Our Cabin Build and Off Grid Experience

[Gary O']

It was 630 sq.ft. before the porch add on. It made it a lot bigger with not too much effort.

I think that size is ideal
Room enough for some amenities, needful things

Yeah, our 240 sf main cabin did it for us, but in winter, stir crazy is a valid reality
and our earth stove could easily blow us out if we neglected to damp it down.

What was nice, really nice, was cracking a window at night, and snuggling in under the covers.
That mountain air was delicious

That earth stove rocked
We'd damp it down right before a 100 mi round trip to town, and it'd still be ember hot when we'd get back.



Before we moved there, I built a tool crib
Got tired of hauling saws and such outa the cabin every time we visited
Once moved in, it wasn't enough

Got wunna those 200 sf tent tarport things at Costco
200 hundred bucks

Seemed OK
Plenty of room for tools and room to run the saws

One night, I was sippin' coffee and looking out the cabin window.
Snow was coming down hard
Thought, 'hmmmm, gonna hafta poke that snow off in the morn'
Shoulda done it right then, and thru the night

Heh, next morn;

tree fell on it



Propped it up a bit



Spring project

actual shop

In some cabin building circles, once the floor is done, a floor dance is required



I'll tell ya, M T, that floor, you could rum a crawler over without affect

Simple floor
Flatten/level the area

Set down pavers ever two feet

lay 4x4 PT ever two feet

roll out some Tyvek

lay 2x6s on those



See, the ground up there is very unstable
Mostly pumice, from MT Mazama (Crate Lake) blowing her top

So, slabs are out
Some folks put their cabins on post and beam foundations
I don't like stairs.......reason my doors open in....due to snow (even though bears love that feature)

True carpenters chide me....until they walk on my floors

I've made some believers

One thing that drives me;
Whatever I build, I figger I gotta look at it for a very long time
So, I use a portion of that time to build to the best of my ability



This first cabin turned into a breakfast nook, and my office

 

[Gary O']

The shop

It became my sanctuary

 

[m1west]

All looking good buddy. Your set up pretty good for extended stays. Summers are my slow time with work, so I can get quite a few things done between the snow. At my place you can normally drive in between April or so and sometime in November. Barring any more fires, I should turn the corner this year with the new roof and getting the interior completed. Likely won't get all done but put a big dent in it. Have you had any run ins with bears up there? I worry about that when I am pre occupied working.

 

[Gary O']

The 45° (12/12) metal roof pitch really sloughs off the snow

 

[Gary O']

Have you had any run ins with bears up there? I worry about that when I am pre occupied working.

Oh, yeah

One young 400 lb blackie seemed to zero in on our garbage cans on a regular basis
We'd hear him lumber across the porch around 3am about twice a week
Strew the garbage around, and lumber off
Even bungied down cans



Yeah, bear, big cats, wolves, and of course, coyotes

However, Best of the wild life was the baldies

This one roosted in the treetop for three straight days;




....and the deer

The mulies were thick;

 

[m1west]

Any problems out of the bears, besides the garbage? I see deer every time I go there, see Bear tracks, lion tracks. Cabin neighbor sends me pictures of all them from his trail cam. I have never seen any and don't really want to. Was anyone else out there near you? Over 5 miles there are 4 cabins up on the mountain with the closest being around 1/2 mile away. I have 80 acres and only really seen about 40 of it so far. Some of the terrain is pretty steep and a lot of rocks. Lots of Quartz, the Indians called the mountain Rock shining. Now its the Diamond mountains. There were some diamond mines up there as well as gold mines, but the diamonds are low quality.

 

[Gary O']

Any problems out of the bears, besides the garbage?

Not really
Never chased or cornered one
They pretty much foraged, munched, ambled off

Was anyone else out there near you?

