Well, I did, in fact, make it out there yesterday. And, being the kind of person who is trying to learn from his mistakes, I did not get stuck out there. Yay me.
The roads were good about 80% of the way, including that treacherous switchback that has foiled me before. However, up at the top, we were still at the point of there being snowy rutted conditions that my little truck would have found challenging.
The SxS made it up there just fine and its looking like buying the thing may not have been the worst idea I ever had.
As I had mentioned previously, my priorities for this trip were additional game cams, feeders, and drop off a MonoVault full of supplies.
So, rolled up to the entryway/driveway into the property and I figured walking in from that point was the way to go. Naturally, it is all uphill. So, I patted myself for bringing a sled to carry it all. On the other hand, I severely misjudged the amount of weight and the amount of effort involved. I made it work, of course, but I was an exhausted person when it was done.
One thing I noted was that the creek that runs through the property was in full force. It was rather nice to look at it moving all that water, hearing it, and thinking “Hmm. Thats mine.” I need to contrast that against the water flow in the summer season.
I almost never host video on here due to bandwidth concerns, so this video will probably come down shortly.
Anyway….
Made it to the top of the road and setup one additional camera and one game feeder. I stashed the MonoVault somewhere for final positioning on my next trip.
And since this is kinda middle of nowhere territory, I brought Best Millimeter and my favorite AK for the adventure. Riding around in the SxS kicks up a lot of dust. My AK looks like a souvenir outta Khost. I mean, yeah, this sort of thing means nothing to an AK but I still feel a compulsion to clean it up.
By the way, the dead baby moose that was there two weeks ago apparently has been gnawed on by the local fauna. I expect that next trip there won’t be much there except some bones and maybe some tufts of fur.
All in all, a good trip…no major difficulties. Didnt get to use the chainsaw, but I did get to use the Silky saw a bit and that thing is absolutely worth every penny. Biggest thing to note was that the cargo capacity of the SxS is limited so , short of a small trailer for it, hauling large quantities of stuff into the Beta Site will be restricted to the warmer months….so, probably around June or July, the big caching excursions will start,, as well as the construction of a small shelter to give me four walls and a roof over my head when Im up there working on bigger things.
I will say, this is getting to be an expensive habit….renting a trailer to drag the SxS out there is almost $80. And driving back and forth is almost 3/4 of a tank of gas. Thats about $120~ per trip. Yes, purchase of a trailer is in the cards, but for now there’s other priorities.
So, not a bad trip by any stretch. Still shoulda brought the snowshoes but didnt because I was running out of room and also figured the snow would be down enough to not need them. Mistake. Got some stuff done, took pictures and video, and got out of town…which is nice.
Awesome! Glad it went well! It would be nice to tap that hydro-electric some future spring season, recharge the battery bank.
Yeah, I need to map it out in terms of elevation changes and the like and do the math to see whats possible.
Mytopo.com is the place to order custom maps. They’re over in Billings, West Dakota.
Caltopo.com will do it for you. If you want paper or tyvek you can take a file to a UPS store with a plotter and have it made
https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=47.18732,-111.03129&z=5&b=mbt
CZ,
With that creek, it might be possible to rig up a generator that is powered by water flow for some watts.
Seems to me, Mother Earth News way back …..had some articles on such. Probably other sources as well. It’s not a new idea. On the other hand, Honda et.al have small ones that will do what you need in order to make electricity etc.
Of course solar panels, but that turns into a rabbit hole sometimes.
Nice on the successful trip as your previous posts on travel to the place have been a bit of a tricky widget. Just out of curiosity what loads were in your AK mag(s)? Just good old FMJ or a soft point of some type? Never know when the creature that might have caused the demise of the elk child might come nosing around looking for bigger and tastier things, like a hunk of the Zero!
I usually just go with ball. Soft point or ball, not sure there’s really an argument there when you have 39 more to follow up with.
Sounds like a trip enjoyed and important steps accomplished. Good Job !
