When we started this blog, we did so with the intent to update after every single trip. Our first winter it was not a problem! Since we had no shelter, no road, and no comfort, we had plenty of fodder for the blog. It seems our misadventures make for great dystopian stories. Our first summer was filled with stories of development – a cabin, a road, a well… even a place to poop in style! People were pleased with the storytelling, and we were having fun. Our second winter brought with it a sort of malaise. We had shelter, power, ease of entry, and generally good states of affair. Our first true winter trip set the stage for the rest of the snowy season; Arrive, light the fire, relax, cut more firewood, relax, pack up, and go home.
If you were to look at the inner workings of our website, you would notice a few draft articles that haven’t been published. After several attempts, I realized there wasn’t much substance to write about, so I put it off for the next trip, then the next, and the next. Pretty soon I’d lost the habit and stopped writing. So what’s a guy to do? Damn right, summarize. So this entry will catch you up on the latest and greatest, and hopefully get me back on track. It shouldn’t be too tough, after all, I’m sitting here with six fractured bones in my left foot… there may have been an incident involving a dirt bike and alcohol. Yeah, I bet you finish reading the blog now huh? Stay with it… it’s about twice as long as usual, but no more.
Last we wrote, it was February, and we were hip deep in snow and clearing a campsite. We’ve noted over the months that it’s a bit more difficult to get things done in knee deep snow. I know, duh. That said, we also discovered that even though it’s difficult to build things up in the snow, it’s much easier to destroy. Destroy??? What on earth would we want to destroy? Well, when we bought this place, there was more than just changes in the landscape effected by the previous inhabitants, there are real “left behind” items. Some are cool… like the hood of the engine compartment of the VW bug rusting aside one of the trails. We took the hood and screwed it to the gate we installed as a fun little ornamental piece. Yeah, you heard that correctly, we’ve got the babyshit yellow husk of a VW beetle rusting away less than fifty feet from our tiny cabin. My sister discovered the cab of a Toyota Hi-Lux last summer… it’s in good shape if you’re up for a restoration project. Neither of those things would get destroyed by us… we’ll just have them hauled off and recycled. What needed to be destroyed was the old homestead… A cabin that was far to large to haul off, and not damaging to the land if disposed of properly. So, with more than two feet of snow covering just about everything, we set off with a gas can and a lighter, to say goodbye to the old, and welcome the new. 
In an effort to not get too dramatic, I’ll comment that both Katie and I suddenly realized how cathartic it was to set fire to the old homestead. 
Not in a “we want to burn the world” sort of way I assume a pyromaniac might feel, but just one more reminder that this place is ours, and we are forging our future here. On a side note, we made sure to spend the better part of a day harvesting all the usable weathered wood from the structure before we set fire to it. Katie has plans for furniture, and the weathered wood will not only provide a fantastic “rustic” look, but preserves some of the history here. We’re not out to erase the past, but rather place our own unique stamp on it. So with that idea, we had one hell of a bonfire among the snowflakes.
With Spring, came warmer temps, less snow, and an eagerness to get things done. In the second weekend of May, we noticed another sign, one that made our hearts sink, if only for a moment. We were excited to finally be able to drive the truck all the way in to the cabin. Believe it or not, there were still traces of snow here and there… but the road was clear and we used it! One of the surest signs of spring greeted us in the form of potential car trouble. I’m deaf as a post, so when we drive up, the audio books we listen to are blasted forth from the speakers at near top volume. 
As we approached the turn off from the highway into the area that contains our land, I had the window lowered a bit (I smoke, I know… don’t judge…. or go ahead and judge, I don’t give a damn.) Anyway, above the roar of Ayn Rand, above the howl of road noise through the window, came a frightening intermittent high pitched almost squeal. My truck is still strong, but at fifteen years old, and 200k miles, something like that can cause a man some concern. I paused the book, slowed a bit, and rolled down the window…. Peepers! No not the kind outside your bathroom window, the amphibian! Specifically; Pseudacris crucifer, a chorus frog that belts it out over the decibels generated by a Silverado going seventy. Spring is officially here. I asked Katie if she knew what that noise was… she replied “Duh…it’s the frogs!”, I said “No, it’s thousands of frogs, desperately trying to get lucky!” I make myself laugh.
Over the winter, Katie had been diligently saving every penny she could, with one goal in mind; She wanted a new driveway. When we first set foot on the property, the driveway was only recognizable by the young age of the pines that made it their home. We had to weave our way through the trees single-file as we walked into the property. On closing day, we cut a path barely wide enough for the ATV. By mid summer, the branches left their mark on both sides of my truck as we squeezed through to our tiny cabin. Over this past winter, we cut it even wider. It was awesome being able it drive all the way in, but we realized quickly, that the spring rains left the soil soft, and my truck left deep ruts in the soft soil. 
