We came up for the first time in 2021 in February, just to make sure none of the rocks had moved and to see the old girl in the winter.  We knew we had to get up the Hill when the road was relatively dry or still frozen, but we didn’t quite make it.  Mike got stuck before he even made it to the cemetery, the flat part of the road.  I was able to tow him up about half way, until I couldn’t take him any further.  We unloaded the essentials out of his car, and hauled it up in the truck.We made a hell of a mess of the road, having to fill in some of the worst damage with branches, rocks, and firewood.  We only stayed one night; just enough to check things out and take a little inventory, so we were up early the next morning to make sure we got out while the road was still plenty frozen.

Having learned our lesson, I left Sacramento at 5:00 and Mike was on the road from Pacifica about 3:30.  We both came up the valley into Chico, up highway 32, to highway 36 to avoid the likelihood of icy roads going over Donner.

We didn’t avoid it altogether though, as the higher stretches of 32 were absolutely white with snow and ice.  Everything was covered in snow; every branch, every tree, every rock, every inch of ground.  It was awesome.  Even the rocks in Deer Creek had tall hats of snow poking out of the steel blue creek water.  Seeing the snow and these more extreme winter scenes passing through the Sierra’s in the winter is just another gift we receive by traveling back and forth to the property.

Despite the snow covered patches in the road, travel was quick and easy.  Traffic was almost non-existent.  Driving on Highway 70 in the dark was nerve wracking, but dawn broke, just out of Chico, bringing much appreciated illumination to the road and the scenery.  I was anxious to get up top the Hill, so I didn’t stop for gas and without any of the construction zones that had become so familiar in the summer, we were at the gate at about 9:30, Mike having passed me in Susanville as I was pulled over calling Big Mike.

The road was still plenty frozen and we had no problem driving up the road.  We had initially planned to come on Monday the 15^th, but snow was expected, although from the looks of things, they didn’t get the precipitation they expected.  All but the shady spots and the North side of things were covered in snow, and the wet spots were solid, much better than the sticky clay muck that appears in the liquid wet.

I didn’t talk to Mike when I called and just left a message, so after we unloaded, I called him again to make sure he got the message.  Not only did he answer this time, but he was already heading our way.  He would be the first of three planned meetings with folks during this trip.  More than work or projects, we hoped to meet with Mike, our neighbor Tom, and some NRCS folks while we were up here; someone each day, so I was stoked this first gathering appeared to be coming together.

I found Mike by doing an on-line search for road builders and earthen moving types in the Susanville area.  The first time we met him, he brought his buddy Ren with him to take a look at the road up top that we wanted built.  There was an instant connection of tomfoolery and nonsense.  We laughed and teased and joked till our bellies hurt.  We hired him to build the road for us and he did a great job in very little time for a very reasonable price.  The next year or so when I reached out to him, he told me he was having another bout of cancer and he didn’t sound too good.

It took a while for me to get an update about him from a couple of his friends who said his battle was going fairly well.  I left a few messages over the following year, but still didn’t know how he was doing.  It was great to hear his voice and even better to think he was healthy enough to be interested in a job and coming right out to meet us.  We barely were done unpacking when his massive Dodge rolled up top and he was standing alongside us.  He looked great and before long, we knew he was his old self, joking and talking nonsense and sharing amusing thoughts.

We talked about our thoughts and what we hoped to accomplish and he gave us his thoughts and advice and we soon had an action plan.  He looked really good and acted like the Mike we knew and liked so much.  It was a great relief to see him and interact and have a firsthand experience, and it was also great to have him on board again for another couple projects.  Mike soon got a reminder call for something he needed to get to and off he went.  Mike and I finished unloading and organizing the things we brought up.  The thermometer barely registered the low 40’s, but the sun felt warm and long pants and a T-shirt was all we needed to be comfortable.

We futzed with our things and got some food, and sat around a fire for a break.  Before long, it was time for dinner and to get cleaned up and inside the trailer.  Although we just got into daylight savings time, the temperatures had not adjusted yet.  Kristen made a great corned beef, cabbage, and carrot brew that we heated up on the stove.  The heater kicked on and we were quite comfy and toasty inside.  We didn’t have running water and the terlit was non-operational, but we were feeling good.  A cocktail, some cookies, a pie, and a few peanut M&M’s and it was bed time.

My cabin was cold in its un-insulated state, but I still got way too hot in the night.  It was in the low 20’s overnight so the ground and all water outside froze solid, but again, it is so dry, that the low numbers do not reflect the same sense of cold we have closer to the coast and in the valley.  I did not sleep much, but it was because of comfort and being too hot, not because of the cold.  The morning was awesome.  Cold, clear, clean.  We had trailer coffee and pie, and then it was time to get out and about.

I was brushing my teeth and heating up some hot wash water in the kitchen, when all of a sudden, another huge white truck was atop the Hill. It was a tad surprising, but since we were supposed to meet Tom and Judy, I assumed it was them.  He had first suggested he would just drive up, but after we damaged the road so much in its moistened condition, I suggested we meet at the gate about noon.  It was now about 10:15.

Mike went down from the kitchen to greet them.  Out of the passenger side came a figure that reminded me of the “Singing Cowboy”, if not Gene himself, at least one of the “Riders in the Sky”.  Other than the lack of a hat, he was the epitome of an old cowboy.  He had a bandana around his neck (green for St. Patrick’s Day), a bright orange long sleeve shirt covered with logos and emblems and western patches, dungarees that were a little too big for him, a huge silver belt buckle, and of course, the boots.  His jagged yellow teeth and thinning grey hair exposed his age, but his smile, mannerisms, and quick wit proved his youth.

