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3 - RETURN TRIP
We returned in April to check it out again.
This
is pretty cool....I was able to look at the property
on Google Earth and identify the latitude and longitute
coordinates for the four corners of the property. Then,
I entered them into a handheld GPS.
When
we arrived in the woods, we were able to find each corner
of the site. Actually found the surveyor's tape at each
corner! That saved us a pile of money, and we were able
to get a good look at the entire lot!
This is the view from the site of the future main cabin.
Once I cut out those dead trees, we will have a gorgeous
view of the mountians across the beaver pond.
If
you look closely, you will see a pile of sticks in the
middle of the water. That is the beaver's lodge, where
they live.
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4 - FOUR CORNERS
We closed on the property May 15, 2007.
Ashley
said we need to name it.
When
we surveyed it in April, we noticed that each corner
of the property had its own distinct personality. One
is a stand of balsam firs, another is high with panoraminc
views, third has a beautiful little stream, and fourth
has the beaver pond and view.
elise
-
oh you guys are so dreamy! hehe But seriously it looks
so rustic and beautiful. You two are really hard core
campers. Im so excited for you both and I cant wait
to see the cabin when its finished.
jmalesardi
-
Devin, I love seeing the progress on your dream and
am so happy for you guys. Just don't think about moving
there permanently as I'm sure lots of us would miss
having your creative vision here for documenting our
growing families!
You can't just go into the northern
woods and build a log cabin in a weekend.
We
went up over Memorial Day weekend to get started.
First
thing, we needed to make a camp. Gotta have a comfortable
spot to operate out of.
We
loaded up the Jimmy with everything we would need for
a base camp.
Then
we had to get the gear into the woods. It is a 1/2 mile
hike in. Not bad, right? Starts easy...downhill on old
logging road. Then, it gets wet; you need knee high
muck boots. Not the easiest hiking boots, but doable.
Then, you go around a beaver dam and down a stream.
Some tricky footing, slippery. Then, along another beaver
pond and up another wet area/stream. Lots of bugs here.
Then, uphill bushwacking in hardwood forest. Overall,
a moderate hike. Now, put 50 - 70 lbs on your back.
Five times.
That
is one reason for the camp. We only wanted to have to
hump all that gear in ONCE. Our goal this weekend was
to create a place to store our gear for future trips.
We
had to clear a bunch of trees and make a camp. True
wilderness backpacking. Here is the finished result.
Very cozy!
lisalopez
-
I'm so glad you're taking pictures of this as you go!
Of course you would. :) Ryan and I can't wait to come
when it's all done. He has a metal framed backpack so
we can throw Lana on our backs and hike in.
The
property looks gorgeous...and four corners is a perfect
name. Congratulations on realizing your dream!
I have never built a log cabin before. I have been thinking
about it for over 25 years, but haven't done it yet.
So,
we figured it might be good to practice. We are making
a 6x8 shed for the gear. Doing it quick and rough, but
it will give me the practice I need to do the better
one. Plus, we will have a sturdy little shelter to sleep
in while we work on the nice cabin.....
First,
you gotta cut the trees....
The
notch.
Sometimes
it takes a push...
And
down it goes!
I used a boulder and stumps as the foundation. Won't
last forever, but we will get several years out of it...
Cut
the saddles,
Level
and square the base logs...
And you are up and running!
Now, we don't have to carry all that gear out again!
We had two moose walk right through our camp, listened
to the stream, birds and frogs, checked out some of
the property, and had a great time. We plan on going
back later in the summer to finish the shed. Once that
is done, we will be much more comfortable, and will
take our time putting up the main cabin!
mesca -
Devin & Ashley
I don't remember when I enjoyed someone's story as I
have yours regarding the North woods property and the
cabin. I so loved the pictures and the explanations
of the scene. I envy you for having a wilderness place
of your own. The scenes are beautiful - must be hard
to be back in Jersey and back to work. Please Please
keep up the forum and the pictures of your endeavor.
Love
Bonnie Van Vooren
DEVIN
-
Thanks Bonnie. You bet, we'll keep you updated!
