Mountain Lane Homesteaders

Wanted: Preferably DEAD!

1:40 PM, Monday, August 21, 2006 .. Posted in Journey to the Dream .. 5 comments .. Link

How do you learn a new task? Sometimes we learn by watching others, sometimes just by experimenting, and sometimes by following written directions.

Since we are new to living in an area surrounded by the national forrest we were at first clueless to many things that the locals just know as a way of life. Getting wood for instance. We became friends with so many people who would go up into the woods, cut down trees, pull them out and take them home for firewood. But the house we were renting had propane heat so we hadn't actually experienced it for ourselves.

For Christmas 2004 Sam received a chainsaw. Oh boy! We knew this was going to be a valuable tool for our future. We didn't have firewood in mind at the time though. No siree. We were going to use it to build a HOUSE. And this is how we came to find ourselves driving about one winters day with a firewood permit looking for dead standing trees to take down just because we figured we'd better learn how!

How hard could it be right? Find a dead tree, cut it down, cut it up, and take it home.

Right.

Let's see, first objective....figure out which wooded area is really forest land and which is private property. At least we were pointed in the right direction by the forest service on this one. There are an awful lot of trees around here on large privately owned woods and wouldn't it just be fun to have someone come out blazing because we'd just cut one of their prized ponderosas.

Next. We were told that we could take down any dead tree but to be sure not to take a tamarack (larch). These are a tree that look dead in winter because they drop their needles but they really are still living and get those needles back in the spring. Uh huh. Now how precisely does a city dweller tell the difference between one dead tree and another let alone one that LOOKS dead but isn't?

Also, no tree could be cut that was within 100 feet of any creek, river, stream, etc.

Okay. So we're off with our list of instructions. We've borrowed a neighbors truck for bringing back our kill. Driving, driving, driving. Finally we find the area we believe to be forrest land. Now the looking began. Here we were, 5 of us craning our necks to look out of our windows as we inched along the steep narrow mountain road. Is that one dead? I don't know. More driving. Oh I see one! Stop the truck to get out for closer look. There's a creek right there, can't do it. Driving again. Three kids in the car getting bored. There's one. It's huge. Is it dead? Looks dead. How do we know it's not a tamarack? We don't. Okay, so you get the point.

We went on like this for a loooooong time. Finally we turned the truck around, drove back to the huge tree standing there looking at us and decided that it was dead. Then the fun began as we made sure the truck was parked way back and waited for Sam to drop this great tree.

Safety First!

Several minutes of chainsaw action went on while the kids and I stood on the road and watched wondering just how long this was going to take. Every now and then Sam would stop to move around the tree and reposition the chainsaw. As I said, this tree was huge. He couldn't even come close to getting his arms around it. After an eternity had passed with the kids all getting cold and even more bored Sam yelled down that he almost had it. I looked at the size of it again and decided that I was going to move the truck even furthur back. One child decided at this point to remain in the truck. The excitement of the tree just hadn't lasted.

So then came the long awaited moment. I stood there watching and knew the time was coming near. I waved my arms and yelled to Sam. "How do you know that's going to fall where you want it to?!!" He looked at me with a duh sort of look and shouted, "I read the directions!!!" Let's just say that at the moment I finally heard the big tree crack and saw the branches swaying I grabbed both kids and shouted "RUN!" We took off in the direction of the truck that was parked way way far away and didn't actually see the big giant hit the ground but knew that it had by the sound of the crash. Only the wise child in the truck actually got to see the tree falling.

The end of the story? By my watch, it had taken 2 1/2 hours to cut down that tree from the time we had decided on it. The tree now lay in pieces to be thrown in the back of the truck. Lesson number 1: Don't fell a tree onto a road if you don't want it to splatter. We took as much as we could fit. The rest we left there. We had cause for concern. Those pieces of wood were awfully heavy. They were also awfully sappy. Hmmm.

Remember our good friend Frank the logger? Boy did he enjoy this story! Why do you suppose that huge dead tree was still standing there right along the side of the road and no one had taken it? Yep. Because no one else went out with their chainsaw and an instruction manual to cut down their first tree! We had just spent an entire day cutting down an absolutely amazingly large old tamarack that would have continued to live a gorgeous life. Lesson number 2: Learn to identify trees by their bark.

A photo of what recently live "splattered" tamarack wood looks like:

We never did go back to gather the remainder of that tree. We were too afraid of the tamarack police. First chance we got though, we went out with Frank and he showed us how a logger cuts down a tree. Amazing. Who knew it could be done so quickly?!! We've sure made progress since that winter day but I have to say we're still the kind of people who will try things out ourselves most of the time first before calling in the reinforcements. Must just be something in our natures.

But you know, that tree DID fall right where Sam said it would so maybe we're not too bad off right?

About Me

My husband and I along with our 3 children, moved from Iowa to Montana 3 years ago fulfilling a long time dream of living in the mountains. Last summer we purchased and moved onto our bare land and are currently living in our home made cabin which has evolved from a shed to a barn to our cabin and future guest house. The foundation for what we now call "The big house" is dug and waiting for our next burst of energy!