!! In the quiet hours of the bootcamp grind, I found myself: Esteban's Bootcamp Experience

B.E.L. Post # 295

This morning I was paired up with Jesse, and we decided to continue with puddle patrol.

I picked up where Erik and I had left off the day before, extending my little trench another 8 feet until I connected it to the original starting point where Erik had started his. Jesse continued working on the section Erik had left off the previous day.

Once I made the connection, I grabbed about 10 pails of soil and built up a little mound along the trench on the downhill side of the drive. With all the different vehicles driving over it, the soil should gradually compact over time, helping prevent any runoff from making its way toward the road.

Around 10 o'clock, Jesse switched off for an hour to get some practice operating the tractor, while I switched over and spent some time working on the boot sit spot.

After lunch, we got back together and continued on puddle patrol, pushing the work even further along.

Around 3 o'clock, we headed over to the lab. Jesse watered two of the apple trees by Cooper Cabin using the drip jugs, while I continued cutting down the leftover stumps from the trees we had previously felled, getting them as low to the ground as possible.

Another good day working alongside Jesse, making a little more progress on puddle patrol and getting a few things taken care of around the lab.

Esteban Ademovski wrote:

Coydon Wallham wrote:You planning to put the saddle cuts in the seat log or the feet logs?

I'm planning to put the saddle cuts onto the feet logs, just as I seen from a few examples around basecamp ...

Going through Yellowstone on my way home from Wheaton Labs a few years ago, I saw three log benches all along the roads through the park. Almost all of them were rotted out with the feet no longer supporting the seat. They all had the saddle cut into the feet also.

Having the saddle cut into the feet leaves a flat surface between the logs for moisture to collect and sit on. With the saddle cut into the seat instead, the feet remain round on top and more prone to drain off any moisture...

https://permies.com/wiki/99566/pep-woodworking/log-bench-PEP-BB-roundwood

B.E.L. Post # 296

This morning we started off with the whole crew heading over to the Abbey. Sam and Erik worked on the wing wall while Dan and I tackled the Abbey store door. We took the door off its hinges, laid it down, and trimmed the bottom since it was dragging on the cob flooring. Once we finished, we rehung it, and it was sitting much better.

Sam and Erik had already removed a few logs from the wing wall, so we brought one of them back to base camp. It measured 98 inches and will be debarked this coming Monday for the wing wall.

After lunch, Erik and I were paired up to get the front of the classroom and shop door area cleaned up. We processed all the remaining wood, then swept and raked up any woody bits left scattered around.

Afterward, we headed over to the lab for a trail cam run, swapping out all the batteries and SD cards. We also brought another log back to base camp for the wing wall.

Another productive day, getting a few things cleaned up around the Abbey while continuing to make progress on the wing wall.