November 21 - More small projects and snow

It seems like September - November have become lodge project months.  This is hard to believe since we usually spend most of fall attending Cal Football games (instead of working at the lodge).  But now that Jim is retired, we have more time for projects and we can still attend the Cal games (this year Cal has struggled with the loss of our first and second string Quarterbacks during the season - but that is another story).

This week Jim worked on getting the mantle for the new cast iron stove stained and continued to work on the railing on the "updated" deck steps, while I did some stone tiling in the snow entry room.  Photos below.

We also had a bit of welcome snow this week.  We are hoping for a lot more next week (cross your fingers and spin around 3 times while saying "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow".  We are inching closer to Christmas.  Expecting about 30 this year for a 4+ day celebration of Santa, Snow and Schnapps.

Oh, and since I am a bit late in posting this,  there is a photo included from Big Game.  We beat Stanford 24 - 20.  Go Bears!

November 16 - Still Seems Like September

We had some early snow in September - but since then, no snow, no rain.  This is great news for the logging companies that are taking out the burned trees from last year's forest fire.  We are getting to know a lot of the loggers by name now and are planning a visit to one of the company's sawmills down in Grass Valley (we are hoping that they have cedar lumber at a good price).  Plus I am hoping the sawmill is the same one used in the Hallmark Movie - the Christmas Card (one of my all time favorite Hallmark Christmas movies).

Since we have not had much snow, Jim and I have been taking a lot of drives out past North Fork campground to check out the fall colors.  This year, we found 2 Sierra Maples and one Dogwood growing on our property.  We had to move the dogwood and one of the maples since they were growing directly below the PG&E power lines.  We are hoping they survive and we can have some additional fall colors at the lodge.  With the slow  loss of all of our cedars (global warming), we need something to keep the place from looking too "open" to the elements.

We have also been ferrying around a few rocks from the back of our property to the front.  We are getting ready to create a rock retaining wall just below the sun deck.  The area currently holds our big park picnic table and need a wall to stop snow melt erosion.

And, of course, projects.  We continue to work on installing the cast iron stove in the game room.  The stone hearth is done (installed, cleaned of mortar).  And now we are waiting on parts for the fireplace stove pipe and for Jim to complete the mantle.

Jim has been working on the deck steps (he added a concrete step to the base and is adding the trex to the top of the steps and new railing).  He asked me if I could get one of the landings in the snow room "leveled" and tiled with slate.  So far, I have added the leveling concrete (the floor dropped 1 1/2 inches over 5 feet since it used to be an outside concrete landing).  I also added some skis to our ski gate (next year I will remove the chain link and re-do this but I wanted Jim to see how cool a ski gate can look).  It reminds me of the ski fences that they used to have in Breckenridge before that town became trendy.

And we continue to work on other "odd" projects around the lodge.  All part of getting ready for Christmas rush.

New firewood holders in front landing of lodge.

Snow room landing - leveled and ready for tile.

Deck steps - working on rails and steps. 

Ski Gate - 12 more skis to go. 

October 26 - Finishing the Stonework on the Cast Iron Fireplace - Game Room

We have been without electricity at home for about 3 days until today so this post is a bit delayed. Last week Jim worked on the supports for the stairs that are coming off the sun deck and the firewood holders (we are getting fancy this year - no more junk wood and pallet wood, we are building 2/4 4/4 holders with slanted metal roofs and metal backs).  I finished (until we install the mantle pieces) the stonework for the cast iron stove in the game room.

Excluding the pool table slate (for an even flat surface) that the fireplace is sitting on, most of the stone was collected locally from outcroppings of gray and California orange slate/sandstone.  As usual - the job got pretty messy with scratch coat and mason's mortar and Mapi to hold the stone (strong stuff).  Mapi is a great product but when wet it is super sticky.  And then the sanded grout/mortar for between the stones was quite fun (stuffing it all into the cracks by hand).  I tried to use a refillable mortar tube that goes into a hand gun - but the mortar mixture was too heavy to feed through the tube.  So all hand work again. At least I was smart enough just to buy plastic tubes instead of a stainless steel gun/tube that was quite pricey.  And mortar (pastry) bags are just a joke to work with.

