Camp Ogichi Daa Kwe - Minnesota, USA May 11 - May 24 2017
For many years, my sister Liz has been deeply involved with Camp Ogichi Daa Kwe, a girls wilderness camp in northern Minnesota. Camp Ogichi is for girls ages 8 and older. Regular season is about 200 strong including counselors. The camp emphasis is on canoe trips and backpacking. Girls typically spend a week getting ready then head off into the wilderness with durations depending on their age and experience. All trips are guided by pros and have air support in case of emergency
The following series of events led to Liz's profound idea: Wouldn't I love to see where she's worked for years, check out the beautiful environment, and build a "practice" cabin with master builder Bart Vollmer and his main guy Richard Shuman? (Was Liz anxious about my building skills? Wanting me to learn more? Trying to get me ready for Hull Island build? Didn't really matter as, I loved the idea and had a blast).
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Getting ready for the trip to Camp Ogichi, I called Bart - the man who builds and maintains the camp head honcho of all operations and construction. I asked Bart for the designs so I could familiarize myself with the plan. Never heard back from him... OK, no problem! Liz said, don't worry, he knows what he's doing and is very busy. Once I got there Bart told me there was no design. Just build a 20' by 30' platform on the footings already in, then build walls, and then set them up. Make a 12/8 drop gable shed roof. Put the windows and doors where they make most sense (so copy that cabin over there...). Shuman (previously and alternatively called Richard), Liz, and I dove in. Power nailers and 3 people can get a lot done very quickly. Bart had four at a time on this cabin, although we often had fewer when Liz and I were repurposed to windows, siding, interior walls and bunk beds for another cabin.
Meaningful projects, fabulous people working together on an incredibly noble cause, great food, strong spirit, and fresh air. Thank you all for a life experience so powerful. I hope to meet you again someday somewhere.
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Liz and me. The building site was fantastic. Fresh breezes and a panoramic view of Rainy Lake
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The concrete footings, wood organization ("stacks not piles!"), drop gable roof and soffits were good learning experience of what to do or not to do on Hull Island. The cabin was 20' by 30' and included two separate units each with bedroom, bathroom, and deck overlooking the lake. As long as Liz continues to work at camp, she gets the cabin. So basically, Liz got Bart, Shuman, and me to build her a cabin at no cost to her. VERY clever. VERY Raven.
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| Elder Cabin overlooking Rainy Lake. |
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I was saw man on cedar siding while Bart and Shuman installed. Local camp design is to leave the cedar unfinished so it ages naturally. Older cabins have a weathered grey patina.
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Everyone ate dinner together. As we were the pre-season team it was a smaller group. | |
June 2017 - Physical infrastructure - Leaving a Trace
In June I started building the foundation footing forms and cutting and bending reinforcing bar (rebar) for our FIRST PERMANENT STRUCTURE ON HULL ISLAND! This was a momentous occasion for me. Intense and a heart rate anxiety inducing. I'm now putting time and money into something more permanent. A foot hold. Connecting to the earth. A cabin. Why? Really? was it worth it? One step leads to another. I felt invigorated taking the first steps on the next path of our journeys.
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| Rebar for footings. |
While my design wasn't final, I knew I wanted really solid concrete footings. I learned from Camp Ogichi that there are many ways to build footings and attach them to rock and ground. I choose to use site mixed concrete poured into wood forms and reinforced with metal rebar.
I pre made the forms in Woodinville so that I needed fewer tools and could work faster on island. I made three identical wood forms that I would reuse 3 times each for 9 footings. The forms came with extra pre-cut pieces so we could increase the footing heights if needed to accommodate the gently sloping hillside.
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| June 2nd 2017 detail on wood form to create 45' chamfer between concrete post and base. |
Concurrent with cabin footing form making, I started to pre-build and create a kit of materials and parts for a rainwater collection system. The plan was to install a rain collection area that would gravity feed into a large fresh water holding tank that could then gravity feed to the camp area through a 150' long garden hose.
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| Complete set of forms. Darker wood on left was 'donated' by Rod Mattison when he rode out of town. |
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| Classic conservative. I made this metal bracket for our 2010 BurningMan pyramid tent enclosures from found aluminum and reused it again to make a rebar bender. The wood struts from same BurningMan project were reused as baseboard molding in Woodinville garage. |
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| Drill Jig (DJ) for making drain holes in 2" PVC for rain water collection system |
June 16th - June 24th, 2017 - Water Works Infrastructure with Matt Burrows
In 1990 I was working on the roof of our house in Woodinville when I saw a man in the woods next door pacing around. Bill Burrows was surveying his property for their new home. Our children Phillip, Audrey and Catherine played daily with their children Ben and Matt. Together they spent a lot of time outdoors in the woods. Bill built a way cool tree house in the maple in back of his home. We built a 10' by 10' platform with full handrails, about 12 feet up, one tree and three tree posts set in concrete footings. Used an aluminum ladder to get up. It was like a safari reserve tower.
