PA Mountain Cabin & Bears
I figured you guys would enjoy this story & the Pics, so I rounded them up:
About 30 years ago, my Buddy “Barry” decided to build a Cabin on his land on the top of a little Mountain in Potter County, PA.
He already owned the land, and he had one of those little Travel Trailers like Lucy & Ricky used to have, and he had it parked there for years, only using it for hunting trips. This thing was so small, you’d stick the key in the front door & break the back window with the key!!!
He used to go up there (5 hours one way) every weekend. He cut all his own trees down for the logs to build this Cabin, using mainly a Pickup Truck, a come-along, a Chainsaw, and an old girlfriend. He de-barked all the logs by hand & stacked them into a rectangle that looked like a 28’ X 32’ Horse corral.
Then he asked me how to build a Gambrel Roof, because he wanted a big loft for a bedroom & storage. I designed a Gambrel Roof structure that would be made of Rough Cut Hemlock Boards (From a local lumber mill, and could be notched with a chainsaw, so all the rafter pieces would snap together with the Purlins & the Ridge Pole. It worked Great, and the first Winter was spent pretty much as a big corral with half of a roof structure on it.
The following Spring 3 of us went up for 2 weekends & got the roof all plywooded any shingled.
Barry pretty much did the rest himself, like flooring, porches, and a lot of Chinking between the big spaces between the logs.
It took a couple years, but he got it done, and added a bedroom addition, some outbuildings, a balcony, etc, etc in the years that followed.
So he used it as a Weekend Hunting & Fishing Cabin for about 15 years, until he retired from Bethlehem Steel, where I had worked with him for 20 years.
Then he decided to move up there permanently, so he added Running Water, Indoor plumbing & a Septic System about 10 years ago, and has been living there with the Bears ever since. He’s in his Mid-70s now, but he still loves it up there. LOL—Has a new girlfriend now too.
I only see him a couple times a year, mostly when Mrs Bear does his Income Taxes for him.
Most times he comes down, I smoke a Prime Rib & he goes Nuts!!
So below are some Pics I rounded up—Hope you all enjoy them!!
Bear
Barry’s Hand Built Cabin, turned into retirement home:
Winter View:
Another shot:
Closeup of Front door & Sign "Backwoodsman's Bailiwick":
Living Room—Only shot I got of inside:
Neighbors Dropped in:
Big-un:
Party Time:
Acrobat:
You Talkin’ to Me???
Nap Time:
Family Meeting with Triplets:
Nothing like Quadruplets!!
Exercise Drill—Get up there!!
OK, lets go, get over here---Time to leave!!
We’re out of here too!!
I figured you guys would enjoy this story & the Pics, so I rounded them up:
About 30 years ago, my Buddy “Barry” decided to build a Cabin on his land on the top of a little Mountain in Potter County, PA.
He already owned the land, and he had one of those little Travel Trailers like Lucy & Ricky used to have, and he had it parked there for years, only using it for hunting trips. This thing was so small, you’d stick the key in the front door & break the back window with the key!!!
He used to go up there (5 hours one way) every weekend. He cut all his own trees down for the logs to build this Cabin, using mainly a Pickup Truck, a come-along, a Chainsaw, and an old girlfriend. He de-barked all the logs by hand & stacked them into a rectangle that looked like a 28’ X 32’ Horse corral.
Then he asked me how to build a Gambrel Roof, because he wanted a big loft for a bedroom & storage. I designed a Gambrel Roof structure that would be made of Rough Cut Hemlock Boards (From a local lumber mill, and could be notched with a chainsaw, so all the rafter pieces would snap together with the Purlins & the Ridge Pole. It worked Great, and the first Winter was spent pretty much as a big corral with half of a roof structure on it.
The following Spring 3 of us went up for 2 weekends & got the roof all plywooded any shingled.
Barry pretty much did the rest himself, like flooring, porches, and a lot of Chinking between the big spaces between the logs.
It took a couple years, but he got it done, and added a bedroom addition, some outbuildings, a balcony, etc, etc in the years that followed.
So he used it as a Weekend Hunting & Fishing Cabin for about 15 years, until he retired from Bethlehem Steel, where I had worked with him for 20 years.
Then he decided to move up there permanently, so he added Running Water, Indoor plumbing & a Septic System about 10 years ago, and has been living there with the Bears ever since. He’s in his Mid-70s now, but he still loves it up there. LOL—Has a new girlfriend now too.
I only see him a couple times a year, mostly when Mrs Bear does his Income Taxes for him.
Most times he comes down, I smoke a Prime Rib & he goes Nuts!!
So below are some Pics I rounded up—Hope you all enjoy them!!
Bear
Barry’s Hand Built Cabin, turned into retirement home:
Winter View:
Another shot:
Closeup of Front door & Sign "Backwoodsman's Bailiwick":
Living Room—Only shot I got of inside:
Neighbors Dropped in:
Big-un:
Party Time:
Acrobat:
You Talkin’ to Me???
Nap Time:
Family Meeting with Triplets:
Nothing like Quadruplets!!
Exercise Drill—Get up there!!
OK, lets go, get over here---Time to leave!!
We’re out of here too!!
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