Playtime at Owl Creek

We've got one more trip up to Owl Creek this summer. On the agenda: our first Apple Cider Press the morning of Sunday, August 11. We'll need a team for this - the more the merrier because we literally have 5 trees laden with fruit. We'll rotate people between jobs: picker, trimmer/QC, washer, crusher, juicer, catcher, sterilizer and  pasteurizer. Everyone who comes out to help will go home with some apple juice and/or cider in the making.

Also on the agenda is enjoying the Perseid meteor shower. Joel, Aaron and I sat outside watching the sky up there this past weekend and we lost count of how many shooting stars we saw while killing a bottle of Russian River Vineyard Zin. We're excited to find out how many we see during the actual meteor shower!

If you'd like to come up, you can plan on any stretch between August 9th and the 18th (although, as noted above, Cider Press will be August 11). Let me know if you plan to come up - directions are in a previous post on this blog.

Pictures from last trip:

Natural hot spring about 10 miles south of the property. It's got just enough elevation to give you both a view of the valley and a sense of privacy nestled  among the natural Modoc sunflowers and thick patches of aromatic mint. Water is perfect hot tub temps!

We walked out past the small diversion dam to the natural flowing area of Owl Creek. 

 Allie loves indulging her natural canine side, chasing rabbits and squirrels... and playing with sticks. She really loves sticks! 

A man and his dog at the creek. Doesn't get better than that. 

We are still trying to figure out where the property line is... somewhere up this mountain.

 (above) Trail out to diversion dam. 

(right) The drill rig is still out there, slowly making their way down to find our future water supply!

Beautiful old juniper tree full of berries. 

Continuing to clear and compost.

(below) This is what it looks like when entering the main gate. So far one person has gone to my north-neighbor and another has ended up at the across-the-street neighbor's!

We outlined a small parking area with stones for those who don't want to drive their city-car up the full length of the driveway. Just let us know you're coming and we'll drive out to get you.

Lots going on at Owl Creek this week.

Three new guests - George & Diana from Greenwave and my pilot friend Aaron - came out for the weekend. Our big project was starting to clear the future build site and pulling invasive weeds that I can't let proliferate and blow into my neighbors' cow fields.

We used about half of the removed brush to cook dinner and breakfast over a campfire.

When we arrived, we found this beautiful piece of equipment staged in the driveway near the future well site. They are probably drilling this very moment as I'm typing this update, so please send your well wishes for the well my way. I'm hoping for good drinking water, at least 10-15 gallons per minute, within the 200-foot-deep price estimate.












You can see a trailer in the background of the photo above, behind George, Diana & Aaron. Joel towed that over so we'd have a more comfortable place to stay. Not that the shed isn't charming, mind you, but it is nice to have options. The arrival of the trailer was exciting, but Joel lost no time getting started on a deck for it.









Aaron helped and it was ready in time for us to have an inaugural dinner on it Sunday evening...

... and breakfast next morning.

Thank you to George, Diana and Aaron for all their help with projects this weekend, and to Alicia who couldn't join us but donated the funds to buy the deck wood and the materials we used to make three off-grid automated watering devices for our trees and blueberry bush. Also thanks to Anand for donating funds to buy two hand-blacksmithed dinner bells... one for mealtime and the other to use as a gate-bell for people who need a ride up the driveway.

One of the most exciting developments for me, maybe because I wasn't expecting it, was the campground. We have an area under the big leafy cottonwood trees that was full of tall grasses and branches from a fallen tree. It's in the human zone so eventually we were going to clear all that out, but we didn't have a clear plan other than continuing to make the human zone less inviting to critters. I took the weed whacker to it and indeed it did look like it would be less inviting to critters so I thought that job was done. Joel had a different vision. "Don't put that away quite yet," he said as I started to unplug. He recruited me and Aaron to pull up the dead branches (creating yet another pile of dead branches for the Solstice bonfire), and then he weed whacked again. He's better at that than I am, so instead of a short-but-shaggy result, he got it all nice and even. Maybe you need to take a couple of passes at it when the grass is that long, so I'll say this was a team effort. The outcome was a pretty area for people to set up their tents under the pleasant shade of the big cottonwood trees and with one of the best views of Eagle Peak. No longer was it just "less inviting to critters," it became more inviting to humans. In fact, it became our go-to shady resting place for the rest of the trip. It will be perfect for people to set up camp - until now, we've been setting tents up in the driveway!