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7 - GETTING COMFORTABLE!
We went back over the Labor Day
weekend for the first time since May. (Three months
is too long to wait!!)
We
brought some friends along who wanted to help: Wayne
and his son Patrick, and two brothers; Jared and Luke.
Ashley
had been worrying about the gear we left behind. Did
animals get into it? Did the tarp hold up? Did someone
somehow find it and steal it? When we arrived, it was
in perfect condition, just how we left it.
I
had two goals for this weekend. 1: Get the shed walls
up with a roof. 2: Build Ashley an outdoor shower with
hot water. We started with the shower.
I
had an idea for a small structure made of white birch.
Our final product is a bit bigger, and real nice!
We
started by setting a floor using three trees as the
base, kind of like a very low treehouse. (It's best
to elevate any wood structure 3-4 feet so it's not sitting
in snow for a long time. Lasts longer.)
Next, we put up walls made of birch logs 6' tall. Open
to the sky.
Then,
a nice set of birch steps!
The
shower works by heating water over the fire and mixing
it to your comfort in a 5 gallon bucket. Hoist it overhead.
The hose siphons it out under nice pressure. There is
a valve next to the shower head to turn it on and off.
You
should have seen Ashley's huge smile when she got to
take her first shower!!
The
wild blackberries were in season. Patrick picked a bunch
and we used them in pancakes for breakfast one morning.
MMmmmm!!!
Next, we got going on the shed. Last trip, I had cut
several trees and left them in the woods with the leaves
on. (A little trick. Leaving the leaves on pulls a lot
of the moisture out of the logs, accelerating the drying.)
We had to pull all of those logs out and stack them
by the shed.
One
of the trees got hung up and didn't want to fall. We
had to pull it over using a rope come-along. You can
make a pulley system with one long rope if you know
how.....
Timber hitch:
Come-along
knot:
Pullers!
I
decided to use saddle notches to lock the walls together.
I
bought a couple of cheap Poulan saws from sears for
$100 each. They ran great! These pics look like they
could be for a cool ad for Poulan saws.
For
the roof, we decided to make trusses for the gable ends,
set a ridge pole on top of them, and nail rafters to
the ridge.
Then,
we trimmed all the ends and used a tarp for the temporary
roof. Later, I will put a better roof on, but the tarp
will work just fine for now.
Now
this is cool. I used the excess tarp to make a giant
gutter to collect rainwater for the next trip!
We stowed all of our gear in the shed and called it
a success.
Now,
thanks to the help of our friends, we have a cozy shed
to sleep in while we get going on the main cabin. It
will be 15'x20', and I feel like I've got my technique
worked out to do it. We go back in October, and we will
make this shed more secure and comfortable and relax
a bit.
I have an awesome wife! But I'll get to that later.....
The second week of October was a major milestone in
this story. We decided to spend a whole week on the
property during peak foliage. That's not a really big
deal, except for the fact that we slept in the log shed
we put up over the summer! At least for me, THAT was
a big deal. Now that we have actually lived in it, we
can no longer refer to it as a shed. It's now a cabin.
A really really small cabin, but a cabin nonetheless.
Now,
about the awesome wife part.....
Look
at the picture below and see if you can figure out why
she is so awesome....
It
rained.
A
lot.
Part
of every day.
Two
and one half inches.
She
never complained. Actually enjoyed herself (most of
the time, anyway...) That's pretty awesome.
The
first night it absolutely poured. I was getting a fire
going just before dark to get some dinner heated up,
and a black bear walked right up to me! Small one (by
bear standards), about 150 lbs, and stopped about 30
yards from me. When he realized he was looking at a
HUMAN in HIS WOODS, he ran full speed away! It was pretty
cool!
You
can start a fire when it's raining? It's not easy, but
you can do it.
The
paper birch makes excellent tinder. There is oil in
the bark that really carries a flame well. The inner
bark stays dry, so you can gently peel it off to create
a tinder pile....
I used a paper plate or bowl to collect the tinder pile.