Katie’s motivation to save up for a proper driveway came with a fear of getting trapped at our cabin. Even though we had a road wide enough to drive on, there is a bit of a hill that we normally need to take a good run at in order to get up it. So we called a friend and local excavator, and we asked if we could hire him to cut down the hill, and lay a good gravel base for our road. He gave us a great estimate, as well as some preconditions. The first condition was that we widen the driveway by an additional five feet on either side. We knew this was a possibility, so we accepted it eagerly. Our driveway is just under 300 yards, so although it meant a lot of work, it wasn’t impossible. The second condition was that we trim back the tree branches on Fire Tower Road from the intersection all the back to our driveway. Apparently, he thought is was a good thing if he kept the mirrors on his dump truck. Well, we couldn’t argue with that either so we obliged, even though that stretch of road was more than a half mile long.
When you have a place in the forest, one of your largest concerns is a forest fire. One of the biggest things you can do to prevent the spread of a fire, is clean up all the dead wood from your land. What does clearing trees from your land create? A $#!T ton of dead wood. Dealing with tree trunks is easy, de-limb, cut it into chunks, and split the chunks for firewood to heat the cabin. But what do you do with all the branches? Sure you can pile them up in hopes of burning them where they lay, but even that’s a lot of work. And, there are only a couple of months where you can burn unrestricted. The rest of the time, the piles are just fuel for a forest fire. The weekend of Katie’s birthday, My sister Jeanne and her husband Dean joined us Friday afternoon. I’d like to say that it was a weekend full of celebration, but as soon as they arrived, Katie & Jeanne got back on the road and headed to North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN to spend the weekend drinking wine and foraging for wild medicinal herbs. I’m sure Katie’s Blog Spot will showcase a few new salves and teas to cure what ales ya, even though we know it’s the ale that cures ya. Earlier in the day, Katie and I purchased a wood chipper from the local mom & pop small engine store in Two Harbors, so with the girls gone, that left Dean and I to put it through its paces. 
I’m not one to trumpet a product, but I’ve operated a few of these machines, most often with disappointment. We purchased a used 14.5 horse Troybilt chipper and it eagerly took everything we threw at it! Talk about peace of mind knowing we were not creating any more deadfall to fuel a potential forest fire, but actually reducing the existing deadfall from the past year, all while creating a mulch to even out the hiking trails. 
Sunday, Katie and Jeanne returned with jars of magic stuff and tails… well, to quote Katie “what happens at Grand Marais, stays in Grand Marais”. With a late start back home, it was going to be a rough day at work on Monday…. but a good kind of rough.
Last year, Katie and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. With the clever use of a sportsball analogy, I’d like to say I hit it out of the park. Sadly, it was more like a third rate pitcher threw three consecutive soft balls, and I still managed to strike out… then while walking back into the dugout, I managed to break the arm of the star home run queen. I had previously agreed to host a family reunion at our home, and inadvertently scheduled it for the same weekend of our anniversary. My awesome wife fed and entertained fifty people on her first anniversary, and with a smile on her face all weekend. One bit of advice I can offer bachelors everywhere, If you’re going to marry, marry up. I sure did. This year, I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes… I was going to make new mistakes, with great vigor! The Friday before our anniversary, my male brain was struggling to come up with a way to make our weekend special for her. On my way home from work, I had an “ah ha!” moment, and a plan was put into action. I pretty much had everything I needed in the garage, except for two Items. Those two items I could get from a local farm supply store… score! MAN SHOPPING! When I got home, Katie was ready to get on the road north, and none to happy that I had to delay our departure while I assembled the necessary items. When she protested, I told her it was a secret, and she should stay in the house while I loaded things into the trailer. She relented.
We arrived at the land late, unpacked, and settled in for the evening. The next day, I told her to take the dog for a walk and avoid the area I was working in so I could properly surprise her. The previous year we were gifted a stainless steel “athletic” tub from a friend who works within the sportsball trade. So with Katie off in the woods, I wheeled the tub down to our well. The items I bought on the way home? a 12V transfer pump, and a deep cycle battery. I filled the tub with water from our well using our trash pump. Once the tub was full, I assembled the transfer pump, hoses, and a huge steel coil in a loop to and from the tub. 
I started a small fire, placed the steel coil in the middle of it, and turned on the pump. It took about 3 hours for the water to hit 100 degrees…. but Katie was ecstatic when she learned she would have her first hot bath in the woods. Lets just say, I may not be completely out of the dog house over the 1st anniversary, but I definitely gained ground.
With July, came a long awaited weeks worth of vacation. We had both taken the week of Independence Day off and would enjoy nine uninterrupted days of production… or so we thought. Friday through Sunday it rained, almost non-stop. Since we don’t have refrigeration, three days is about the max we can go before a trip for ice is needed. Monday, the weather cleared, we hopped in the truck, and headed off for Duluth. We needed more than ice, we needed lumber from the big orange lumber store. Our plan was to get our first campsite finished, along with the road, and it was time to buy materials. We also picked up a wrist brace for Katie, as she had a slight sprain from cutting the driveway. Since we were in Duluth, we decided to stop and see an old Navy buddy and his wife. Jim and Tammy fed us a great meal as we caught up on each others lives. Jim mentioned that he had some spare time and might drop by our land to see our progress. 
