The weekend of Oct 29 was all about buttoning up the lodge for winter. Our first big snow storm is due in Friday November 3rd. I finished the metal roofing top on the wood carrier by the screened in porch, added some additional lumber to the existing wood carrier in front of the house (so that water will not pool as much on the tarp). Built another firewood rack (this one is 32 deep by 5 1/2 feet high by 5 1/2 feet long) for on top of the old concrete foundation and filled it with firewood before Jim arrived on Saturday.
On Friday we had a nice visit from Jim White and his wife (just a drive by but always fun to hear his history at the gap). He talked about a guy he used to know from PG&E who had scads of old pioneer relics at his place Oxen yokes, wagon train stuff, etc. Jim told me there used to be two large metal posts on the hill that leads down to Bear Valley (the dirt road is a mess now and probably does not go all the way down anymore). The posts were used to help lower the wagon trains into the valley. A few years back there was a landslide there and PG&E just plowed down the area (wiping away the posts). Some more of our history lost.
He also told me there is a trail off North Fork Place that leads to two lakes. There are a few cabins back that way - one on Black Mountain, that he hopes to explore sometime.
His wife is currently working her strength back up from a spinal injury and is in a wheelchair - I invited him into the cabin for a tour - but we couldn't figure out how to get her wheelchair down the steps. Hopefully, when she gets better, they will stop by for a real visit (coffee included!).
He reminded me that there used to be wonderful old pictures on the walls of the lodge of historic Emigrant Gap - I wish we had some images of those. They were long gone before we bought the lodge.
When my Jim got to the lodge, he worked on getting the final metal on the screened in porch roof. He also started to install the posts for the new fireplace mantel. Next, I get to add the lathe and mortar to prepare for putting in the stone work.
I piled up all the firewood from the patio near the game room and swept off all of the debris so that the water can drain there. Water has a tendency to puddle right in front of the room - though there is screening under the building, I think one day we will have to lift it and put a taller foundation with better drainage below it.
We were taking the Polaris home this weekend, so I pulled the tarps off the Steel Frame Canopy for winter. Next year, I plan to double up the frame (one more canopy and a lot of steel cutting to make the rafters closer) and add a metal roof to the structure. That should make it a nice winter storage for the Kayaks and Canoe.
Since we resided a bit of the lodge this summer, I added some trim to the edge of the house and cut and installed a plywood snow blocker wall on the lower entry. I need to paint it since it is repurposed siding plywood in Forest Service Green - the color we are slowly eliminating from the siding.
Saturday night came too quickly, so we headed over to the Rustic Table for dinner. They have some really great people working there and they are well on their way to starting their new futures in Restaurant and Hotel services. The Rustic Table and Sierra Woods Motel are owned by Teen Challenge, an international group that helps older teens recover from drug issues. They train them and then move them to Alta as they find jobs around the lower summit area as their final transition back into the workforce. They are a great group! Anyway - Jim had the burger (always delicious) and I had the Cobb Salad - yummy! We met a guy - Joe, who owns some land off North Fork Place in the meadow. He lives over by Forest hill and works in Auburn. He plans to build a small cabin on his property next year. He uses his property as a get away and for a staging place for hunting. I am sure we talked his ear off, but was very nice!
I put away the picnic benches (still need to stack in the basement). And pulled some fallen branches and trees onto the fire pile. I am still waiting for Cal Fire to lift the fire restrictions so that I can burn the debris. Lastly I tarped, tarped tarped.
I still need to add the door to the outhouse near the game room, add some plywood to the outhouse peak, paint (almost everywhere), build a canoe rack and stone the wall behind the new cast iron stove before Christmas. Of course, Jim needs to install the cast Iron stove which is much harder to do . And we need to haul some stuff down to the basement - plywood, drywall etc. But we are making progress. Sorry - no photos. Just too busy!
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