Once the kids went off to college we didn't stay in touch with Bill and his wife Lori as much. An occasional dinner, holiday party or garden tour a few times a year. We mostly reminisced about raising kids. A couple of times Lori mentioned how much Matt enjoyed building things and would love to learn more by helping me in Canada, to get involved in construction. Many years earlier the Burrows (and many others) helped me raise the walls of our garage. Building stuff is in some of our DNA.
At the time Matt was working as a CPA in downtown Seattle and living in his Subaru wagon in West Seattle in a park with a fabulous downtown Seattle skyline view. Home to office was just a 15 min ferry ride across Puget Sound and the terminal has showers and bathrooms. Matt was being frugal and saving $1000's a month in rent, media, heating, a/c, water, eating out, etc. A wise man! Matt used his savings to travel the world with friends. Month long hiking in Nepal, surfing in Morocco, Hawaii, all around United States and West coast of Vancouver Island. Matt was doing exactly what so many dream of but can't quite pull off. Live simple, live free and travel.
At some point we talked about a project to install a fresh water collection system. Matt was all in and I was psyched to be headed off on another adventure. We loaded up my truck with tools and materials, then picked up a 950 gallon water tank in on Vancouver Island.
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| 950 gallon tank strapped on for ~ 180 mile drive. We got up to about 70 mph... and all held. We had to add bungee cords later to stop the wind vibration and howling. Rainwater collection system components in bed of truck. |
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| Why I bought this boat.. full sheets of plywood and a water tank! |
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| Port McNeill commercial loading dock. |
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| Total BURNER BOAT... added fuel tank gives BRNR about 3200 mile range. |
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| These were the early days, a more simple life! |
Matt and I spent 5 nights on the island together. On our first day we met a new neighbor, Doug from West Cracroft Island about a mile away. He stopped by in a small motor boat to let us know that 1/2 an hour ago he saw a large brown bear swim over to the south end of Hull Island. He saw we were camping and thought he should let us know. Oh Oh. This was scary and while we appreciated the heads up we didn't like the message. Thanks for the lookout Doug!
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| Matt screwing plywood to wood frame below. |
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Friend, story teller, hauler, excavator, boarder, surfer, world traveller, builder and now a plumber!
2' dia PVC cut, fitted, installed. Overflow from top of tank.
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| We rolled this 980 gallon tank on it's side up the path, dug in and leveled it. |
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| 8' by 8' collection area, avg 63" rain/yr ~1600 gallons pure manna from heaven. Gravity flow from collection to tank on lower left. |
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| Perforated tube with nylon sleeve for water collection |
Our camp is on the north end of the island a mile away and the place a bear would likely end up if it were to head into the land. Matt was especially concerned about bears because he is a smart guy. He decided to string a hammock high up in trees. I slept on the ground in a tent. We stayed in camp, built a large fire, talked loud and tried to get the most out of a cell phone and tiny 2" pod speaker. We were able to get only one station playing music in between the static. While we were safe from bears that night, it rained enough to create a large puddle in the tarp Matt used as a tent over his hammock. At some point the tarp burst, flooding Matt out of his sleeping bag and out of the trees.When I woke up in the morning Matt was drying his sleeping bag and himself off under a tepee he made over the fire pit.
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| Teepee with tarp over fire was to dry out after a rainy night. We cut, split and stockpiled firewood reserves |
Next night same routine only this time Matt slept in the hammock on the boat.. cuz bears climb trees! During the night I heard loud splashing in the water. Like a very large fish caught on shore? A whale maybe? And Matt was right there! The next morning, Matt told me it was for sure a sea monster and likely to jump in the boat. The following year we learned that the noise indeed came from a large sea creature. We survived this night too, although Matt hadn't slept much in days! (I'm not exaggerating about lack of sleep.)
After setting up the water system, we headed south on the highway to explore. About 1/4 mile from camp, right in the middle of the narrow trail we found a monster bear shit. Almost the size of an elephant poop. A round piece the size of a softball with additional horse-shit sized stuff. We deduced that the bear was headed directly for us along the clear trail into camp when it heard us talking, smelled the fire, got scared, shit its pants (so to speak), and took off west into the water towards Cracroft Island. Definitely an unsettling feeling! Alone on an island with a brown bear: cage match. Tag team Matt & Jon vs death. Matt and I are now 1 - 0 against The Bears.
Thank you Matt for all the incredible work you put in. Thanks for having the wisdom and inclination to speak up and advise me on border crossings. I appreciate the confidence you have in me to make the trip.
