Trip Date: August 13, 2019
Find this SpotBob had let me know this weekend was good for him several months ago, and after confirming with Mike, I put the word out to quite a few friends and a bunch of family that we were having a work party at the property and could use some help. Only Reinhart made it, one out of 30 or more. Less than half even responded which is total bullshit. I mean, come on, a fucking response? So, it was that I began collecting materials, equipment, and setting aside tools, and a garage worth of extras that you just might need.
I had been hitting Craig’s List’s Free pages pretty regularly and had scored cabinets in Petaluma, oak glass doors from a corner market in Winters, 2 cast iron sinks, and a host of smaller items all for free. I bought about 15 feet of Silestone and backsplash for $100, a 4500 watt generator for $500, tons of fencing, peeler cores, tree stakes, cinder blocks, and 2 – 250 gallon water tanks from a farm in Winters, an exterior door with glass top for $50, 5 gallon water jugs and a bunch of tools for $1 each. I was making tremendous acquisitions, but the materials were piling up in the yard. I still had about 75 “T” posts, having already brought some 100 up with Kristen a couple weeks prior.
I needed to get all this stuff up there so I also bought a trailer from Eric in West Sacramento. When I went to check it out, he was a tall thin, old hippie stoner type. Real mellow, easy going, good vibes and massive vegetable garden that produced enough to sell at the weekly market. He had me bamboozled because after further inspection, after the transaction was completed and the rig hauled home, it turned out to be a lot of shit. The “welding” that he said he did, was at best, some Bondo or JB weld type compound. The frame was so flaky rusty that it might have been hauled out of the bay recently and of course covered in spray paint.
It was beefy, and had a flat surface which I wanted and it did tow straight and easy. The first time Mike and I used it to haul stuff up, the right taillight unscrewed and was hanging by the wires in Yuba City. Fortunately, with Mike following, he saw it in time and we caught it. Despite the new/used tires I bought wearing all the tread completely off the tires in one 500 mile round trip, Mike and I hauled a ton of materials up to the property, so it did do its job.
With the haul Kristen and I took up, not only did we lose the right tail light again, the entire chunk of the trailer fell off with it. A 4” x 4” hunk just fell off on Highway 32 coming down the hill near Forest Ranch. Can you imagine the damage and/or injuries that could have caused? When we got home, I noticed that a 3” tube of heavy steel pipe that was acting as a sort of bumber was barely still attached by the 3” wood screws that had both come more than half way out. That would have been catastrophic.
At that point, I paid another Craig’s List crack head mobile auto “electrician” to come out and redo the wiring. He rolled up in a ‘70’s era white Jaguar that sounded like it had lost the entire exhaust system some time ago. What a shit show. I bought new 8 ply tires as my “warranty” for the other used tires didn’t offer me much protection. I gladly gave my money to the next shyster tire dealer. I was on the verge of regaining confidence in the trailer so I hired another “Craig’s List service provider” (varmint) to check over all the “welding”, add some side rails, and replace the hack job that was currently defying several laws of physics in holding the springs to the axle. It just shouldn’t be this shaky. By the time Kyle was done, his side rails didn’t fit, they were too heavy for me to handle, the fenders rubbed on both tires and when I sawzall’d them off, both railings rubbed on the tires. So much for increased confidence. My $300 trailer now had cost some $1200, and was still a very rough looking rig needing a lot of attention to make right. But it did do the job.
I had been organizing my materials and tools and trying to decide what needed to go on this trip and what could stay for a week or so. I had lists of what I wanted to get done at the property, then paired down extensively with the lack of support. I had multiple sketches of how to load the trailer and the truck depending on what was coming with. Loading began in earnest on Sunday with 2-4’ base cabinets, a sink cabinet, a 6’x18x24 cabinet, the large Silestone counter, the 2 oak doors, gutters, drain pipe, the sinks, 6 rolls of barbed wire, 10-12’ 2×4, the 2 ladders and a cabinet I wanted to use as the shitter wash station. Thank god Kristen helped me into the early evening as we needed every minute.
As we were backing it down the driveway, I noticed it was squealing and not rolling very well. That was when we realized all the welding work on the fenders and railing was non-functional, but it looked good. Monday morning, I unloaded the center of the load so I could open the top drawers of the cabinets and fish out some tools to cut the fenders off, nail some 2×4’s to the deck to keep the railing off the tire, and rewire, for the 3rd time, the lights. I felt quite accomplished when I got the load all back on the trailer and ratcheted down, for the 3rd time. That is until Kristen noticed the lights didn’t work as I was backing it down the driveway for the umpteenth time. I lost my shit. Poor neighbors.