So 15 pairs of latex gloves later, the job is just about done (when Jim installs the side and top mantle, I will need to do some mortar/grout patchwork). The mantle will be made from some old Railroad Tunnel wood we found in the basement.   Here is a photo of my newest stone work.

And a few tidbits:

Drove back to the road split for Big Valley Bluff last week (since we have no snow back there yet).  The dogwoods have turned a lovely color of pinkish red and since the road is not often taken, it is coated with colorful fallen leaves.  The oaks and maples are a dark rich yellow. Fall is definitely here.

Tunnel Mills and Onion Valley campgrounds have closed (gate locked) but North Fork is still open.

Not much water coming down the Yuba right now.  Hampshire Rocks (the falls area) currently dry.

We found the bottom of a broken vintage bottle on our property (we have lots of broken glass and pay the kids 10 cents per piece to pick it up).  The bottle was labeled the Fitch.  It turns out Fitch was a  would be doctor in Iowa would changed professions and created a hair tonic that was sold between the late 1800s  and the early 1950s.  Since we know there was a barber at the old Emigrant Gap Hotel, this makes a lot of sense.

October 21 - Lots of Small Projects

With the surprise snowfall at the end of September and beginning of October, we have been very busy at the lodge preparing for winter.  Jim cut down a few more of our dead cedars (all a casualty of global warming and the pine beetle blight) then I split most of it up for firewood for this year.  Jim has been busily building new improved firewood storage since we have a HUGE stack of wood (expecting a snowy winter - fingers crossed).

We are in the process of adding a new wood burning stove in the game room.  Most people would put down some fire-proof tile and a firewall, but since we like stonework, Jim built a platform that has a slab of pool table slate surrounded by random stone on the base, and I added stacked stone/rubble rock on the wall.  Most of the rock was gathered over the years from the California Gold Slate/Sandstone we have in the area.  I will be grouting (mortaring) when we return to the lodge this week.

Jim has also been working on fixing some steps on our sun deck.  The old steps were worn out - so he is adding new treads and a new railing for this year.

He took down the old heater venting that had become a bit of a hazard (the top came off last winter and we were worried that the next storm would take down the entire stack). The old Kerosene furnace has been gone for years (it was non-working when we purchased the lodge).   I would love to add the video of the collapsing tower - but I am afraid I would over whelm our blog.

And since the game room (portable) leaks on one end, I purchased some Henry's 12 year and put a few coats of that on the roof last weekend.  Crossing my fingers that the Henry's will fix the problem for now.  We are hoping to add a pitched roof to the building (24 by 40) sometime in the future.  Flat roofs just don't cut it in our snow country.

No outdoor burning since June - so we have a bunch of tree debris waiting for the burn ban to be lifted.  If we don't get some weather soon, that may be after this snow season.  We also need to haul some of the old metal trash that we have collected from our "woods".


We managed to have some friends and family up between August and now.  My buddies Karen, Clay and Shelia came up for a midweek visit a few weeks ago.  We took a trip to Sand Harbor (over by Incline Village) and did some light hiking on the new bike/walk path that opened this summer.  Sand Harbor is a gem.  The water is so clear there and the rocks are amazing.

We also did a trip down to our falls.  Karen and I stayed at the river (north fork of the north fork) with the dogs while Jim, Shelia and Clay hiked down to the falls.

Mom, who is now 90, came up for a visit last week.  It was a work week but we headed to Reno for some Thrift Store shopping.  I managed to find some good items for the lodge (nothing of great value - just replacing stuff that had worn out).  One great find was an electric lawn mower.  Not for the lodge - but for home.  Our old inherited mower (from Jim's dad) finally had the start arm break in two.  We will probably repair it by bypassing the arm with a switch, but for now the new (old ) mower is a nice add to our power tools.

We all decided that now that we are all retired, we need to make the visits more frequent - so we are planning a New Year's trip.

And a few tidbits:

We had a small forest fire last week in Fulda Canyon.  Under 20 acres and quickly extinguished by Cal Fire.

Logging continues in Onion Valley (last year's bigger fire area).  Hiking trails are still closed there.

Our neighbors down the road have changed from "For Sale" to "Sale Pending" so we are hoping for nice new neighbors soon.

And our neighbors across the street have added a "For Sale" sign.