After lunch, Katie and I headed back to the land, unloaded the truck, and started clearing more of the driveway. We only had about 200 feet left to go and we were both excited to get it done. Between rain storms, and random attacks from biting flies, we were happy to have the driveway cut and chipped by the fourth of July. The next day (Thursday), we got up early and started trimming Fire Tower Road. Because it’s a forest road, we’re not allowed to cut down any trees, but we can trim limbs for clear passage. With the added height of standing on a trailer pulled by the ATV, and the use of a gas powered 12 foot poll saw, we managed to get about 200 feet of one side of the road cleared before Jim came rolling down the road, with a trailer in tow. He brought the ATV’s and a dirt bike with him… it was time to have some fun. After some conversation and a beverage, we decided to go ride the trails. The dirt bike was an old Kawasaki 250 four stroke, very similar to the one I owned about 26 years ago, and I was excited to get in touch with my youth.
While Jim and Katie hopped on the ATV, I tore up the driveway on the bike. As I rode away, she yelled “Don’t dump it!” Thanks for the jinx sweetheart. My ride lasted no further than a couple of hundred yards, as the front tire slipped into a muddy rut, and I went down hard. I did the typical “hop up and 360 degree look” to see if anyone saw me crash, but sadly, only the trees looked on. I felt pain in my left foot, but did my best to ignore it as I tried to recover the bike from the ground and search for damage. I managed to destroy the speedometer cluster, but other than that it didn’t look too bad. Jim retired the bike to his trailer amid my apologies, and grabbed his ATV. We enjoyed a lengthy, but sore ride through the woods. Upon our return, we ate, and Jim said his good-bye’s. I spent the rest of the day making a cane to assist my movement.
Friday, Katie was determined to get the road trimmed, so with a braced wrist, she hoisted the poll saw aboard the trailer while I sat sullenly on the ATV, and we headed down the road. 
By that evening, she had the majority of one side of the road trimmed, and I had a painful foot that resembled a stuffed sausage. It was time to do what I least wanted to do; Make a trip to urgent care. A few X-Rays, a boot, and crutches later, we scoffed at the Doc as he told me I had a lisfranc injury, and without a cat scan and surgery, I might never walk again. I don’t ever remember the word “Bullshit” coming out of my mouth, but I know we both thought it. We passed on the cat scan, and politely told the doc we would go seek a second opinion, and made our way back to the cabin. Katie’s lightening fast thumbs were hot on google as she researched just what a “Lisfranc Injury” was. As it turns out, it was like the internet took photos of my foot and wrote down my symptoms for the wiki. Great.
Saturday was hot, full of bugs, and trimming the road. I can’t tell you how proud I was of my wife. She stuck with it, and pushed through the rest of work trimming the road! She shall not be stopped when she puts her mind to something. When we finished, I texted our contractor, and asked him to come and approve our work. Nine-thirty the next day we would meet and put the project in motion. Saturday afternoon, I was able to be useful! 
Our friend Terry, who takes care of the road that leads to our cabin, asked if I’d drive his truck and tow him on his road grader for a bit. We worked the gravel from the asphalt to the intersection with pretty good results. Katie used that time to dangle her feet off his dock into Kane lake and read five books or something. Evelyn Wood, eat your hear out. She certainly deserved the rest.
Sunday, when our contractor pulled up in his truck, I was all ready to have lots of sympathy heaped on me and zero criticism of the work we did. After one look at our friend, my mind instantly changed. His entire left arm was bandaged in gauze and the tops of his ears looked as though they were just pulled off the grill for a BBQ. He spent the Fourth in the burn unit after an accident in his sauna on the third. His second degree burns trumped my stupid foot any day. We did have a good chuckle as the three of us stood there, injured, and agreeing it had not been a safe week in the woods. The good news was, Katie’s hard work paid off and he said both the road and driveway were cleared way better than what was needed. The job was a go.
Sunday afternoon came too quickly, along with the end of our vacation. We packed up and headed for home, with dreams of a new driveway, and a great hope of a quick recovery. I did stop by the ER on our way out of town, to drop off a thank you note and apology to the doc that treated me. I promised to stay off my foot, and see an Orthopedic specialist, which I have, and with good results. Although I fractured six bones in my foot, it held together well enough that I will not need surgery. Just eight weeks in a boot and a knee scooter for getting around the plant at work. I have great hopes for a quick recovery and even greater hopes that the nickname “Scooter” doesn’t stick at work.
So here we are, all caught up. We promise to update more often from now on. And, even though our schedule has had a minor set back, it’s not as bad as it could have been. Because of some awesome friends and family members, work will go on, with or without me. Stay tuned for our next installment in two weeks – I promise!!!
P.S. – A special note of thanks to my friend and colleague Rudy Markt, an Austrian engineer who has helped me adapt to my new job and learn about our project over the last nine months. I would not be where I am at work had it not been for his kindness and patience while I found my footing. We were lucky to find time in the weeks before he permanently returned to Austria, to have him up to the property for some relaxation. I wish the weather had been better, but I also am excited for him to return one day and see our progress.
Prost! Ich wünsche dir allen Erfolg in der Welt, mein Freund. Du werden unser Haus immer willkommen sein.