Closed Up the Cabin

I woke at the Bolt Hole early Thursday morning and, after a quick breakfast and perusal of the internet, began to close the place down for the winter.

The hot water heater and the pump get turned off at the circuit breaker box. All the water is drained from the pipes and RV antifreeze is added to the traps. The fridge gets emptied and any food stuffs packed to come back to PA. Then it and the phone get unplugged.

The most time consuming part in this is draining the water system. I've a 50 gallon hot water heater in the basement that needs to be emptied. Once upon a time I would just open the faucets and then the spigot at base of the heater's tank and let it drain into a pit dug in the earthen floor. Then Mark and I realized this was just adding way too much moisture to the building. Oh, the water would sink into the earth alright, but then it would evaporate back into the basement's air space. Then condense on any and all surfaces (especially metal) during the following months. Now I've a 5-gallon bucket sunk into the ground into which I (slowly) drain all the water and then use a submersible pump and garden hose to lift that water up and out of the basement to spill on the sloped lawn outside. The pump works faster than gravity so I'll fill the bucket 3/4 full and plug the pump in to empty the water. Over and over and over again until all the water is gone. It takes 45 minutes to an hour to get rid of those 50 gallons of warm water. But get rid of it I did.

I had already packed the Tundra with everything except the groceries so when the fridge was empty I was ready to hit the road. It was 11 AM.

Some four and a half hours and 220 miles later I was back at the Aerie in PA after a very uneventful drive.

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Closing up the cabin doesn't mean I won't be back up there this winter although with the limited amount of firewood in the shed, I won't be staying long when I go. I'll haul drinking water with me and also some buckets so I can melt snow for washing my face and hands and flushing the toilet. And if there's no snow, there is a spring a few miles away that flows all year long. Potable, too. (If it wasn't so blasted cold in February, the lack of water would be a great reason to dig a pit for an outhouse. But when it can get to minus 10 or minus 20, who wants to voluntarily go sit outside to take a .... er, do your stuff.)