More Shaver Pictures

Looking out from the old boat dock by 'Johnnys".

The old earthen dam and mill site.

Working on the new membrane covering for the dam.

Leavin Out

Late every fall the families who lived at the mill packed up all their belongings and moved down to The Valley for the winter months. We called it moving, many of our neighbors who came from the Ozarks called it Leavin' Out. Either way we packed up and left, and that's what Ann & Jane did last Monday. Jane's last carload of the season included 2 Christmas trees, a wedding dress and suit, 2 sets of snowshoes and the last of the recycling. Not the usual haul but a good reminder of a special July event.

There's another type of leavin' out happening over at Shaver. When this picture was taken there

was still about 20 ft. of water remaining at the foot of the dam. The new white membrane surface is visible on the top half of the dam and by the end of Feb 2012 it will cover the entire dam and the lake will start to be refilled. The old earthen dam is visible upstream from the remaining water and the old lumber mill site is just to the left of the old dam.

Bottled water and FLOUR desperately needed

There is about enough flour for one round of pancakes and that is it.  The next people up need to take flour. If driving in, take at least 2 5-lb bags.  Likewise with bottled water. There isn't any and altho we are more optimistic about not losing water this year, it is best to be prepared with a few large jugs.

No need to take beer, wine or scotch. There is more than ample for the winter.

All Tucked In

Ann and Jane visited the cabin overnight on Sunday and got the last of the chores done for the winter. We also harvested a couple of Christmas trees each.  It was clear but quite cold. In the low 30s when we arrived and in the low 20s overnight.  There are some small patches of snow left under the trees and on the road but it was easy to drive over them.  And surprisingly, there was no evidence of the high winds that were reported for the sierra.

Draining the log cabin

To drain the log cabin:

Step 1. At the pump house, turn off the water to the log cabin. Do that by turning the middle lever to the horizontal position



The drains when there is water to the log cabin






The water to the log cabin shut off. Note that now the middle lever is horizontal


Step 2. Go back up to the log cabin and open all the faucets, they stay open The faucets include

- the faucet by the woodpiles,

- the faucet on the porch,

- the faucets in the sink and shower and most importantly,

- The two drains in the back

























I drained the water heater too but father said I needn't do that

Step 3. Go back down to the pump house and open the drain. It is the leftmost lever and should turn from horizontal to vertical. A lot of water will run out the drain outside by the door. It will eventually stop. After flooding the area. That is all the water in the line.



The drain from the log cabin is now open. Note that the bottom left lever is now horizontal



Water draining from the line to the log cabin



Step 4. Go back to the log cabin and flush the toilet and scoop out all the water in the toilet bowl and the back tank. The little paper cups and/or a sponge are good for the last part

Step 5. Pour antifreeze (stored under the sink) in The toilet bowl,The sink drain andThe shower drain

Leave all the faucets and the drain open until the water is turned on again in the spring

Rains, sun shines, rains, sun shines....

We arrived last night at midnight and throughout the drive along Hwy 5 we could see the coolest lightning far far away. When we arrived to the cabin it was 60 degrees (at the bottom of 4 lanes it was 80) and once we entered the cabin, it was a very nice and cozy 72 degrees.

We woke up this morning to bright blue skies, followed by rain packed clouds that moved quickly, then nice ble skies again, then rain again, then sun again.... you get the picture.

Very lucky and relaxing to be here this weekend!

Nature at work

Who has been digging? It definitely isn't Jalapeno or Willie and I doubt Al Pacino or Juan would do this much rooting around. But something has done a lot of pawing around the squirrel holes to the west between the campfire site and the big pine tree. Coyotes??

And Manzanita is definitely persistent. This is the growth from a root where we cleared it on the path between the cabin and the old fire site. If we can get this growth in the road that was just cleared, it will fill in fast.

Married just in time

It is a good thing Andrew and Becky got married when they did. This big tree fell across the road to the wedding site sometime after the wedding but before our visit over the weekend. It is clearly very rotten, as you can see from the view where the rotten roots broke off.

The cabin in summer

If you look through the blog, there are no photos of the cabin in the summer. The light was wrong to take my favorite view, but here are two others for the record.

Shopping list

Before the snows, we need
laundry detergent (any kind)
liquid dish soap

Anytime we can use a new potato peeler. The current one is even duller than the knives, if you can imagine.

Yep, it is a highway

We made a quick trip up to see the outrage. And yes, I am outraged. We definitely have to have the road closed and also get some trees planted to replace all those damaged or torn out. Fortunately, no one was on it when I walked down it.

I am impressed at how much paving is still on the road after so many year. I don't know when it was built, but it was closed in the early 1950s.

Dinkey Creek still has a lot of water. About like June in a normal year. At Lower Dinkey, water is still trickling over the rock that we used to slide around in the middle of the swimming hole. But a brave swimmer could now go in and not get swept away.

Thanks to whoever took away ALL the recycling.

Road Rage

SURPRISE! We arrive Friday evening to discover a newly constructed super highway plowing through our property. It's 24 ft. wide, graded level, and trees along the side trimmed clear of branches at least 20 ft. high. No, we did not know this work was to be done on our land and we certainly hadn't given permission. Sob. The "Remove Rk Barrier" on the stake refers to the granite boulders we paid to have put in place to prevent access to our land. Obviously they didn't stop the USFS. If the 20' x 50' pile of brush stacked just down the draw from our cabin is ignited, it could burn our entire tree farm.

