Time, Who has Time?

Gees, no trips into the lake this summer, none, 0, not an opportunity. This winter has slipped by quickly. I have loads and loads to haul up to the lake. No time. Some how I have to make the time or hire a big helicopter. Buying a house, it closes in late April, the snow goes in late April. Homework like crazy from my last two classes before getting that BA in History. Getting ready to retire in December, 10 months. I really need to go fishing, ice fishing, and haul material to the cabin. Hmm, how much annual leave do I have?

The First Floor Rafters are Up

The first floor roof is now up, at least the rafters are. Under the capable supervision of Paige Ardizzone, her father, Chuck, and I went up to the lake in late April and put up the rafters and took inventory of what materials and tools were there.

We did not put up the OSB panels yet, we hope to do so this summer. When the blueberries begin to ripen we will head back up and take the four-wheelers in. Mine is still at Fred’s on the East shore of Lake Louise and Fred’s is there too. The country is to rough to travel alone safely, at least if you are an old gimp. I also need to take up 50 feet of 7/32 winch cable for my old Honda. I broke the cable and need to put all new on instead of patching it. Having a winch can make a difference between walking back out and riding.

As soon as I find where I stored the images of the rafters on the front of the place, I will post them.

Images of the Supply Trip

Preparing For Summer 2010

Susan and I went up the weekend of 18 April. The weather was very nice when we arrived at about 3 P.M., nearly 42 degrees. Way to nice for sledding as pools of water were mixed into the snow, gravel was showing at the lakes edge and the parking lot was mostly bare gravel.

We loaded up the freight sled and headed to Uncle Bud's (actually Cousin Fred's now) cabin at Young's Cove on the east shore of Lake Louise. We stayed there that evening and headed out early the next morning anticipating another warm bluebird day. It was a gorgeous blue skied day in the Alaska Bush.

We pulled into Tom Lake and went straight up the trail to the cabin. There had been several small bare spots on the trail in but it was pretty spotty. The snow on the lakes was packed down on the trails so I had to keep the old water cooled Skandic off trail a lot so the soft snow would get thrown up into the intercooler by the track. I kept it out of the red this way almost all the way in. To warm even that early in the morning for a liquid cooled sled with a heavy load.

We packed a steel 15 gallon barrel with food. We had about 50 pounds or more of instant oatmeal, add hot water rice and pasta dishes, pouches of tuna, cans of chili, boxes of potatoes,coffee, tea, and electrolight dishes with peach and other flavorings, lots of individual meals and lots to fix for a small crew.There was also a lot of condiments, spices and hot sauce so a person can spice it up or not. We filled a steel chest with toilet paper, paper towels and lots of paper plates, foam and plastic cups and a bunch of plastic utensils. The final load into the cabin was about 12 gallons of potable water in 2 big blue jugs and two cases (48 bottles) of spring water. This should be enough to feed us when we 4 wheel in and dig the hole for the outhouse, build the front steps and landing, and hopefully, get the mineral paper up on the roof to get it permanently sealed. If there is time we will put up the steel roof, but that may be asking a bit much.

Tough Sledding

The week after Easter Chuck Ardizzone, Tom Kron and I took a 3 day trip to the lake. The weather was still in the minus bracket at night but did warm up during the day.

We hauled a couple dozen sheets of 7/16 OSB from under the cabin, placing it on the freight sled, then hauled it around front. Just like the trusses, we hauled them one at a time up to the top of first floor section. From there they were pulled through a hole made by pulling a 4 x 4 panel off the gable end of the second floor.

The work was brutal! I could not help much in pushing the 4 x 8 sheets up through the trusses to the top. Tom and Chuck really knocked themselves out with this job. After a day of sweating and hard physical labor the roof  was sheeted except for a sheet we left off for access. I can't thank these guys enough for this difficult job. It was nerve wracking watching them walk across the sheeting with their fingers stuck through a crack on the ridge while shoving a 4 x 8 sheet along in front of them. We did not have a camera with us but you can imagine leaning out way over your center of balance with one hand grasping a cordless nail gun and the other hanging onto OSB or a truss while nailing another sheet into place. Tom and Chuck were exhausted and sore all over. I wasn't feeling much better. Then it was back to the cabin for dinner and rest.

The next morning Tom came up with the idea of taking my largest tarp and tying rope to the grommets and to a piece of scrap lumber on the other end. We did that then rolled the tarp up with the rope wound around each piece of lumber safely wrapped up into the tarp. We used scrap strips of OSB to nail the tarp to the back end of the roof and Tom carefully pulled tarp tight as he backed up on the ridge towards the front. As a board and rope came into view they rolled down the roof and dangled within arms reach so we could tie the rope off to the foundation. With only two small hang ups it worked perfectly. We tied off the tarp, cleaned up quickly and headed for home. Thanks again Chuck and Tom, I owe you guys a lot for that weekend.

Hauling in Trusses