Alone in the Wilderness

200 00:20:55,992 --> 00:20:59,092 My roof poles are still too wet for the tarpaper, 201 00:20:59,093 --> 00:21:02,193 so I will work on my double-deck bunk. 202 00:21:02,701 --> 00:21:05,501 Four posts with two rails on each side- 203 00:21:05,547 --> 00:21:08,347 -and two small and two large on each end. 204 00:21:09,131 --> 00:21:13,931 I augered 1�" holes and trim the rail poles to fit. 205 00:21:27,187 --> 00:21:28,687 Now when I get some glue, 206 00:21:28,688 --> 00:21:31,688 I'll knock it apart and glue it back together. 207 00:21:33,025 --> 00:21:37,525 With a few leftover poles, I built myself a chair and a bench. 208 00:21:40,616 --> 00:21:46,816 It's June 27. A good rain it was last night. Today would be a pole-hunting day. 209 00:21:47,667 --> 00:21:51,167 I need about thirty to make the slats for my bunks. 210 00:21:51,411 --> 00:21:55,011 After peeling the poles the wind came up strong. 211 00:21:55,012 --> 00:21:58,212 It brought rain and furrowed the lake rough as a cob. 212 00:21:59,179 --> 00:22:03,179 This lake can really change its personality in a hurry. Like a woman! 213 00:22:04,373 --> 00:22:08,373 All smiles one minute, and dancing in temper-tantrum the next. 214 00:22:11,401 --> 00:22:14,201 Tomorrow is Sunday. I will go someplace. 215 00:22:18,129 --> 00:22:20,029 Next morning I loaded up my camera gear, 216 00:22:20,030 --> 00:22:22,330 and started walking up the trail to the hump. 217 00:22:23,522 --> 00:22:26,322 It was good to take a break away from the cabin. 218 00:22:29,669 --> 00:22:32,469 As I topped the ridge along a dry wash, 219 00:22:32,470 --> 00:22:35,870 a wolf came up from the other side, 30 or 40 paces away. 220 00:22:36,594 --> 00:22:38,694 Then in a wink, she was gone. 221 00:22:39,701 --> 00:22:41,801 The wolves had made a kill. 222 00:22:42,850 --> 00:22:46,350 All that was left of the young caribou was the backbone and rib cage. 223 00:22:47,975 --> 00:22:52,075 The skin was badly torn and pulled down over the front legs. 224 00:22:52,076 --> 00:22:54,476 As you would peel back a rubber glove. 225 00:22:59,300 --> 00:23:02,800 It looks like the wolves aren't the only problem the caribous have. 226 00:23:03,651 --> 00:23:07,851 What was a bull caribou doing down there, where not a breath of air was stirring? 227 00:23:08,988 --> 00:23:12,488 Insects were whirling around me like sawdust blown from a power saw. 228 00:23:14,256 --> 00:23:17,056 The bull also was having a battle with the tinies. 229 00:23:18,709 --> 00:23:23,509 Stomping, shaking, twisting, turning and shivering his hide. 230 00:23:40,389 --> 00:23:45,889 He would lie down and get back up again. No rest at all. 231 00:23:46,470 --> 00:23:49,270 Why doesn't he climb to a breeze or take a swim? 232 00:23:49,271 --> 00:23:55,071 Anything but stand and fight something he can't hope to kill or scare away. 233 00:23:58,514 --> 00:24:01,314 With a yell and a waving of arms, I spooked him. 234 00:24:02,406 --> 00:24:04,506 He threw his antlers back and off he clattered 235 00:24:04,507 --> 00:24:06,907 over the stones and up the creek. 236 00:24:07,452 --> 00:24:09,552 Good luck to you, old boy! 237 00:24:32,657 --> 00:24:37,157 It's July 3. A cool, damp morning with fog coming off the slopes 238 00:24:37,895 --> 00:24:40,695 like the smoke from many campfires. 239 00:24:41,341 --> 00:24:44,841 No wind now, so it's a perfect day for the tarpaper job. 240 00:24:46,416 --> 00:24:50,216 I left the felt paper four to five inches. 241 00:24:50,394 --> 00:24:53,194 I need just one more strip, twenty feet long. 242 00:24:53,775 --> 00:24:58,275 I must admit the cabin looks better already with the start of a roof. 243 00:25:02,093 --> 00:25:05,093 Next I unrolled the polyethylene and tucked the edges together 244 00:25:05,094 --> 00:25:06,994 to get at least four thicknesses to tack through. 245 00:25:08,296 --> 00:25:10,396 And I fastnened her down. 246 00:25:15,807 --> 00:25:18,607 Next I built a carrying rack for the moss. 247 00:25:18,902 --> 00:25:21,102 I filed a blade from my round-point shovel, 248 00:25:21,103 --> 00:25:23,803 then I was ready for the moss-cutting detail. 249 00:25:25,290 --> 00:25:32,090 I cut out rectangles about 18"x36" and 8" thick. 250 00:25:32,905 --> 00:25:36,405 Two chunks double-decked on the rack made a good load. 251 00:25:41,408 --> 00:25:45,908 I put it around the edges of the roof, and the cabin took on a new look. 252 00:25:48,605 --> 00:25:52,005 I feel guilty about the tarpaper and the polyethylene, 253 00:25:52,006 --> 00:25:54,506 because they are not true wilderness cabin materials! 254 00:25:55,638 --> 00:26:02,138 But I am convinced they will do a better job at keeping the weather out. 255 00:26:06,055 --> 00:26:11,255 It seems I have cleared two acres of moss, and t