Wednesday, 7/18/18
Road Work.
As I was driving up Peachland Road I came to some road work signs and a flagman.
They are working on the slide that happened two winters ago. I didn’t get any pictures on the way in. They have cut the inside bank down about 8 feet and are driving some very large “I” beams into the ground on the down hill side.
SOS.
Got to the cabin around 3:00
When I arrived, I could tell that someone had been here since the last time we were here. There was a pile of blackened paper on the ground near the cabin.
I couldn’t tell whether it was a wad of paper towels or a used diaper. Later on, I decided that it was a torn up feminine napkin.
Yuck!!
I used a couple of sticks to pick it up and carry it to the fire pit.
There were chairs on the porch and a Weber sitting between the dining hall and the fire pit. I left the Weber where it was.
Moving in.
It was very hot by the time I got to the cabin. I think it got over 100 degrees today.
In this heat, moving in was a slow process. I didn’t even get my bed made until after dark and it was still about 90 degrees.
Forgot my Med’s.
At some point I realized that I had forgotten to bring my medication.
S^&t!!
That means I will have to drive back to Santa Rosa tomorrow morning.
Thursday, 7/19/18
After breakfast I headed down the hill.
When I got to the road work on Peachland Rd. there were 2 other vehicles stopped there. I asked the flagger, how long the wait was and she told me about 45 minutes to an hour. I turned off the engine, kicked the seat back and settled in for a nap. I wish I had brought a book to read.
After about a half hour they let us pass.
I took a couple pictures as we drove through the work area.
Home.
I got home around10:45.
I made sure that I put the meds in the jeep right off, so I wouldn’t forget them again.
A Surprise Visit
About an hour after I got home Patti returned from her doctors appointment. We talked for a while, then we decided to go out for lunch. As we were leaving the house our friend Doug pulled up. We hadn’t seen Doug for a while so we went back inside and visited with him.
Doug left around 12:00 and we went to Hanks Creekside Café for lunch.
I knew that it was going to be another hot day at the cabin so I waited until about 3:00 to leave for Boonville.
Road Work is Clear.
I got to the work area on Peachland Road around 4:30. All the workers had gone home for the day so there was no delay.
Here is a view of the road work coming up the road.
Still Hot.
I got to the cabin by 5:00 and it was still hot, about 95 degrees.
It didn’t cool down until about 9:00.
Friday, 7/20/18
Water Filter.
I spent the morning installing a water filter on the main water line.
Here is the main line without the filter.
By noon, it was already too hot to work. I finished the installation around 1:30.
I spent the rest of the day trying to stay cool without much success. It finally started cooling off around 6:00.
Saturday, 7/21/18.
Worked on Toilet.
After breakfast I tried to fix the leaking toilet tank. I thought that the leak was caused by a worn out flapper valve so I changed the flapper and it leaked worse. I replaced the old valve and decided that the tank needs a rebuild. I’ll have to pick up some more parts.
“Y” Strainer.
I put some parts and tools in the jeep and drove up to the spring tanks.
Trail Work.
After installing the “Y” strainer I drove the jeep up to the start of the Cabin Loop Trail.
I grabbed the Polauski and walked out the trail.
I didn’t need to work on the first part of the trail but the section above the cabin needed some work so I started chopping a trail out of the hill side there.
Unfortunately I didn’t think to take any pictures.
It was getting too hot to work so around 12:30 I left the tools where they were and headed down the hill to the cabin.
After lunch, I just hung out around the cabin trying in vane to stay cool.
Sunday 7/22/18
More Trail Work.
This morning I walked up the trail from the cabin. When I got to where I left the tools yesterday, I started hacking the trail out with the Polauski and cleaning it up with a rake.
I can only do short stretches at a time with long breaks in between but eventually I was able to get a pretty long stretch of trail done.
After finishing this stretch of the trail I headed out the trail to where the jeep was parked.
Along the way I came to another place where the trail needs to be chopped out. By now it was too hot and I was too tired to do any more trail chopping so I left the tools there and continued to the jeep.
If I have the time tomorrow I will do some more work on the trail.
Monday 7/23/18
More Trail Work.
I had time in the morning so after breakfast, I walked up the Bear Spring Road to the trail head.
I walked out the trail to where I had left the tools yesterday and worked on the trail for a couple hours.
I took the tools with me as I headed for the cabin but came across another spot that needed work. I left the tools here for now.
Going to Town.
I need to go to Boonville today to get some parts. I had to wait until today (Monday). Hopefully the hardware store will be open.
I need a new flush valve for the toilet and some pipe joint compound.
I am going to leave here around 11:30. Hopefully the road crew will be eating lunch and there won’t be a long delay.
I’ll take a book just incase I have to wait.
Stop.
When I got to the road work the flagger was there stopping traffic.
Of course, I was the only traffic.
The girl told me that the road crew didn’t take a lunch break and the wait would be about an hour.
I was prepared for that and pulled into the shade.
I spent the time reading the book I brought with me.
Out to Lunch.
When I finally got to the hardware store they were closed for lunch.
It was 12:15 so I went to the local burger joint at the gas station and got a burger.
The Hardware Store.
