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

The Roof is Up

The roof is finally up. Tom, Scott Eckert and myself went up to the lake first week of March. It was a little nippy at -20 but it made the freight sled pull nice on the cold snow and when the sun came out it was nice to bask in it a little as we took the first truss out of the trailer and placed it on the sled. We took just one the first trip in case we ended up with a rodeo going in. It was tight in several areas of the trail we had less than an inch of clearance for the 7 foot by 20 foot truss. With the length you had to be careful in any narrow jog in the trees or cut banks. We had a couple miles of lake then 3 1/2 miles of through the woods and across 3 small lakes then up to hill to our place. We barely skinned a couple of spruce and thought we had hung up on a small birch the fist load. It pulled right past and we got to the front of the cabin about 45 minutes after leaving Wolverine Lodge.

We Stacked the truss against some trees and headed back. We had 12 remaining so took small loads of 3 and made 4 trips. It worked quick and slick. We were down to 25 minutes to make the 6 1/2 mile one way trip. They were stacked and ready to haul up and tie to a second floor wall.

March 2010 Going Back to Haul in Trusses....and Make a Snowtini

The  roof trusses are now parked on Lake Louise, on the ice out front of the Wolverine Lodge. The first of March, Scott Eckert, a Web Manager from Oregon, will be up to help out.We will be mixing*"snowtinis" and hauling the trusses into the cabin.
* Snowtini. This drink can only be called a Snowtini if it is mixed on or near Lake Louise.It is just a martini made with snow elsewhere. This delightful libation was invented by Scott Eckert and me at Uncle Bud Young's cabin on Young's Cove on the east side of the lake. You can make one if you have good dry snow and the temperature is about 15 degrees above or colder. Scrape off the top of the snow crust (hint: make sure it is white snow)! Scoop your shaker into the snow and pack it firmly but not solid. Add 2 ounces of Plymouth gin. Only Plymouth will work. This is a mandatory requirement. Add Willy Prat to your taste. Shake the Plymouth, Willy, and snow until the shaker gets a little icy on the outside. Pour into a crystal martini glass. Hold it up to the light and you will see ice crystals floating and sparkling in your snowtini, walk outside to see if you can look at the northern lights through your glass.

Not Much Progress

Images: Top: Tom and Chuck at Wolverine Lodge with Tom's big breakfast. Can you tell he was tired of MRE's after 4 days?

Second Image: Snow storm in late April. We were wrapping up when a squall hit.

Bottom Image: From the inside of the top floor looking out through what will be the access to the roof area of the first floor bath and Arctic entry areas.


Tom, Chuck A and I went back in to the cabin by 4 wheeler. We went in late July. After a trip across Lake Louise on a houseboat with our wheelers aboard, we landed at Cameron Cove. It took a bit of doing but we arrived at the cabin and set up camp.

The wind was a bit brisk and the ladders a bit short. We put up a ridge board and started on the rafters. It was a bit shaky on top of the ladders and we just could not get everything plumb and square. After fighting the weather, lack of long enough ladders and seeing we were probably going to sustain major injuries if we proceeded further, We called a halt to the roof. It was a mutual decision, Tom and Chuck were as worried as I was.

With a couple days left and no roof going up we turned to squaring away the inside and outside of the cabin and grounds. We inventoried the tools and lumber, re-stacked and squared away all the OSB, lumber, tools and equipment under the structure and Chuck A filled in the gaps in the OSB sheathing between the first and second floors.

We also cleaned up the many old stumps left over from when I cleared the site off. Tom did a lot of chainsaw work. We cut down some brush and small trees on the East side of the cabin and rerouted the snow machine trail so it is wider and easier to go round the cabin with the freight sled.

I got the tools inside inventoried and re-stacked the lumber there too.

Next trip up will be in November. Only about 6 weeks or so away. The leaves are falling quickly here now, it's October 4. I have to tune up the snow machines and get them ready. I found the rest of my 8" stove pipe for the wood stove on Craig's List. A lady sold me $500 worth of pipe for $30. That was a good day.

When we get up in November the roof will be first priority. Getting the propane direct vent furnace installed is right up there on the list, then installing the wood stove and installing the front and back door. Once the place is dried-in I can get to wiring, insulating, installing windows, building stairs and all the other fun stuff. At least it will be fun with heat in the place and a dry warm bunk.

The single story 16 x 8' deep front will get rafters built for it's roof. I need the room under the roof for water barrel storage and for the pump and water filters too. the access hole we framed in the north wall will let me get above the bathroom and arctic entry to change filters or work on plumbing. If I put commercial trusses up there I don't think I would have room for storage. The rest of the rafters we cut for the second story will be used for a 16 wide by 12 deep storage building / workshop.

Back Up To Cover The Structure

Tom and I returned two weeks after the second floor went up and jerry rigged a couple tarps over the top walls and over the floor above the bathroom. The tarps won't last long. We intend to get back in by 4 wheeler as soon as the lake is open and we can float to the head of the Tom Lake trailhead. I hope the winds don't get to frisky. I would like to keep the floors as dry as possible.

