I headed up I-5 to Mike’s place and arrived a few minutes after Bob and our designated rendezvous hour of 9:00 am. It was a beautiful morning. Mike, being not only a Dunn, but the eldest son, had readied his trailer by lubricating all the joints, adding numerous tie-down hooks, checking the tire pressure, building special ramps that doubled as a load stabilizer, and giving it all a good once-over. He is quite a guy. Mike’s ramp worked like a charm and we had the 102” wide, 94” tall, 400 pound tank up on the trailer in no time.
I was really impressed by the rope tying skills of the Dunn brothers. They had a variety of knots and synching mechanisms, and loops to really synch the tank down securely with a few various lengths of good cord Mike had. I felt real comfortable with the load when we pulled out onto I-5 South with the boys behind me for the short stretch back down to pick up highway 36. We stopped to check the tank and retie one cord, and off we went. We gassed up in Chester as the wind drag from the massive tank killed my gas mileage.In Susanville, the boys went on ahead of me up to the property as I wanted to pick up a half yard of pea gravel to set the tank on. I had called Sezzi Concrete and Materials and spoke to Dan trying to arrange a time I could get a load as I passed through town. Then Bob and I had to change the days we were coming up so I called Dan to let him know it wouldn’t work out. He was real evasive on the phone and wouldn’t even admit I was talking to him, like he was hiding out from the tax man or something. It was a real weird vibe, but I called him again nonetheless to see if I could pick up the pea gravel on my way through town on this new date. He was kind enough but couldn’t say if he would be at the yard or not and suggested I call TNS.

One call to them and I had a much better feeling. They seemed like a real above board business that had regular and consistent operating hours. The lady promised me they would be open and sure enough they were as I pulled into the massive yard. It was lunch time, so with nobody in the office, my heart sank a little, but a guy eventually appeared who brought me to another and he was a real good easy going go. We went into the office and he found all the paperwork and price sheets he needed as the regular office lady was out to lunch. We had a few laughs and talked about the property, before heading out to the yard.

The other guy was already on his way to the tractor to load me up and told me about the short cut to Highway 139 before I headed out. I took it pretty slow heading out 139 because the pea gravel was pouring out of the back of the truck on every ascent. I felt like I was pouring money out onto the pavement every time I heard the gravel escaping the bed and pinging off the axle or bumper or whatever it was hitting back there. The lengthy traffic stop on the steep climb out of town for the hillside stabilization project didn’t help either, but I eventually made it up top the hill.

Mike and Bob were already at work wrestling with the tyvek in the strong and gusty wind. This allowed me to unload and set up everything at a more leisurely pace than usual. I barely got unpacked in the cabin and set up the water system and relaxed with a beverage when the boys appeared. They were finished for the day at the cabin, so we unloaded the water tank and called it a day. Mike and Bob took showers as I prepared the massive piece of salmon Kristen got for me to take up. It was warm and breezy but cooled off very nicely. I overcooked the salmon slightly, but it was still tasty and along with the pasta Bob made, it was an excellent meal.

I was a little warm and restless that night, and the stupid moon was massive and bright as hell, but I awoke excited for the day. Mike and Bob went at the cabin bright and early and I got to building the little 2×6 frame for the water tank. Fortunately we had some nice 10’ lengths of 2×6 and little shorty pieces of 4×4 for corner posts on site so no material costs. The pad was a little bigger than I had expected as I thought I had a Norwesco 85” wide 9’ tall tank, but that did not turn out to be the case. I had to do a little more grass clearing and leveling, but I was soon shoveling gravel into the square. Between the clearing of pointy rock and the gravel, I felt real good about the soft cushion we had under the tank. The boys helped me get the tank in place on their way back to work after our lunch break.

It was another warm day; not as hot as the last trip up, but I was sure to keep my water bottle full of cold water. I had run out of projects to do in the shade, so I was forced to begin to work on the wood shed. I was having a hard time getting started and wrapping my head around what I wanted to do and how to do it, but as usual, after enough trips to the boneyard scrounging for materials, I had a plan. I had the 43”x72” pallets I brought up last trip and laid them on end on top of pressure treated 4×6. The 4×6 was the perfect length, and cutting one pallet in half gave me the West wall. It was blowing pretty good so I almost had to work in between gusts top keep the pallets from toppling over before getting them secured.

I used some pressure treated 2×4’s nailed together into a 4×4 that Bob brought up for the South wall and just kept adding screws into the pallets to hold them together. Then I had the bright idea to run 2 more 4×4’s horizontal through the pallet spaces to strengthen the wall. This also gave me another board to screw the pallets into. That stiffened that one big wall up quite a bit. I now had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to proceed, and it was past 5 O’ clock, so I knocked off for the day. This evening we had pork tenderloin grilled to perfection and fried cubed potatoes. I washed it all down with a couple bourbons, but since we finished off the &-up, I had one with Coke when we walked down to the cemetery. The choice of mix turned out to be a mistake.

This evening I was a tad cold at night, so my sleep suffered, although I dreamed like crazy again, as I often do up on the Hill. I awoke excited for another productive day despite the Dunn brothers heading home. I mentioned to them that I thought I heard some definitive scratching or claws tapping on the deck and Mike guessed it might have been a rabbit. After they rolled down the Hill, I took a few minutes to reflect on the massive water tank and Bob’s beautiful barn wood siding they got up on 2 sides of the cabin and the massive window installed. It was another great trip; short, very productive, and really fun. As I headed back to my wood shed project, I saw a tiny bunny rabbit under my stairs, the first I have seen up on the Hill. Magic!