Have a cabin about a 1/4 mile down the path

They hardly ever come up

The big cats are more regular than bear

Had big cats jump off our roof a couple times
Makes one a bit edgy when traveling the twenty paces from the cabin to the outhouse
Gets one in the habit of scoping out odd shadows from the roof before stepping out
Hate packing a gun

Took a trip up there a few days ago while the weather broke
Bobcat in the clearing

Pretty big boy

 

[Gary O']

. I have never seen any and don't really want to

Yeah, the wildlife is there
Rather skittish
Suits me just fine

Lotsa tracks....lots

I get concerned when the tracks are close to the cabin

 

[Gary O']

Back to our necessary necessities.

Built this ‘Loo’ back in the aught years.

Took about an hour
Funny what one can do with scraps when needing the facility hours before

Was just tired of trudging off to the forest edge with a shovel

The foam was added midway thru the first winter after finding one’s hind end can actually freeze to an icy surface

Anyway, it’s a simple edifice that’s lasted over a decade

Not into filling holes with poop

Up there, we either burned it (in winter)
or composted it with a straw mix

At first, I thought 'yeah, right'
But
It works!
Turns poop into humus if composted correctly

A guy up the path does this
Puts it in his garden

I do NOT put it in my garden

My mind just cannot go there

 

[Gary O']

Moving along, to better subjects.....

We didn't get the sets (wrong side of the mountain)

but, boy, did we ever get the rises

Nothing much better than sittin' out, sipping a hot cup of black to daybreak.

Even put words to some












I think my favorite sky is a broken one
Like after a bitter storm

It's a romance of what's left of this soul of mine

 

[Doc]

What about water? Do you get it from a stream or buy it in town?

 

[m1west]

I love being at my place in the winter its only 5 miles off grid, but feels much more remote. Very quiet and peaceful.

 

[Gary O']

What about water? Do you get it from a stream or buy it in town?

We got lucky
Bought the adjacent parcel
It had a well on it
Basically, just a pipe sticking outa the ground
Ran a weighted line down the pipe
The weight got wet around 14 feet
Went limp at 40'
Put a cap on the pipe and went to town for a hand pump
Primed it
Got water
Really good water

Thing is, it wouldn't hold a prime

Got a real pump
Long story short, got it to hold prime
ran a smaller pipe a bit over 40'
Good pressure
Great pressure
Constant temp of 35°F
Sweetest water I ever tasted
Could sell it

Rumor/lore has it that an underground lake is there

Not arguing

Sad thing, that pipe is too narrow for a submersible
So, had to build a pumphouse and put in a little low heat propane heater for winters

used a side of the container for a wall (hind sight...shouldn't have, but seemed a good idea at the time)





Other sad thing, the well is approx 100 yrds from the cabin
So, had to haul water
Water is heavy

Still, it kept me in shape

Oh, and had to keep a path blown in winter



But, hey, that water........whoa

Of the gods

 

[Doc]

Very nice, all the way around. Great job!!!!

 

[Gary O']

I love being at my place in the winter its only 5 miles off grid, but feels much more remote. Very quiet and peaceful.

The sound of quiet is very settling, brother
New snow does that like none other

 

[m1west]

What are you doing for electricity? The outhouse brought back memories of me running out there before I did the bathroom. 5 am in the snow with a headlamp, on occasion I would see eyes looking back, never had a visitor but worried about it. The outhouse was at least a 100 yard dash. That one improvement was worth all the work, being able to get up and pee in the middle of the night that doesn't involve going outside or a bottle. As hard and primitive as it is up there, especially in the winter. I never have had anyone not want to go back. This year my son wants to scout out a place for his cabin up there. He was converting one of the out buildings into a sleeping cabin. Got it about 75% done when the fire happened in 2020, it burned completely. I believe he is going to build a container cabin. I bought an old bulldozer last year I am working on to take up there for road and homesite use. it should be able to drag a container just about anywhere up there. My spring is about 1/4 mile away above me. He will have to find another spring or pump it to where he wants to make his homesite above the spring. Keep posting, the stories and pictures are great.

 

[Gary O']

What are you doing for electricity?

Generators

Some folks up the path went solar
I've seen them and others fiddle with all the peripheral equipment so much, it kinda turned me off.