It was amazing to me to see how an hour's effort could transform a patch of grasses into an inviting campground. That's what happens when you pair yourself up with a man who understands your vision even better than you do yourself... 1+1=3. Thank you Joel for the energy and passion you bring to Owl Creek.

I didn't take a picture of the campground - you'll have to come up and try it out yourself. Next opportunity for that is the last weekend of July: it turns out we will be helping with the Eagleville BBQ so best timing for guests would be to drive up Saturday, meet us at Owl Creek in the early evening, and stay Saturday, Sunday and, if you'd like, Monday nights. One of us will be there til Tuesday. We hope to see you out there!

Whoo hoo! Build it and they will come...

So inspired by the responses to the last blog update!

Here are some things to know if you're planning a visit, and also info for those of you who asked how to donate to the project.

Address:

APN 033-180-021-000 & 033-180-023-0000

Just kidding. That's all we've got at the moment, so we use our neighbor's address to get people close.

Directions:

Take I-5 North to Redding. Turn right onto 299 East. Stay on that for about 2-1/2 hours til you get to Cedarville, on the far side of the Warner Mountains. Turn right onto County Road 1, at the stop sign  in Cedarville.  About 10.5 miles south of Cedarville, you'll pass our next-door neighbor Mary Cook Davis's mailbox: 18475 County Road 1. Our dirt driveway is your next right, before the road goes over a drainage ditch. (Directly across the street, on your left, you'll see our across-the-road neighbor's mailbox.) Turn right into the dirt driveway - you'll be facing the Warner Mountains, and you'll see our "No Trespassing / Keep Gate Closed" sign. The gate will probably be open and you can leave it that way. After about a quarter of a mile, take a turn to the right, toward the big poplar and cottonwood trees you've seen in the photos. There's a turnout where you can park your car just outside the second gate. We'll know you're there by the dust trail your car makes down the driveway. Verizon works.

This above is a very scenic route! You can also go via Reno, but the terrain is less diverse and also considerably more remote. As you pass through Burney, you'll encounter the last stop light... you won't see another stop light until you're on your way home from your visit.

Lodging:

The nearest place to stay, if you don't want to camp, is  https://highdesertlodging.com

High Desert Lodging is awesome; however, as you can see, we literally fit a queen size cot bed AND a massage table inside the giant canvas glamping tent and there was still room for the sheepskin rug where we sipped our wine and watched the last light fade in the sky behind the Warners. We have 2 cots and plenty of comfy tents for guests.

Donations:

If you have things you want to donate, I can come pick them up and have a place to store them until my next trip. If you'd like to make a money donation to the project, the easiest way is to send an Amazon gift card - my Amazon account is linked to my pandrewscfi@yahoo.com email address. We get a surprising number of our supplies on Amazon. If you want your donation to contribute most directly to a structure, like the deck we'll be making in July, you can contact Jimmy Lloyd at Four Seasons Supply Center / Ace Hardware Alturas and have him put that on my account. This is a friendly local business we like to support and we get a lot of our building supplies here: https://www.acehardware.com/store-details/04523

Thank you for any donations, whether they are of sweat, time, things or money!

Spring is finally here!

Boy did I have some big expectations when I last updated this blog in January! I've been up at least once each calendar month since then and learned a few things along the way... for one, you can't install a septic system until it stops snowing. Also, getting a building permit in California is no small task. And, for some reason, friends mostly want to visit when the roads aren't icy anymore.

