Trip Date: September 13, 2021
Find this SpotThis was the only chance I had to come up in September, with all of Haley’s wedding events going on and our trip up the Oregon Coast. Mike always has a busy October Fest music calendar, even in the insane Pandemic and the Delta variant outbreak. So, it was just me and Irene, and the rest of my spirit guides to paint my cabin and take care of a bunch of little things.
I was traveling light, except for one water barrel, as I didn’t have a lot of material needs. I didn’t really bust ass to get out early, but, being a Tuesday, Kristen got up early to go to her Pilates class, so I was up too. I was leaving the house a little after 7:00 which was perfect. I decided to go up Highway 32 out of Chico to 36 and show some love to Chester, as it had been a long time since I had gone that way because of the Dixie fire. Now 1,000,000 acres and 2 months burned, 32 was open and people were yearning to get back to some sense of the new normal.
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go all the way up I-5 to 32, or stay on 70, so I let the steering wheel decide at the very last minute. 70 is not a relaxing drive because it is 1 lane with lots of cross traffic possibilities, and slow moving farm equipment and big trucks, but it is beautiful with all the orchards and crops and interesting to see what is happening in all the various fields. Plus, they are doing a lot of construction to add lanes and widen the road, so soon it will be 2 lanes all the way into Oroville. From there to Chico, it is already multi-lanes and a quick drive.
Up 32 out of Chico is always beautiful as you climb out of the valley and into the woods. Dropping into the Chico Creek drainage and then up and down into the Deer Creek drainage is always interesting and pretty to follow alongside the water. It is twisty-turny though, and I always marvel at how I drove that route several times with our rickety trailer. Not without incident, but without major malfunction at least. I was crushed as I rolled into Chester and saw the fire damage.
It is absolutely insane how good a job the firefighters do at saving structures, facing down intense heat and flame to really stave off elimination. But they certainly can’t save them all. Although, in the big picture the damage was minimal, it is still horrifying to see the complete destruction that these big fires do. I was happy to get some gas at the Chevron, my usual stop, and add a few bucks to the staggering economy. After following the fire activity so closely on Googly, I decided to drive around a little bit of the town behind 36, towards the lake. Although a little rougher than I expected being so close to the lake, it all appeared undamaged, not even a random burn from sparks or embers. Really amazing.
Back on 36, I got into my first of 3 stops for road construction. The first was at the new bridge they have been working on forever, and that was just a quick stop. The next was also a quickie, as they were just clearing up some fire debris. The third was just as I was climbing up Fredonyer Pass, just East of Coppervale. I totally lucked out and pulled into the end of the long line, just as it was pulling out. This stretch of construction had the entire road surface removed (I thought they just repaved it last year?) up and over the pass and almost all the way to Highway 44. This could have been a monstrous wait if I missed this group, as just our drive took 20-30 minutes, and then the other side has to come back before it would have been my turn, so I was really lucky on the timing.
Since I was headed to Spaulding to check out the trailer Big Mike had offered us, I turned onto County Road A-1, Eagle Lake road, for a high mountain drive up and over to the South end of the lake where the only real water is. This is all Lassen NF land, so there is no community down here, just campgrounds. The community of Spalding is mid-lake, but even there, the water is 200 yards from the shore and quite brackish. The North end where Mike and I looked at the house, is now more meadow than lake. It will fill up a little over the winter, but with each year of drought, it loses a little more and a little more goes to evaporation in the more intense summer heat, and the shore disappears a little more each year.
I found the trailer and had just barely gotten up to the porch when another truck pulled up. Half expecting this, and remembering my altercation on Orange Ave. down from Vinny’s place, I remained calm and collected. He turned out to be a neighbor and friend of Dale, the owner of the trailer. He had considered taking the trailer to his lot at one point, but decided it was too big a job for him. He also does some maintenance and repairs for him. He was quite the chatterbox, as it appears many of these folks out here are. He really reminded me of my dad and sure enough, he eventually said he was a banker and had worked in the City.
When I told him about dad, he said they used to refer to B of A and the “dago Warehouse” which cracked me up. He immediately apologized thinking I may be a dago, my dad having worked there and all, but we were good. He helped me measure and I helped him measure, and he told me all about his thoughts on the project. It was super clean and very well cared for. I was really surprised to see it was much newer than I had expected based on the video I previously saw. The inside layout was perfect, with a bedroom on one end and sitting/sleeping area on the other end. Narrow galley kitchen and bathroom in the middle.