That would keep my tinder off of the wet ground, as
well as giving the fire an extra starting boost when
the plate would start to burn.
There is an old saying "You don't make a fire,
you build a fire." That is especially true when
it is wet. You need to collect a large amount of dry
twigs of increasing sizes and place them over the tinder.
There needs to be a good sized pile in reserve that
you can continue to put over the flame until you get
enough heat to burn the larger wood that is wet on the
bark.
The next step is........CHEAT. Use whatever resources
you have to get it going. (Except gasoline....the humidity
keeps the fumes near the ground and you can get badly
burned when you light the match!)
I
had lamp oil and a fire stick. The oil kept a flame
going long enough to ignite the damp wood, and the paper
plate absorbed it to keep a flame going hot. Worked
perfect!
One
of our priorities was to make a door for the cabin.
For the first couple of nights, we had to climb over
the four foot walls to get in and out. That got old,
especially if you needed to get up in the middle of
the night.
We
braced the walls so they wouldn't move when we cut them,
then cut out the opening.
Then we made a door from the logs we cut out and hung
it. Nice!
I promised Ashley no more work marathons now that we
have the little cabin up. So we took some time to explore
and get to know our property better. We found a giant
set of boulders with an animal den. The picture doesn't
show the scale, but these rocks are about 8 feet high.
I originally thought it was a bear or fox den, but after
looking more carefully and seeing the droppings, it
looks like it is a snoeshoe hare. I hope to get back
in the winter and maybe get some photos of the snowshoe
hares!
One of the best things we did was to work on our view.
The property is on a side hill, and when we originally
looked at it there were no leaves on the trees. We could
see incredible views of the mountians to the east. Once
the leaves came out, the views were largely gone. So,
we went to the highest point on the property and began
clearing a view. We are cutting out all of the trees
except the birches, so when it is done we will have
a great view of the mountians through the birches. We
intend to use this spot as a picnic and chill out spot.
So, we survived our first week, staying nice and dry
in the little cabin! Every time, things get a little
more secure and comfortable. We set up an air matress
in the cabin, and we have left a down comforter, wool
blankets, and sleeping bags on site. We hope to go back
in early December to put a better roof on. Right now
it is a tarp roof, and I don't think it will hold up
through the winter. It will be cold by then, but we
should be fine. (I made a deal with Ashley that we will
stay in a hotel if it is too cold.....)
Anyway,
stay tuned - more stories and photos to come!!
lisalopez
-
Looks awesome so far Devin!! What good progress. I can't
wait to see it in person. And now I know how to make
a fire in the rain if the need ever arises.
I
agree...Ashley is quite the catch.
Diane
-
Just figured out where to post a reply... Looks great...
And Lambchop is wonderful... I think the two of you
make a great pair... Hope to see you both in December...
Maybe we can share a meal!!! Diane & Phil
Paul
and Randa -
Looks like you're having too much fun up there! Break
out pics of the Alaskan Mill.
We returned the first weekend
of December to put on a stronger roof before a lot of
snow accumulated. We took our friends, Toby and Elise.
We knew it was going to be cold, so this time we decided
to stay in a hotel and hike in and out every day.
We
are friends with the neighboring landowner. She is actually
the realtor who sold us the land and happens to own
the adjacent property. Every time we go up, we try to
see her and say hi. She has been nice enough to let
us park on her land, and has taken really good care
of us. They really outdid themselves in the hospitality
department this time!!
Notice
the two snowmobiles! They let us use them for the weekend.
Not only was it a lot of fun, but we were able to get
our building supplies much closer to the site! THANKS
DIANE AND PHIL!!
I
wanted to put a sturdy roof on before the snow came.
