The joy of running water.

In a previous post I mentioned the importance of having easy access to fresh water. This is vital to having a successful homestead. Even economizing on water consumption, you will find that the act of getting a sufficient supply a constant nonstop process. If you are truly living off grid, the ability to have a well, is greatly diminished. Here in Alaska there are many places on the road system that have water delivered even to this day.

So yo can not underestimate your water requirements. Rain gutters are a very worthwhile investment. Even if you do not use the rain water for drinking, the reduction in water runs will be evident. Most of your water usage will be in doing dishes, bathing and other cleaning operations rather than drinking, so filtering and purifying other than your drinking water will not be required. The downside is that if it doesn't rain, you get no water.. So living near water is still essential.

In my case I have a freestone creek that runs through the north west corner of my property. This creek is both glacier, and runoff fed so it flows nicely all year long, and provides very cold clear water (except in case of a lot of rain which causes flooding and the introduction of a lot of tannin).

Several times a week I grab my 7 gallon reliant water jug, strap it to an old pack frame and head to the creek. I like the flat reliant for water runs, because it is easier to strap to the pack frame, and it submerges in the creek easier than the square aquatainer jugs that I set on my counter.

At the creek I have several pools that allow me to dram water quickly even in lower water conditions. By submerging the jug into the creek, I push down slightly on the side of the jug forcing air out. As I release the pressure the jug expands back and draws water in. doing this 8-10 times lets me fill the 7 gallon jug in less than a minute. I feel this is quite efficient.

I secure the jug to my pack frame with bungee cords which is quick, easy and secure. It is simply a quick walk back to the cabin to transfer the water into my aquatainer containers. This I do quickly with the aid of an old plastic 1.75 liter vodka bottle, that I cut the bottom out of, which turned it into a high volume funnel.

I can make three runs, which provides me with 21 +/- gallons of water in less than an hour. I fill two aquatainer jugs which I sit on my counter next to the sink. the spigot on these jugs are basically my sink/running water (for now). The remaining goes into two stockpots, which sit full time on a rack on top of the wood stove. This provides me with enough hot water to bathe, do dishes, and have some hot cider, etc.

The stock pots have lids which prevent the water from evaporating. One is designated for drinking purposes and is kept free of any soaps or other contaminants. The other is designated for dishes and other household chores.

The process is quite simple. I do the runs on foot and have no plans to cut an ATV trail the 100 yards of so to the creek. The runs provides me with exercise and clean fresh air. It also increases my chances of seeing game along the way.



Sometimes it's not your Adventure (pt 2)

The next morning, I got up at the usual time, drank my usual coffee, and listened to my usual radio... as usual. After the usual routine ended I got to work, bucking and splitting the firewood I had brough in the day before.

Jesse and Steve pulled the three wheeler the 5 yards or so from the overflow creek, onto my trail and had dried out the carberator and cleaned the sparkplug, and swapped out the gas in the tank.

About 12:30, Steve walked up and asked if I could try and pull start him. I said "sure", and fired up my ATV to go give him a tug. The available trail for this was not optimum, as it was only about 20 yards long. On one end was a hill that I would not be able to climb towing him, and on the other end was the overflow creek. My driveway is too rough and to many bends.

We tried three times to get the wheeler to turn over but it refused to start.

They decided to pull the brain box and swap that and a few other parts. i suggested that I go to the creek and fill his water jugs as this had not been done, and it was his main reason for coming this way in the first place.

(Note: The trapper cabin where he is staying is 1.5 miles from the nearest drinking water. See my posting on choosing a homestead site)

With that, we parted and I made three trips to the creek with my pack board to get approximately 17 gallons of water, which I secured to my ATV racks. I returned to splitting wood until I heard from them.

It was about 3pm, when I heard a motor roar to life in the distance. Grabbing my coffee I walked down the trail to inspect their progress. It turned out that a regapped spark plug was all that had been needed.

I suggested that I carry the water across just to be sure, and that maybe I should tow him across as well. They figured that Steve could get across as the water level had dropped about a foot. I was not so sure.

Before crossing they decided that they should test ride the machine a bit... good idea.. They headed off, back towards Jesse's place and I returned to splitting and stacking firewood.

About 4pm, I saddled up and puttered my ATV down to the overflow creek, I was just about there when I heard the sputtering of Steve on his machine, coming my way.

