The view from the outhouse
Tuesday February 23
Hello to everyone from Silty Slough. As always I’m behind on the adventure. The weather has been fairly good so we are trying to get the building material hauled out. The ice road is great hauling, smooth for the 18 miles we are on it. Actually it isn’t an ice road it is a snow road. The company that puts it in pumps water over the river and creek crossings to freeze into ice bridges. They are hauling equipment and supplies to Whiskey Bravo Mine way on up north and are nice enough to share the trail with us. I think I saw where the permit to cross the state lands continues until 2025. Hopefully I will have most of my hauling finished by then.
Saturday February 13
Just before noon I went down in the slough to watch the Iron doggers go by like a streak. About 65 miles down so far and about 2400 to go. The teams of 2 have been departing from Big Lake every 2 minutes since 11am. I’m not exactly sure of the time but it strikes me that the first team went by about 11:52. I stayed and watched about 6 go by, then I got cold just sitting there. I can’t imagine what the wind chill is for them going 80-100 mph. I know when I go over 35 or 40 when it is cold my winter gear starts feeling like it is made of chicken wire. The cold air just blows right through.
After lunch Kari and I unloaded the 1600 pounds of plywood and I fueled up my machine to be ready for the trip tomorrow. I don’t fill my machine all the way because I don’t want to take a lot of extra fuel back to the landing. Ideally I want to run out at the pump but that is cutting it a little too close. It is good to have about 3 or 4 gallons left over just in case.
Sunday February 14
As I recall it was cold Sunday morning about -20. We delayed our departure for the landing until the temp came up to -5 or so. I plugged the heater in on my machine so it would be sure to start. About 11 I left the cabin for my first trip to Roger’s. When I arrived Kari had already called, she had forgotten to pack my CPAP. I’m sure that I didn’t remember to forget it on my own. So it is back home. I hit 43 miles per hour on the smooth part of the trail with my freight sled following close behind. Soon I was back over the river and through the woods. Roger and I headed out the back way from his place for a good run to the landing. We got Roger’s sled loaded with propane bottles for delivery to his river customers. He headed back home and I headed to Wolf Lake for the evening.
Tomorrow I will get up early, have some breakfast and check on my lumber delivery.
Monday February 15
The cooling fans failed in my inverter for the electrical system at the cabin on Saturday. I called Renewable Energy Systems in Anchorage and had them hold 3 for me. I throttled back the charging rate so it wouldn’t overheat while I was gone. If it gets too hot it burns out a $700 circuit board. All because of a cheaply made $15 Chinese fan.
I was just turning in the driveway at Builders Choice to check on more material and see what time my 62 2×10-18s would be on the way to the landing when the driver called and said he was about ready to depart. Ok good early start. Hurry up, skip breakfast, make a quick stop for fuel. I want to meet him there so he can set the lumber on the sleds saving my almost 69 year old back. He already had them bundled to fit my one wide sled and another bundle just to fit my narrow sled. That makes it easy. I thanked him so much and gave him a generous 50 cent tip. I’ll bet he can’t wait until I order another load. Now to Anchorage to pick up my fans. On the way I stopped at All Steel to get a quote on metal roofing for the asylum. We are going with metal because the sound of rain on the roof calms the inmates nerves. I haven’t heard back from Magic Metals quote. On to the big city. I made a stop for a gourmet delight at Carl’s Jr. in Eagle River for some hand battered chicken strips, make it a combo with large iced tea. I don’t know how much it is in your area but mine was $12.50 and we don’t have sales tax. I hope Teddy and Cooper’s stimulus check comes pretty soon, but I’m thinking they made too much income from their student loans to qualify.
Tuesday February 16
I’m meeting Roger at the landing at 10:30 so I have time for some real breakfast at the Windbreak in Wasilla. Then at the landing I got yesterday’s delivery strapped down and ready for the ride while Roger waited for his lumber delivery. A while back I posted in the view that I was looking for an apprentice adventurer hoping to get some unsuspecting volunteer from the lower 48 that I could introduce Alaska to. Turns out a great guy Barry replied, he just lives a few miles from me at Wolf Lake. He said he would like to get out of the house and on the river. Sounds good to me. He does a lot of volunteer work so finally everything lined up and he had some free time. Today he is going to pull one sled and I the other, about 1600 pounds on each. Soon we were all ready to head up the river with Roger leading the charge. Out on the river in front of Rogers place I dropped my sled and hooked up to his sled. Then he hooked up to my machine with a short tow strap so that we could make it about a mile and a half to the delivery site with the heavy load of metal. It is a little intense, like being towed in a glider. Don’t get any slack in the strap, don’t get too fast, don’t jerk. It was far enough, wouldn’t want to do it all the way from the landing. At the site we helped Roger (video attached). Now on to Silty Slough. Kari had dinner ready by the time we arrived at the cabin got the sleds unloaded. Barry is spending the night, tomorrow we are going to Hewitt Lake so he can check out a cabin. After dinner he offered to help me change the fans. No time like the present. It wasn’t too difficult, really not bad, no sparks or smoke. I was happy to have Barry’s help to get that chore out of the way. Now it is time for nap.
Wednesday February 17
Roger is going back to the landing today and is going to wait for Barry and I to get back from Hewitt Lake so we can join the parade. We woke up at 7:30. Kari made French toast and bacon to get us a good start for the day. It was already daylight when we departed. Hewitt is up past the post office and the Skwentna Airport. The trail then goes out across a frozen swamp for a few miles. Barry is in the lead, the light is flat, and I can’t see anything. The snow is deep and powdery. The only way I know I’m on the trail is when the snow isn’t flying over the hood and windshield of my machine. I don’t get to ride this far without pulling a sled. When we got on the lake things settled down a bit and the trail was marked. Not too far from the south shore and about a snow machine length off to the right of the trail was the spot that the snow cat went through the ice and the driver drowned a couple weeks ago. So sad that this happened.
Barry and I went on to the north end of the lake to check out the cabin. When we headed back south the light was better so we could see. The trip back to Silty Slough to pick up our empty sleds went much faster. We hooked up with Roger at his house and headed for the landing. Nice ride in. At the landing we loaded up both sleds with plywood. I’ll take one back to the cabin today and leave the other one for the next trip. I can’t thank Barry enough for the help. Kari and I really enjoyed meeting and visiting with him. Hope we can do it again sometime soon.
Roger and I headed back, he split off at Fish Lakes Creek and I headed on up the river the last 4 miles for today. Not too bad for an old guy, 130 miles of riding, load two sleds, with a lot of help. Oh now I’m home, the weather is fairly warm. Kari and I unloaded the plywood so we can make the trip back to the landing tomorrow. I brought a couple more pallets back with me to start a new stack of material on. The first stack is as high as we can reach. Wait until the 2 feet of packed snow that we have been standing on melts this spring. I could have waited until tomorrow morning, but happy it is done. Time for some dinner and a nap. I’m a tired pup.
Stay safe and healthy, my friends.
Thank you Lord for watching over us.
I’ll be in touch.
Blue skies!!!
All of the views are posted at
siltyslough.wordpress.com
The View from the Outhouse 