The first weekend of December there was already anywhere
between 8 and 18 inches in the area. We got up there
just in time! I bought 11 sheets of OSB flakeboard (like
plywood) to use as the sheathing for the roof. The question
everyone had was....HOW ARE YOU PLANNING ON GETTING
11 SHEETS OF PLYWOOD INTO THE WOODS???
I
precut the wood into 2x3 foot pieces. I found a backpack
frame designed for irregular objects and modified it
so I could strap the wood on. We got the wood to about
1/4 mile of the camp with the snowmobiles, and hauled
it in on foot from there. Toby and the girls carried
one or two sheets each, and I carried 8 at a time on
the backpack. There were 44 pieces all together, so
I had a few trips to make. THAT was tiring!!!
Then,
we got crackin' putting on the roof!
The
weather was beautiful but cold...
I
think Toby's brain got frozen!!!
The
majority of the boards got up, and we covered with a
tarp. In the spring when it warms up we'll finish the
roof.
We will be returning mid March for a weekend. I want
to do some photography in the snow, some X/C skiing
and snowshoeing, and maybe work on the view a little.
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10 - WHITE!
I think the mice in New England are hatching a conspiracy.
You will understand later…..
I
have been aching to get back up to the property all
winter. In my opinion, northern New England is at its
best in the winter. The crisp cold air, deep snow, clear
starry nights, I love it!! I have been going there to
ski most of my life. In fact, this past year is really
the first prolonged period of time I have spent there
in other seasons.
So,
you can’t imagine how exciting it has been for
me to have my own place to visit! And, it was killing
me to be stuck in Jersey with little snow knowing that
it was piling up at our northern property.
There
was just one, little, itty bitty, tiny problem….
Have
you seen the pictures of the little cabin? No heat,
gaps between the logs, tarps covering the gable ends,
etc. Hardly winter worthy. Now that doesn’t bother
me too much, but Ashley has a slightly different opinion!
I
have done winter camping before, so I know how to keep
warm and enjoy it. A major aspect of winter living is
having the proper equipment. We had been accumulating
gear on the site all summer, so I knew we were set up
just fine for sleeping out. I don’t think Ashley
was convinced!
So,
we made a deal:
1 – Wait til later in the winter when it is cold
but not frigid.
2 – Spend one night in a nice place and one night
in the cabin. (If it was too cold, we would have the
option of staying in a hotel.)
Pretty fair compromise….
We
spent the first night at a great B&B about 30 minutes
away. Bear Mountain Lodge. http://www.bearmountainlodge.net/
It is a genuine log building constructed of native white
pine. Not a prebuilt kit building. We had plenty to
talk about with the innkeepers! If you ever plan on
a trip to the White Mountains, try to stay there.
The rest of the trip was quite the adventure!!!
We decided to have some fun going in by taking a different
trail and cross country skiing. The first ¾ of
the trail was a snowmobile trail that was nicely packed
down. The final ¼ was untouched, through the
woods, blazing the trail ourselves.
Ashley
has down hill skied before, but never cross country.
It is a totally different technique. She did great!!
Every time we got to a down hill section, she had a
huge smile on her face as she skied down it.
My friend Wayne gave me the idea to make a pulk.
A
pulk is a sled that is pulled behind a skier. You can
put a lot more gear in a sled than you can carry on
your back. The rope runs through PVC tubes and connects
to your backpack frame. The tubes prevent the sled from
slamming into you when going down hills.
I actually loaded a kerosene heater into the pulk and
got it to the cabin! The idea was the heater would take
some of the edge off of the chill overnight. More on
that later……..
When we arrived at our cabin, it was simply beautiful!
There
was about three feet of snow on the ground. The snow
had accumulated at the edges of the roof, piling up
to make a nice igloo type of insulation on two sides
to keep the wind out. An unexpected bonus!
Remember
how the shower looked in the summer??
I
cut a bunch of little trees for firewood. You can burn
green wood as long as you continue to put the tops of
the trees on the fire along with the logs. The tops
provide quick burning twigs that keep the fire hot enough
to dry out the green logs. Just use small trees, and
you can burn with no problem. It will be funny to return
in the spring and see the stumps three feet high! The
fire eventually melted down to dry ground, creating
a deep pit with snow all around. The coals remained
hot all night, so all we had to do was put fresh wood
on in the morning and it started right up again!