I got back to work on the wood shed and scrounged a chunk of railroad tie to hammer in a gap between the bottom of the railroad tie of the water tank and the pallet wall. This made for a super secure tie-in and firmly attached the shed to the massive water tower. I used some surplus metal strapping to really secure the shed to the tower, then went around and conjoined the pallets to each other with sections of 2×6. More screws later, and the walls had really secured and strengthened.

I got to raising up the spot where the rafters would attach to the water tower and then the rafters themselves. I found some rafter hangers and a box of hanger nails that is used to great benefit as I was running low on both screws and battery power for the drill. The rafters also strengthened the entire structure immensely such that now I couldn’t even shake it. After a brief lunch, I went down to the boneyard to find a piece of plywood. I had struggled with the size and shape of the shed, and it ended up to be about 5.5’ and 8’. I wasn’t going to put plywood under the metal roofing at all, and then I found a full sheet in the boneyard so I figured what the hell.

Then I wasn’t going to fill the 1.5’ gap between the full sheet and the full depth until I found 2 19” wide pieces in the boneyard left over from Joe’s shed. Since they were almost the perfect size, I just smashed the staple ends into the sheets and threw them up on the roof. With it entirely sheeted now, it looked great and was another level of solid. I was up on the roof screwing the shit out of the plywood, when my battery ran out, and I had to regroup. I ran the 2 smaller batteries I had out long ago, as I think they might be losing their charge capability altogether. I did have some life left in the one Bob had borrowed so I went back and forth from saw, to sawzall, to drill as needed.

I patched in a couple pallet slats in a slot I made for the West wall to fit under the tower platform, and I trimmed off one of the rafters that ran out beyond the plywood until I finally ran out of juice. I just needed another 10 screws to finish the roof so I went back to the other large battery and it gave me the juice for the last of the plywood screws for the roof, one saw cut, and .75 of another rafter tail cut before it totally was spent. What a wild ride. I had conjured up this structure and fished out the materials from Craig’s List at home and from rummaging around the property. I had a hard time starting, but kept modifying the design as I went, and kept patching and nailing and screwing until this thing looked great and was rock solid. The lone battery that still had juice for almost the entire project kept giving and giving, and when it finally died out, the other big battery gave me a few more screws. I was stoked and exhausted, my right arm and hand cramping from overuse.

I had a great long cool shower and settled into the dinner hour with cold pork tenderloin leftovers, a can of pear slices, and a cold potato. I had the last couple shots of bourbon on ice which was a delicious choice rather than any mix, let alone the Coke I used last night. The sunset was off the hook, and the birdies seemed to be extra active. The moon was massive again and lit up the entire Hill on this mid-August night after 3 great days on the Hill. I spent some time out on the upper terrace overlooking Madeleine Plain and watched the sky show. This evening was definitely a tad cooler and I was off to the cabin shortly after dark. I pulled out my bedspread and that did the trick. Sleep was deep and my dreams were insane, as often they are up here.

I stayed in bed even though I was awake a little longer than when Bob is up here as he gets up early as hell and starts rummaging around. It was still no later than 7:00 when I hopped in the truck to cruise down to the boneyard to pack up 40 T-bar posts for Steve. I had already pulled out some old insulation panels that were stashed under the trailer and rattled around in the wind until we loaded all kinds of metal bars and rocks on top. I pulled all that out and put stuff where it belonged. I loaded the insulation panels in the truck to be disposed of at home. With the T-posts loaded, I was ready to get to my morning task.

It was finally time to get serious about the power house at the front of the trailer. We wanted to secure the 2 big propane tanks and the brand new trailer batteries we have there, so we wanted a secure cover to protect them. The cinder blocks have been roughly in place for a while now, but it was time for some finer detail. I set, reset, and then re-re-set the first row of cinder block that was to be the power house at the front of the trailer. I had to pry out more rock than I anticipated, but not surprisingly at all. Once I had the first course set, I pounded in a few pieces of rebar. With each course, more rebar until I had a piece in every block. I felt good about the layout, and the materials, and how the finished product would work.

This last project went really well and I was finished by 10:00ish. I put tools and materials away, locked up the trailer and storage compartments, emptied my cabin and locked it up too. I added and subtracted from my running To-Do list on my phone, and took plenty of time to rest in the shade of the Western Addition. I really didn’t work up a sweat, so I just rinsed off a bit and took the water system apart and packed it up. I got some snacks for the drive home and plenty of water. I pulled the remaining food out of the freezer and loaded up the cooler for the ride back, then packed all the rest of the gear in the truck. By the time I was done, it was warm enough that I wished I could take a shower before driving home, but what are you going to do.

I was coming off the Hill by about 11:03, a half hour ahead of schedule as I wanted to get home for the Niners first pre-season game that night at 5:30 against the fanny Packers. It was a smooth uneventful drive home, with what is becoming a routine stop for gas in Reno at Boomtown. I was home in plenty of time for the game, and even emptied the cooler which I o9ften do not do. Kristen had met Cathy and Daphne at Chevy’s for drinks and was picking Beth up from Anthony’s on the way home, so I had the first half to myself and the kitties.

It was another great trip up the Hill for Bob and I and the first time of hopefully many for Mike. Bob said he really enjoyed it up there, and of course, the brothers had a ball working together. They got a ton done on Bob’s cabin, and I finished screwing down the trailer poop pit roof, all but finished the wood shed, and made great progress on the power house. I didn’t see the kitty although I left out a piece of salmon and a can of kitty food, but I did see the tiny baby bunny rabbit. Another great trip.

Find this Spot

Hart Hill with Bob and Oldest Brother Mike