Hopefully your creek is spring fed so it’s year round and if it is then definitely need some sort of micro hydro setup…
One of the things I want to do is be up there at least once every month so I can see how the water flow up there changes throughout the year.
Need to have a camera pointed at it with a measuring stick in it…
Around here, craigslist often has used trailers for sale cheap. A friend once bought a small used boat trailer cheap, and built a floor on it for hauling small loads.
Yeah that ‘going to the BOL’ expense adds up. Mine is one tank of gas per round trip, and we usually take two vehicles. Wife loads the kids and dog and food and anything that can’t get wet into her SUV, I load up the pickup truck with everything else. We ALWAYS have a load to take up, and there is always trash or junk to bring home.
When I do occasionally rent a trailer from Uhaul, it’s only 18USD per day though… definitely worth it if it saves a trip. Costs more gas, about 1/3 more to pull the loaded trailer, but it’s still a net savings.
At some point, you will probably be bringing less stuff, but you’ll want to be there, so you’ll make more trips anyway.
n
Well, renting the trailer to haul the SxS is $80, and then driving the truck with overdrive off is about 3/4 tanbk of gas, so….about $120. But somehow when Im there, the money is the last thing Im thinking about.
Five or six trips will equal the cost of buying a trailer…
Depending on how heavy your ATV is, you might be able to use one from Harbor Freight
For reverence, we hauled my wife’s Harley-Davidson 886 Sportster on her Harbor Freight trailer to the mechanic with zero issues. The folding trailer design (modified to be fixed via welding and expanded metal side – front and 5′ high rear gate. It is registered as a farm trailer so taxes are far less expensive then standard. Hell, the taxes on standard trailer were 1/3 the entire cost of trailer, thus buying the trailer once every three years. That ain’t right !
An easy to build ram pump could really help with the water issue if that creek is year-round.
Its the year round thing that makes it tricky. Last summer it was a trickle. I need to check it every month so I can get an idea of what the year-round output is like.
Who has the water rights?
Always tricky out here…
Yea and if you make a dam don’t do it in the stream or you might end up in a mineshaft…Do it off to the side of it and then divert water in and back out of it…Then if you have surface water rights you can pump out of there…
I know, I know – don’t be “that guy”, but in fact I am that guy.
You wrote: thinking “Hmm. Thats mine.”
Are you quite certain? Were the water rights for that presumably perennial stream included when you reviewed the title report? If not, then the fact that it is almost certainly classed as a perennial it’s water is almost guaranteed to be included in somebody else’s downstream water right. Every single miner’s inch of water in the entire state of Montana is already claimed and in fact over-subscribed. The state does provide a handy site to research your land and determine who owns what and where:
https://dnrc.mt.gov/Water-Resources/Comprehensive-Water-Review/Water-Rights-Query-System
I’ve never done anything like what you’re doing, CZ, but it seems to me that just as with anyone’s home food preps, you should be thinking water, water, water. If you’ve seen that stream down to a trickle, it seems to me one of your goals might be to dig as big a hole as possible in that creek bed, then also build a sturdy dam. A hole even a few feet across and a few feet deep should hold considerable water, then you build a rock dam maybe 18 inches high, chink it and pretty soon you’ve got something helpful in both high water and low.
Way ahead of you, dude. Been thinking about that since Day One. Just need to explore the options of design and materials.
I understand that today is the 23rd anniversary of the blog!
Happy birthday!
Bloody hell, I just about overlooked that. Guess I better post about it…thanks for the reminder.
A thought- is it possible to get a trailer to haul the SxS that can also be pulled by the SxS?
Already been looking into that.
Be aware that the Feds have mandated that trailers over a certain weight capacity now require a brake system. I think it’s one ton, but might be less. (Retrofitting such would be a major hassle.) Same for toads behind a motorhome, must have a system to activate the vehicle’s own brakes.
Posting this a bit late, but it just came up in my feed, and I thought it looked relevant to your situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpcXCmg8PE4
Kurt