He started across and actually made it through the worst of the current with no trouble, but when he slowed down trying to make it up the opposite bank, the rear end of his wheeler lifted a bit and the current started turning it downstream. looking back with a bit of shock and dread, he gunned his little machine and got enough traction to haul himself out. It had been a pretty close call as I could see him getting swept down stream just like before... I'm sure that crossed his mind as well, and it wasn't something he wanted to repeat!

I followed across without incident, and helped him lash the water jugs to the racks on the wheeler. It was then that it occurred to me that the weight of the jugs may have actually helped get him across rather than hinder him. But at least he was across, and the worst part of the trip was probably behind him. Although there where still a few wet area's he'd have to negotiate.

I told him to call first and get a creek report. If nuthin else I could get water across the creek to him so he wouldn't have to risk crossing until the water dropped, or froze...

I waited until he got his machine started and was heading down the trail, before I turned around and went back to the cabin... It was almost 4:30pm.... quitin time for me here in the sticks

Sometimes it's not your adventure (pt1)

Sometimes it's not me that has the adventure.......

approvimately 5pm, I was done with my daily chores. I start early enough that I can usuaslly wind down a bit early... I had decided to lay down and relax until dinner. I wasn't in my bunk long when the dogs sensed something and went to the door, just as I heard a knock.

I don't get knocks on the door very often.. I went to the door expecting to find Jesse (my future neighbor to the east) standing there. I was suprised to see Steve #1.

( Steve #1 & 2, are friends who moved up from Taexas to build their cabin in the mountains. Their lots are to the west of mine along the same creek)

Steve said he had nearly lost his three wheeler in the overflow creek. And that he was soaked.

(The overflow creek is a small channel that handles overflow from a series of shollow connecting lakes to the south east. It is normally dry, but with all the rain it was running very high and quite fast. It was at the top of the bank and I would not have taken my ATV across.)

I let him in and he removed much of his outer clothing and we hung it behind the woodstove, which I had just lit a few minutes earlier.

He recounted his story as I poured him a few shots of cheap vodka into a glass. He was on a water run and seeing the overflow creek, decided he would try and cross. He almost had it, but his wheeler is quite light and the balloon tires caused him to float and as he was trying to negotiate the bank he got caught in the swift current and got pulled downstream. We manageed to get the wheeler out on the bank after it momentarily got hung up on a small tree that was lying in the creek.

The wheeler has been totally submerged and was obviously not going to start. He walked to my cabin which was only about 75 yards from my cabin. The overflow creek actually comes within about 30 yards of my place.We discussed him staying the night. I have air mattresses and sleeping bags and plenty of food.

Just about then there was another knock on the door..... this was turning out to be a very strange day!

This time it was Jesse. He came in and immediately asked Steve for a smoke.... In fact when he found out Steve had his tobacco with him, Jesse made an empassioned case for all the reasons that Steve should spend the night at his place..

This I thought was quite funny, and I can imagine Jesse being a fairly sucessful polititian..

After a n hour or so of chatting and discussing getting the three wheeler running, Steve donned his partially dry clothing and the headed out for Jesse's place.

In all reality, I'm not a room mate kind of guy, and while, I'd have been happy to host Steve over night, it didn't bother me to be alone.

I ate my dinner as usual, but the small glass of libation I had.. (I wasn't going to let Steve drink alone), didn't set well with me, and instead of relaxing the muscles, tightened them up. So I decided at I'd hit the sack early.. No movie... no popcorn.

By 8pm I was all done..

Tomorrow, I'd see how I could help Steve get his situation resolved..

Choosing a remote location

Choosing a remote location is really difficult, but forgetting a factor or two can make your experience a lot more difficult. The topic of this post is really intended to deal with a remote, or off the road system type homestead.

It is easy to be swayed by the view, and beauty of a particular location, which may cause one to forget the real reason one is living out there to begin with. Beautiful vista's won't feed you or provide comforts of any type if any of the necessary ingredients are missing. I know of more than one cabin that is lacking in either available firewood, water, or both... Needless to say these cabins are not used on a regular basis. Traveling miles over rough ground to carry firewood or water (in relatively small amounts) gets rather old. And gets so quickly I might add. Even homes on the road system here are dry (no well), and water must be transported on a regular basis. It just becomes part of the daily routine. Firewood is also more difficult to obtain cheaply, and many people buy their firewood from loggers. This isn't the remote type homestead I'm talking about, so I won't cover them here.

If you have decided that you want to try and live remote, I suggest you do a bit of leg work and thoroughly check out an area first. And I mean in person.

