Mountaintop Adventure & Cabin Building

Getting the roof on was not going to be easy, not only was the roof pitch in excess of 45 degrees (about 45.5 or 12.2?) but I'd never laid a roof before.

Still there's only one way to find out and that's to get stuck in and at it!

Plywood wall trimmed.

It's pretty bad ass and designed to deter a bear from pulling it apart!

A friendly neighbor let me have a bundle of these for free, but strangely would not let me have the paired second bundle, little did I know this would later bite me on the behind, but more on that later.



I ran out of shingle and had a devil of a time getting more of the same type and shading.

I got the last bundle at a nearby store but even that wasn't enough! I need a third bundle!

This is what I made three of the logs into.

I suspend it from a chainblock and cut it from top to bottom with a chainsaw!
It was much easier than leaning it against a tree. I'll be using a saw-horse in future times though...

I managed to install it myself! It was as heavy as the first ones but I semi-cheated by passing it in from the interior of the structure and the rafters helped keep it from toppling down to the ground. I added the bracers shortly afterwards. When MMM came by later to see how I was getting on he initially thought I used a winch. :cool:

The other Balbek Log I cut into two smaller pieces and here they are on the alcove side.

My neighbor kindly let me have an old door from the materials stockpile. He told its tale and made mention that it's at least 100 years old! From a relation in homestead lands it now has new purpose at the Ryder's Redoubt.
Thanks for that one Mike!

With his help this and other materials soon arrived and it was time to get the door screwed into place...

Getting a door on is no mean feat but with shims, boxes and other things to level it up I managed to get it square and installed.

Ready and I've got a hasp lock installed too, I'd like to see a bear figure its way into that one.

We had a man with his two sons come down yesterday to get some firewood and whilst getting it Mike related how one of the sons took down a grouse with nothing less than a small rock!

From about 50 yards distance the lad hurled the stone like a baseball pitcher and hit the bird square on the head! It flopped and wobbled about before Mike insisted they finish it off and so they did (with a bigger rock) before promptly stuffing the thing away for some grouse dinner.

This is the last day at the Mountain Hold and the weather began to close in like a mystical mountain fog...

The Cabin Shed / Storehouse is complete and the great rain and snow looms in the coming days. I only just reached the construction-finished point with days to spare before my return to prison island uk and here's the final pictures of it.

The gaps and crannies have been sealed, with the exception of the rafter-gaps which I did not have time to block off with noggins etc.

So while I've hopefully got the deer mice and voles sealed off from the interior squirrels and maybe a pika will take up (temporary) residence, plus perhaps a wasps nest over the winter.

The morning of departure was a busy one, not only was there a lot to do but the temperature was freezing.

Just look at the roof!

Icy coverings were everywhere but the sun shone bright and soon melted it all away...

Mike helped brace up the cabin, hopefully it won't end up tumbling down under the weight of the snow but as a safeguard several logs like this will help prevent it.

It's my first ever building I've built myself (with lifting assistance and some advice from MMM of course).

I can only hope it will stand the test of winter! I real test at 9,500 feet in the Rocky Mountains, time will tell...

This is the tree I felled from which I sourced the 'Balbek' logs.

Quick update!