BLOK Ranch cabin

[NM_Shooter]

Wow... I can't believe summer is over.  Four weeks to elk season, and I still have no outhouse.  I managed only to get a porch and stair built, sheetrock up and painted, floor down, and now bunk beds built.  I get tired working up there pretty easy, and always seem to forget one critical component or tool each trip and have to work around those issues.  Still have to get my heater re-installed (this is a must) and would like to get my cabinets set and a counter top on this year.  I'm still hoping to start on the outhouse, but winter comes quick.  I don't know if that is doable or not. 

This was last weekend.  The project for that weekend was the bunk beds.  They turned out well.  Yes, my kid is a ham.  Still need to put batten boards over the sheetrock joints. And trim the ceiling and corners. That will be undone for awhile!

Might need a ceiling fan too.  She said that the temperature up there was very warm after I ran the stove for a bit.  I thought the bottom bunk was just right.  It is really nice getting stuff into its permanent position and no longer having to move stuff around to paint walls / put down flooring. 

I may make some heavy curtains for around the bunk beds.  Doing that will trap body heat in nicely, and we could probably do without heat except for visits very late in the fall and early in the spring.

[Sassy]

NM, making good headway on your cabin!  Looks like home!   

[MountainDon]

I may make some heavy curtains for around the bunk beds.  Doing that will trap body heat in nicely, and we could probably do without heat except for visits very late in the fall and early in the spring.

That was the reasoning behind the sleeping quarters in this very old Dutch home. 

[NM_Shooter]

My oldest daughter and I went on a Canada outpost fishing trip 5 years ago.  We were the first ones in the cabin for the season....it was mid May. 

We had to deal with both mosquitos and wet and very chilly weather.  No insulation in the cabin, and only an old woodstove that burned out 2 hours after filling with wood.  By the time morning came, it was really cold in the cabin.  We only had light fleece sleeping bag liners, and fleece clothes to sleep in.  She was getting hammered by mosquitos at night too. 

So I pulled some of the mattress covers off of the spare mattresses, and I folded them and stitched them together with a bit of rope to make a tent over her bed.  The mosquitos stayed off, and she stayed a lot warmer.  Comfortable to sleep through the night.  I still froze and got bit, but I didn't really care.  It's interesting how just a little fabric trapping air around you can keep you quite a few degrees warmer. 

I've been thinking about the guest bunkhouse, and I may loft both beds, just to take advantage of the warmer air being higher. 

[NM_Shooter]

Just back from BLOK. 

Got the gas lines run, and they (seemed) to be holding pressure.  I had 15 lbs on it for 2 hours.  I noticed a drop to 14 lbs, but that coincided with a very large temperature drop outside.  I left it alone, and it held 14 lbs without budging for the next 2 hours.  I think it is good.  Honestly, I'm not sure I have any joints that could be tightened more while keeping alignment. 

Out of "Franks' Little Shop of Horrors", I constructed an intake plenum for my RV heater.  Why those things are designed like they are totally confuses me.  The darn exhaust from the gas burner sits right next to the unsealed intake for the burner, which shares open space with the cold air intake.  I cheated somewhat... I cut off another slip pipe adapter that I have and put it on the burner intake and extended it darn near out to the stainless cover.  It's hard to describe in text, but I ran the intake as far out as I could. 

The plenum is a plywood box that provides clearance around the RV heater, and seals to the heater with a galvanized flange that I made.  No wood is within 1" of the hot side of the heater. 

Here is the picture.  The 8" takeoff pointing at me is the outflow.  The intake is on top.  No good way to rig that.  I may bring up a couple of elbows on the next trip up. 

I ran 8" insulated flex off of both the intake and the output, and they are in opposite corners of the cabin, and will be positioned near the floor.  Operation of the heater this past weekend was satisfactory.  I did not have the high temperature overshoot that I had with the 25kbtu heater that I previously was using.  The temperature in the cabin was uniform as well.  The power draw on the batteries was also well within bounds. 

I have an MPPT controller on two 12V batteries.  While running the furnace, the initial voltage on the batteries during the first run of the night had the batteries right at 12.8V.  During a run in the morning after we were up, the batteries were showing 12.7 V.  Granted, we are not that cold yet... only in the mid 30's at night and the real test is coming. 

So... here is a picture of Audrey III :



Next trip up I am bringing my counter top and will be securing the cabinets and the oven, putting in the sink, and running the plumbing for the sink drain and the shower drain. 

[glenn kangiser]

Beauty, Frank... I like it...

[MountainDon]

Glad to hear you're not going to freeze.

[NM_Shooter]

Progress pix from this weekend.

I was sweating getting my shower in through the door.  I screwed up when I bought the door for my cabin.. I wanted a 36" door and mistakenly purchased a 32" door.  Whoops.  I was nervous about trying to get a 32" shower through that 32" door, because of the door jamb....

Lining her up...



Voila!  I was able to hook the top around enough to be able to fake it in through the door.  The enclosure is 32" wide, but a tad under that from front to back.  (Yes, that is frost on the ground outside...)