This is going to be a busy summer. Lots of friends and family coming up to visit and fish. The cabin needs the rafters installed and a pit dug for the outhouse. I would like to mark a 4 wheeler trail in around the north side of the lake and up my property line too. With travel for work, visitors, fishing, clam digging and dip netting coming up, this may come down to only having a couple weekends to get up and put the roof on. I will be happy to get rafters, sheathing and 30 pound felt up. Getting the tin roof on would really be nice but does not look doable for the summer months unless I can find another 4 or 5 man crew to go in. Travel is much more difficult in summer though. Bogs, mosquitos, bumpy trails and slick mud all make a trek into the cabin an adventure. A winch on the ATV is pretty much mandatory. Ten minutes by snow machine or several hours, after a boat ride, by 4 wheeler.Summer is nice and warm but just like Winter, it has it's own seasonal difficulties.

Top Floor Walls Are Up

The weekend before Easter five of us headed back up to Lake Louise. It was a sunny but fairly cold weekend with temps running just above 0 at night and up to 15 above during the day.
Chuck Ardizzone, my brother Ed, Tom Kron, Tom Pelfrey, and myself were the crew. Tom P and I headed up to the Lake on Friday morning. Ed worked at the uncle's cabin all week and also cut bracing blocks, rafters, and puttered around getting things ready and all cleaned up and sorted out. It was a big help to walk onto the site and just get to it without having to look for materials or tools.


On Saturday Chuck A and Tom K along with Tom P laid out sill and top plates and started nailing walls together. We went to work about 1 P.M. and by 7 we had 2 walls up and one built and ready to raise. On Sunday we got started about 9 A.M. and had the fourth wall up before noon. We stored the materials and tools then fired up the snow machines and headed back out the trail 6 miles to the road. Now I have to get back up quick as possible and get the roof up. Tonight we leave at about 6 P.M. for Lake Louise. We will haul in a 100 amp panel and a bunch of other small materials for the wiring. The cabin will have 115V AC and 12 V DC throughout. A solar panel and batteries will produce the DC, a gen set will produce the AC.

This will probably be the last week we will be able to access with the sleds. The snow is going fast. In about 2 weeks the trails up north will be mushy and have bare spots. This summer will be walk in or 4 wheeler.

I will upload pictures as soon as I get the digitals from Tom and from a roll of film I am getting developed.

Cabin Coming Along....Slowly

Tom Pelfrey and Chuck Ardizzone have been up to help with the cabin, as has my brother Ed. He has been up about from Seattle for about 2 1/2 weeks. He stayed up at the lake this past week to finish cutting out the rafters and to put BCI blocking between the joists. While staying at Cousin Fred's place he declared war on squirrels and nests. He has been chasing the wildlife out of the cabin and tossing their nesting materials out too. He has been boarding up holes the little varmits have chewed through the walls and generally aggravating the pests as much as he has been aggravated by them.

Last week Chuck A, Ed and I put down 4 sheets of new 3/4 T&G. I had to run to Glennallen, a 93 mile round trip by road, 12 round trip out to the road and back. Four sheets of the OSB had swelled about 1/8" to 3/16". We nailed down the flooring and adjusted the floor around the BCI josts where the stairwell is framed out.

When we went to pull the tarps up, they are 30' x 40' the wind came up. For awhile we were wondering if we could get them laid down and tied in place. The four bad sheets of OSB were good for something.

Ed worked on Cousin Fred's Honda gen set. He gets vexed to find gummy rusty goo in the sediment bowl. I think he may buy Freddie a filter which takes out water and contaminants when fuel is added to the Honda tank.

Two weeks ago Susan, Tom P, 7 year old grandson Isaiah, and the wife, Susan, went up. It was 30+ Saturday and we got quite a bit of organizing and hauling done. Sunday morning we woke up with the cabin at 48 degrees and the main propane tank empty. We thought it would make it through until morning. Got up and changed it at 0530. It was -34 degrees. We left for home as quickly as Tom and I could haul the loaded freight sled from Fred's to my place and back. I'm glad we had the foresight to load the sled and haul it to Fred's the evening before.

Tomorrow Tom picks me up at 0900. We are leaving the Jetta for Chuck A and Tom Kron to drive up to the lake. They will be up Saturday. We are hoping to get up a couple of walls. Four would be nice, but would be a push. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If I can get the wall up I will try for the ridge in a couple weeks and then can go in to put sheething, felt paper and tin on later.

Feeling Beat Up

My friend, Tom Pelfrey, and I pulled two sleds (snow machines) and some freight up to Lake Louise the last day of February. It was a slow and slippery trip. The roads were iced over. I got out of the truck and slipped on the ice. This was on the driving surface. It was 4 wheel drive all the way up.

The snow was fairly deep, loose and just a little mushy feeling. It was, as the old saying goes, "tough sledding."