Now,
about those no good mice….
We
store all of the critical gear in a waterproof pack
I use for canoeing. We hang that from a hook inside
the center of the cabin so there is no chance our bedding,
etc. will get wet in between trips. As Ash was unpacking
it to set up the bed, she noticed a hole in the pack,
and a hole in the air mattress. The mouse took literally
ONE BITE into the air mattress. Now, my master plan
for sleeping out in the cabin appeared FOILED!
(Secretly,
I suspect that Ashley paid the mice off with cheese
at the end of our last trip….)
We
laid several tarps down, the (deflated) air mattress,
and the thickest wool blanket. Then, the flannel sheet.
Then, sleeping bags and pillows. Then, flannel sheet,
wool blanket, and down comforter. I gotta tell you,
we were TOASTY!
Funny
thing about the kerosene heater….
I
knew that since the cabin was drafty (to say the least)
that the heater would not be able to completely heat
it. Also, with the chalet style roof, the heat would
accumulate at the top, taking a while to heat the lower
part (floor…).
My
hope was that by the time morning came, some heat would
have made its way down to the floor. It’s difficult
to see in the photo, but this is a shot of the thermometer
inside the cabin, opposite end from the heater. The
OUTSIDE thermometer read 20 degrees at 8:30 AM. The
INSIDE thermometer….drum roll please…..at
8:30 AM……drum roll…….20 degrees!
I
have to say that we went to bed at 9:30 and slept uninterrupted
til 8:30. Totally comfortable! 11 hrs! Think we needed
a little R&R???
Ash did some "body sledding...."
First, notice her excellent starting form....
Then...ACTION!
By
next winter, we will be set up to spend several days
and nights in any temp. For this trip, one night out
was enough.
We will be going back late May with some friends. I
am working on a cool project for that trip. Stay tuned
because I promise there will be some great stories to
tell from that one!!!!
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11 - "A HAIR-BRAINED SCHEME
AND OTHER FUNNY STUFF"
So, If you have been keeping up with this story, you
know that Ashley and I
have been bringing every single object into the camp
on our backs.
Now, that's not terrible. We love backpacking. One
time I did a solo fishing trip for
an entire week in the Teton Mountains carrying 85 pounds
at 10,000 feet.
But, wouldn't it be NICE if we didn't have to make several
trips back to the car on
these trips? Especially for the heavy stuff? This is
the question I was obsessed with all winter....
Obvious solution would be to cut a road. Not an option.
We want the site to remain
remote. Half of the fun of bringing friends up is the
hike in. You really feel like you are the only people
in the world when you are in there, and we don't want
to lose that. So,
the real question is "what type of vehicle will
we decide on?" Quad, dirt bikes,
6x6 amphibious ATV, Jeep?? We looked at them all over
the winter.
Guess what we decided on??
None of the above!
Here comes the "hair-brained scheme part....."
I got a 1970's model Cub Cadet garden tractor, put big
giant tires on it, and have
been holding my breath for months wondering if it would
work.
Best case scenario was to use a trailer to carry the
tractor to New England, then attach the same trailer
to the tractor and pull our gear in to the camp. Worst
case scenario was either the trailer would be too wimpy
for the trip and falls apart on the highway, or the
tractor can't make it through the mud and we bury the
tractor in the mud forever.
Well, the final result was not the worst case.....
We brought along our friends Chance and Becky. Chance
is one of my friends who understands what we are doing
and is able to help me overcome any unexpected situations
that would undoubtedly come up with this crazy idea.
(I apologize for the quality of the photos in this post...didn't
bring the nice camera this time...)
We arrived at our parking area, attached the trailer
to the tractor, and loaded up the trailer with all our
gear.
WATCH THE VIDEO!
While we were stuffing all that gear into the trailer,
Ashley asked a great question:
"Do you think it might be better to try the
tractor alone before we go for it all?"
Guess what my answer was.....
See, I get excited.
Especially when it has to do with this project up north.
So, why play around?
Let's see what our little Cub can do!!