So ... On the list this weekend was to screw together the cabinets, attach the counter, run some pex plumbing, install drains for the sink and the shower to the grey water field.  Unfortunately, I forget at least one very important thing each trip, and this trip I forgot the 1/2" Pex elbows 

But I got everything else done. 

However, I won't be posting pictures of the under-cabin drains.  Anyone who is a plumber would either be offended or highly amused.  Let's just say that it is water-tight and runs downhill and leave it at that.

"Kitchen" area.  Gas now hooked up to the stove.  Having a sink inside is a nice luxury! 



Shower in the corner.  Another luxury drain.  I was able to rinse off with my bucket inside instead of outside in the mid-30 degree weather.  I am getting soft!  Note the flex duct from the heater.  That is the source of my heat!  I'll be boxing that into a shelving unit that holds a dresser as well.   Nope.... no battens or crown molding on the sheetrock yet.  Maybe next year.  I'm still considering trying to make a push to get my outhouse built this year.  I am getting tired of hiking to the neighbor's. 

[NM_Shooter]

I realized Saturday night that I really like my little shack in the woods.  I am very comfortable there.  It has everything I need (sans-toilet!) and nothing I don't.  There is something to be said about simple living that I think I forgot long ago in developing my nasty, blind, "desire to acquire".   

[ben2go]

I'm still considering trying to make a push to get my outhouse built this year.  I am getting tired of hiking to the neighbor's. 

I can see how that could make for some tense walking.    

Hard to live without a turlet close by. 

[phalynx]

Looks great.  I would love to be up there at 10,000ft sitting in that cabin.  I'd look forward to it every chance I could get.  That being said, you should post the under sink photos!  We all aired our laundry on here...  ScottA isn't harsh.... 

I am glad you had some picture updates.  I like you thread just for the views

[ben2go]

Any updates?

[NM_Shooter]

Well, 2011, here we are.  I'm not even going to put together a plan for this year.  Seems like I seriously undershoot each time.  

I've already been up three times this year.  Once to show the property to a potential buyer (he bought half my ownership! Yeah!  My daughter can go to school!), once to start building the Taj Mahal of outhouses, and once to haul some roofing up for one of the other owners who is coming in from out of town.  

I'm hoping to get the outhouse done this year, but I am not going to kill myself doing it.  I had to get the hole covered up, so there is an 8x8 deck on it now to keep it from catching cows.  Some time in July I'll get the walls up.  Maybe.  The fishing has just been too good.  I last went up with my youngest daughter, who has a tendency to outfish me lately, and she caught a 15" brook trout after catching a dozen smaller fish.  We found that the hidden pond up in the hills also has very large brook trout in it.  I suspect that there are some 17 to 19 inch brook trout in that pond... no kidding.  Sarah hooked one but could not land it.  Unfortunately, that pond is small, and all the trout were spooked at that point.  She is learning to throw a fly line and can already toss a tight loop.  

Saw some elk on the last trip up too.  We stalked them until we got within about 120 yards and the wind shifted.  Then they disappeared.  

We also found this little elk stuck in a barb wire fence with her back leg all bound up.  Mom and the rest of the herd retreated into the dark woods while we got her unsnagged.  Luckily we got to her before the coyotes did.  We checked over her leg and hip and she appeared to be sound.  It would have been difficult to put something like that down.  



Oddly, I showed this picture to a co-worker, and she was surprised that I helped.  She asked me "don't you shoot those and eat them" ?  I suspect that some folks just don't understand.  Not sure I'm qualified to help them figure it out.  But she is an anti-hunter who eats meat, so I suspect I'll never be able to figure her out either.  Guess we are even.  

[glenn kangiser]

Nice one, Frank.  I think she likely thinks meat comes from stores.

[Redoverfarm]

Frank there is no use trying to explain it to them.  There is a line , sometimes it is very thin but that is what seperates the sportsman from all the other hunters. 

[SkagitDrifter]

Good on you Frank!
Anti's will never understand that we outdoorsmen/hunters have a deeper respect and love for the game we hunt than they can ever imagine- and we give back to the resource ten fold what we take.
T 

[rick91351]

Thumbs up on the elk calf.  Hopefully momma and it are reunited.  I would imagine they are if the heard was still around.
rlr   

[NM_Shooter]

With trying to get a kid off to college this summer, and a home bath remodel, my time at BLOK Ranch has been limited....Main project for this year is the outhouse.  Normally that should have been the first thing to build, but luckily I have gracious neighbors.  Plus the location for my outhouse didn't allow easy digging by hand.  I hired a backhoe operator to come do it while he was on the property putting in culverts. 

Since the area I wanted the outhouse seemed to be on a shale pile, the hole turned out a tad bigger than I expected.  I had hoped for a 3'x3'x3' hole.  Nope.  Got a hole that was more 5'x6'x5'.  Should last awhile, but it made the outhouse construction more involved.  I decided to deck over the thing with a 8'x8' deck and create a shed / outhouse.  A shouthouse if you will. 