Got with some solar folks
The cost 'to do it right' is around $20K

Might've gone that way if we'd have stayed, but those Honda generators rock

Had a large 6K one in the shop (on the back porch), for the big saws
A Honda 2000 to run lights, air, and small tools

A Honda 2000 to run the cabin lights, computers, coffee pot, charge the phone
Actually, a couple bat power lamps worked pretty good for the bedside (after the genny was shut down)

A 3500w to run the well pump

Heh, I kept around 40 gal of gas in 5 gal cans in an open air hazmat hut tween the outhouse and cabin
All topped off all the time....and rotated

Same with propane
Kept 12 20lb tanks in a rack on the shop back porch
All full, all rotated

I'm rather anal with some things
Up there, you prepare, plan, act
It gives one a chance, and an edge for the unexpected
Heh, and the unexpected happens daily

Oh, and all locked with heavy cable
Don't want to make things too easy for renegades

Actually, the renegades that did know me, knew better to mess with my stuff

 

[Gary O']

I believe he is going to build a container cabin.

It'll be interesting to see how that goes

I'm too much of a romantic to get my mind around that
There's a warmth to a simple cabin that sways my reasoning

 

[m1west]

Solar isn't that expensive if you do some shopping and install it yourself. The panels 2400 watts were $2100. in a kit from ebay
the batteries were around $4200.00, lithium batteries from a late model Nissan Leaf, around 25kw
the container was $2,000.00 and the charge controller $600.00. Plus another $1000.00 or so for cables etc. During the day, I can make hot water with a 110V hot water tank, just like home, microwave whatever and it stays fully charged even in winter.
At night we watch TV, LED lights, microwave on occasion and the water pressure pump when we use the water
Coffee maker in the morning. and its down 3-4 volts in the morning. As soon as the sun is up, its charging again. Around 10 am is when I switch on the hot water tank for showers and turn it off around 2 in the afternoon, stays hot all night. Cloudy days don't seem to have much effect, but I found that smoke cuts down the charge considerably. When its done I plan to use a 110v refrigerator and put it on a timer to shut down in the evening. in winter I have an Antique wooden ice box I plan on using. I may add a wind turbine as its always blowing up there especially at night, when its blowing through the tress sounds like the ocean. Wind turbines are more difficult to control, requiring a different charge controller and a diversion load. I have not had a generator up there since it burned up in 2020. And get by just fine without it.

 

[m1west]

It'll be interesting to see how that goes

I'm too much of a romantic to get my mind around that
There's a warmth to a simple cabin that sways my reasoning

I agree, but rebuilding after a fire can change my mind. There are some neat container cabin concepts on the net, some when completed look just like the traditional cabin, but won't burn up and are a lot harder to break into.

 

[m1west]

I haven't had any theft problems, knock on wood. The closest incident was my cabin neighbor had a un authorized visitor that he caught on his trail cam. Turned out to be the son of the guy I bought my place from, he has known them all his life. He called DAD and that doesn't happen anymore.

 

[Gary O']

Solar isn't that expensive if you do some shopping and install it yourself.

Yeah, and I admire those that do it.
Electronics/electricity is not in my wheelhouse.
It's all magic to me.
Heh, when vehicles went to electronic ignition, it pretty much took the wrench outa my hands.

 

[m1west]

Yeah, and I admire those that do it.
Electronics/electricity is not in my wheelhouse.
It's all magic to me.
Heh, when vehicles went to electronic ignition, it pretty much took the wrench outa my hands.

My brain works the same way, but its all +- on the DC and 110 has 2 wires, if you can change a breaker or install a switch, you can do it. The hardest part was the charge controller, and it wasn't that hard, all DC but with a lot of amps. If you decided to give it a go, I will help you out. You likely paid for it already in gas and generators. And the generator running changes the experience.

 

[m1west]

Tell us more about living up there, especially over the winter.