Summer 2017 Building on Hull
I wanted to build a shed where I could park a small ATV, store tools and equipment protected inside during the winter, and provide warm, dry and safe sleeping places in the summer months. As the "shed" got bigger to accommodate more space it morphed into a psuedo cabin with doors, windows and a deck. I still can't decide, is it a cabin or a shed?
There are many things to consider in the design and construction of things. I enjoy weighing the alternatives and dynamic conditions, working towards an optimal solution. The added complexity of being on an island far from port makes logistics, scheduling, costs, weather all considerable factors in design, construction and maintenance. Intriguing and mind engaging. For Hull Island, here was my initial design solution in drawings below. The finished product incorporated a few changes not in design.
The building has large barn doors on the east end wide enough for an ATV, windows to bring in light and views yet small enough to dissuade bears from trying to get in. Sturdy front door and small deck to shelter from sun or rain, relax, survey the land, have drinks and contemplate life.
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| North elevation, Thursday February 8th 2018 |
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South elevation and wood calculations
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| Plan view and material lists |
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East elevation drawn w/o siding |
September 11th - 17th, 2017 - Building Foundations - This is it!
In September, Henry, Andy, Charles and I made the trip north to start real construction. To set the foundation for the cabin - to plant our feet.
Check out
Chuck's own account of his first trip to Hull Island Blog... his words are inspiring! We spent a day cutting down trees and clearing the site. Next we excavated for the 9 foundation piers and leveled them. We dug holes as deep as we could until hitting rocks too large to move. We then back filled with rocks and gravel brought up from the beach area and washed of salt. Charles and I had to go to town to get the concrete as the boat was fully loaded already with gear on our initial trip out. Charles and I made two separate trips carrying 12 - 14 60 lb bags of concrete at a time. Took quite the effort to get off the boat and up to site. With 3 strong 'kids' doing most of the work it went fast. While we were gone Andy and Henry hacked through the salal and cleared a new trail heading south out of camp along the east side of the island. This trail led to the location of the boat dock, and has since been expanded down to the boat ramp. A huge effort and great results on the "Dock Trail" - thank you Henry and Andy!
We got all 9 piers poured and they came out looking really solid and well aligned. Taking the time as we did to get it right will support everything that later rests on these foundations. My neighbor Don noticed the piers when he stopped by for inspection. Perhaps he forgot I was an engineer, or didn't know I like to overdo some things? (Hopefully Don and Ward don't meet someday to discuss this. Good lord!)
Don wondered aloud why the overkill with foundation. My recollection of his words: "in this part of the world, all you need for a foundation is two large cedar logs - heck they will last longer than you! Just lay them on the ground and build up. And if you insist on concrete, then you could have just saved time and money using those pre-made concrete block piers." My nephews were now also wondering if we went too big, too much. Had we just wasted a lot of time and energy? I was in a bind, local expert Don with common sense vs the uncle who may be eccentric and a bit crazy about strong structures. Pretty sure I convinced my nephews that we did it right. Because we did. We went LARGE, then went home. Proud and satisfied. In a way Don's words only reinforced what we did. We set a very solid anchor on new land.
One day we decided to take a break from Camp and explore the old growth forest on the southern 1/3 of the island. On our way back we were descended a fairly steep hill with Andy leading ahead about 50 yards, Henry and Chuck and I following behind. Suddenly and simultaneously, I felt a very sharp sting on the back of my neck and saw wasps flying around my head. Then another nasty sting - then another. I was under a well coordinated vicious attack by determined insects. Horrible. I was swatting the wasps away and trying to run down the hill, slipping and falling, screaming and kind of panicking. As a kid I was allergic to bee stings and on occasion when stung had to be taken to the hospital for shots. I always remember the warning that a bee sting to my neck could swell and cut-off my breathing tube. On this day I got 7 stings to my head, back of the neck, side of my face and my back. I've been stung many times in life and don't recall any hurting this much. As we picked up the pace and rushed back to camp, I recall Henry asking me what was the recourse if my breathing was shut off - I told Henry he would have to perform a tracheotomy. "Are you serious?" Yes I was dead serious.
A very scary situation for me and I expect them as well. It hurt like hell, my heart was racing and I was high on adrenaline.. Would these bites swell up? Would I go into shock? Our camp medical bag was supplied with everything needed for a nasty cut or an mild injury. I had nothing for bee stings! No Benadryl, no epi-pens. Fortunately Henry has some Benadryl and the swelling never became a problem. Our medical bag is now prepared for bee stings.
What a rewarding trip with my nephews. Priceless time to work, communicate, explore and live peacefully together. Bliss on so many levels.The island project has already turned out way beyond my wildest dreams. I thought I was going to have to do this by myself, alone. Instead I've been blessed to have many close friends and family join in. I think I am in heaven here. There are far and few life experiences that could bring such a broad coalition together to create something so lasting, meaningful and new. I have deep gratitude.
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