First order of business was just to get it covered before the cattle got on the property for the year.  Since it was full of snow, I could see a cow falling in this hole.  So I build a simple framework, leveled it with a few rocks temporarily, and decked it with advantech.



Anybody need some rocks?



I built the outhouse same way I built my cabin... framed up the walls in the garage.  I also cut the rafters and brought up stuff ready to assemble.  We came up friday night, I leveled and blocked the corners of the deck, and had the walls up and everything but the deck on the roof to complete the framing by Saturday at 3.  Here is a picture of my framing crew aloft.



I had a left over Talavera sink that had a blemish that had been sitting around.  I thought it might be nice to have a sink to wash in.  I built a little platform for a 5 gallon bucket with a quick release hose (just an air hose fitting) to get some water pressure to the fancy faucet. 



We are using an old RV toilet as a fixture.  I plumbed a flange and PVC to direct the waterworks toward the center of the hole. 



Got the deck on and tar papered that weekend too. 

This past weekend I went in and put the metal roof on, and trimmed out the front door.  Here's a picture of my accomplishments to date.  Still need to get paint on the shouthouse, but I can lock it and it is weather and critter tight.  Already storing propane and tools in there, which has opened up some room in the cabin.



Rained on me Saturday night and Sunday morning, so I spent some time inside my cabin.  I was originally going to put in a pull down set of stairs, but then I saw how expensive they were.  I was growing weary of looking at insulation on the ceiling, so I decided to close that up and put in a push-up panel for access. 



BTW, this is how I can tell if I got a good weekend's worth of work out of my crew.  A view of the back seat on the ride home.



Still need to finish painting and putting in one cross brace on my cabin, putting in a shelf unit, and will call it good for progress this year.

[Sassy]

Shooter, was wondering how you were doing & how progress on the place was going.  You sure got a lot done!  Love that sink.  Your outhouse looks about as far away as ours was - I got a lot of exercise that year, lol... 

Your workers look like they're getting a much deserved rest - hate to think what their necks are gonna feel like, tho    Wonderful that your daughters go up w/you to help 

[NM_Shooter]

We've slowed way down since the cabin is dry and warm 

Behind that outhouse is a cutting table that I rigged up in the woods where we field butcher.  Having a sink nearby to rinse hands will really come in handy.  I've already gotten a ration of crap from my neighbor about the sink.  I have one finishing touch for the outhouse that will make a statement :-) 

I'm hoping that the side walls of the pit hold up.  Since it is on shale, I am keeping my fingers crossed, but built in "outrigger" support in case I need to stabilize the base a bit.   

I'm hoping for one more structure, an 8x12 bunkhouse for 4 guests.  Maybe next year.  I need to get my water and electrical finished on the main "cabin" first.

My daughters have been a Godsend for help.  They like to work, and have a lot of pride in the stuff they do.  I let them find stuff to do on their own too (like painting the sink base green).  Thankfully they are not intimidated by tools, heights, mud, blood, heavy lifting, or cleaning chores.  They would have made great homestead ladies.   

They were crashed like that for a solid two hours.  When we got home, they bounced out of the truck like nothing.  I would have been in a cervical collar for a week. 

[MountainDon]

Looking good. Great idea with the RV toilet.

I have to try again for a time that works for us both for a visit. At least we did sell the RV when I cancelled the last time.

[rick91351]

The picture of them asleep is a keeper.  New dog?

[NM_Shooter]

Yes.. that is Schatzi.  We got her at 8wks old, and she is about to be a year old and is still a handful.  But smart as a whip.  Just prone to getting over excited.  Mouths everything, and I have the chewed up base molding to prove it.  I'm glad we are working our way out of the puppy stage, as i was wondering why the heck we got this dog awhile ago.  Pros are that she does not bark, counter surf, is potty trained on command, and hauls firewood on command too.  Stays in the yard, doesn't jump, and very gentle with kids.  In spite of getting hyper, she has never bitten anyone, even when the play turns into rough housing. 

She pretty quickly figured out that loading the truck means a trip to the ranch.  She is good in the car.  Mostly sleeps or will sit up and look out the window.  Better than my kids!  If we could just get through this eating-everything (cow poop included) stage. 

I have the only golden retriever in the world who is afraid of water (and balloons, and paper bags, and 5 gallon buckets, ad nauseum).

When she was little, she was just like a kid.  She could be playing hard and just fall over and go to sleep.

[rick91351]

Wow that is cool.  That is a cute picture.  I remember when you had to have your other one put down.  I always hope a new dog never replaces an old dog.  That is sad for both, I hope it is another story in itself.  I know Tig the dog in my icon is a handful.  She picked me out of the litter and we have been tight ever since.  She does not have the best cow sense but I really need her more for a companion and she does a real job of that.  She is most the time three steps behind me and just to the left.    

[OlJarhead]

Great picture!

I have the same problem (my crew sleeping on the ride home)....some day I hope to be the one sleeping while they drive!