September 20, 2017 - Snow (in Summer?!)

I headed up to the lodge this week to work on the new hearth for our cast iron stove that we are installing in the screened-in deck.  Jim finished re-inforcing the deck framing the last time we were up at the lodge, and added the 3/4 inch plywood that was needed for the base of the stone tile and the heavy stove.

I had the task of adding the hardiebacker and tiling the base with random, slate.   Usually, this would not be too difficult of a task - but Jim's base measurements were a bit off (the hearth was about 1 1/2 inch too deep for the deck flooring).  So, after two trips to Colfax, running supplies down the hill in a rain downpour and adding another layer of Hardiebacker and 1/2 inch of base mortar, I was finally able to thin-set in and the stone tile (picture below).

Another layer of difficulty, it started to snow (yes, snow!) on Thursday which made the screened in deck close to freezing (well actually it was freezing since it was snowing).  On our last visit had not put up the storm windows or shutters yet (it was only September and officially still summer) nor have we pulled the portable heaters out of the attic yet so the job got quite chilly.  I kept running up to the kitchen for hot water for tea and to add to the thin-set.

But all is well and next week I will be mortaring the stone to the back wall of the hearth and adding the grout to the hearth floor.  I see a lot of warm fires in our future!

I also managed to refinish a new addition to our fireplace lounge chairs.  I scored a maple western chair on Craigslist last week which is much like our existing chairs.  But, as usual, it had to be sanded stained and varnished.  And it still needs new cushions - but it is a great add to the living room.

The bad news about this stay - due to the snow, there was a jackknifed semi truck up at Cisco (resulting in a fatality) and several piled up cars that smashed into the accident scene.  The traffic was back-up over the summit for 3 1/2 hours.  Luckily, I was in the screen room working when this all happened and did not hear about it until the nightly news.

When I returned home, I found that I have received an email from one of the descendants of the Laing Family (they owned Laings Pioneer Resort from the early 1920s to the 1950s).  The person who emailed me lives in Alberta Canada and could only tell me when the Laings moved to the area ( around 1903).  I told him that if I ever hear from the Laing descendants up on North Fork Place, I would advise them of his email.

And our dear neighbors Rad and Paula, have sold their cabin (papers signed yesterday).  So of the new people at Emigrant Gap (folks who purchased in the last 8 or so years) we are now the last ones (all of the folks who purchased at the Gap when we did, have now moved on).   It is hard to have a cabin in the snow.

Photo of the snow (it is the grayish white stuff on the ground) from the 21st.

New hearth for the screened-in deck.  Plywood wall behind will have stone added next week.