I was on day 4 or so of all day workathons and we were leaving tomorrow morning. I had just figured out the lights and fixed it and I was slightly proud of that. How the hell could they not work now. It was one wire in one spot under one cap that was replaced. Well, I found a way. Somehow I connected the wire to the only other place it could be connected and not be right, so after screaming obscenities for a spell, I swapped wires and she was all better. Why do they make us struggle right up to the bitter end. By this Monday evening, I was ready for Mike to come early on the morrow.
Mike pulled up just as I had gotten the last of the truck packed up and was ready to roll. He made some room in the Isuzu for my ice chest and the old oak cooler he had bought, and we were good. Thank god Kristen had helped me so much earlier that morning so as to be ready when Mike came. She has been such a huge help and support. We didn’t get to the corner church when I realized I forgot my wallet, so back we went. We stopped at Safeway for ice and gas and hit the road exactly on our designated 10:00 am hour.
We decided not to go 32/36 because I was concerned the twisty stretch of 32 would cause the tire to rub on the frame as they were not centered. The I-5/36 route added some time, but it was a good decision. We had a good lunch in Red Bluff and a lot of fun with songs with the waitress and the couple in the booth behind us. Deep Purple, Dylan, and Leonard Cohen were on the hit list. It was a fun lunch stop. I let Rhino know we were leaving Red Bluff and he let me know he was in Truckee.
I was greatly relieved to arrive and also to find the fence still up across the road. Having arrived, I heard from Reinhard and he was barely an hour away. Things were working out. When Rhino arrived, there was much rejoicing, and that pretty much took care of our remaining energy. I couldn’t help but untie the straps on the trailer and take off the smaller stuff, unload a few things from the truck, but really just pick at things. We had a couple drinks, some chips, and snacks, gave Rhino a little tour, and that was that. We were treated to a spectacular moon rise above the distance ridge, and that was very special. Mike and I still had our tents set up from last time and Rhino crashed in the back of his truck.
The mornings up there have been pretty consistently spectacular, and this was no exception. After coffee and some rubber biscuits, we finished unloading the trailer. The counter almost ended me when it slid off the trailer, but I survived. We headed down the hill to gather some loose soil to set the shitter base level. Bob’s massive Mahogany base did not make it easy to get it down the path, but we wrestled it there with some difficulty. Once over the hole, she laid down quite nicely and we felt much accomplished. After only a brief respite in the shade, Bob came rolling up the hill. This weekend was going to work out.
Bob wasted no time picking a new camp spot and unloading his gear and gathering his tools. We were gathered around the shitter base in no time and the frame went up just as imagined, even though, of the dozens of tools, and back-ups, and maybe’s and might possibly needs, I forgot my tape measures, so we had to try to remember to get the tape from Bob after he measured, bring it with us down the trail to the road where the saw horses were, measure and make the cut, and bring the tape back to Bob. Needless to say, we forgot many times. I looked over and over, but I must have taken it out and used it at home, then forgot to put it back in the “to-go” pile.
Rhino got so frustrated, Mike went to look in his rig and low and behold, he found an old cloth tape that didn’t retract or have a poky/catchy thing at the end, so you just had to stretch it out as best you could. Rhino would not use it, so back and forth the tape went. I wish we got the frequent flyer miles it accumulated that day.
Nonetheless, progress was being made. We knocked off about 3:30 being in a good spot and having already had a huge day. Bob and I showered and what a feeling that was. Cocktails in the shade on the new bench Mike brought up and we were in business. Bob made some pasta and Rhino BBQ’d some New York’s and the boys regenerated. I brought out a great bottle of Champagne with a custom label Ken gave me and we had champagne at the cocktail lounge in the moon glow. What a powerful evening sitting up there in that sunset luminance and moon radiance. It definitely set the stage for an excellent night’s sleep.
The next day, we got the roof on the shitter and boxed in the seat and the floor. Mike helped us in the morning and then headed to Susanville for supplies, ice, gas, and another tape measure. Rhino also gave us a solid morning before he left. What a guy; such a huge help, and such positive vibes. It was sad to see him go, but I was super happy and appreciative that he came all this way to check out the property and to give us a hand. The front door and back window threw us some curve balls, so Bob had to make a few adjustments, but he got er done. How cool to have our first structure and be so close to having it ready for Haley and Kristen et. al. to use. Progress!
