Site work (logging, road and trail building, brushing out forest understory, site design and support building for outhouses and a generator shed, etc) and starter cabin construction began in May of 2006 and continued into 2007 with the construction of a pole barn and sauna (for additional building photos, please go to our Building Photo Page).
So many factors affect the pace of construction in the bush, some the same as construction in urban areas and some vastly different. Weather, is the most crucial factor by far. We were lucky to experience conditions which were not drastically limiting (like heavy downpours daily throughout the summer) to construction projects underway, however we have had our share of anxiety ridden weather concerns: a very wet and cool summer starting out in 2006 with snow storms in May, with a large forest fire across the Yukon in 2007, rain in August of 2008 before the roof was completed (resulting in the purchase of a huge blue tarp) and major flooding in Nenana (which delayed our barge deliveries for late summer 2008, deliveries which included important and timely supplies like metal roofing and doors and windows).
Labor time is also a huge factor in the construction progress we make each year. In late April and early May you will find us logging White Spruce onsite and skidding logs across an ice road over our creek before breakup. As soon as temperatures warm up to above freezing during the day, we begin milling logs into lumber and sticking lumber so it can be stored and dried for construction projects. With the exception of the lodge permanent wood foundation and some plywood used in flooring, the majority of lumber used in construction projects here has been from logs cut and milled onsite. This has greatly reduced the construction products that we have had to barge to the site but it takes a lot of time. And time, especially during the summer months, and in combination with weather conditions, can be a limiting factor to the amount of construction progress that is accomplished each year.
We are remote and that remoteness brings with it the realities of living in the Alaskan bush where advance planning is crucial to success and mental stability. You’ll find us planning everything from summer construction projects to food and supply orders six months to a year in advance or longer and reevaluating project progress and inventories throughout the year. Living takes time out here as well and gives one the ultimate appreciation for sustainability and conservation of resources.
Until we are able to install a more intricate water system, we will continue to pump water from our creek into holding tanks from late spring to late fall and by bucket load from a water hole in the Yukon during the winter months. Power comes from an array of solar panels. The solar array supplies power for immediate use during the summer months when sunlight is at it’s greatest and simultaneously charges a battery bank for power use when sunlight is limited throughout the day. During the winter months of November, December and January, when daylight is the lowest for the year, we charge batteries with our generator and use any extra sun input from our panels to top off the batteries throughout the day. Power conservation is an art in and of itself. We check emails once or twice a day and then turn off the internet modem as it draws a significant amount of power, use a laptop computer rather than a desktop computer (which uses a huge amount of power), never use electric items that produce heat such as coffee makers or hair dryers, are aware of every item ‘plugged in’ and every light bulb in use (led or florescent only) and are prepared to live without power for extended periods of time if power systems fail or are severely limited, especially during winter months including freeze up and break up when we are unable to cross the Yukon River to replenish supplies or pick up repair parts. In the deep Interior of Alaska, that said, summer months in general bring unlimited solar power with close to 24 hours of daylight and long periods of intense sunlight hitting our solar array.
Supplies during the summer months come in by barge where they are delivered to the beach and then transported up the hill to the lodge, usually by a fork lift system on the front of our tractor, or are picked up in Ruby where they arrive at the post office or via air freight and delivered by boat 15 miles to our beach and then transported up the hill to the lodge by four wheeler and trailer, by the tractor or by hand. In the winter, all supplies are picked up in Ruby and transported to the lodge via snowmachine unless they are flown in directly to the lodge by ski plane (in the summer float planes can land at or near the lodge as well).