New Pics on my remote WY mtn survival retreat ( 2013 Pic Heavy )
Here is a new pic thread that I hope some of you will like. I don't think I have made any new pic threads for a year or two.
This first post will show a couple buildings that I made. The 2nd one which is fancier, I only helped build. The first one I show cost me less than $80 to build, mainly for 20 new 2x4's which I had to buy just to get that log / lumber "garage" which I had to build to protect the black SUV - Ford Explorer from deep snowpack.
I tell more about the other protective covering for a new neighbor's large RV later in this post.
And the 2nd post shows some wildlife I saw on my retreat last summer.
This first pic is what I had to do in late October when I was building the log / lumber garage over the black Ford Explorer or Wolverine which WR named it. For a couple days when building with a foot of wet snow on the ground, my boots got soaked even though on the boots it said they were "waterproof."
Since I had no extra boots I used tennis shoes but to keep the wet snow from soaking those also I put 4 white 13 gallon trash bags over each shoe.
Which worked well. The top bag or two got torn off by the end of the day but even after walking a mile each way from where I had to park my pickup truck and walking much when building the "garage" the tennis shoes did not get wet. What they looked like that afternoon in late October 2013 >
http://i.imgur.com/b5RmtGc.jpg
The Wolverine a few days after I got it winched up to the top of the driveway and when I began to add lumber around it. Maybe you can see the dark blue foam that is on top of the Wolverine and it all is covered in snow. >
http://i.imgur.com/ItYYgQb.jpg
Too bad this pic is small but I got it off my cell - tracfone. It cost me 3 minutes for each large pic and only one minute off the tracfone when I sent a small pic to my email. And one more reason I should try to post all the pics I did send to my email since over half of them were from my tracfone. The Wolverine and the blue foam cushion tied to the back >
http://i.imgur.com/CySzPKP.jpg
A pic of the Wolverine taken by WR the summer of 2012 in the driveway of my Greeley, CO place. And the best pic of that foam cushion which could be used inside of a large tent. But so far only to help cushion the Wolverine. >
http://i.imgur.com/FvdjPYC.jpg
It took a few days to get that Wolverine up the mountain driveway since I only had a 4,000 pound winch from Harborfreight but the last 10 feet I used an 8,000 pound new winch / come-a-long.
I had been in Greeley almost all of Sept. as I told about earlier in this thread and I bought an 8,000 pound rated large nice winch which should handle all of my needs for the unforeseeable future.
All 3 winchs on my land are operated only by hand. Maybe someday I will get a motorized winch.
Wish I would have had that 8,000 pound winch all summer and I could have gotten much more done much faster. Next summer it should come in real handy with the large logs, steel beams etc.
A pic of the Wolverine up the driveway and I had to keep blocking the tires so it would not roll down the mountain.
If anyone has not read earlier, I had to winch that black SUV / Wolverine up since the transmission went out. Maybe next summer it can be repaired. >
http://i.imgur.com/CkGo226.jpg
Here is an olive drab vehicle that I saw in Saratoga, Wyoming in early Oct. when I had to get more lumber and supplies. That military type vehicle has been parked there in downtown Saratoga for several years and I think a store or bar owner owns it. >
http://i.imgur.com/dGAsQZc.jpg
The crude lumber garage I had to build in 4 days in a foot of wet heavy snow, hiking a mile one way each day from my blue pickup truck near the state highway 70 to my mtn place. >
First I had to winch the black SUV - Ford Explorer up the driveway into place. That took 3 days off and on. Not 8 hour days since I did have many other things to do also. That winch also jammed and even broke once so that took more time and effort.
It is ok that the license plate is showing since it expired over a year ago and I will not re-new the plates nor will WR the English guy who mainly owns that vehicle, WR camped and worked up there in 2012 and will again this coming summer helping me build a new cabin.
http://i.imgur.com/oqOFVlo.jpg
One of the first of several logs I put into place. The large logs are to support the walls and the roof and are all I had available. If I had more time I would have put many more logs in the walls and roof. I was not on my mtn place almost all of Sept. since my 80 year old Dad had another operation. It was on his prostate but not too serious and no cancer. He is doing well now.
I did get back up there on Sept. 30th but it snowed some and kept snowing almost all of Oct. 2013. I did have a couple warm sunny days in early Oct. to do the following.
This pic shows the beginning of the "garage" with some of the logs and old fencing I had plus the 2 x 4's etc. >
http://i.imgur.com/vbtDqwi.jpg
This pic shows more of the roof with its many 2 x 4's and the one sheet of plywood on top. I put all the plywood sheets I could find on the roof plus much more than is shown in the pics. >
http://i.imgur.com/uJNCpG4.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/H7OHUW3.jpg
And more fencing and whatever else I had available to finish the "garage". The green door was strong and should work ok as a partial wall and the red sheet is actually a heavy oak floor with the red bottom showing in this pic. The red is new paint I had used earlier in the summer when I did much painting in various areas of the retreat. I had put all the camo and other plastic tarps on the roof as well as a 25 foot long by 10 foot wide 6 mil thick clear plastic sheet. Which is slippery so the snow likely slid off at first. And the snow should also slide off fairly easily when the snow begins to melt in May >
http://i.imgur.com/IC7Tu74.jpg
Above is the way I had to leave the black SUV and hope there would not be a winter with record breaking snow pack.
http://i.imgur.com/MgFtH55.jpg
The pic right above is of the back of the "garage" - lumber covering over the black SUV that WR called the Wolverine. I think the snow from the first few snow storms will easily slide down but then it will pile up. They are flexible plastic panels I obtained for free so no big deal if they get crushed. There are 3 hardwood boards seen under the gray panels and I doubt those boards will break, unless there is 20 or so feet of snowpack. Usually no more than "only" 10 or 12 feet of snowpack by April.
And anyone who thinks that I have no camoflage or don't know how to do anything then please tell me what is shown here. I suppose if someone used binoculars they might see possibly some lumber but almost everyone would just drive or even walk on by not noticing anything. The thick trees on the left part of the "garage" are good camo and even form part of the wall.
The dark part in the very middle of the pic is the "garage" and just to the right is the snow covered A-frame shed. Maybe some can see part of the green roof where there is no snow? >
http://i.imgur.com/OH1FLO4.jpg
I do not want the Wolverine to get crushed or have any of the windows break though. I used all the materials, 2x4's and 2x6's I could find in the foot of snow that late October week of 2013. I also had bought 20 new 2x4's and had covered them with a large plastic tarp just before the foot of snow so I was fortunate and barely had enough to build the garage.
That is the way up there and if I have barely enough it is much better than not enough to build with etc.
Hope everyone can see the Wolverine at the top of the snowy driveway. Might have to zoom in to see it better. This pic was taken in late Oct. 2013 I think on the 2nd to the last day I was up there. I put the back wall on the next day.
I took this pic standing at the beginning of the driveway, across the spring - moat and I was on the edge of the private dirt - snowy road.
http://i.imgur.com/uQdqMCx.jpg
This was a pic I took just after it snowed and after I had the one wall up. Fortunately I had put a large plastic tarp over the Wolverine and then only had to remove the tarp and snow fairly easily.
I know I should have had these pics in more of a time line order but I am just putting them up anyway.
http://i.imgur.com/KWERKLF.jpg