This is a photo of the tractor and trailer stuck up
to the axles in mud. If you look carefully you will
see the rope off of the front attached to the winch
pulling me out.
We didn't get too far with the trailer loaded up with
gear. The trail is very rough, and it kept getting stuck.
We unloaded the trailer and stashed the gear on the
side of the trail. The girls put on their backpacks
and headed in to set up camp.
Chance and I pulled the empty trailer back to the car
with the Cub and started in with just the tractor alone.
Probably should have done that from the start....
The trail we use is partly an old logging road, partly
a traverse across an old empty beaver pond, and partly
bushwacking through the woods.
The logging road was the easiest part. All we needed
to do was pick our way down the road, avoiding the big
rocks.
Crossing the beaver pond was more work. The crossing
area is just downhill of another beaver dam. Water comes
out of that dam as a small stream. We used rocks to
fill low areas and drove across. It is muddy, but hard
gravel under the mud. The Cub, with the big tires, did
just fine going across that wet, muddy area. That was
when I knew that we were not going to get hopelessly
stuck in the mud! Goodbye, worst case scenario!!
Chance and I got the Cub all the way to the point where
we would have to cut a trail into the woods that first
day. We left it there, backpacked the rest of our supplies
to the camp and called it a day. At least I could rest
easy knowing that the worst was over, and we would be
getting that tractor to our camp.
Incidentally, the reason why I chose the Cub Cadet tractor
was because it gives me the most useful options. I found
a website that sells plans for making a backhoe and
bucket loader attachment for it. So, in addition to
transporting our gear, we will be able to use it to
dig footings and other land management projects. This
is a photo of a very similar tractor with the attachments
I plan to make.
The next day it rained, so we decided to work on another
project...
Some of you may have been wondering about a particulary
delicate topic.....
How do we.......well, you know......ahem.......GO.........when
we are out there?
Well folks, it just got a lot nicer!
We built ourselves a first class, bona fide, luxury
OUTHOUSE!
Yessirie, it's all good now!!
We built it similar to the shower. It is at the end
of a nice, private trail we made,
named "Tayka kaka trail." Say it out loud
a few times...you'll get it!
WATCH THE VIDEO!
Now that the outhouse is completed, we have a rather
comfortable setup! The cabin
is solid and dry, the shower is sooooooo nice, and having
bathroom facilities really
makes things nicer. It's a great feeling to have been
able to accomplish all of that in the first year!!!
The next day, Chance and I cut a trail to get the tractor
to the camp. There are a couple of steep spots, but
the little Cub did just fine and made it to the camp!
Celebration!!!
Now, for the unexpected part of the haribrained scheme......
We got a good amount of rain on this trip. It was a
lot like the October trip when we got rain parts of
every day. All this rain had an effect that I had not
anticipated...
Remember the empty beaver pond that we crossed driving
the tractor in? Well, it filled up,
AND BEAVERS MOVED IN!
They got busy fixing the abandoned dam and made themselves
a very nice pond. Nice for them, anyway.
So, we got the tractor from the car to the property.
Big deal! Now we can't get the tractor back to the car
to haul gear!!! So, there she sits, on Four Corners,
with a very nice tarp covering her. We are hoping that
the beavers decide not to make a home there and everything
is back to normal when we go back. I have some ideas
for getting a trail over one of the dams, so we will
have to wait and see how things go....
We will now tighten up some loose ends in the camp area
and begin to focus our attention toward building the
MAIN CABIN.
Ash and I are going back over July 4 weekend. Not sure
if we will have company or not this trip.. We are probably
going to bring a canoe with us this time so we can float
around one of the bigger beaver ponds and chill out
a little. There is also a small mountain bordering our
property that we want to climb and check out the view.
It's only about 1800 feet, but it has a pretty sheer
cliff on the southeast side that
should allow for a beautiful view of the bigger mountains.
It’s been a long time since you last entry. I’m
glad to see things are going well with the cabin. I
so enjoy the photos of the month. This one of “Little
Man Einstein” ? So Cute.