The deck was massive, 10×40 and also in great shape. The roof was in great shape and covered the 2 add-ons really well, especially where they were connected to the trailer. I left really impressed and excited about the possibilities. We would have to rely heavily on Big Mike, but he had proved reliable and a really good old-fashioned guy on numerous occasions in the past. I headed out of Spalding happy with the possibilities of having additional shelter for the boys, storm or not, up on the Hill. I drove through several areas that burned within the past few years, many dead and dying trees, but many many more new shrubs and grasses as green as could be coming out of the black and grey soil. Everything is constantly changing. Older, newer, better or worse, sickness or health, the climate, gravity, space, population, the economy; nothing stays the same.
I called Mike right away to report my findings on the trailer. He was pretty excited too and very supportive. Then I called Big Mike to tell him we were a go, but that we really needed some help for the deconstruction, the move, and the reconstruction. I was not going to be of much help, and I really didn’t want to force myself to work on the outside. I would have to address most of the interior work to patch/replace the sheetrock, floor, etc. that would be destroyed in the move.
I was relieved to see everything in its place, after having to wrestle a little bit with the lock on the new gate. It is in the perfect location, looks great, and seems like it will serve its purpose; its just that you need tiny baby hands to get up in the box and work the key and lock. It was afternoon by the time I was unloading, and felt no need to push into a project, so I took my time unloading and organizing for the projects, and relaxed a bit on the kitchen deck. The weather was perfect and the smoke minimal; just a slight low laying ring around the valley. I still couldn’t see the Warner’s, but I imagine next time for sure.
I had bought some fresh, wild Steelhead steaks at the Farmers Market that I was dying to eat so I got the barby going and sliced open a zucchini from our garden, soaked in butter and Parmesan. Both were excellent. I sat out on top of the cocktail lounge watching the sunset and having a celebratory cocktail. I was happy about the trailer, the property in general, and the silence. As I came back into the kitchen, it was pretty dark and I heard a rattling about the stove. A huge fat mousy was clambering over the top, scurrying to get out of the light. I maybe could have grabbed his tail, but he was quickly gone, not under the stove, not in the stove, not anywhere logical. Just gone.
Two trips prior to this one, the counter and the sink were covered in mouse poop. It was way too much. As it is, the drawers and the cabinets have plenty, but at least it is behind closed doors. I was determined to help the snake, fox, and other predators thin the mousy population. My uncle Gil had for years operated a squirrel relocation program at his place in Napa, so trapping crossed my mind, but I wasn’t around enough for that. Poison, sticky paper, and snapping their necks didn’t appeal to me, but somebody had to do something. Perhaps intensive training or an intervention. The last trip, it wasn’t so bad, but I now wipe down everything before I unload.
I did bring up traps to set in the cabinets where hopefully no snake or unintended target would become collateral damage. I also brought up some screen door material to see if I could cover the drawers to some result. This time, again, minimal poopage up top, so I was less inclined to take actions with deathly consequences. I left the traps in the drawer, just in case at a later date, action is needed. The mothras were active, so I cut the light and plodded gingerly to the cabin that had aired out and cooled down quite nicely. After some internet entertainment, I shut of the lights, but I could not shut of my brain. I hardly slept at all, worried about the trailer project, and tossing and turning, and being generally bothered by the half moon blazing through the southern window.
I listened to the Nighthawks some, peed a couple times, checked the time and it was 3:47. I finally slept until almost 8:00, and felt decent in the morning. I was excited to get going, but first I had a good poop, ate breakfast, maybe vice-versa, then went down to the gate to drill out the lock hole. It was super boring and I wasn’t making much progress even though I had bought a new hi-steel drill bit. I didn’t last long, nor did I make much impact.
I got to painting the cabin. I brought up a partial 5 gallon bucket of the deck paint we used to repaint the deck this Spring. It is really good paint so it went on thick and covered well. I started on the South wall, which has the peak and the water tank up against it, so it was slow going for the start. I was hand brushing almost all of it until I realized it was taking too long. Once I got around the tank, I rolled and then back brushed in the seams, and cut in all the edges and trim. Although, I was still hand brushing 70% of the surface, it went much quicker. I got in a groove for the West and North sides, then quit for a late lunch. I was feeling great and confident now I would completely finish it, which was my goal.