August 29, 2019 - Small Projects

There have been a few maintenance projects that I have been trying to get to since we purchased the lodge.  The first - the area off the side of the living room, in front of the propane tank.  That area has always been a jumble of small boulders and rocks that has been difficult to traverse to get to the "portable banquet halls".  Just prior to the reunion, Jim and I pulled out most of the rocks, built a large step and backfilled the area with gravel and sand.  Since the reunion, we have added wild rock stepping stone.  So now, as you exit the front door to the left and head to the "flat lot", you no longer have to worry about stumbling over rocks, boulders and weeds.  Photo below:

Additionally, our front stone pillars and metal post have been in very sad condition for a long time.  This weekend, I started fixing the rock on the pillars and Jim added a new (non-bent) rail (the old one being bent and broken).  Photos of the improved front railing:

Now for some interesting tidbits from the last week of summer at the lodge.  Quincy and I were hiking around our property and found this rock that looked pretty interesting.  I am thinking it is a petroglyph - but not sure.  (If you are reading and you know, please send us a note).  It was probably moved onto the property at some point and just became uncovered this spring.  One of our helpful neighbors pointed out the the marks are probably large excavation equipment marks.  They are probably right - but as far as the kids are concerned, this is a Miwok petroglyph. Here is a photo:

And I took a ride up to North Fork Place so that I could get a photo of the old forest service bridge that crosses the NFNFA River well above the campground.  While driving up there, I took a wrong turn and ended up at a small group of summer cabins that are located on the north side of the river, I asked one of the cabin owners for directions, and he told me that there were two dams on the NFNFA a short hike past a locked gate on their road.  I didn't have time to check it out on my first trip - but Jim and I drove back there, parked the truck and hiked about a 1/4 mile up to the dams.  The first dam was easy to get to and was about 5 - 6 feet deep.  We did not see an easy route to the second dam and decided to check that out next summer.

Here are photos I took of the forest service bridge once I finally got on the right road.

And finally, I took Quincy back to the campground on the NFNFA river for his usual "swim" and decided to head over to Onion Valley.  I took a dirt road in back of the campground there, and within about 3 miles saw several signs.  "Active Logging" and "Trees Being Felled".  Just past a beautiful meadow filled with white onion flowers, I reached the burn area from last year's forest fire.  It is pretty devastated.  A crew of loggers have been cutting down the heavily burnt trees.  The Forest Service has a contract with a logging company out of Grass Valley to clear out the burnt trees on the 5000+ acres that were burnt.  They started logging about 2 weeks ago and we have seen a steady stream of log trucks and workers going in and out of the area.

My mom turned 90 yesterday - we celebrated in Manteca (lunch) just before heading up to the lodge. Pretty amazing how fast time is running.  We have owned the cabin for 10 years (this December) and Jim and I are well past 60 now.  We hope to spend a bit less time "working" and the lodge and a bit more time "enjoying" it.  We shall see.  This year is a family Christmas and next summer we are hosting yet another 4th of July reunion.

August 12, 2019 Long Time, No Post

To say we have been busy at the lodge is an understatement.  Most of June was spent prepping for the Guida, Atkins, Plotke (G.A.P.) family reunion which was held the week around the 4th of July.  We had about 40+ members of the family attend.  Many stayed the the lodge, some at the Rancho Sierra Hotel down the road, and some in motor homes.

The week was spent kayaking at Lake Valley and Fuller, hiking to the falls, with trips to Lake Tahoe, North Shore Stateline, 3rd of July Fireworks at Colfax, 4th of July parade at Dutch Flat.  And some of the hardier souls drove down to South Shore to ride the mega Zipline at Heavenly.  We had two big winners on the slots at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe.  And no major injuries or forest fires!

Since the reunion, we have hosted a few days with some of our old friends from Redwood Heights and are now preparing for our annual Cal Alumni weekend.

In between all of these festivities, we managed to get a short trip to Sequoia National Park.  We are hoping to get one more national park visited (Lassen) before fall sets in.

Work on the lodge continues (at a slower rate since it is summer) and we have just about completed the "Snow Room" which includes a new oak staircase leading from the top to the lower floor and cedar sided walls.  And we have added a railing to the lower deck (steps and finish work are still a luxury to be completed later).

