The past 10 days have been incredibly busy. I never realized how much preparation went into working at a remote location for the entire summer. HistoriCorps has been planning these two projects for months, and now we're finally ready to begin. After a few massive Costco trips, some organizing trailers and buying last minute forgotten tools, ordering unforseen items, and lots and lots of driving (with loaded trailers and flatbeds), we've made it to our sites, and they are AMAZING!
I knew they would be cool, but to finally get here and see the beautiful surrounding forest is so great. I will be working with Elizabeth and Helaman at the Alpine Guard Station.
The history of the building is pretty cool, as taken from the HistoriCorps website: "The Alpine Guard Station was first constructed in 1913 as a remote ranger station for the United States Forest Service; the site is located within the Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre-Gunnison National Forest, in Gunnison County, and includes three historic log buildings: a ranger’s residence, barn, and garage/equipment shed. The ranger’s residence was constructed in 1920 by rangers Henry L. Spencer and Bill Doran to serve as a seasonal guard station within the Alpine District of the Uncompahgre National Forest (which later merged with the Grand Mesa and Gunnison National Forests). The site is associated with the early twentieth century sheep grazing industry of the Western Slope and stands as a good example of an early Forest Service administrative facility.
The work that needs to be done is extensive. Again, as taken from the HistoriCorps website: "Several projects will be conducted at the Alpine Guard Station site. All three structures will be reroofed with cedar shingles, all doors and windows will be repaired, and all of the sill logs will be replaced. Both the garage and dwelling will have interior repair and will be furnished. The dwelling will also have plumbing installed to accommodate a sink. The extended plan is to turn the garage into a bunkhouse with a wood stove, beds and a table. Crews will construct vault toilet facility and a solar energy shed, modeling a CCC-era equipment shed, to house photovoltaic panels, batteries and an inverter. In addition, the site will be graded for ADA accessibility. The proposed projects at the Alpine Guard Station will provide participants with knowledge of the layout and assembly of wall frames, construction of roof trusses and roofing techniques, construction of historically accurate hinged garage doors, and the siding of walls with board and batten."
I'm so excited to begin working on these buildings. There is so much work to be done it's a bit daunting, but to think about how great it will look when it's done is fascinating. Besides, when I got to sleep every night in the back of my truck, this is what I see:
This picture certainly does not do it justice, but you can still see that it is quite beautiful. This is obviously a very remote location, about 20 miles from the very small town of Lake City, Colorado. We won't have internet or cell coverage while on site, and we plan to stay on site for the majority of the summer. I hope to come down at least once every week or every other week. I wish I could blog about this more often because there will be so much to relay, but given this 'off the grid' location, my blogs will be few and far between. Do stay tuned however, because I expect them to be so full of exciting developments as we move through the summer!
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