I stopped by again on the way back from my trip to Mt. Fellows, this time with the truck.  I loaded some of the birch from a pile, as much as the little truck could handle.  There is only a spot of snow near the canopy.

The family over on lot #8 were very busy, and they have completed a tool shed and have begun framing up a small cabin which is set back in the trees, very low impact on the clearing.  It is Mike and his wife (name?) and about 3 year old boy, Mike's dad and his brother and a nephew.  Robbie and Willie were also there.  They are all very nice.  Willie had brought over a bunch of toy excavation equipment and cars for the little guy.  That group will be on site for a full week, and will be there when we go over for Memorial Day.  I invited the mom to use our "facilities" when needed, and she really appreciated the offer.

Robbie had the small, rubber-track excavator there which he had used to dig some small holes on lot #8, including their outhouse hole.  The unit is just about three feet wide and Robbie says it can dig down about three feet as well.  This would probably work great for coming onto our cabin site from the driveway or from a narrow utilidor along the back side and digging some post holes.  We might have to finish them, but this Kubota can get most of them.

I also got a photo of Robbie's new Cat, which has all the latest gadgets, including rear-view camera, automatic oiler, and a side-tilting bucket (so he can clear the sloped sides of a ditch without tilting the main unit).  Here they are together.

Robbie did say that there is very little of the F-1 gravel left.  If we are going to get some more for our trails, we should do that right away.

I stopped by the Holler on the way to the Seven Summits show, and was very pleased to find the driveway clear of snow!  There was just a bit left down in the parking area.

I also ran into Robbie Davidson, who was just completing the gravel cover for the new, short, driveway onto lot #8, off of Mathison.  He has a new Cat excavator which he purchased this time, instead of renting.  It's a beauty.  We had a fun chat, about Mexico, Hope Point, skiing, our plans for the summer.  I asked Robbie to keep an eye out in case he spots a travel trailer in Hope that might work for us.

"Coyote Gulch"

I stopped by the Holler last Tuesday, 4/10/12, while on a firewood-gathering trip. Tim Branson and his son Brian were on a spring break trip from California, and they volunteered to help with the wood. Tim spent some time years ago logging with his dad, Del, and wanted a chance to run a chainsaw again.  Anyway, I marked our birch piles alongside the driveway with survey tape, to help Willie avoid piling snow on them if/when we have him clear the snow out.  We could walk right on the bobsled run, no problem, and the Branson boys made a couple of sled runs down the utility road trail.  It was killer fast, on the hard frozen surface.
A guy came by and parked his big truck in the cul-de-sac, and stopped to talk.  His name is Dave Vaughn; he is the guy with the signs trying to sell the 15 acres along the road at Sunrise (he asked if I knew anyone with money...).  He said we out-bid him on lot 11; it seems he did not win any of his bids.  He said that we own "Coyote Gulch".  When the dump was open, the coyotes and blackies moved up and down the gulch between the bluff and the dump.  I asked if the critters made that trail, but he didn't know about that.  I told him we had named it Whiskers Holler, and he liked that.
Dave said he has known Robbie and Willie for more than 40 years, and he knows they are great guys.  He said Robbie has a reputation as a hardhead in business deals, but that everyone loves Willie.  That's a new viewpoint.
I should also mention that Tim wanted to look up a family friend, Walt Wilkins, who has a summer place in Hope, so we drove up Clark Road to a cabin that may have been Walt's but he was not home.  While Tim was knocking, I noticed three travel trailers in the yard, tarped over for winter.  Two smaller units appeared to be identical to each other; about 16 feet long, looked in nice shape.  Another longer unit seemed to be older and a bit beat, but was well tarped for storage.  Walt Wilkins is 92 years old; if indeed the trailers belong to him, it seems likely he would be willing to part with one.  Finding a deal on a trailer in Hope would be slick.  I will pursue the idea, get Walt's number from Mrs. Branson.

Brian and Tim Branson

Ah, the bench in spring (early spring).

That is some fine firewood.

And that's the way we load it!

Hadn't Realized That We Bought a Sledding Hill. Awesome!

The family spent a weekend in Hope in mid-March to go sledding, have a fire, and camp out in the Gillespie's cabin . . .

The view down the driveway before we made any tracks.  The snow was deep and the berm high.  We'll probabal need to have it cleared out by Willy with Heavy Equipment in order to have driveway access before July.  Our sledding day was initially driven by competing ideologies . . . some that wanted to spend time carefully crafting a bobsled track with banked turns, and others that JUST WANTED TO FUCKING RIDE THE SLED DOWN THE HILL!!! YEAH! LET'S GO!! WOOOOO!!!! 

Here's Jeanie clearing a track while the going was still slow . ..  

Arran and Matt riding . . 

Mom and Dad riding . . .

 Here's a video of Matt riding . . .

Jonas was tired but had a big grin when he rode the sled . . .

The outhouse in the snow

The bench still works

The Gillespie's cabin where we stayed the night . . . we need a cabin like this in the Holler.