On the other hand, I've had a lot of enjoyable time getting to know the plants and wildlife that live near Owl Creek, like the truly beautiful flicker (species of woodpecker) that left me this gift when it tried to move into the shed.

How 'bout this fake owl I brought in to protect my poor little shed while I'm away?
















I've learned how to disassemble dead sagebrushes so I can dispose of them safely without having a giant burn on my property. This brush pile looked like it had been growing for years. I snapped the picture about halfway through disassembling it. What most people up there would do is just throw some diesel fuel around the edges and torch it. I couldn't do that because (a) I'm terrified of starting such a big fire, and (b) I'd rather turn the old brush into something useful if I can, like mulch, chips, compost or campfire.

The half pile I did was only this big once it was stacked. Stacked piles are safer from a wildfire point of view. They would make a great start to a Winter Solstice bonfire!

Another way to use dead wood and brush is to make a hugel... a decomposing pile with plants already growing in it. The layer of bark on top is to help keep moisture in while we're away.

I've found the natural hot springs down the road... very nice after a long day's work! I've had some fun weekends up there with Joel, and I've started learning a lot about design and construction, which I find very interesting.

More photos below. You'll see by the end that we are securely into spring at this point and it's a great time to come for a visit if you feel the need to get away. We will be there in July and August as noted below and you are welcome to come out to explore, meditate, help or just hang out - whatever feels motivating to you:

July 5-8
The night sky will be relatively moonless so should be a good time to see the Milky Way.
Projects: We will be building a prototype automated rain barrel watering system for our peach trees. We will also build a deck.

July 25-29
Eagleville BBQ is Saturday, July 27
Projects: Continued abatement of dead vegetation without large burns - e.g. making hugels (google hugelkultur), disassembly, mulching, chipping, long evening campfires in the gravel pit.

August 7 - 13 or 18
Projects: We will be borrowing our neighbor's back hoe on this trip to start preparing the build site. We will also use the equipment to build large hugelkultur beds if these are needed. We hope to start the process of turning a 2-acre patch of invasive thistles back into its natural state, which is more like a seasonal wetland. This will be a big job but the migratory birds will be so happy!

Perseid Meteor Shower
We will have a deck built in time to enjoy the Perseids in comfort.
Peaking August 12-13 but happening for several nights before

This would be a great time to visit!

We timed a late-January visit perfectly to experience a rare freezing fog weather event! This picture taken during daylight.

Joel hand-dug a 6' hole and make this comfy potty for us to hide down a sagebrush trail.

Cold but happy potty model!

Our next visit, in late February / early March, brought clear skies and... more snow. It was a good year for snow in California in general.

 

We didn't let the snow stop us from enjoying our Spring Break holiday.

April brought green back to the apple trees...

... and blue back to the skies. This is the Hays Range in Nevada, where the stars roll into the night sky in a magical way.

And it brought more cool campfire weather.

I spent some time hanging out at our proposed home build site and contemplating the panoramic views...

too bad my camera skills aren't up to showing you panoramic views

May brought my friend Tom out for a fantastic lightning storm and several trips out to the gravel pit while we built the "Asteroid Belt" around the fire pit - you'll have to come out to visit to see why we called it the Asteroid Belt. May also brought more green to the apple trees - I missed the flowers completely this year!

And finally, this past weekend, Joel finally got to spend some non-snowbound time up there. Wildflowers blooming around the property, including this mystery plant -

Owl Creek spilled over into the flood ditch...

And we enjoyed a spectacular Modoc sunset while nursing a campfire in the gravel pit.

And thus ends the June chapter of my Owl Creek blog. One day, I'll learn how to use these barbed wire Modoc farm gates. Til then, bungee cords will have to do. Come out and visit soon!