There are two things this homesteader needs that he could not do without. The first is a close source of water for drinking. I was fortunate to have a large creek on the property I chose. This one thing has made my life much easier. I only have to go about 100 yards to find an abundant supply of flowing cold mountain water. Finding property with a bit of lake shore or near a lake would be second, although the straining and purifying process would be more involved. Actually finding a good spring on or near the property would be the icing on the cake, and quite a bonanza, but I wouldn't count on that. Creeks.. in my area, are much easier to find, and supply very good water.

Secondly, in order but not in importance is a good supply of timber fore firewood. Your cabin can if needed be built of conventional lumber.. But if you are in an area that requires heat, you will need a steady supply of firewood.

In many remote locations that should not be a problem, as long as you stay below alpine. Be aware that if you choose an area above alpine you will be dragging logs.... and you will more than likely be dragging them uphill....

The advantage to a remote location that has not been timber harvested is that you are going to have a lot of available preseason ed firewood available to you. It is simply a matter of brushing out a series of trails (I made that sound easy huh... that's another post all together!)... and hauling it home... Managed, you may find you will never have to cut a live or healthy tree. The fact that there will be a large area of state of federal land available goes without saying. while it would be wise to check on the legalities of cutting trees on public land beforehand.

Terrain is also an important consideration. If located on a lake, or even near a lake, a fly in situation is possible, if you can afford it. River travel to a remote location is also a possibility, however unless you own your own boat, the outlay of cash is also required. I have found the in my case a charter boat or a fly in (with freight) run about the same.

If your proposed acreage is tucked away in some nice nitch of wilderness you may find that ground access is nearly impossible due to the terrain. I speak from first hand experience here, as a guy I know purchased a tract of land higher up in the hills. He bought the land after doing a fly over. Unfortunately he has discovered that accessing the land in the months when there is no snow on the ground has been frustrating and unfruitful. Unless you are content with limited access (not including foot travel), your homestead may not be realized. As for foot travel area's of wilderness can be so rough that the thoughts of packing any gear in will soon evaporate. I would recommend that you actually travel via foot and scout a route in before you settle any deal.

The topography even of the ground you decide on may or may not be suitable for gardening or the raising of livestock.

All of these things should be considered and weighed before deciding on whether or not a parcel is suitable.

Living remote can be challenging enough without compounding it for yourself. Even the relatively quick trips to the creek can get a bit tiring, after a bit. Especially after you wash a bunch of dishes and take a bath, then realize that you need to make more runs right away. The same with firewood. Keep it close and as convenient as possible, and you can think of heating your cabin for a year in terms of less than $100 dollars.

I hope this helps a bit for those interested in homesteading. Of course the things I've mentioned also do apply to varying degrees to rural homesteads that ARE on the road system. Hauling water, is hauling water, as is gathering firewood. Only the logistics differ.

Thanks all, for reading. If I can think of more to add I'll edit this at that time.

Cooking...... the old Fashioned way.

Since I heat with wood, I made the decision to do my cooking primarily with the wood stove, early on. It only makes sense that since I'm heating the cabin I should make the most out of the heat provided.

I use my wood stove from late September (at least partially), until mid to late may, so that leaves me a very short window in which I need to use propane. Honestly building a cook shack would let me use wood year round, and there are day's even in summer where a fire could be built to take the chill out of the air.

The cooking with wood relieves the pressure of needing a constant supply of propane, and other than special needs (popcorn and such), I rarely use the propane stove for any length of time.

I have found that most anything can be made in my wood stove, if you remember that cooking becomes a visual thing as opposed to a timed thing. Since heat is difficult to regulate in a modern fashion, one must make inspections, and often adjust and turn the dutch ovens to cook evenly. This is not a big deal however, and is just the way you get used to doing things.

Most of my cooking is done inside the wood stove in dutch ovens. The large 10" cast iron oven is placed on the grate, off to one side of the fire to allow for the needed air to be pulled through the stove while the smaller 6" oven is placed on top of the larger one. In this way I can bake bread or biscuits while making enough stew or such to make a filling meal.

On top of the wood stove I keep two stock pots to supply me with a steady source of hot water. Behind them next to the chimney I keep the coffee pot. The percolator removed, I simply place water and a heaping scoop of coffee in the pot and let it slow simmer until ready. there in no need to get the water boiling to make coffee. While by coffee may be a bit refined, once it is strained for grounds it will get you through the day.

