LONE WOLF CABIN

The forecast working up to Valentines weekend! It just won't let up. We actually had one day this week that was a lovely sunny -10, I was able to kick all the ice from behind my tires.

Tonight Partly cloudy. Wind northwest 20 km/h gusting to 40. Low minus 27. Wind chill minus 38.

Friday Sunny. Increasing cloudiness late in the afternoon. Wind northwest 20 km/h becoming light near noon. High minus 18. Wind chill minus 39.

Its still bloody cold out there. It has been a really cold winter with not a lot of snow cover, it has driven the frost down deep. So deep that the spring at the cabin is just trickling from the pipe coming out of the hill and was so slow that it froze solid in the 1 1/2" pipe. I dismantled most of it and brought it into the cabin to thaw, there is still 6' of it under ground to the cave where the water source is. Its only about 2' high.  It has an insulated door so it does not freeze inside.

This is a real pain because we have a lot of guests coming and going to the cabin this winter and they look forward to the wood fired hot tub that is filled from this spring. Dwight and I have been brain storming how to thaw this 6' of underground pipe and an idea came to me this morning.

Dwight arranged with the guests at the cabin to come by this afternoon with his small gas pump and get water from the lake for their hot tub (although they were happy with just the sauna)
Yesterday Dwight cut and bashed a hole in the ice after work. He started with the chain saw and Im not sure how he got through the rest of it but it was almost 2' thick!  

I have this wonderful Yamaha Venture snow mobile that you start with a key and has reverse but yesterday the fuel injector was frozen again! I hate when that happens. I still had two snow mobiles to choose from 2 beaten up Bravos (one with a noisy muffler) and both needing me to pull start them....I tell you its a good way to get warm quickly.

Any hoo when I was finished at the cabin and it was time to go back home that damn Bravo would not start so a walk home was in order. The picture you see about was one I took walking back home. Dwight promptly picked up a new relay for it on his way home....thanks sweetie! And with the warm sun on my Venture it thawed the relay and it started. I wouldn't trade my life for the world!

Anyway back to my idea....I told Dwight that if he was successful getting that hot tub filled to ask our guests to leave the water in it when I go to pick them up with the snowmobile. The cabin is a mile from our home. What we will do is stick the intake  pipe from the gas pump into the hot tub and then with the 50' hose, go open the little door on the cave water source where the pipe is and shoot that hot tub water inside and just keep pushing the hose in till it pops out the other side! 150 gallons of hot water should do it! Will let you know.

We finally got about 8" of snow which will help greatly to insulate the ground to keep the frost from going any deeper. When I was at the cabin a few days ago to do some shovelling I saw snowshoe tracks going all around the cabin, to the sauna and to our sheds...the trail came from the end of the lake where some recent logging is going on and that trail has been opened up. Anyway I don't like when people trespass  and snoop around and I especially don't like when someone takes my good pair of snow shoes and leaves a crappy plastic pair in their place!!! The nerve of some people. I made a police report in case they come back to pick up a few mores things. I guess I will have to lock things up now :(

Yesterday when I went to the cabin with guests we were entertained by the cutest little ermine only about 8" long. The last time I saw one was in the early 80's. Ermine are really good mousers and they like squirrels too....so I think I will set the bird feeder up again at the cabin.