 

[echo]

Way to go guys.
I went thru that when I was young and now I want luxury.
I remember about a half of foot of blankets on the bed when the wood stove went cold.
We had a electric welder on the pipes to thaw them out the next day so we could shave.
If we wanted to have meat, we hunted. Took the meat and hung it up at night and the next day we would wrap it up in blankets and put it under the bed. This kept the blow flies away and kept it cool. If we wanted fish we would trade venison or wine with the Indians. We were lucky that we had a flush toilet.
We had that hole in the floor where we kept our veggies.
Wore long handles that made me itch.
Fun

 

[Gary O']

You likely paid for it already in gas and generators. And the generator running changes the experience.

No doubt about it.

Yeah, if I ever move back out there, it'd be go time for solar

 

[Gary O']

Tell us more about living up there, especially over the winter.

Winters were an education.

First winter, it got to -37°F.....and stayed there, for three days straight.
In those temps, a slight breeze will cut yer face off

Don't dare be out without gloves....good gloves
and something on yer head...in the event a tree would shed it's accumulation
One time down the neck is enough





After that, the 20° days felt somewhat tropical, and running around in tank tops or no shirt seemed the thing to do.
One's blood does thicken.

That snow accumulation would melt a bit, then ice up.....thick ice, no blowing that
It became a walking surface

keeping a path to the privy was a must



'Course I'd just take a few strides outside to mark my territory

One just couldn't be too long, couped up in the cabin

Digging out the wood was always fun




It was nice, however, to be inside after a few hours out

 

[Gary O']

Tell us more about living up there, especially over the winter.

Actually, spring and fall were the dicey seasons
Deep winter months, just settle in
The main hwys were snow packed and negotiable
Yeah, there were some young cowboy semi drivers without a clue
But they were the ones in the ditch

Now, fall....that was a bitch
The mule deer up there migrate to lower elevations then
They winter in Christmas Valley until spring

Thing is, Hwy 97 (my main artery to town) gets littered with their carcasses
Semis do quite a job on 'em
Blood and guts about every 100 yards or so.

One time, I took a trip to Chemult to get something needful
It was at night
All you could see was their glowing eyes, all lined up on the west side of 97
Quite the gauntlet
I nestled behind a slow moving semi for those 20 miles

Never attempted that again
Nothing is that needful

Heh, day driving was bad enough
A half dozen of 'em decided to cross 97
50 ft in front of us
Did a bit of a zigzag
Happily, there was ice
Wranglers don't readily stay wheel side down when doing that
No idea how I missed 'em
Around a 9.5 on the pucker scale
'bout sucked the seat cover off with my sphincter

 

[Gary O']

if you can change a breaker or install a switch, you can do it.

I know

But..... there's stuff involved that throws me
Like wire size and distance (that's rather critical)

But, if and when I do it all again.....I'll give myself that education

 

[m1west]

Actually, spring and fall were the dicey seasons
Deep winter months, just settle in
The main hwys were snow packed and negotiable
Yeah, there were some young cowboy semi drivers without a clue
But they were the ones in the ditch

Now, fall....that was a bitch
The mule deer up there migrate to lower elevations then
They winter in Christmas Valley until spring

Thing is, Hwy 97 (my main artery to town) gets littered with their carcasses
Semis do quite a job on 'em
Blood and guts about every 100 yards or so.

One time, I took a trip to Chemult to get something needful
It was at night
All you could see was their glowing eyes, all lined up on the west side of 97
Quite the gauntlet
I nestled behind a slow moving semi for those 20 miles

Never attempted that again
Nothing is that needful

Heh, day driving was bad enough
A half dozen of 'em decided to cross 97
50 ft in front of us
Did a bit of a zigzag
Happily, there was ice
Wranglers don't readily stay wheel side down when doing that
No idea how I missed 'em
Around a 9.5 on the pucker scale
'bout sucked the seat cover off with my sphincter

I hit on 2 years ago, came around a sharp corner doing about 50, 2 of them were in the other lane, when they saw me they took of running in the same direction as I was going. I was on the brakes hard from when I first saw them. When I got down to about 25-30 they were right next to me, then one turned into my front fender. It went down, but when I looked in the mirror it was up and running again. When I stopped, there was the slightest of a wrinkle on the fender well. I pulled out with my hand and its barley noticeable.