After timber was felled and limbed, it was taken to a landing where it would be loaded into a train or truck, or sent down the river. Using a donkey engine and steel cable, logs could be dragged to the landing. This was known as "yarding." The cable was usually run up a spar tree or other high structure first so that it came down the log from above. That way it lifted one end of the log into the air and dragged the other end. They called this "high lead yarding."
Logs were also lifted entirely into the air and carried down the mountain on steel cables, an operation similar to a modern ski lift.
All types of yarding were hazardous. The risk of being crushed by timber on its way down the mountain was real, as was the risk of logs falling from the air lift. And if one of the steel cables snapped it could seriously injure anyone nearby—or worse.