Shaver Expedition

This morning we rented Kayaks in shaver. While it was nice to try something different, the experience wasnt REALLY cool just because the lake was packed with loud waverunners and boats.We paddled passed Shaver Island with the stupid people from LA that think they can own something in the middle of the lake. pfff. 
but no one was home. so we paddled back. We are thinking that it might be a better idea to do the kayaking thing up by Court Right where there are only people fishing in quiet boats.

Now Andrew is cooking a delicious rack of lamb with chimichurri sauce. Its way warmer (78 degrees) than this past weekend when we were here with Adam Rapp. Jumping in the cold lake felt good.

Good times with sweatshirts and small dogs

Well, look who is here with us this weekend!

Mr Rapp! who is studying for the California Bar exam so that one day he can be a real lawyer and take us out for expensive dinners. On the flip side Adam, if you fail the exam, you just dont have to be a real lawyer and we will take you out for dinners!

Adam did tons of studying and we did a lot of exploring. Right when Adam call it a day of studying, we killed him on a game of Settlers--and he thought he was winning all the entire game!

The Big Day

After a few months of much secret planning, the big day is finally here! This has been an event put up with much of everyone’s love and effort for Andrew and me. Thank you so much to everyone, it could not been more perfect.

Thank you Jane for all the orchestrating!
Thank you Auntie Ann for all the manual hard labor and coordination!
Thank you Uncle Lou for making such a clever and cool trail!
Thank you Paul for driving and taking care of all the legalities of the event!
Thank you Uncle Jim for officiating the ceremony!
Thank you Jennifer and Ron for spending the time those days before the event to decorate!
Thank you Pauline and Steven for driving Grandma and Grandpa!
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for being there!
Thank you Dawgs for making sure the groom didn’t run away!
Thank you James for bringing your talent and taking cool photos!
Thank you Van Vleets for sharing the wonderful Jeep!
Thank you Kristel, Karen and Jennifer for taking care of this high maintenance bride!
Thank you Lauris for painting my nails!
Thank you Milton and Mary for traveling so far!
Thank you Jodie and Paul for making sure the Jeep made the appropriate noise and for driving the Jaimes' crew up to the mountains!
Thank you Uncle Milton for putting the dance floor together!
Thank you Margie for coordinating the travels!
Thank you Dad for chauffeuring!
Thank you Paulis for being my wonderful Big Sister and doing all the Big Sister’s stuff!

Thank you Andrew for making me your partner. Here is to many more years of love and surprises!

And a recruit for the work crew

With snow still at the gate and on the road, Ann, Lou, Willie and Jalapeno walked in for our round of work. Lou cleaned the cabin and the log cabin and also worked more on the path to the wedding site. Ann washed ALL the windows. Even the big high ones -- just don't look too closely at the corners.

After everything was spic and span -- cleaner than it had been in quite a while -- we checked out the creek. Dinkey is quite high. This is the lower Dinkey swimming hole under all that whitewater.

Wedding Site - the Work Continues

Now that it's possible to see the ground it's time to walk around the area and find the perfect site for the wedding ceremony. Found! Surely the oak tree will be in bloom 4 weeks from now and Auntie Ann already moved the old dead tree top in the background. But here too, there's a little work that needs to be done so Andrew went to work. And in Fresno time to meet with a new florist after the first florist disappeared, luck change as it turned out.

Wedding Planning Session #2 - The labor commences

Excerpt from a planning email, "A warm rain could help with the snow and we'll try auntie Ann's snow melt, who know, maybe it will work." We loaded up our cars and headed for the hills. Since it's mid June we should be able to drive all the way to the cabin. We found sold snow hundreds of yards up the road with 5 ft drifts, and walked in from our gate. As usual, however, the ground around the cabin was mostly dry.

Then the work commenced, move the wood pile, clear and stack brush, roll logs up to the fire circle, and clean off the trailer shed. Wedding celebration is on it's way.

Wedding Planning #2 The Work Party Commences

Excerpt from a planning email, " A warm rain could help with the snow and we'll use Auntie Ann's snow melt, who knows, maybe it will work." We loaded up the cars and headed for the hills. Since it's mid June we should be able to drive all the way to the cabin. Solid snow hundreds of yards up the road, we walked in from our gate. As usual, however, the ground around the cabin was mostly dry.

Is it really Mid May?

What's happening? It's May 19 and there's no bare ground in sight. If you squint hard you can see the top of our gate and a good 5 feet of snow all along the road to our cabin. Looking down towards the Dinkey Road and the car there's only the vast expanse of snow and ice. The kayakers will be enjoying the white water on Dinkey Creek for a long time before the swimmers arrive.

Wedding Planning Session #1

Just a bit difficult to make specific plans regarding layout, what with all the snow on the ground, but able to think in general terms of how to situate the wedding dinner and dance. As for the ceremony, hmm, where is the level ground under all of that snow? Success in Fresno meeting florist, bakery, trailer rental and party rental supplies.

Note: late posting due to secret planning for surprise wedding.

Easter Safety Briefing

Don't drink and microwave. Also, keep the eggs away from the microwave.

To whoever comes up here next: make sure you plan on cleaning the microwave. Drinking and cleaning is encouraged. 

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

....wait! its almost May!

Felices Pascuas!

Its like we were all here watching the sunset! From left to right: Ronald--sorry Ron, you got the cracked egg, Jennifer, Grandma, Grandpa, Jane, Paul, Andrew, Becky, Auntie Ann, Uncle Lou (we made eggs for the absentees-Ron, Auntie Ann and Uncle Lou-so they dont feel left out). It was a wonderful pre-Easter celebration!

Nice looking eggs!

The artists