Taos Pueblo

Beautiful isn't it? There is something about earthen architecture that I absolutely love. It's a renewable resource, inexpensive, durable, abundant, and just so natural. Not to mention it looks awesome. Besides all this, I have huge respect for Native culture- and so I found myself at Taos Pueblo.

This is one of those amazing places that I shake my head in disbelief while there, "How did I not know this place exists?" America is just outstanding. I question why I ever go travel abroad when there are endless treasures right here in the 50 states. Taos Pueblo is one of the oldest. It is considered to be the oldest continually inhabited communities in the U.S. As taken directly from the Pueblo's information guide, "The Native legends and detailed oral history trace our existence back to the beginning of evolution of man and all of creation. Our Native Language, Tiwa, is unwritten, unrecorded and will remain so. the details of our traditional values are guarded as sacred and are not divulged. Understand that the past oppressions upon our culture have required us to keep the details unspoken."

The small community maintains a traditional lifestyle free from electricity and running water- and will remain so. The homes are adobe- a mixture of earth, straw and clay. They must be re-plastered annually due to weathering of the adobe. (A far cry from our modern day vinyl siding trend huh?) I find these homes incredibly artistic- yet very simple and peaceful. I think I might do quite well living in such an environment. Of course, I am not native in ancestry, so the chances of that are slim to none. These buildings are very sacred to the Pueblo people, and Kivas outline the tourist area. They are off limits to outsiders of course. There is a Catholic Church in the community however. I am a little conflicted on it's existence here, but it's a lovely building none-the-less.
As you walk around the pueblo, you can't really go inside any of the buildings, I mean, these are peoples homes. You can however visit any of the many small dwellings that function as stores. Here's one way that the local people can boost they're economy a bit. Most of the stores sell fantastic locally made jewelry and crafts. They are master crafts people, truly beautiful art.
One thing that I found particularly interesting about their building designs have to do with the many ladders you see everywhere.
As taken again from the Pueblo literature, "The buildings are actually many individual homes built side by side and in layers with common walls and no connecting doorways. The Pueblo looks much like it did when the conquistadors first arrived. The exception is the introduction of doorways. At one time, the only entryway into the homes was by ladder through an opening in the rooftops. this served as a source of light then as it still does today. The roof top entrances also served as a safe guard against intruders of the Pueblo. If an enemy was approaching, the ladders were pulled from the ground levels to the rooftops." Amazing!
There is so much more to this UNESCO World Heritage Site than this blog can offer. It's really one of those places that you just have to experience, not just see in pictures and read about. For more in depth information go here: http://www.taospueblo.com/index.php

I am mostly impressed than even today- in the too busy and hectic 21st century, that the community chooses not to buy into the frantic outside lifestyle. I must say here that I felt a little odd about walking around the pueblo- a tourist among their homes taking pictures of their daily lives. How would you feel if a group of people started walking around your neighborhood snapping photos and pointed at your house, your roof, in awe of the way you live. It seemed a little intrusive and embarrassing. Yet, at the same time, I felt honored to be welcomed into this sacred community- I just wish more neighborhoods were like this. If only we Preservationists had the skills to work on that...

The Earthship has landed...

Before I launch into this rather alternative episode of the historic preservation blog, let me clear up one thing. I am not a hippie. I have never been a hippie, and I am not currently one. I have been falsely accused of this many times. For some reason, people want to classify me in the hippie arena because I'm eco-friendly and like argyle socks. I am a punk, goth, thrasher or whatever you want to call it. It's just been toned down considerably since I turned 30ish.

Ok, now that that is clear, let's talk Earthships. I'm not talking about the X-files here, I'm talking about Sustainable Green Building designs. These are amazing. This weekend we finally got our one and only long weekend and I high-tailed it to New Mexico. I love New Mexico. My destination was Taos, and as I got a few miles from town, I kept seeing these bizarre little home tucked away in the dirt- literally. I'm not sure how to describe them- but they're pretty dang cool. I was happy to see one of these homes was actually a visitor's center where you can go inside and learn more about these very green dwellings.

You can see just from the pictures above that these homes really utilize green building practices. First there's the traditional adobe building technique- using the earth for your walls- sand, clay and straw. It doesn't really get more sustainable and earth friendly than that. Then there's recycling, or the use of trash that would otherwise sit in a landfill forever. Notice the tires- a major building block for these structures. You can also see the bottles, or the bottoms of the bottles- and you probably thought those were specifically decorative, pretty awesome huh! And then there's all the cans, lots of beer cans and coke cans, mostly beer though. I mean, this stuff is garbage to most of us, and you can literally build a home with it!
Besides using these materials for the building itself- these homes are completely self-reliant, they're off the grid completely. They generate their own electricity from wind and solar power. You'll see a few wind turbines and solar panels dotting the landscape. They also utilize rain and snow water for all needs- bathing, cooking, drinking etc. They catch the water on the roofs and funnel them into large cisterns. Then it goes into a water organizing module where it's filtered and sent through the pipes- regular plumbing as far as you'll know. Personally, the bathroom was my favorite room in this earthship- so cute!



