest Service employees and volunteers worked to open a pathway through a gigantic Douglas fir in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.

Jefferson Lake Trail

If you go: The Jefferson Lake Trail is located in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness northwest of Sisters. The trail begins at 3,100 feet. The giant tree is just up the trail. It's 9.2 miles to Jefferson Lake itself. For more information and maps, contact the Sisters Ranger Station. (541) 549-7700

© US Forest Service A group of Forest Service employees cut through a giant Douglas fir blocking the Jefferson Lake Trail in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness this summer.

Help keep trails open

The group that adopted the Jefferson Lake Trail is SWATS (sawyers with attitude to spare). SWATS is a volunteer group that logs out the majority of wilderness trails on the Deschutes. To get involved contact the High Cascade Forest Volunteers or Deschutes National Forest: jessica.larson@usda.gov.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter, photographer and videographer in Oregon for 11 years. To support his work, subscribe to the Statesman Journal. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon.” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Forest Service opens gateway through 560-year-old tree in Mount Jefferson Wilderness