The Friday after Thanksgiving we planned an “overnighter” to work on the lot. Our plan was to stay in Fairplay, getting some work done Friday afternoon and more work done Saturday morning/early afternoon. It’s been almost a month since we’ve been to 179 Sanderling Court.
This time we took the trailer and my ATV, “The Griz.” Order of the day was to haul the last of the slash to the burn pit, then stage some firewood that could be picked up on a subsequent trip. The Griz would be used to pull the trailer into the lot and park closer to our work area, cutting down the distance we would have to haul stuff. This plan actually worked pretty well!
Here is a shot of some of the slash loaded and ready to head for the burn pit:
Load of slash for the burn pit.
This was the 2nd load of the day. First load was bit more impressive but for some reason I didn’t take a shot of it. The burn pit trips were made on Friday afternoon, and were all that we wanted to get done for the day (dark coming around 5:00 p.m. as it does). We packed up our gear and headed to our motel in Fairplay for the night.
Saturday morning we drove into downtown Fairplay at 7:00 a.m. looking for a place to eat breakfast, and ended up at the Valiton Hotel restaurant. Nice place, with good food and 1920’s ambiance with large windows, wood floors, friendly hostess, and fast service. We learned the place had a reputation for being haunted by “Julia” and a few other spirits. A hot meal and local history — a good start to the day.
The first order of business when we arrived at the lot was to hook the trailer to the ATV and pull it into the lot. We needed to cut down the distance we were hauling logs by hand, as that task really takes a lot of energy and time. I was able to move the trailer to within a few feet of where we wanted to start our dead wood removal.
The Griz pulled the trailer to our work area.
Pam is pulling down a small dead tree by hand. She did a lot of that on this trip! (And felt it the next day with aching shoulders and forearms.)
The next several hours were spent cutting standing dead aspen and salvaging some of the stuff already on the ground. Better wood was hauled out to the road, decomposing wood was piled for a future trip to the burn pit. The end result was a cleaner spot in the aspen grove, some wood staged to haul home and cut for firewood, some slash stacked for the burn pit, and a real sense of accomplishment.
Gathering the little energy we had left, we decided to end the day by cutting a Christmas tree to take home. With Pam leading the way, I grabbed the bow saw and we headed for the upper part of the lot. I handed the bow saw off to Pam, which she needed to cut a few boughs here and there for holiday decorations. After a bit of uphill hiking we spotted a tree in the spruce grove that looked OK, cut it down, and began the slow process of hauling it out (downhill). We had been joking about keeping our footing on the uneven and rocky ground when Pam’s foot caught a stump and she took a tumble. Thankfully she was OK and the dog thought it was a new game, but I decided to carry the bow saw after that.
Pam took a tumble when helping carry out the Christmas tree
We took our time as we carried the tree down to the road. Pam had brought along twine to “bundle” the tree so it would fit under The Griz on the way home. I loaded The Griz on the trailer, slid the tree underneath, and packed the rest of our gear into the car for the four hour drive back to DeBeque.
“Artsy” shot of us taking a break
Wood staged to the left, Christmas tree under The Griz, we are ready to hit the road for home.
You can see there is not much color this trip, but there was no snow, either. We were surprised by this lack. The locals we spoke to indicated “no snow” is not normal for this time of year, and the trend was looking to be dry weather into January. While this could mean more scheduled work days for us in December, the lack of moisture also means – potentially – a higher risk of high country fires next summer. We would like to see some snow hit the area.
Next trip over will be to bring home the firewood we staged this time. We’re not sure when that will be, but probably not for a few weeks. Next at-home task is to put up our Christmas lights.
Oh…the tractor…parts were sent Delivery Confirmation, and I was not there to sign for the box, so no tractor parts this weekend. Darn.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Ah, the promised “Pam tumble” photo. Difficult to cut & not leave a stump, though hopefully most are avoidable.
A considerable amount of work “at elevation” (or even 2 miles lower), as our “parts” have become well broken-in over the years. Let’s hope for snow this winter, though heavy snows make things much more difficult.
Well, that was a graceful looking fall, seester! You actually look like you were lounging.
And Jer, those “artsty” photos are always appreciated ! 🙂
It looks like you two had fun along with some hard work too.