There's also the very important factor of food. As taken from the website www.earthship.com "A fundamental concept of Earthships is that gray water from the sink or tub is recyled and purified by feeding into an indoor planter before being used to flush the toilet. This creates an environment in which plants are not only asthetic and contributing to the heath of our environment, but are also highly functional and play a direct role in the maintenance of the home." So, these homes are not only good for the environment, but very healthy for the inhabitants. They're completely self-reliable. I don't know about you but I think these are pretty awesome. And yes, I know that you think this makes me a hippie, but punks can be into sustainable living too!
This is an extremely brief overview of what an earthship entails. For more information please visit www.earthship.com

Besides the work...

We're working long hard days out here in the forest, but as with life, it's all the little things that make the day so interesting. For starters, Helaman, Elizabeth and I have no fear of getting lonely with all of our furry and fun companions. Actually, they're not fun at all, but rather annoying. I'm talking about the chipmunks mostly. They've lost all fear over the last few weeks, and will taunt you in the cook tent as you try to get them to go away. They're really not interested in going away, and seem to know that you're only bluffing with the threats to step on them.

Cute they may be, but after the 4th time that they stole my bottle of hand soap, that was it. Seriously, they have some kind of affinity for plastic bottles, I don't get it. I had a small bottle of soap that I kept by the well to wash my hands- the first time it was gone I figured the wind took it. I couldn't explain how it traveled uphill but there wasn't any other explanation. The second time it was gone I figured something had taken it, but how? Then, caught red-pawed I saw that little chipmunk with the entire bottle in it's mouth! Sucker! I don't know how it carried it away, but it did it again, and that was the last time I saw my soap. So of course, I bought a bigger bottle. Chipmunks are little, there's no way they could carry this one away. Well, carry away probably not, but chew through it- duh, I should've known!


They've also grown quite a bit fatter in the last several weeks. Hmmm, what exactly are they stealing from our food cache? We thought we did a pretty good job of keeping all the food secure. But every so often someone forgets to shut the trailer, and there they are, running away with a bag of chips in their mouths. Or an apple as seen here. Well, I know that I've had enough of this. And so have the Haynie brothers. (We're very fortunate that Helaman's younger brother Bryson has come to work with us for several weeks!) So the brothers decided that purchasing a Beebee gun was in order.

The boys were successful, in only two days they snagged two chipmunks. We haven't seen any since. Obviously they now know better than to mess with the Haynies.

We were also introduced to the Utah tradition of roasting Starbursts. I'm serious, like most Americans, roasting marshmallows and making smores was my families tradition, but Starbursts?? Well, the boys showed us how it was done, and I must admit, they were much tastier than I imagined!


We've also had some expert campfire builders among our volunteers. After the days work is done, we're graced with the luxury of time (sans internet, televisions and cell phones!) Some things tend to get creative. Here's volunteer Scott making an exceptional campfire. And don't you know the thing burned like a champ!



We also run into the occasional unexpected delay when traveling about on these forest service roads. Last week, after buying groceries in Gunnison I headed up the road to the Guard Station much later that I would've liked. I don't like getting on that road after dark. I thought I had just enough time to get to the top before the sun was completely down. Well, of course I wasn't planning for obstacles in the road- obstacles such as fallen trees (that I attempted to saw out of the way with a hand saw), and a few hundred cows leisurely taking their time meandering down the road.



Ah, the little surprises in life, that's what makes it all worth it right? Just like looking forward to a shower all day when working so hard in the dirt. Oh there's no better shower than after a hard day of work in the hot sun. Thank goodness for solar showers! Uh, ones without big gaping holes that is!
Oh the joy of getting ready for a shower at the end of a long day. Oh the AGONY of all the warm water pouring out of the shower after it acquired this big old hole. I wanted to cry. The shower is dead. BUT, there is a light at the end of this tunnel. The brutally hot weather hit us with perfect timing. This past week the weather was just hot enough that I was able to bathe in the creek each day. The cold water actually felt pretty amazing. I love bathing in the creek when it's hot enough, so in this case, the busted shower turned out to be a good thing. Don't think I'm not shopping for a new one as soon as possible though!

Ah such is life, the ups and downs and the good times and bad. But it always works out in the end!

Progress!

After two full weeks of amazing hard working volunteers, we're finally seeing some progress! We've been able to turn that corner from destruction to putting things back together. It's nice to begin seeing our hard work come together.

We finished putting up the new shingles on the bunk house roof and began with the new shingles on the barn roof, only about 10 more courses to go! This past week the temperatures climbed considerably from the nice cool 10,000 foot weather we're used to. Wow, talk about breaking a sweat up there on that roof. Hard work it is, but not without good fun to keep spirits high.