WISH LIST
If you have any of the following items to sell or donate, please let us know. Full wish list is here with currently-most-needed items summarized below:
* APPLE PRESS
* ELBOW LENGTH GARDENING GLOVES
* WHEELBARROW
* TRIMMER / WEED-EATER STRING
* SAWDUST
* SOLAR PATH LIGHTS
*TARPS
* RAIN BARRELS
* GARDEN HOSES
* CHIPPER (WOULD BE AMAZING TO FIND A GOOD DEAL ON A CHIPPER)
* PISSOIRS
* RUBBER BOOTS
* FRESH BEAR SPRAY

Thanks to Barb, Robert, Alyce, Mike, Faria, Sunny, Gisela, Peter, Don and Greenwave for all the helpful donations so far, and also to my students Audrey, Alyce, Mike, Beth, Steve and Stoo for the Amazon gift card a while back... there was enough left over after the headset to get a few needed items for Owl Creek as well!

The Blue Room

It's been almost 3 months since I bought the land up north. I didn't think I'd actually go up there over the winter. I thought I'd buy it, stop to say hello and then let it sit for the cold season. But that's not what's  happened at all...

First Joel said it would be possible to build a shed over a long weekend. I didn't know any better so I said - OK, let's do it! Turns out building a shed is actually quite a big job for a long weekend. Now I know.

Of course, once I had a shed I wanted to put things in it. And I wanted to finish staining it while the temps were still above zero. My Greenwave neighbor Barb was game to help so she and I went up in November to do that.

Barb brought some very useful things with her, like this giant canvas tent. Big enough for two people to walk around in. Big enough that she was able to set up her cot and I was able to set up my backpacking tent inside the tent. That's right, a tent-in-a-tent.







Not even a tent-in-a-tent is comfortably up to the challenge of 16 degrees, though, and we both learned what it feels like to develop icicles on your nose in the middle of the night. The second night, we opted to stay at the Cockrell Ranch's High Desert Lodging two miles down the road. Three if you include the driveways. Barb was refreshed after a warm night's sleep and a morning dip in the Cockrell hot tub. She was a happy stainer and also installed a bag of hurricane clips to keep the roof secure.





I got some other very helpful donations as well - tools, bedding, leaf blowers, a personal locator beacon in case I drive my car off the road in the mountains, dishes, cookware, and various household items... including a few sets of curtains. Thank you to Barb, Robert, my mom, Alyce, Mike and the Hassans for all the useful things!

With all those things piling up in my small home in East Palo Alto, I was glad I had a shed to put them in. And what better way to ring in the new year than by heading up north to connect with the land solo and bring another carload of stuff? So off I went two days after Christmas. Forget about the tent-in-a-tent idea, I got myself a generator and a portable radiator and built a tent-in-a-shed instead. It got a little messy midway through that task.


I also tidied up a bit and mulched the apple trees so they won't be so cold over the rest of the winter. I do realize they've been there more than 100 years and have done just fine without human help, and maybe there will be unforeseen consequences and I'll regret warming up their roots a bit, but... it seemed like the right thing to do. Hats off to anyone who can guess what lives in that nest at the top of the apple tree...

My other big job this trip was screening gravel for an upcoming project. Did I mention I have a full on gravel pit on my property? It's now 23 buckets smaller... which didn't make the slightest dent. One day while screening gravel, I watched a pair of bald eagles hunting overhead. There was also one deer that wandered by in the mornings, several magpies, and of course the cute creatures that live in that nest in the apple tree. At night, I'd sit by the fire pit and just watch the Milky Way roll slowly up from the mountains on the Nevada side of the valley. I can't wait to build the stargazing deck and have friends up to watch the night sky together.

New Year's Eve brought clear skies and the forecast said temperatures would dip down to 8 degrees. That sounded really cold. My ears perked up when I heard neighbor Ed's little four-wheeler rumbling down my driveway. S'posed to get down to 8 degrees tonight, he says after some neighborly chit chat. Yeah, I read that. Probably gets pretty cold in that thing. Yeah - I have that little heater but... yeah, it does get cold. Sharon and I thought you might want to join us for some New Year's Eve bubbly. Oh, that sounds nice. We've got four empty bedrooms and a shower, too... with heat.

