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

B.E.L. Post # 288

I started out the morning paired with Stephen and Jules. We headed out to the lab to harvest some trees that we could buck to length for materials for the house paddock.

Once we harvested what we needed, we loaded everything onto Roy, strapped it down, and brought it back to basecamp. We then staged the material by the house paddock where the other crew was working.

After lunch, Jules and I went on a recycling run. Once we got back, I bucked a log to length that Stephen and I had brought over earlier in the week. I split it up for kindling and brought it inside to the solarium.

Afterwards, I did some chainsaw maintenance and irrigated the boot sit spot. Then Sam and I headed out to continue processing the dead-standing tree that Stevie had felled earlier last week

Another good day of getting things done ...

B.E.L. Post # 289

This morning I started out working with Leo, Stevie, and Jesse on the house paddock. Leo has been running point on this project for quite a while, and both he and Stevie are pretty seasoned when it comes to building rock jacks and junk pole fencing. I was really interested in learning their methods and seeing how they do things.

They've pretty much got the whole process down to a science, from the right diameter for each piece to how everything gets fastened together. It was great getting to see how particular they are about each component and learning their standards for putting everything together.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew was over at the Abbey harvesting trees to the diameters and lengths needed for the project. Once they finished, they hauled everything back to base camp and staged the different pieces next to the house paddock.

After lunch, we switched roles. Our team headed over to the Abbey to harvest more trees, cutting them to the specifications needed for the rock jacks and junk pole fencing. Once we finished, we hauled everything back to base camp and staged it alongside the house paddock.

It was a good day of learning, and I'm looking forward to putting some of those techniques into practice as we continue working on the project.

Yesterday 2026/10/23

I was paired up with Sam, who was leading point, and we headed behind the house to the dead-standing tree that Stevie had felled a while back. We continued bucking it to length, and once we were done, we loaded the rounds onto the back of Trob and staged them in front of the classroom bay doors.

Shortly after that, the new suppers for the Abbey arrived. Sam greeted them and got them settled in until Stephen returned from the lab.

Once everything was taken care of, Sam and I headed over to my boot sit spot project and spent some time working on it before lunch.

After lunch, I took over as point person and had Dan paired up with me. I continued working on the boot sit spot while Dan worked on attaching a new round to the kindling cracker.

Around three o'clock, we headed over to the lab and continued harvesting trees for the fencing project back at basecamp. We bucked the trees to the lengths needed for the fencing at the house.

All in all, it was a good day of making progress on my sit spot while also getting more wood processed for the projects around basecamp.

B.E.L. Post # 290

Slept in a little this morning, and once I got up, I took my little doggo for a walk.

Afterwards, I spent some time working on my boots' sit spot. It was nice seeing that the yellow clover I planted on the little mini berm is growing, looking nice and green and growy!

I continued leveling out the area where I'll be putting the roundwood bench. Once I had the area leveled, I headed down to the shop and made a couple of little boxes out of scrap wood. Each one is two feet long, a foot wide, and three and a half inches deep.

I measured out a four-foot span for the length of the bench and filled both boxes with gravel, leveling it out to make a nice, solid foundation. Tomorrow, I'll set the two supporting logs on top of the gravel after notching them to fit the bench piece that will sit across them.

Once that's taken care of, I'll plant some more seeds around the area and keep working on turning this little spot into a nice place to sit and enjoy the surroundings.

Afterwards, I did my usual reading and journaling and just took it easy for the rest of the day. It was nice having a slower day and seeing some of the little things I planted starting to grow.

B.E.L. Post # 291

This morning I woke up around 7:30 and I'm still getting used to it being dark outside at that time. Nonetheless, I took another morning walk with my little doggo before heading into the cleaning blitz.  As expected, everything went smoothly.

Afterward, I continued working on my boot sit spot, bringing in more soil, filling things in, and leveling everything out. I also laid the bench supports on top of the gravel I'd placed earlier. Tomorrow, I'll cut the saddle notches so I can lay the bench piece across the supports.

Later on, Sam and I headed over to the lab, where we harvested two trees and bucked them to length for the house paddock. Once we finished, we hauled the wood back to basecamp.

After that, I spent a little more time playing with my doggo and had some great conversations with my fellow boots. It was also a little bittersweet knowing that Leo and Stevie will be leaving tomorrow. It has been a real pleasure getting to know both of them and working alongside them. I'm grateful to have had the chance to share this experience with them, and they'll definitely be missed around here.