Tom was in his 80’s and third generation Standishian.  We soon heard stories of his grandfather and father working the land, raising cattle, hunting, raising their families.  It was incredibly interesting.  He was another of the local long timers that said in all their years of roaming and hunting and horse backing around these parts, they had never been up top the hill.  We brought them out to the cocktail lounge and they were duly impressed.  The North side bowl of Mt. McDonald and the Warner’s being covered in snow against the clear blue sky was quite a border to the verdant plain below.

We shot the breeze for a while, and then they let us know they had been trying to reach us for a while to let us know they had business in town and wanted to move up our meeting.  Having not yet turned on my phone, I did not receive any of their attempted messages.  Nonetheless, they rolled on up to us to say hello and talk things over.  Back down at the road overlooking the subject pasture land, Tom didn’t spend any extra time telling us he wasn’t interested.  I provided a couple scenarios that I thought he could understand the potential benefit, but there was no budging today.  I hope we will return to the topic another time.

Off they went, and back up top we went to finish washing up and getting something to eat.  I made a little fire and we sat around and reviewed the topics of the day.  It was great to just sit in the sun and be warmed by the fire.  Eventually we figured we better get to it and started to fool with leveling the trailer and setting it on cinder blocks.  Mike got out his jack and we raised the stabilizer legs, let out the air in the tires, and let her sit down on the blocks.  We put a wooden block on top of each one that we could later attach a plywood skirting around the bottom to minimize the cold air blowing around under there.

The entire job went really smooth.  We looked at possibly using some corrugated plastic paneling for the skirting rather than plywood, but decided it was too flimsy.  We got the level part pretty good, but we need to replace some of our blocking to more substantial pieces of wood so the plywood attaches firmly.  We talked about how and where we would incorporate a box to lock up all the power producers; solar panel, propane tanks, batteries, generators.  We eagerly looked forward to the deck that we hoped would come after we enclosed the bottom in the skirting.  Mike set up the solar panel and it charged up the batteries in no time, and w were soon wiggling out of our coveralls and thinking about cocktails and grub.

As usual, Mike brought steaks to BBQ for one of the dinners.  Not so usual though was his putting the steaks in the freezer in the trailer, so when we get the fire going, he brings this solid frozen mass out to the kitchen and leaves them out, in the shade no less, like they were going to defrost in the 15 minutes before the coals were ready.  I got a pot of water going and put them in it.  I literally had to boil them apart and then throw them on the grill.  Needless to say, they were not our finest work, but the cocktails and chips did the trick.

The cabin was freezing cold again, but I resisted the temptation to keep my socks and long johns and shirt and hat on and piled blankets on top, even though that was way too much last night.  I went for the bag and one blanket and my usual nakedness in bed, and it was perfect.  I read for a little while and then faded away.  I slept pretty good, but I can’t wait until we get the regular bed set up in there, let alone the flooring, insulation and paneling.  Every time I had to get up to pee, I was amazed at how it just didn’t feel that cold, even though I knew the reading would be very low.

I turned on my phone early this morning as we were supposed to meet with Ann and Tasha from NRCS at 10:00 and I didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, although we had already confirmed the appointment.  Mike and I needed to get down the road while it was still frozen, so we basically packed up and locked up before we met down at the gate.  I couldn’t believe that we were going to be 3 for 3 in our meetings out here.  I was really happy everything was going as planned.

Ann and Tasha seemed real nice and easygoing.  They asked us what we wanted to do on the property and we asked them what types of assistance they provided.  We decided we would just walk the road so they could see the property and talk while we went.  We discussed reducing the Junipers, seeding beneficial grasses, planting trees and berries, doing some wildlife habitat stuff, the need for irrigation, the lack of power, and our desire to try to shield as much stuff from the road and visibility.  They really seemed interested in working with us and able to provide assistance and possible partnerships with our BLM neighbors.

I gave them a copy of the paper we wrote up that basically covered much of what we talked about.  I have to say they seemed impressed.  They told us they had more paperwork for us, but that they had a good idea of what we were thinking and would write up a plan for us to discuss.  It was pretty exciting to think about getting help for some of our projects or even lower priority things on our wish list.  Even the support, agreement, excitement about doing some of these things was a real boost and affirmation that we were in a good place and thinking about the right things.

As we talked by the rigs, the weather worsened a bit as expected, but then cleared up.  We were packed and ready to go, and the timing was perfect, but with the sun shining, Mike and I lingered a little alongside the road after the ladies left.  I was searching in the binocs for the mid-post Leo had set, and was real disappointed I couldn’t find it.  I was suspicious of Tom, because when I mentioned the post to him, he immediately suggested a cow tipped it over.  It was just a bit too quick of an excuse for me.

We stopped again to look for the NW corner marker which I usually can find, but I couldn’t see it either.  We put it on the to-do list for next trip and waved so long at the stop sign.  It rained on and off all the way home, hard at some times, but incredibly sunny and clear at others.  I listened to Annie Lennox, BB King, Haley Reinhart, and The War on Drugs, on the way home.  They were all outstanding and the last tune brought me right into the garage.  Short trip up there, but meeting with the people was great and we really feel like we have great people helping us along this remarkable journey.

Hart Hill March 16, 2021 Photo Gallery