One interesting update to our History.  Prior to the family reunion, two lovely ladies knocked on our door and told me that they were the descendants of the first teacher in Emigrant Gap, Annette Greenleaf.  They had found our blog online and read our notes on Ms Greenleaf and stopped by on they way East to say hi.  I hope they send us a note soon so I can add some more information about our first teacher and also send them a photo of the "old school".  In case they are reading this - our email is jguida@pacbell.net.

May 17 - 20, 2019 - Continuing the Snow Saga

We thought that snow season was about over with our last post - but not this year!  We became complacent during the drought years and thought that May was no longer part of the storm king season.  Our road signs clearly state that no parking is allowed at the end of our street from Oct 31 - May 31 for snow removal - but the thought that we would actually get a lot of snow in May became quite foreign with warmer temperatures and early fire seasons for the last 6 or 7 years.

The weekend on May 17 - 20 gave us another 4 - 5 inches of snow and much cold weather.  That did not deter Jim from installing a new dining room window (the old one had lost it's double pane seal some years ago and just needed to be replaced) and from adding the hardwood flooring to the landing and and cedar tongue and grove to the walls in the Snow Room.  I spent most of my weekend painting the 2 story high ceiling in the snow room and patching new landing drywall.  I have a paint topped baseball cap to prove it.

After hanging off a number of ladders outside and in, we both felt like it was ibuprofen time!  Here are some photos.

Photo of the snow with one ladder propped against our new window and one ladder laying on the snow.  

The snow room  ceiling was previously forest service green with lots of "age" spots and damage (including some fire damage from the 1950s fire that consumed the restaurant building next door).  Interestingly, painting the ceiling beige actually made it appear less prominent.

It snowed on our ladder so exterior window work had to end.

Jim's parquet floor with Oak apron on landing in snow room.  He is installing, I will be finishing.  Then maybe the soda referring can finally be moved out of the dining room.  

May 2019 - SNOW?

We are having some very interesting weather this month.  While at the lodge last week, we had 6 inches of snow.  This week it is snowing again (see photos below).  We had an epic snowfall this winter resulting in one broken window on the lower floor (apparently impaled by icicles falling from the upper floor roof and 3 broken screens (also from icicles encounters).  The roof on the screened in porch was pushed bent back a bit from the big snow pile falling off the main roof.

Other than that - the snow was glorious, amazing and fun.  We love big snow years and the repairs that need to be made to the lodge after, are well worth it.

During May, I have spent more of my time clearing branches from the property and building bonfires.  I have had all 4 bonfire pits going at different times since there was a lot of debris that fell this year and still quite a bit that we are clearing from the woods around the property.  As part of our fire proofing, we removed another gigantic cedar that was a bit too close to the screened in porch and the cabin itself.  That leaves the big Oak in front of the screen room and one big cedar below.  We are keeping the Oak (it is not as flammable as the cedar) but deciding if the final cedar that is within 20 feet of the building has to go.  Photo below of how the area looks now.

Jim has been working in the snow room.  He installed a new landing off the main floor and new stairs heading down to the lower floor.  The old stairs were rickety original outdoor 2 by 6 stairs and had been painted many many times.  The change also moved the lower landing up so that the stairs are now wider and easier to climb.  So far, he has the framing completed - built like Fort Knox (as usual) and the plywood down.  He has ordered the oak treads for the stairs and is hauling up Oak Flooring for the landing.

We are also going to be replacing one of the large windows in the dining room.  One of our many "repurposed" windows ended up losing a seal and now has drips inside the two pieces of glass. We are replacing the "slider" with a double/double hung window.

I was glad to see that we have not lost our blog after all.  Though we received a post that google was doing away with Google +, looks like our blog has been spared.  So - more posts coming in the future.

Jim's Project

Missing Cedar

Snow in May

The Icicle Window

Epic Snow from 2018-2019 season

January - April 2019 - Epic Snow Year

It is now April and our blog still seems to be "online".  There was a notice from Google stating they were removing a lot of stuff - but gladly did not turn out to include our blog.  So looks like we can continue posting updates.

We had an epic snow year this season with visits from Gina/Tom and family and Bill and his cousin in February and Jenny/Ryan and their friends and family in January.  Lots of digging out and snow play.  The snow was much like the depths we had during our first two years at the lodge.  Since we were worried we were losing our blog, keeping this short and just adding some photos.