Alone in the Wilderness Page #2

Decided to do something about it.

First I build a sawhorse workbench.

Then selected straight grain sections of logs

cut from the windows.

With a thin blade of wide chizel,

I cut deep along the line on each side.

Worked fine. I smoothed the split side with a draw knife.

The result was a real nice board, so I continued to

fashion others.

Put 'em in place and nail 'em in.

I finished today cleaning the litter of woodchips.

I mounted them in front of the door, beaver-lodge style.

Quite a pile for eleven day's work.

Enough to impress that beaver.

It's June 9.Today would be a day away from the job of building.

I'd look for the pole timber for the roof up lake.

After beaching the canoe, I walked through the timber,

crossing and recrossing the creek that had its beginnings

in the far off snows.

Good pines were not as plentiful as I had figured,

and I worked steadily to get 48 out and packed at the

beach by noon.

The mosquitoes were out in force.

To peel the poles, I made a tripod of short sticks on which

to rest one end, and put the draw-knife to work.

I rafted them up, and moved them down the lake to my beach.

A good pile, but I doubted there would be enough.

Today I would secure the roof poles over the gables.

A cabin roof takes time.

Soon I would be ready to saw the ends and fill the slots

between the pole butts.

It's June 18. Everything looks as though it had a

bath last night.

Must have been a good shower, and I never even heard it.

A check on the livestock this morning before

going down to the roof job---

---a few caribou cows and their calves just up country

from Low Pass Creek. Nothing else in sight.

Should be a bear passing through one of these days!

These should be called squirrel frustrators.

Give those characters an entrance end they can ruin a cabin.

I finished filling the slots between the roof poles

and cocked joints with oakum.

Any place I could get a table knife blade in, got oakum.

Next was a job I had been thinking about. A countertop,

some window ledges and some shelves.

I decided ripping them with the ripsaw was the answer.

I could go down the middle of a log five 5" in diameter

and 42" long in fifteen minutes. Couldn't complain about that.

I think I have sawed nearly everything I need.

Now, to trim the edges and start building.

I need a fish for supper. So I took the fly rod down

to Hope Creek.

The grayling were feeding greedily. Fins and tails swirling

all over the surface.

A fish snapped the fly on the very first cast.

A handsome grayling.

17 1/4 inches long. Enough for my needs.

It's July 2. After a peaceful trip down lake i located

ten spruce tops.

I was anxious to try making hinges for the door.

I worked the wood to shape with an axe and a draw knife.

Now to saw the fork and butt end.

45 minutes and I had my hinge made. Not bad.

I put some finishing touch on the door planks I made Sunday.

Now the door is ready to put together.

Too many men work on parts of things.

Doing a job to completion, satisfies me.

My roof poles are still too wet for the tarpaper,

so I will work on my double-deck bunk.

Four posts with two rails on each side-

-and two small and two large on each end.

I augered 1 1/2" holes and trim the rail poles to fit.

Now when I get some glue, I'll knock it apart

and glue it back together.

With a few leftover poles, I built myself a chair and a bench.

It's June 27. A good rain it was last night.

Today would be a pole-hunting day.

I need about thirty to make the slats for my bunks.

After peeling the poles the wind came up strong.

It brought rain and furrowed the lake rough as a cob.

This lake can really change its personality in a hurry.

Like a woman!

All smiles one minute, and dancing in temper-tantrum the next.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I will go someplace.

Next morning I loaded up my camera gear,

and started walking up the trail to the hump.

It was good to take a break away from the cabin.

As I topped the ridge along a dry wash,

a wolf came up from the other side, 30 or 40 paces away.

Then in a wink, she was gone.

The wolves had made a kill.

All that was left of the young caribou

was the backbone and rib cage.

The skin was badly torn and pulled down over the front legs.

As you would peel back a rubber glove.

It looks like the wolves aren't the only problem

the caribous have.

What was a bull caribou doing down there,

where not a breath of air was stirring?

Insects were whirling around me like sawdust

blown from a power saw.

The bull also was having a battle with the tinies.

shaking, twisting and shivering his hide.

He would lie down and get back up again.

No rest at all.

Why doesn't he climb to a breeze or take a swim?

Anything but stand and fight something he can't hope to kill.

With a yell and a waving of arms, I spooked him.

He threw his antlers back and off he clattered

over the stones and up the creek.

Good luck to you, old boy!

It's July 3. A cool, damp morning with fog

coming off the slopes

like the smoke from many campfires.

No wind now, so it's a perfect day for the tarpaper job.

I ... the felt paper four to five inches.

I need just one more strip, twenty feet long.

I must admit the cabin looks better already

with the start of a roof.

Next I unrolled the polyethylene and tucked the edges together

to get at least four thicknesses to tack through.

and I fastnened her down.

Next I built a carrying rack for the moss.

I filed a blade from my round-point shovel,

then I was ready for the moss-cutting detail.

I cut out rectangles about 18"x36" and 8" thick.

Two chunks double-decked on the rack made a good load.

I put it around the edges of the roof, and the cabin

took on a new look.

I feel guilty about the tarpaper and the polyethylene,

because they are not true wilderness cabin materials!

But I am convinced they will do a better job at keeping

the weather out.

It seems I have cleared two acres of moss,

and the roof still isn't covered.

A beautiful still evening. The cabin is starting to look as

though it belongs.

This morning I cut, hauled and peeled eleven logs by noon.

I would spend today on the construction of the john.

An important consideration in any new home!

Materials to finish the front required lots of time,

ripping boards from the last of my cabin logs.

It was twelve 'o clock when I finished the last cut.

Four boards would make the door, and the fifth would

to hold it together.

I made the hinges from a gas-can, and they looked almost

store-bought.

And then the final touch. Saw out a crescent.

And the john was done.

July 23. A day to hang the door.

I put the door into the opening and fastened

the top and bottom hinges.

I checked and re-checked my hinges

to see that they were in line.

I pulled the hinge pins, set the door on an edge and

sawed it nearly through for a dutch door,

which I intended it to be.

I put on some glue and nailed it fast.

Door works quiet and easy, with all four hinges secured.

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