At the Bolt Hole

It took me a little over four hours to make the drive from the Aerie to the Bolt Hole this morning. And a lovely ride it was, too. Traveling up Rte 14 along the western shore of Seneca Lake through all the wine country between Watkins Glen and Geneva was a pleasure rather than a chore. Even the ride along the NY Thruway from Exit 42 to Utica went very smoothly although there I had to contend with the sun to the southeast.

Upon arriving I found that Mark was in residence and had started to move some of the pine slash produced from Phase Three of his apple orchard recovery program. He had downed a dozen or more scotch pines that were shading the old apple trees (I say "old" even though most are just a few inches in diameter--remnants of what must have been a heck of an orchard 50 years ago) and the pile we had burned a month ago had grown to three times its preburn size!

First we worked at getting the ATV running. It was a bit of a chore until we drained the carberator and used fresh gasoline in the tank. Damn new formulas having "up to 10% ethanol" are tough on machines left over winter. The stuff breaks down even when you use something like Sta-Bil. Having a battery charger that has a starter setting and a spray can of starter fluid helps, too. It took a lttle doing but we got the 1989 Yamaha Prohauler started and got to work. Which meant hauling even more slash and making the pile even larger. Mark had been dragging the stuff on a tarp last weened when there was eight inches of fresh snow on the ground but that has all disappeared and using the ATV and a trailer was the only way to get it over there efficiently. We worked for five hours taking a few breaks to walk in the woods and scout out our next source of firewood. Mother Nature has been generous thhese last two winters and there's plenty of windblown maple and cherry that we'll be cutting into cordwood within semi-easy reach of trails the ATV can handle. We managed to clear about 75% of the small stuff. There will be no burning for awhile, but come next winter when there's snow on the ground this will make one heck of a bonfire!

The weather was perfect for our efforts with a light breeze blowing as we labored under clear skies. That's likely to change tomorrow as a rain system is moving in from the midwest and there should be some precipitation by early afternoon. If I get up and out early enough I might just be able to haul more of the slash away before that happens. The larger branches and tree trunks are going to be cut into smaller lenghths and stacked where they are. When the time comes, I'll move them or use them as campfire wood. The pine will not be burned inside because of the creosote dangers.

I also tested my chainsaw (Homelite) and, after dumping the little fuel that was in it and putting in some fresh, it started on the second or third pull. I think I cracked my face when that happened because I was smiling so broadly. If there is time tomorrow before the rain arrives there are a couple more pines that may have seen their last sunset. Certainly, before I leave here later in the week, they are going down!

Even if it rains in the afternoon, I've got things to do. The water system in the cabin is working and I've got hot water but the spray nozzle at the kitchen sink is leaking and I need to find out why or get a replacement. It doesn't appear that there's a split in the plastic line but rather that the leak is where the line screws into the faucet assembly.

Then there's the mess in the refridgerator. Did you know that beer and diet soda will freeze and birst their cans even when in the refirdgerator? They never had before this winter. I'm going to blame global warming. I discovered this the last ime I was up a couple of weeks ago but, bot having an ample supply of water (I was melting snow for flushing the toilet and washing dishes), and since things were already dry inside the box, I didn't have the means or desire to try to clean it up. Now that the well is pumping again and the hot water heater is producing what I need...well, there's no excuse.

Wildlife:
Theres a green frog in the little pond out front, and I just heard a woodcock while talking to Mark at the door. A phoebe and several chickadees kept us company all day while we worked. You could hear the woodpeckers signalling their territorial boundaries and a barred owl gave his "who cooks for you all" call in the middle of the afternoon. But there was not one red squirrel to be seen or heard despite our walks in the woods and our work removing one of their favorite haunts--the scotch pines behind the cabin.

I'll take some pictures in the morning and see about posting them tomorrow night.