A Hunter's Paradise! The Camp Grows

An old logging road crosses the corner of the parcel

As two adjacent parcels became available, I bought them both, turning the 38 original acres to 171. At the heart of the new land is a 100 acre section completely isolated from roads or any building. The land ranges from low ridgelines to two babbling brooks that converge on a marshy area. Plan is to hunt the land and possible put a bunkhouse on it. Long range, I may dig out an acre or two in the lowlands and divert the brook, creating a large pond that I will stock with lake trout. For now, it's just for enjoyment on ATV, lumbering, hunting, and the like. Perhaps I'll buy a tractor and backhoe to help in clearing a path in and out and to maintain the camp's roads.

An unmapped brook runs across the 100

A larger brook which appears on the map

Gentle slope upwards to a crest

May and June

The trees went from bare to a lush green as the temperatures at the camp rose. The work goes on but is slowly wrapping up. Wiring at the main camp is in, along with lights, ceiling fan, etc., all powered by three 200Watt solar panels and a 5K Watt power inverter. The spring box, once filled with branches and salamanders, is clean and covered. The water pump and 12V battery, though temporarily rigged, has pumped water 600ft to the holding tank at the cabin. The septic tank and leaching field are scheduled to be installed this month. That means electric and plumbing will be nearly complete and the with all the "creature comforts" available, our stays will be more comfortable.

This is what it's all about!

The doors were made up to look like barn doors. The results were great.

I'm wondering how to best cover the bottom weatherproofing in the front of the cabin. A row a various shrubs should look better. I started with a few of these but will add a different variety as well.

305 gallons of water storage, slated to be dug in this month.

A new season begins!

Compared with last winter, when our last trip up was late December, this winter didn't stop us from enjoying the camp. As such, we got loads of stuff done and enjoyed winter, albeit a mild one, in the Adirondack foothills. Another fringe benefit of going up during winter was that we got to test out the heating, insulation, and discover problems with winter living. Flushing a toilet, rinsing a plate, heck..brushing your teeth. Not so easy when all the water's frozen and it's 20 degrees out. All the tools and lumber were either frozen to the ground or buried under snow.

Dad and I were up last weekend and got plenty done. Wiring, kitchen cabinets, solar panels, and cleaning were done at the main camp. The guest camp saw little done in the last two months, especially since discovering that the propane heater couldn't compete with the wood stove at the main camp. Nevertheless, we did get a new utility pole placed at the entrance of the guest camp, had a 500ft trench dug, ran a line to the transformer, put up a meter post, and made it ready for inspection. With some luck, it will go off without a hitch and we'll have power in the next month.

Since kids, dad and I are headed north today and will meet a good friend and his family tomorrow, I'll end this post here. The following are a few photos of what's been done thus far. More to come!