Thank you,
Phyllis Brown
Hey
Devin!
Looks
like you guys had too much fun on the trip! Brought
back memories of what one of my friends and I used to
do w/ his old John Deere tractor. He took off the mower
deck, but then we got the idea from the other equipment
on his farm to put dual rear wheels on the tractor.
It did GREAT!! Just a thought for your cadet. Could
a 4x4 make it up the trail with minimal cutting of brush??
Please
keep Randa in mind for a weekend trip. I'm working on
getting a STIHL 046R w/ 2 bar and chain set-ups. I'd
be more than happy to play, I mean, use it up there...
Looks
like things are moving along nicely. I like the trail
name for potty land; very clever. Hope all is well with
you and Ashley!!
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12 - Those Confounded Beavers!
So, last installment, we left off with the tractor stranded
6 ½ hours away because beavers had flooded our
main trail….
When we returned there, Ash had a bad headache. I suggested
that she lay down in the back seat and nap while I carried
a load of gear in. I was dying to find out if the beavers
had moved in, or if that pond was flooded out just from
all that rain.
I got to the pond……and………..it
was totally flooded. They are there to stay. Bummer.
Got to camp, emptied out the pack and was going to carry
the empty pack back for another load when I got a bright
idea….drive the tractor back. Try to get it through
the edge of the now flooded pond! Why not try!!
Got it to the pond no prob. Tried real slow to follow
the original route we took across the now flooded section.
Water was too deep, and I came REAL close to losing
it. The engine was making bubbles!!
Backed it out onto dry land and laughed all the way
back to the car! Ash was feeling better, so we loaded
up and started out again. All was good, except one thing…..
It was absolutely pouring. I saw it coming from the
car and was trying to hurry to beat it, but the rain
hit about five minutes into our hike. Torrential. We
keep ponchos in our packs, so the gear stayed dry, but
we got soaked. Got the cub as far as a steep spot where
we need the winch. Turned it off to set up the winch.
Tried to start it, battery died! (I had a spare at the
camp….JUST IN CASE). We were wet and bothered,
so we left it for the next day. The rain stopped after
about an hour, and from that point on, the weather was
absolutely beautiful!
Ate, went to bed, slept 11 hours.
Next day, we took it easy. I retrieved the cub, and
got to work bear proofing the food cooler. There is
a stand of three nice sized beech trees that would work
for bear proofing. I cleared all the saplings from around
them. Looks REAL nice, plus it’s now an area for
bear proofing. I cut a long pole from one of the saplings,
climbed up one of the beeches, and set the pole from
one beech to the other. Set up a cord over the pole
while I was up there. Now, I can tie it to the full
cooler and hoist it up. Works great!
Then,
ash and I chinked the cabin. We nailed saplings to fill
the large gaps between the logs. Not airtight, but much
less drafty.
That was it for work. I took a nap in a chair next to
the campfire while holding a cup of water. Fell sound
asleep, spilled the water on myself, and woke myself
up. Now I know why they put those cupholders on the
chairs!!!
That night, we started a campfire in a new spot we made
near the cabin. More space, so we can make a bigger
fire.
Just
before dark, the snowshoe hares start running around.
They come right up to us. Cool.
Went to bed, slept 11 hours.
Next
day was “find a tractor route day”. We decided
to check out downstream from the now flooded pond. There
is a stream with a nice narrow point. The woods on the
other side are high and dry. We used rocks from the
streambed to make an underwater base to drive on. It
worked, and we were across!
We
eventually found a way to the car, so now the tractor
is back home in NJ for modifications!!!
Ate, sat by the new campfire, slept 11 hours.
Had
some fun for last day. Ash set up the hammock and chilled.
I
set up the chainsaw sawmill I have and ripped a log
to make boards. Its pretty cool.
I used a couple of the boards to make a bench in a new
clearing we made. Ash got some stones and made a fire
pit, so it is ready for use next time.
So,
we will go back early October for a week. The foliage
should be around peak, some good friends are coming
along, and there will surely be some more adventures
to share!
