The view from the outhouse
Wednesday February 10
Hello everyone from Wolf Lake. Roger and I planned to head to Deshka Landing Tuesday morning at 9. Kari had her alarm set for 7 since I can’t hear the alarm without my hearing aids. I woke up before 7 and it was -18 below zero. I really don’t need to go for a ride to town when it is this cold. I was going to be nice and turn off the alarm on her phone. I picked it up in the dark not realizing the charging cord was plugged in. It slipped out of my hand and hit her on the head about the same spot as the tub sled hitch hit me the night before. So much for turning the alarm off. She was wide awake now claiming I was trying to get even. That’s what I get for trying to be nice. I texted Roger and he said let’s look at 11 or noon. At 11 it was still cold so we decided on a 1230 departure. Everything was ready to go so all I had to do was warm up the machines and head out. Kari is going to ride over and have coffee with Myra. I had sock liners, wool socks, glove liners, heavy mittens, two layers of long underwear, a layer of fleece, my snow machine bibs and a coat. On my head I had a headsock, a balaclava around my neck, and my helmet. The temp is about zero or a little below. Roger and I head out the back way each pulling two freightsleds. Soon we are at the mouth of Fish Lakes Creek joining the Yentna River trail. It is in good shape and we are moving alone at a good pace. After about 16 miles on the river we made a left turn onto the new ice road. A contractor has put it in from the Deshka Landing area to haul equipment up to a mine on up northwest of us. It is about 12 feet wide and mostly flat and smooth. We are cruising about 30 with our sleds in tow. When we got to the Deshka River we made a right turn off the ice road and headed down it. It was beautiful. Flat as a freeway. There were cabins scattered along the high bluffs. I had never been this way before. I’m not sure how far but after a few miles we made a left turn off the river and headed on the Deshka Cutoff trail toward Willow and the Big Susitna River. When we came up on the main channel of the Big Su it was unnerving, I could see the water flowing fast in the open leads. The trail paralleled the open leads until there was a place where the ice was thick enough for the marked trail to cross. Just this week a guy went through the ice at Hewitt Lake in a track vehicle and drowned. There are lots of ways to die out here in the bush, some haven’t even been thought of yet. In a few more miles we joined back up with the normal trail we take for the last 3 miles to the landing. 2 hours 15 minutes, not a bad run. Roger is going to load his two sleds with propane and head back home. I helped him load up and headed for Wendy’s, Wolf Lake, a shower, and a real bed.
Wednesday
By 830 I was on the road to pick up a septic tank. I found a used one on FB Marketplace but it was half full and too heavy to load. I didn’t know there was a market for used septic tanks. I think the bacteria you need to make a septic tank work is like the sourdough yeast starter that you keep active for a hundred years in your refrigerator. The advantage to a used septic tank is that you don’t need a shit starter to get it going. I ended up at Anchorage Tank Wasilla sales office where I had stopped last week and got a price so I could compare new to used. A 1000 gallon steel tank was $1680. I heard the sales lady calling her boss in Anchorage telling the person that they needed to warn her about upcoming price increases. Then she said I’m going to honor the old price for this guy and hung up the phone. She saved me $250. I’m afraid this is the sign of the times. If you need something don’t put it off it will be more expensive tomorrow. I paid for the tank, some pipe, and fittings. The sales lady pointed to who I thought was a secretary and said she will load you up. I pulled into the lot and here she came on a big forklift. It had a chain with a hook hanging off the forks. She drove up to a two high stack of tanks, manipulated the forks, and hooked the hook in the bracket welded to the top of the tank, just like you would snag a salmon. I was impressed. I asked her if she fished and she replied no. She pulled up to the side of my truck and set the tank in the bed. She unhooked the hook once again without leaving her operators seat and said something like it’s all yours, do you have straps. I’m thinking that’s something Kari would do. She is getting pretty good at picking up logs with the tongs dangling from the bucket of the Kubota. Now I’m headed back to the Landing after a brief stop at the Windbreak Cafe for a bite of breakfast. I saw Marty Rainey in there, a star from a couple Alaskan reality tv shows. I think Homestead Rescue is one. He built a couple fireplaces for me at Mahogany Manor when we built it on Bear Mountain in Chugiak in 98. He wasn’t as famous then. Great job, could be a whole other post.
On to Deshka landing, the truck from Builders Choice is on the way with about 8000 pounds of building material. About 10 miles from the landing it is 10 degrees and snowing hard. At the landing there is a foot of new snow since I was here yesterday. The driver rolled through the gate and I asked how his forklift was in snow. No problem. He set one bundle of 1 1/8 plywood on the smaller sled. I thought I would have to do that by hand. Made my day. He stacked the rest of the bundles up so I can pull the sleds right up beside them for future loads. I got the septic tank out of the truck, on the sled and strapped down. I have accomplished my goals for the day. The plan was to meet Roger tomorrow before noon, another lumber company is delivering his material then so he will head in very early to be there to meet them with empty sleds. Then we were going to head back to our cabins, me with a septic tank on one sled and Roger pulling double sleds loaded with building material for a client.
With all the fresh snow we bagged it for tomorrow, Roger is going to spend tomorrow night here and we will head out Friday. Hopefully there will be some traffic to pack the trails so the sleds will behave more like sleds than snowplows.
I made the drive home from the landing, first third snowy slick roads, then the snow stopped and the main roads were pretty good. You still have to pay attention on the side roads. All in all a good day, saved $250 on the tank, breakfast was good, delivery driver was very accommodating, didn’t get hurt or hurt anyone, didn’t bend any metal.
By the way I’ll be looking for some shit starter for my new septic tank later this summer. Let me know if you can recommend anyone.
Be safe and healthy, my friends.
Thank you Lord for a good day.
I’ll be in touch.
Blue skies!!!
The View from the Outhouse 