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

B.E.L. Post # 127

After the morning meeting, we launched into the day like a well-organized (and slightly caffeinated) swarm of beavers. The mission: tackle a large fallen tree and convince it to become future lumber.

We hit the shop first, gathering all the necessary tools for delimbing and bucking—aka, turning one big tree into many more manageable, less intimidating pieces. Once we made it to the lab, it was game on. Branches were flying (in a controlled and safety-conscious manner), and the trunk was bucked down to size with sawdust steadily marking our progress like woodland confetti.

With Phase “Tree vs Humans” complete, we pivoted to the pond, wrangled up some cattle fencing, and hauled it over to the Abbey to stage it like pros. Then, to round out the morning, we shifted gears into what I can only describe as extreme landscaping: adding more hay over the seeded berms. Nothing says “land stewardship” quite like carefully tucking in seeds with a cozy blanket of hay.

After lunch, Seth and I split forces at the shop. Seth went full craftsman mode rebuilding a picnic bench (future lunch spot secured), while I handled the noble task of processing scrap woody bits from the sawmill site—aka, turning chaos into slightly more organized chaos. I then wrapped up debarking the two trees that Stephen and I felled yesterday. They’re now officially naked and ready for their next chapter in life.

With that done, Seth hooked up the log carrier to Toots (our trusty steel steed), and we rolled over to the boneyard to stage it for a likely tomorrow’s operation. The plan: Seth will hook it to the tractor and start hauling the big logs over to the sawmill. Big wood is about to meet big destiny.

We capped off the day with a quick trip to the gas station to fuel up Toots—because tomorrow we ride, and Sunday we’re getting reinforcements. Three additional boots will be joining us, which means more hands, more progress, and statistically speaking… more dirt getting played in.

All in all, a solid day of turning trees into timber, fields into future growth, and plans into action. Stay tuned—things are about to get even more logistically exciting.

B.E.L. Post # 128

After the morning meeting, we kicked things into gear and loaded up the RAV4 with everything we thought we’d need for the day—always a bit of a gamble, but today we actually nailed it.

We rolled out to the boneyard, and right as we turned onto the path… boom—nature had left us a gift. A junkpole-sized tree leaning perfectly into our route like it wanted to be noticed. Turns out, it was a blessing in disguise. The diameter and height were just about perfect for a shovel handle to match a head Seth and I had rescued while clearing out the old sawmill structure by Cooper Cabin. And not just that—there was enough there for the two lonely hatchet heads sitting in the shop waiting for their comeback story.

While Seth was getting the log carrier hooked up to the tractor, I went ahead and dropped that tree, delimbed it, and cut a clean 48” section for the future shovel restoration project (this weekend’s “fun” 😏), plus another piece for the hatchets. Loaded those up into the work rig—future tools secured.

Then Melissa and I headed over near the sawmill site where the big fallen tree from yesterday’s group effort was waiting. Once Seth rolled in with the tractor, we got to work staging those hefty logs near the mill, setting things up for future cutting. Always satisfying seeing chaos turn into neat, intentional piles.

Next stop: the pond. We pulled six T-posts out of the ground (a little unplanned treasure hunt), then brought those—plus four more from the bermshed earlier—to the Abbey. There, we started setting up protection for the little apple trees: hammering in T-posts, wrapping cattle fencing into cylinder cones, and tying everything off. Deer defense system: activated.

After lunch, it was back to the Abbey for a bit of deconstruction-meets-reconstruction. We took down the old fort-style fencing and began converting it into the junkpole-style vision that had been brewing. Lots of horizontal pieces going in, slowly transforming the structure into something sturdier, cleaner, and more in line with the original idea.

We kept at it until the end of the day—tools in hand, sawdust in the air, and a solid mix of progress, problem-solving, and a little bit of “hey, that worked better than expected.”

Hi Esteban, spotted something to comment on.  Sorry I only pipe up when things look a touch off, I love all the photos and stories you post :)

For the notch you show in the picture, that's fine for a junkpole.  But if you're cutting an actual tree the general recommendation I go with is for the notch to only go 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through the tree.  Also, you don't want to leave that chunk of wood in the back of pac man's mouth cuz it keeps the notch from closing smoothly.  Stay safe out there and keep up the good work!!

B.E.L. Post # 129

After the morning meeting and gearing up, Melissa, Seth, and I set our sights on the Abbey—where the fencing had apparently decided it wanted to cosplay as a frontier fort. 😄 Those sections had a bit too much “defensive stronghold” energy, so we got to work pulling down the junkpole pieces and rethinking the layout.

Of course, no proper fencing adjustment is complete without a little tree felling. We dropped a few well-chosen trees and turned them into much-needed horizontal pieces to bring things back into balance. There’s something deeply satisfying about taking a standing tree and, a short while later, seeing it become part of a functional structure. We kept at it steadily until lunch, making solid progress and dialing back the fortress vibes.

After refueling, we made our way back to the lab, with a quick but important stop at the Dogstar. Final adjustments were in order to get everything just right for the new SEPPer arriving tomorrow—always nice to have things squared away and welcoming for fresh boots on the ground.

From there, we rolled over to the sawmill site and got into log processing mode. Nothing fancy—just good, honest work turning logs into something more useful, one cut at a time. The kind of rhythm that makes the day fly by.

All in all, a day of transforming: forts into fences, trees into building materials, and a pile of logs into future projects. Not a bad way to spend the day. 🌲💪