Well, you can guess where I ended up sleeping on New Year's Eve.

Nice neighbors, non-threatening wildlife, dark night skies and glowing sunrises. What more could I want to start 2019 with a deep sense of contentedness?

Ah - and the Blue Room from the title of this post? That's what I started calling the shed. Because when I said the Hassans gave me "a few sets" of curtains... well, let's just say they must have changed out every curtain in their house - twice! So in addition to building a platform for my tent-in-a-shed, I figured I'd line the inside with a 10-piece set of blackout curtains. Maybe they would help hold the heat in??? Worth a try. Here's my humble one-step-up-from-camping winter shelter by the day I left.



Our next projects are shaping up: Septic and cistern install in March + laying out a garden. Building the Bath House in April/May. I'll update the calendar with these and other activities. If any of this sounds appealing and you'd like to come up for a visit (optionally help out with a project for a couple of hours then take off to explore Surprise Valley or just hang out and enjoy the natural silence), please let me know!

PS: This handsome girl would like you to know that well-behaved dogs (i.e. dogs who won't run off and get lost in the mountains) are especially invited to come with you during the March and April/May project periods, when she will be with us to host dog friends.

This Shed Brought To You By...

How to Build a Shed in 3 Days

First, you've got to have a place to put it... this 200 acre parcel in Modoc County ought to do.

I'll buy it!






Next, pick a useful spot, like this little clearing near the apple and poplar trees. A neighbor who stopped by said these apple trees were old when he moved to the area in 1945. But they're still making apples, so look for a cider-press party next fall.

Restlessly hang out until the guy from the local sawmill delivers your lumber.

But you still can't get started til this second delivery pulls up with a few key items.

Make sure he puts them in the right spot!

Get a guard dog to protect the pile of materials...

And finally, it's time to get started. Since you don't know whether or not your new land floods in this particular spot, let's start with some elevation. Side benefit: shed will be draggable if we decide this wasn't the right place to put it.

Put in the floor joist...

...and the floor.

One wall...

                    ... a second wall...

                                    ... a third...

                                                            ... and the fourth...

Time for a break? Not yet! Let's get some particle board and a roof on that thing before nightfall.

Time for a beer and a solar shower at the creek.

Day Two: Wrap the whole thing in felt paper,

and start adding that beautiful siding cut from Modoc County trees.

We're having a little Saturday night gathering to celebrate the new purchase, so maybe time to start tidying up the cooking area.

Siding boards complete and now on to the batten. And maybe clean up that junk pile out front.

I'm loving this wood - in some of the siding you can see the shape of the tree's inner core.

Must admire the clear blue sky and fall leaves during a short break.

Ready for guests just in time for sunset.

Gotta post one more picture of the pretty board and batten siding first, though!

We forgot to take pictures at the party but our guests took this one of me and Joel - and Allie. Sore but showered. Now time for some of the good wine and get to know a few of the neighbors.

Day Three: Install the door -

- stain every inch of the exterior... until you run out of stain. Joel had to leave at noon so this part was all mine. Hopefully, it dries nice and clear so you can still see the wood grains below. My back isn't used to all this activity and at some point, I realized I wasn't going to be able to sit in the car for the 6-hour drive home that day. I decided to stay an extra night.

Moonrise - one day shy of full. The mountains on that side of Surprise Valley are the Hays Range in Nevada.

And sunrise the following morning with sun lighting up the Warners to the West.

One of my wonderful new neighbors came by with his chainsaw and a helper and between us we cleared the dry brush around the pretty new shed.

All in all - 3 days to build, 1 day to stain and clean up, $2,400 in materials. Pride of ownership for the first structure I've ever owned on the first land I've ever owned - Priceless.