We broke trail into Cousin Freddie's place on Lake Louise, more on this miscreant cousin later, and opened the cabin for the Spring. Freddie needed 4 one hundred pound bottles of propane for the cabin's 2 gas furnaces. We had to break trail to my place on Tom Lake to retrieve my big freight sled in order to haul the bottles. Breaking through 3 to 5 feet of loose snow between the edge of Tom Lake and up hill to my place was an onerous chore. I'm rethinking this trail and will probably follow my brushed out property line up the hill and down the ridge in order to drop down into the cabin from the west side of the property. That will be a summer project.

Tom and I were planning on going back up this weekend. I'm feeling a little tired and beat up from the last trip, so is Tom. I'm thinking of going up the weekend of 14 March instead. We need to haul up the insulated chimney and a whole lot of other "cabin stuff" which is stored under the house too.

The weekend of 21 March we will be looking for 5 of us to be at the cabin site. We will begin building the second floor and if time allows, get the rafters up too. I'm planning on 3 weekends but hope to do this in only 2. If I can get the sheeting up on the roof and put felt paper down then the place will be "dried in" and I can haul cabinets and lots of other cabin necessities up too.

Finally, Time To Build

The third week of March will be building time again. Five of us will take sleds into Tom Lake and put up the second floor walls and the roof.

I have a few more 12 foot 2 x 6's to haul in and about 2 big loads of other materials, (stove pipe, felt paper, roofing screws, windows, a hearth, romex wiring, wire nuts, junction boxes, a new generator, chainsaw and a direct vent propane heater) all the large and small things you need to finish off a remote cabin. The nearest building supply store is 4 lakes and 7 1/2 miles to the road and then 50+ miles into Glennallen. It's best to be prepared and have all materials with you. A trip to town and back is a day long event.

This trip the 7 year old grandson will go with us. He has plans for his own cabin, right beside mine, and he wants to see the best place to build. March looks to be a really productive and fun month.

Ready To Build Again

Almost time to head back up to Lake Louise. The -45 weather seems to be gone.

My brother comes up from Seattle in mid-March. Five of us will journey up and begin to build the rafters and the second floor. Then the tin roof goes up, the front and back door and the gas heater. The wood stove will move from under the cabin and be put into place. By end of summer I hope to be aboe to camp there while installing the cabinets and wiring for 120 and 12V.

It's Winter In Alaska

Ed at front door (left)


Finally, the fish are all spawned out, the tourists are all gone, as are the leaves, and South central Alaska has settled in for the long winter.

This is the time of year many of us look forward to. I just received a Chozzen Frozen report from Lake Louise. There is over 8 inches of new ice, in places it is over a foot in depth. Only a scattering of snow and up to 6 inches on the trails though. You would have to be careful and move slowly if hauling big loads across the lake at this time. I chose to wait until about Thanksgiving. There should be 18 inches to 24 inches of ice by then.

My Skandic SUV weighs 620 pounds dry. Add my 200, about 80 to 90 pounds of gas in the tank, another 40 pounds in the 5 gallon spare, a 200 pound sled and 600 to 800 p0unds of load and you have up to 1800 pounds on the ice. It gets up to 100 feet deep in the lake. At -20 to +20 I do not want to go through. Not even in shallow water. Trying to get a sled (snowmachine) disconnected from a loaded freight sled, and trying to get the sled out before it freezes in is not something I want to experience.

It will soon be time to haul more material in to the cabin site. I now have a brand new Williams 3300 series direct vent propane heater to install. It will heat up to 800 sq feet. The cabin is about 775 sq feet. This will be additional and night time heat. The main source is a Blaze King wood stove. It is rated at 2000 sq feet. With 6 inches of insulation in the roof, walls and under the floor we should stay snug at -50.

I'm going to haul some more 12 foot 2 x 6 lumber in. We used a few sticks when building the walls. I don't want to have to run out 6 1/2 miles to the end of the road and then another 70 miles round trip to the nearest town, Glennallen, to buy more in the middle of building the roof. I can always use a few extras for building the 12 x 12 shop / storage area anyway.

Some time in December my buddies Chuck, Tom and maybe a few others will journey north for several 3 day weekends. We hope to get the second floor up, build the rafters and install the metal roof. Then the doors go. That is when the new heater is going to be installed and the Blaze King will be put to good use too.

In March my brother Ed comes up for a couple of weeks. Most of it will be spent up at the cabin putting in windows, running the wiring, receptacles and switches, and running 12 volt circuits through out. We have stairs to build too. In the early morning and on any days off we will be fishing.

We both like to ice fish. I will take my ice shelter and small heater up with us. It tows behind my snowmachine and sets up in about 10 minutes. It is toasty warm when the temperature hovers around 0 degrees.

I have to finish tuning the snowmachines, changing gear oil, buy a corner cabinet to go with the maple units the found at a garage sale for really cheap and pull bunches of tools and materials out from the storage shed and under the house. This looks to be a really busy winter.

More later.

Backwoods Alaska

Just about all of Alaska is backwoods, with the exception of the Anchorage bowl and near by communities