My diet is simple and so is my cooking. Many of my meals are of a stew type consistency and revolve around three basic base ingredients... beans, rice and potatoes. Meat is usually added sparingly in these recipe's as I have portion protocols that I try and adhere too.

To start a basic recipe I simply add the beans and a large amount of water to the dutch oven and place in the wood stove. During a typical winter day they will be done by noon.. earlier if I presoak them. Remembering to check the water level often. Once they are near done, I will (for example), add potatoes, diced into sizes of a regular dice, and to the proportion I deem adequate. It is at this time that I readjust the water level if needed, add whatever soup stock that matches the meat I will be adding. I season, add dried peppers, whatever and replace in the stove. I will check every 1/2 hour or so until done. I'll remove the dutch oven and then place it back in the oven for a bit before dinner, to bring it back up to temperature.

One note on cooking rice in these type dishes is that it tends to turn a bit mushy if left in too long. So add the rice a bit later than you would potatoes.

If you want a regular bowl of rice just place a steel bowl with the appropriate amount of rice and water and place it in dutch oven, in the wood stove. Keep an eye on it and you will find that you can make a perfect bowl of rice right in the wood stove right in it's bowl!

In fact pasta can be cooked as well. I bake salmon, and halibut and steaks as well, as baked potatoes.. It is no different than any other oven... just visual, that's all.

 

This pic shows the location of the dutch oven in the stove...

Chicken in the process of being cooked!



Frozen on the River (pt1 & 2)

I have had requests for more stories.... I don't know why exactly...except that my being in peril appeals to some people!

Winter before last (2010/2011) I had my little skidoo tundra snowmobile, parked on a gravel bar, on the south side of the Talkeetna, river. I was waiting for the river to freeze, so that I could drive it across and take it to the cabin. I had also left my canoe, and 9 rolls of fiberglass insluation (under the canoe), to finish the insulating my little house.

 

Just before christmas I decided to walk down to the river, and see if it had finally turned solid. Early in the morning I got up, got dressed and donned my snowshoes. It takes several hours without a load on your back to walk the Talkeetna river. Getting down to the landing I could see that the river had stopped moving during the night. The ice flows had suddenly stopped and the river was silent. Looking across I could see that during the freezing the river had come up further than I had figured, and my canoe, isulation, and my snowmobile, were now all firmly frozen in several inches of ice on the gravel bar.

 

Dang.....

 

 

 

I wasn't the only one with problems, as just down river from the landing was a snowmobile, sitting on the river, frozen in, with its track through the ice. Someone (that I know), had tried to run the river and paid the price by getting his machine severely stuck. He no doubt had a long walk back in to town, and a lot of dangerous work extricating his machine from the river...

There was nothing I could do for my snowmobile, as I had no equipment with me to chop ice. So instead I pumped a bit more air into my zodiak inflatable boat, that I keep there for emergency escapes, and drug it across the river to my canoe. Actually I tied myself off to the zodiac and pushed it across, just in case I broke through, I've have something to grab onto...

I made it across okay and loaded the, now extremely heavy fiberglass insulation into the raft. It was a much harder push back across, and as I inched across the channel, Which is the deepest part of the river, I could see water seeping up through the snow....
This didn't make me feel very good, and I was really glad when I reached the good ice shelf on the north side. I unloaded the insulation and covered it with a tarp, then returned to the cabin. After rebuilding the fire and warming up with a nice cup of coffee, I made plans to get my equipment across.
  I called Jeff, who was up at his place on a nearby lake, and asked if he could give me a hand the next day. He said sure, and I told him I'd meet him at the landing at such and such a time. Before going to bed I went out and cut a long spruce pole to take down to the river with me.   The next day I met Jeff as planned. I had the spruce pole with me to use to keep myself from going through the ice. Since I had to walk across to my machine and canoe, I took the chance on going through. We hadn't had any real cold weather yet, and the water seeping through had me a bit concerned. I had put a life vest on under my jacket took the axe in hand and tucked the spruce pole under my arms. This way if I broke through I would hopefully not get dragged under. That the pole would bridge the gap and let me pull myself out.

Jeff suggested that I tie a nylon rope to my waste in case I had trouble he could pull me back. I did so, and as I ventured out onto the ice I looked back to be that the rope trailing me was well out into the channel out of Jeffs' reach. He was tinkering with his sled and totally oblivious to me, so the "pulling me back" thing was no longer an option!
I made it across without incident, and it only took about 20 minutes to free the canoe and snowmobile. I fired up my little skidoo and warmed her up.