Another shower was tremendously refreshing and equally necessary. Clean clothes and a significant respite in the shade rejuvenated the body and soul. Mike took another short afternoon nap as was customary. He was working his ass off and keeping up with the youngsters quite well. After his quick nappy time, he was back at the bar mixing and delivery much needed libations. We had the precooked spare ribs, macky cheese, and a couple stuffed bell peppers for dinner. The moon rise snuck up on us a bit this night, but was nonetheless a powerful presence. Several cocktails and bed came quite early. We had hoped to have some of Thursday afternoon to begin messing with the kitchen deck, but getting as far as we did with the shitter was a major accomplishment.
Friday morning came with a blurred vision of how to begin the deck. We were not setting the posts in concrete or holes for that matter, and with only three of us, the challenge was unique. It took Bob some time to figure all the angles and wrangle all the variables, but in no time, we had posts and joists level, braced, and providing us a fair degree of renewed confidence. Mike’s musician friend Dave and his son Dave Jr. came for a visit. They were great guys and gabbed with Mike for quite some time. They brought materials to help us set the vent pipe in the shitter, some great suggestions on various projects, and a huge offer of an excavator for future use. They lifted our spirits immensely.
With Bob in the lead and directing traffic, we got all the joists in and then really hit our stride with all the bracing. It was quite incredible, impressive, improbable, inspiring, and implausible, that we would have made such progress on both projects. We had warned each other not to leave the shitter half baked to get to the kitchen, because that was the main event and quite tempting, but we didn’t. The outhouse was functional, and we brought her as far as we could to that point. Now, the progress on the deck was monstrous considering it was already day 4 for us at the property on top of the days spent preparing. I was stoked.
It was a perfect storm when Haley, Brett, and Kristen arrived. I was so happy; everything was working out. They took no time to unload and get settled. Haley and Kristen got to preparing the chili and corn and guacamole, and I BBQ’d a bunch of sausage and hotdogs. It was an excellent meal. I prepared them for the moon rise, so we all got cocktails and headed out to the lounge. It seemed to take forever, which was fine because it really gave us time to settle in, absorb and adjust to the setting. I will never forget sitting out there with them guys in the orange blaze, then the dark, then the off white blush. Stone cold silent. Just a beautiful experience.
Saturday morning we lost our leader and the brains of the operation as Bob headed down the hill. He left us in great shape though, and I was very hopeful we could get the decking in. We dearly missed Bob, and it took us some time to figure out how to divide the work, stay organized, and efficient. Brett and Haley made a wire basket for the rock support for the kitchen water barrel. They also drug all the Juniper limbs I had cut to prepare the tent sites into piles along the road. It was huge progress. It took us several hours longer than we had hoped, but we laid the last board onto the deck in the early evening. Haley and Brett arrived just in time to hand me a fine Old Fashion cocktail just as the last cut was made. There was much rejoicing.
After cleaning up and more cocktails, we BBQ’d steaks and had a great rice and vege dish K made. The eating and drinking was well-deserved. Again, we enjoyed the moon although it was up quite a bit later than the previous nights, allowing us some decent star time. It was cooler and calm, so we made a fire and sat in the corral for quite a spell. The children went off to bed and K and I lingered on the deck for a spell. It was very enjoyable and prepared us for an excellent night’s sleep.
The morning again brought coffee, calm, and much commotion with the departure of Haley and Brett. Mike, K, and I headed to the shitter to put in the vent pipe, do a bunch of nailing and futzing with the toilet seat. We did some good work before it was time for Mike to head out. I really wanted to just hang with Kristen and enjoy the fruits of our labor, but her aunt had passed away in Utah and she was headed out early Monday morning to go to the services. I promised her we would leave by noon and I didn’t want to jeopardize that. We spent a considerable amount of time cleaning up and organizing the remaining materials, covering the loads, tying things down in anticipation of high winds, and generally leaving everything safe and secure. We were locking the gate at twelve o’clock high.
The ride home was smooth. We stopped for lunch in Chester and K got her much anticipated breakfast burrito. I was exhausted, so K drove home and I slept a fair amount; an infrequent occurrence for me with K at the helm….
Thank you to Rhino, Haley, and Kristen for the photos.
Find this Spot
Hart Hill Work Party Photo Gallery