After lunch I went back to the hardware store and they were open so I bought a new flush valve for the toilet and some related hardware.
One More Stop.
Once I had the parts, I went to the general store across the street and got a 12 pack of Mountain Dew. They didn’t have any Root Beer and I was low on drinks.
Another Hour Wait.
At the road work on Peachland Road, I had to wait another hour. I’m sure glad I brought a book. To bad there isn’t any shade on this side.
Back at the Cabin.
By the time I got back to the cabin the temperature had risen to about 100°. I spent the rest of the day shade hopping and napping.
Tuesday 7/24/18
Pick up Tools
I walked up the switchbacks on the trail to retrieve the tools I had left there. I mostly came up here to collect the tools but they were at a spot that needed some work so I did a little trail chopping.
I didn’t want to spend too much time at this so after completing that short stretch, I picked up the tools and took them back to the cabin.
Toilet Flush Valve.
It was time to tackle the toilet flush valve.
Note:
I neglected to take pictures of this so I’ll try to give you an explanation of what I did.
It turned out to be pretty simple to replace the entire valve assembly.
First, I turned off the water inlet valve, next I flushed the toilet. Once the tank was drained to the bottom I removed the input pipe from the toilet tank. Then undid the nuts holding the tank to the bowl and removed the tank and took it outside to work on it.
This valve and seat assembly is made of plastic with a large nut holding it all together on the tank. It is a simple thing to take the assembly off. You just remove the nut and push the whole thing from the bottom and it falls right into the tank.
Clean up the area around the hole in the bottom of the tank and push the threaded end of the valve through the hole.
Be sure the soft rubber washer on the assembly is inside the tank.
Tighten down the big plastic nut and replace the tank on the bowl. Tighten the mounting nuts and hook the water back up and that’s it.
Oh Yeah, don’t forget to hook the flapper valve chain to the flush lever.
I also replaced the mounting bolts and the big washer between the tank and the bowl.
Going to the Creek.
It was getting hot fast today and I had decided that I wasn’t going to spend another hot day suffocating up here on the hill. I am going to spend the rest of the day at the creek siting on a chair in the creek, with my feet in the water and reading a book.
Okay so, I packed up the jeep with a chair, towel, drinks, Book snacks and water shoes. I grab the key to the bar gate on the road that goes to the creek an off i go to the creek.
At the Creek.
I was lucky the bar gate was not closed this time. I hope that is a permanent thing as this gate is a pain to get open.
It was noticeably cooler down here in the bottom of the canyon with the creek running through.
Still it was plenty warm.
I parked at the path that goes to the water and carried my junk to the edge of the creek.
I found the only spot that was in the creek and in the shade at the same time.
The water there is just deep enough to sit on a partially submerged chair seat. There are a couple of rocks for setting things on. All in all it is a pleasant spot to sit and stay cool.
The only down side is getting there. Those rocks are murder on my sore old feet.
It was worth the pain getting there though.
Here is the swimming hole just down from my spot. I did manage to make it down there for a dip.
Bombers!!
I was sitting in my chair enjoying the cool water and reading my book between bouts of nodding off when I heard the sound of a fire retardant bomber flying over. I looked up into the thin line of clear blue sky that is visible from the bottom of the canyon but I couldn’t see the plane to see for sure that it is a bomber and not something else.
I went back to reading and dozing when another plane flew low over the forest. I still couldn’t see it but is was close.
Next, I heard the sound of a helicopter fly over.
There have been a lot of fires this summer and some have been close.
If you have been following my blog you will remember that the last time we were here, there was a fire near the end of Peachland Road. That is how we come in and out of here.
After much dithering I decided that I should go up to the cabin and listen to the local radio station to see if there is any information on fires in the area.
I carted all my gear back to the jeep and drove up to the cabin.
I turned on the radio and there was nothing but music on the local station.
When the news came on, there was no mention of any fires in the vicinity.
Bummer!!
I left the nice cool creek to come up here to stifling heat and find out that there are no fires when I could have been still sitting in the creek.
I realized that the worse thing about it was that I could have just turned on the radio in the jeep and found out about the ‘no’ fires and not left the creek.
I think I’ll take a nap.
Wednesday, 7/25/18
Going Home Day.
This is always the worst day of any trip up here. I decided to just plunge right in and while the water for my breakfast was heating I stripped the bunk and put the bedding in its bag.
After breakfast I continued gathering up the stuff that was going home with me and began loading the jeep.
It always seems like there should be less stuff going home than coming up but it never works out that way.
After all the supplies were loaded in the jeep it was time to clean the cabin for the next person.
I cleaned all the surfaces around the sink and cleaned the stove. All the dishes and pans were clean and put away.
Next I tackled the hardest part, sweeping the place out.
Once that was done I made sure the propane tank were turned off.
After one last check to be sure that everything was in order I closed the door and left for home.
Road Work.
They were still working on Peachland Road and there was about a 45 minute wait.
While I was waiting I asked the flag girl how long they figured it would be before the job was finished. She told me, about 2 weeks.
A Nice Week.
It was a very relaxing 7 days, if a bit on the hot side.
It’ll be a few weeks before I will have a chance to get beck there,
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