Jeff, in the meantime had worked at building a snow ramp to get the tundra and canoe up on the bank, and off the river. My machine doesnt have the power to drag anything off the river this early in the year. That is what Jeff was for! He crossed the river and pulled the canoe up off the river for me, while packing a bit of a trail. After crossing I hooked my canoe behind the tundra, threw some of the insulation in and took off for home. I had no trouble the rest of the way to the cabin... Now... how to salvage the soaked insulation! Obviously with it frozen there wasn't much to do. The damage was as bad as it was going to get. I stacked the insulation up under the west eve of the cabin to wait for spring. No doubt it was going to be interesting drying this stuff out.

Going Home, Fall 2013

My last freight run home for the 2013 season went unexpectedly smooth! I was stressed out waiting for the departure date as the trip up the preceding fall was anything but easy, and I really didn't want to repeat it again so soon. Despite the love of adventure, sometimes it's just nice to get there the easy way.

Fortunately the weather remained quite mild and while the wait dragged on worse than waiting for the last day of school it did finally arrive. I worked hard the day before packing up my fuel, oil, and other miscellaneous last minute gear into the back of Mikes pickup. My Chevy was parked for the winter, and I wouldn't be needing it anyhow.

We departed approximately 7:30 am on the 4th of October to meet my fishing guide friend, whom I had hired to boat my freight up to my landing. He had a load a late season fishermen to drop off first, which was fine with me. It would give me a bit of time to consolidate a few things. My last load was meant to be light but it had somehow morphed into a fairly respectable load. I had left a few things behind, like my doghouse, which I had built to be easily disassembled for transport. I will post on that later.

When the boat returned to the landing we made a quick job of loading gear and dogs, and started the familiar ride towards home. The river had been dropping and as we approached a seasonal fish camp, we decided that the load should be redistributed more towards the rear of the boat. So we moved the best (leak proof) gas cans from the bow and stowed them further back. While we never hit a gravel bar, the trip probably shouldn't have been made by an inexperienced boater.

When we arrived at the landing I saw that a fellow who has a small cabin over on little moose lake was up. His small 12' jonboat was moored in the eddy which forms the landing. Unloading was as quick as loading if not quicker. My friend light his usual cigarette and he and Mike and I visited while he relaxed a bit. I paid him and presented him with a gift I had made for his wife, as an extra thank you. Then he and Mike turned the boat around and headed back down river.

It was time for me to get to work. I fired up my ATV and loaded both racks with a decent sized load. Securing everything with ratchet straps and bunji's.. I made my way up the hills to the top of a hill I refer too as Noble Hill. It isn't as steep as some, but very long. Walking up requires many to take a break, as it just seems to go on forever. I found my little freight trailer unmolested and the tires were up. That's a good thing. I transferred the load into the trailer and headed back down to the landing. I made four trips before the gear was all up at the trailer. I then repacked everything and found I could just barely squeeze everything into one load. With that done I started the long slow crawl to the homestead.

The terrain levels out after the big hill and my main obstacles this year are water and muck. With all the rain much of the trails have standing water and the spots that are normally wet are a quagmire.. As I was about to exit the trail around the big swamp, I stopped to let the ATV cool down a bit, as she had been pulling quite a load. Not long after I did, I heard a voice and turned around to see a neighbor (Jesse) walking down the trail with his shotgun cradled in his arm and his dog running along ahead.

We exchanged small talk and visited a bit while I let my machine cool off. Jesse has been working on his place about a mile from me for some time, and plans on staying the whole winter this year to get the roof on his log cabin. It will be a bit different having others up here, that is for sure... He was on his way to the landing, and I really wanted to get home and open up the cabin, so we continued on our separate way.

I had a few small bogs to go through as well as a few mucky spots on the trail yet, and I was unsure if I'd have to unload and shuttle things, as I've had to do in the past. Suprisingly, I was able to get everything through without much trouble. I did get stuck for a few minutes while trying to turn a bend in the trail, when the tire of my trailer lodged against the roots of a downed tree. Other than that it was just a slow ride.

I pulled into my yard about 2:30pm. I'd spend the rest of the day taking down bear boards and organizing the food, and storage barrels for the winter. By 7:30, Id gotten as much done as I wanted, and proceeded to fall asleep in my camp chair while trying to watch a movie... No biggie as I had planned a few day recoup time, and the pressure was off. My life was mine again...