This past weekend, October 6th and 7th, I went to The Lot for the last working weekend of the year. I had much to do, including spreading the last pile of chips and winterizing The Box. I had taken the truck and trailer, as some of the tasks for this trip included bringing home the ATV, generator, various hand tools, and the chain saw.
While the peak of the fall color season has passed, I was surprised at the amount of ‘color’ still in the high country. Individual trees, groves, and the valley cottonwoods are still very colorful. I enjoyed the drive through the mountains up to The Lot.
Once I arrived the first job was to spread the last pile of wood chips. There were 16 loads in all and I spread the chips on the path, hoping they will settle in over the winter and make a good base to walk on come spring.
Loading chips
Hauling chips
Chips spread on this year’s path
With the chips spread, it was time to move on to the weekend’s next task. Last year we had quite a bit of gravel wash in from the neighbor’s driveway, coming over the edge at one of their switchbacks. To help counter this I built a small log wall over the path where the water naturally descends. My hope is this wall will slow the water enough so the gravel settles out on their property and doesn’t get carried down to our property.
My “dam” to help prevent gravel washing down to our property
The final job on Saturday was to load the last of the burn pit wood into the back of the truck; this clears out all I had stacked for disposal.
Sunday’s tasks were routine end-of-season jobs. I drained the fresh water tank and water heater, then emptied all three holding tanks. I loaded the ATV and generator into the trailer along with my tools. All food items and the rest of the linens were packed into the truck. Finally, I removed the propane tanks and put them in the shed, then pulled the RV batteries out and loaded them in the truck.
The 2018 Sanderling work season is over.
Heading home – end of 2018 season
By the time I was ready to leave The Lot the sun had broken through and the day was so beautiful, I tell you, it was tough to head out. However, with the snow in the air Saturday evening and frost on the windows Sunday morning…definitely time to shut down The Box for the year. Weather for the next week shows night temperatures dropping into the teens:
10 day forecast for Como
I am pleased by the area cleaned up this year. Not only did we get many piles of brush chipped and the chips spread, I also salvaged around 4 cords of wood…a typical year is around 3 cords.
It’s just very pleasant to walk this part of Sanderling without having to detour around, or trip over, downed logs and brush. It gives me a feeling of satisfaction to have this area cleaned.
Aspen grove as seen from driveway
What’s next? We still have some work on the east side of the path, far side as seen in the above photo, to finish cleaning up to our property line. A few piles of brush remain to be chipped, some from last year and a few from this year, that I didn’t get to. Next year I hope to finish the Grassy Ridge area all the way up to our northeast corner post. Think big!
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny:
Six months of unemployment-to-retirement has passed; I am grateful every single day I don’t have to haul my butt across two counties to sit in a cubicle.
Happy Trails.