April 17th: Road Clearing Time

  Two days after the "Deer Wintering" restriction was over (it runs from December 1st -April 15th) ... we couldn't wait to start working on the road. YEAH!!! First we had to get the backhoe out to the road that needed work. With the 6x6 completely operational, we used it to pick up a heavy duty trailer that belongs to Zach's uncle Elroy, and it is tough enough to handle the weight of the backhoe. 

  The 6x6 hauled the trailer and backhoe like a dream. We parked it 2 miles away from Hidden Hills, at the beginning of the road that was the biggest problem. Out of the 18 miles that it takes to get from town to our land... the last 2 miles was nothing more than a glorified jeep trail. Until we widen those last two miles, there is no way to get the materials we need for the barn, or to get a drilling truck for our well, up to Hidden Hills.

Months ago, we did buy a firewood permit which in this particular area (lucky us!!) allowed us to cut green wood (trees that were alive and not dead). So we had been able to cut down and slightly widen the so called "road" so that at least all the trees didn't scrape our cars when we would drive up to Hidden Hills.

 The road is full of turns, a few wicked ditches, and certain places are super rocky (aka buried boulders). So we are lucky to have a beast such as our backhoe to do most of the heavy lifting, scraping, digging and pushing.

I don't think that I have any pictures of the worst spots! I'm so bummed. It was seriously an adventure just to get to our land every time. And the times that there had been rain or snow... INSANE!!! 

 It was noon by the time everyone arrived. We decided to do a few housekeeping things before Zach & Les got to work on the front quarter of a mile of the road. 

 

Will and Tab's campsite

We expanded a different campsite to house 2 tents. This is where Emily and my dad set up their tents. We had to do a little more chipping and clearing in that area.

 

We added a smaller fire pit to a newly designated kitchen area which is right outside the shed. The last few work days we had spent up at HH, I spent a lot of time (or sending kiddos) going back and forth to the shed for supplies. Relocating our camp kitchen made all the cooking and preparing of food so much easier!

 

We made English  muffin pizzas for lunch. Reagan and McKinley were my good little helpers. First we toasted one side of the muffins, then added sauce, cheese and pepperonis. Then we put them back on the fire with a tin foil tent to warm them through and melt the cheese. SUPER EASY and SUPER YUMMY.

After lunch Zach and his dad headed back down the road to start working. The rest of us stayed at camp trimming, cutting, chipping, and setting up tents. It was a little chilly all day. The sun would peak through the cloudy sky occasionally, but it was really quite cool.

 Tippy was warm in her puffy vest and booties :)

These two keep the main fire pit going all day. 


We were expecting Greg and Whitney for dinner, so we made a total of 15 tinfoil dinners. With a few helping hands, assembly was a breeze.  

 

The dinners took less than 45 minutes to cook, and were BY FAR the best hobo/tinfoil dinner to date. Will and Tabitha had brought a few gravy packets and steak seasoning.  We put a mixture of ground sausage and beef formed into a patty, carrots, potatoes and onions.

Zach and his dad spent 6 hours pushing trees over, digging out boulders and digging up stumps. An hour before total darkness Greg, my dad, Will and myself went down to chainsaw and help clear. My dad would cut down the trees, Will and Greg would cut off the branches, and I would separate them into piles. It was a good system with 4 people.  However Zach realized towards the end of the first night that it is MUCH EASIER to just push over a tree, and then cut it up after, rather than to cut a tree down and dig out a stump. With the tree fully intact, he can get good leverage to uproot the entire tree. Juniper or Pinyon. Great lesson to learn early on. This made all the difference the following day :)

We all regrouped at the main fire pit for spooky stories and hot chocolate. Everyone was pretty tired and it was getting really cold. It was a great first day, with only one minor injury. We had joked about people wearing hard hats, but after William was attacked by a falling tree and suffered a minor concussion... we might seriously consider it. Either that or people need to yell "TIMBERRRRRRR".

Today's Guest List:
Our Crew
Grandpa Mike
Emily Peery
Adam Peery
Jacob Peery
Will Headlee
Tabitha Headlee
Greg Headlee
Whitney Headlee
Makenna Headlee
Grandpa Les