Setting the Ridge Beam . . .

Our cabin is 24X24 square with a 14X24 loft.  It is 17 feet at it's tallest inside and has several large windows on the front; therefore, we felt we needed a ridge beam to span the length from front to back for support.  We have very strong winds that come up the canyon at times and batter the cabin, so we felt that with a ridge beam the structure would be stronger.  Below is Wendel and I putting the ridge beam up and setting the king post.  The beam is 8X8 and came out in two 16 feet long pieces.  They traveled on a trailer behind the jeep out to the site (bog was frozen).  Wendel lap jointed the two pieces together to form a 23 feet long beam and then we got the 5 foot long king post out of what was left.

Wendel and I brought the ridge beam up from the first floor with a chain lift and come-a-long and set it in place

Wendel's finishing the bottom of the king post

The ridge beam and king post put together by mortise and tenon construction

Setting the king post

The ridge beam and king post are in place

Getting There  . . . 
To put this in perspective, the trip to our new place is about 20 miles from where we live and it's 3 miles off the road system.  You travel thru 2 bogs(wet areas) and 3 sets of woods on trails to get there.  It takes about a hour to get there in ideal conditions.   The first two pictures were of us taking in our first supplies.    What follows are pictures taken the first winter we had the property.  We got lucky and the winter was mild, but cold enough to freeze the bogs with only a little snow.  Why is that lucky?  It allowed us to drive out in our jeep instead of 4-wheeling or snowmobiling --   which at this time we didn't own a snow mobile.  These are pictures of the trail route that we take and how we get supplies in.  Enjoy!

Loading at the parking lot

Entering trail

Entering the 1st Bog

Midway

Entering 2nd Bog

Entering Sub

Coming in the driveway

Unloading at property

Construction begins . . . .

The "Camping Room"

We are building the pantry room -- it will be our temporary "camping" room

This room will be easier to heat than the whole cabin

It will develop over time ...

we will sleep and ...

eat in it for a few years

What we started with. . .

Entering cabin from front door in the current arctic entry -- this area will be our den

Looking behind the den area -- from green tape back will be the pantry

Looking into the kitchen area

We will have a 17 foot high ceiling in the den and dining room area

This is the upstairs loft bedroom

This is the upstairs loft closet

This is looking down from the loft where the stairs will come up

Our Alaskan Hidaway

The following posts and pictures will be of the cabin that we are finishing out at the head of the bay.  We purchased this property in September 2013.  It is off the road system and requires either a 4-wheeler or snow machine to access it.  The project has been a challenge, but we have also had fun working on this place.  We can work only on weekends after a full week of work at a full time job.  This is what we do in our "down" time.  There have been occasions when we could not get out due to weather or bad conditions on the trails or roadways.  We have also gotten stuck during transition times and had to get "rescued" by friends.  Even with non-prefect conditions, we have made great process and are finally to the finish of "stage one" of our project.  As you will see, we started out with a dried in shell and will soon have a cozy warm cabin to retreat to when we want to getaway.  We hope you enjoy seeing our progress and we hope you will stick with us through our journey into the great unknown!

Our first view from our new cabin in 2013

and our first view of our cabin shell in 2013

Snowshoeing Trip - February 2010

It has been a mild winter here this year and we had to head a few miles past the house into the back country to do some snowshoeing. We picked a beautiful day and the temp was about 22 degrees. We hiked about 3 miles out off a dirt road to the edge of a canyon and had lunch and hiked back. What a day! The scenery was breathtaking. Pictures do not do it justice! We saw tracks of a lone wolf along the way and understand from people who live out this way that he travels back and forth from out here back to the road. This was our first time using snowshoes, but it will not be the last. We had alot of fun! Hope you enjoy the pics.

Happy Trails!

Snowshoeing Trip

Make a Smilebox photobook