Just got done cutting another 25 yards of trail only to discover that I veered off 7 degrees because I was using the wrong "big tree" as my sight line. So there went a whole day of wasted work effort and a bunch of senseless tree murder. The GPS we have is great for determining if the trail you're on is going in the right direction, but not so great for determining which way you need to head to make a trail to get where you want to go. We either need to upgrade to the better model, or invest in a good laser transit (I'm opting for the laser transit because it'll help with the building site and construction as well).
The forest is dense enough that you can't see more than 20 feet in front of you in most places and the trees are tall enough that it's easy to lose your landmarks. Things would be so much easier if we could tie a big shiny helium balloon to our center marker on 100' of line so that we could see it from everywhere (or at least if you backed up a little). For now, we'll just have to deal with a slightly meandering trail and come back later during clean up and straighten out the edges when we widen it for the truck.
Days like these I can totally understand people who decide to simply drive a bulldozer through the forest to cut in driveways. If I wasn't trying to save building logs and topsoil I'd be tempted to do it myself!
5 comments:
PC;
I,m surprised your breaking trail with your burnt hand; That must be hard work; --I just read your complete blog today; Phil and John called me a few weeks ago and happen to say someone was leaving in a tent down in sec 8; You have had a very interesting and hard winter; It's good it's finally warming up; I own the land northwest of Dave and Jorden and it also seems 60 acres south and west of you; I hope your hand is getting better; it's really hard to keep it clean living in the bush like you are; Watch out and stay on the road; Harry in Reno;
Harry - that's the good thing about working hard with your hands every day, you get super-thick calluses that keep blisters from peeling off and getting infected :) The two middle fingers are still a bit tender, but I can work with the padded gloves on ok. No rest for the wicked.
PC;
It's very impressive to be living in a tent with heat, light and internet, let alone decent internet; It sounds like you did quite well this winter heatwise; Thank god it didn't get down to -65; That happens once in a while in manley--I think even the tough Alaskans run for shelter then--with good reason;
Are you aware that Frank Gurtler in Manley repairs tires--mounts and dismounts rubber--etc; Is he there currently or outside; Also in 2008 Walmart was shipping Rx's via US mail from their stores--at least from the Wasilla store to the bush; I believe it's only illegal for us to ship not businesses; --Please tell John Feeley Hi for me--He has been up there alone for nearly the last 20 years in the winter fighting that road and cutting wood in winter;
You might check with Al Hagen--he might sell that IH cat tractor sitting north of you on his wood lot; I believe it runs pretty good; Check with Don and Dave but Al fires that cat up periodically and if the price was right it might be useful;
Harry in Reno
Thanks for the tips, Harry. Frank was in town last time we were in; but Paul (from DOT) had already fixed our tire and remounted it.
I don't think we've seen Al this winter, so he might be on the outside. Dave & Jordan, Don & Jay should all be back soon (if not already) and I can check with them. Having a tractor, either to own or rent/borrow would make life A LOT simpler for some of these projects.
Wal-Mart is *supposed* to mail Rx, but they are having an issue of some sort and really pissing us off. The pharmacy at Fred Meyer is much more user-friendly, and they'll give us a year at a time (or auto-mail every 3 months) so we'll be switching to them when it's time to renew G's Rx. I can't stand poor customer service, just won't tolerate it!
The coldest it got here this winter (that we know of) was -53. That was about the same time that G walked up to Feeley's because nothing would start or run. We were warm enough in the tent with the foam panels, but running out of fuel or firewood would not have been fun! I think -65 would have had us in Manley staying at Gladys' rental cabin for a few days for sure!
Try Pulling a long string in the right direction, and spray paint to pre mark the trees before you cut into them.
You'll keep on track without any more guesswork or wasted effort.
Love the blog, keep coming back every week or so. Wishing it was me up there!.
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