Of course, my lunch time lingered and beverages flowed, and the front of the cabin had the most trim, especially around the door, but I was buoyed by the thought of having it completely done. The timing was perfect and it looked pretty good. I was really happy with the filling capability of the paint, it sealing up many gaps and blemishes, and giving it a clean consistent color. I had time for a celebratory cocktail, a good cool shower at the kitchen tank, clean clothes, and on to dinner. Steve had told me how to prepare and BBQ eggplant so I was really looking forward to that, as well as some good hotdogs.
It was quite breezy, so I heated up the briquettes in phases, a small fire getting some started and then those briquettes getting the rest heated up. I oiled and seasoned the eggplant slices and watched them closely, a sense of complete satisfaction with the day, the place, and the time. And the quiet. I heard a flock of Cranes above, but couldn’t make them out. The beverages that filled the time waiting for the eggplants were excellent, and the food held its own as well. I was exhausted and happy to head off to bed early. I again, didn’t sleep worth a damn, although I had great dreams of mom, and Grandma Hart; Mike and Kristen, and Mike Leaon, and many high school friends, and San Francisco, and parties. It was awesome to remember as much as I did, but sleep was not plentiful.
Much of the problem was continued worry, fear, and loathing about the trailer. I decided I couldn’t do it, but I dreaded calling Big Mike and telling him. I again was excited to get going on a long list of projects before I left. I was up early and visited the shitter. I took the opportunity, while there, to put some water in the hole to help stimulate some microbial activity. I continued on down the road to hide a gate key. I hooked up the downspout of the cabin gutter to the water tank, then I hooked up the gutter from the kitchen to that water tank. Although we had missed out on some rain, we were now ready to catch any subsequent precipitation coming our way. I taped and re-taped all the fittings for the kitchen tank to stop the small leaks from the valves. I counted and measured the spacing in between the studs in the cabin to help get an accurate assessment of the insulation I will need.
I had to take a minute and force myself to call Big Mike so I did. It wasn’t horrible because he is such a nice guy. He was just trying to do a favor for one friend and help out another. It wasn’t like I was turning him down directly, it was a friend to friend connection, not that it was that big of a deal, I just hated to say no. Once that was behind me, I had the solar panel out and had been charging the trailer batteries as I hadn’t connected it the last couple trips up. I also measured the heights and distances under and around the trailer for the skirting. Then I went down to the boneyard to count and measure the plywood we had. While there, I again saw all the metal roofing panels we have and think that that may be a better approach for the skirting. Not only do we have a lot of it, it may look better (similar to the metal roofs of the cabin and the RV cover), but it also provides some brush fire protection and certainly will be durable.
Then I took a hack saw to a branch above the kitchen walkway that I was always hitting and was dropping sap on everything. I also wanted to drain the gas from the generator, being suspicious that the gas had gone bad and fouled the carburetor causing it to not start. Fortunately, the multi-fuel propane option had saved our asses. Even though the battery is also dead having inadvertently left the battery switch in the “on” position, you can pull start it when using the propane, but not the gas. So actually, both the multi fuel and the pull start features have proven invaluable. I then spent some time hooking up the black 1/2” irrigation tubing to another valve on the kitchen tank. However, I ran out of fittings to connect the hot and cold shower lines and will have to finish that next time. I do not have a lot of confidence in the plastic fittings surviving the winter, but we shall see.
It was getting late, but I brought up the water barrel and wasn’t going to bring it home. I drove it close to the trailer and used the clear suction hose to get it going, but it burped out of the fill hole again. I used a longer hose and jammed it way down the hole. This seemed to do the trick as it took over half the 50 gallon barrel. The trailer gauges read full fresh water and 3/4 battery charge, so we are good for the next trip. Maybe a hot shower in the trailer? I dumped the rest of the barrel water in the stock tank to help clean it out for use as a bath tub some day, although I am astounded how much water it holds.
That was it. Other than scrubbing the stock tank by hand, I had done everything on my list. I forced myself to make a hotdog sammich on the sliced sourdough for the ride home. I packed, shut everything down, took a great shower at the kitchen tank, put some clean clothes on, had a celebratory shot and beverage, and headed on down the road. I heard the Cranes again as I was locking the gate behind me, but they remained invisible to me. On the drive home, I wondered if that metal building on the South side of T-G road had fallen over more. I noticed less fire truck caravans, I heard Gavin hadn’t been recalled, I heard one of our drone rockets hit the wrong target and killed a family and a number of children. I heard governments are trying harder to take climate change seriously. I heard Oregon, among other states, is ablaze in Delta Covid. We are headed there next week, but I am still really looking forward to being on the coast and getting away with Kristen.
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Hart Hill; Just Me, the Mousy, and the Cranes Photo Gallery