You'll also notice in the pictures here that we FINALLY got in all the logs that needed replacing- that goes for all three buildings. Remember, we've been at this for 5 weeks- logs are heavy and difficult, but we did it! (Well, Helaman did it really.)

It's nice to be done with the logs and now move on to other projects. Last week we had some fabulous volunteers that were very skilled and were able to work on the building of the new solar energy shed. They ran with it, and put up almost the entire thing in just a few days.



We also started putting in the floor in the soon to be bunk house. This was really exciting- a floor! To me that signals major progress. Before we lay the OSB boards over the floor joists we're power washing every inch of the bunk house and the barn. A little hot water and some bleach, and that rat nasty should give us no more problems. We also put bora-care in a few of the logs. This is a small piece of boron, which vermin and pests do not like. So long suckers!

We have LOTS more to do. But I must say that it raises my spirits to actually see things falling into place. It feels like we're really making a difference. And it will only get better from here!

Volunteers are so cool.

Since the beginning of June, Elizabeth, Helaman, and I have been working on our buildings by ourselves. This has been quite the challenge with only three of us, especially considering the limited construction skills of Elizabeth and me.

Well this past week we were fortunate enough to have some fantastic volunteers. About ten very hard working and enthusiastic folks joined us from Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. Which by the way is a brilliant organization that you can check out here: http://www.voc.org/. If you want to get involved in the outdoors in the middle of the Rockies, this is the way to do it.

So from Tuesday through Friday we were able to accomplish an outstanding amount of work. The garage/soon-to-be-bunkhouse got a new roof. This was a great project that I think I enjoyed more than anything we've done so far. First we had to get the shingles. This actually happened several weeks ago when I took a trip down to Denver to pick up a few thousand pounds of the cedar pieces.
This was not the part I enjoyed thoroughly. Driving this load from Denver to Lake City wasn't exactly a care-free task. It was a little bit scary but I did it without incident thankfully.

With the shingles in place at the Guard Station, our volunteers went to work first stripping all of the old shingles off the roof. This was no easy task, not only did they have to get all the shingles off, but each and every single nail had to be removed as well. That's a bit tedious. Once that was done, we got to work assembling the new cedar shingles. This was fun! Being the perfectionist that I am, I really enjoyed this process. It's also super fun to strap on a harness and walk up and down the roof, almost as cool as being on a fun climb.
We got a lot done on this building, and I must say that it looks fantastic. It was also fun to see the monstrous bonfire we lit to burn all of the old shingles.


In addition to the roof of the garage, we also worked on fitting new logs into the barn. We're not doing a whole lot to the barn other than stabilizing it and squaring it up so that it will maintain, or rather, regain it's structural integrity. If there ever was equestrian traffic up here, people could actually use the barn for their horses. Though we're not doing a major rehabilitation project on the barn like the other two buildings, strengthening this building is still a LOT of work. Like is so common on old log buildings, the bottom logs need to be replaced due to rot. I'm still amazed at what a simple jack and some manpower can do.

Just look at this building without the bottom couple of logs. Can you even believe it's still standing. With a few jacks and some cribbing we're able to fashion the new logs complete with notches to fit into place. Here's a picture of volunteer Sean working on a notch in a new log. I started the notch with a chainsaw, not exactly 'historic' craftsmanship, but quick and efficient nonetheless!



Fitting the logs into place is complicated. Unfortunately we didn't get that done this weekend, but we're so much closer thanks to the awesome energy of the VOC volunteers. We also began the foundational construction for the solar energy panel shed. That's right, when complete the main cabin will have solar powered electricity. This is a pretty awesome way to bring this historic cabin into a more user friendly 'rehabilitated' habitat. My only wish is that it had it now! The volunteers did a great job with this:
It was amazing how much quicker work goes with a few more hands. I only wish these rockstars were staying longer than four days! Fortunately we'll have another week of VOC volunteers next week, oh if only they were here for the next 7 weeks with us. Not only were they great workers, they were a lot of fun to have around and added some much needed moral and energy. If any of you volunteers happen to be reading this, do come back- we miss you!

Log Work

What kind of home do you live in? This probably isn't something you think about on a regular basis. Most people don't, unless you're in the construction or building industry. Chances are you live in a framed house or building. Light-framed construction is the most common type of modern building for many reasons. As taken from Wikipedia: "Light frame construction using standardized dimensional lumber has become the dominant construction method in North America and Australia because of its economy. Use of minimal structural materials allows builders to enclose a large area with minimal cost, while achieving a wide variety of architectural styles. The ubiquitous platform framing and the older balloon framing are the two different light frame construction systems used in North America."

Staying on track with good American practices, we use frame building because it's quick, cheap and easy. Compare this to the log buildings of yesterday. (As a side note, log buildings were not the buildings of choice for the first East Coast settlers. Log buildings are more common as you head West in the later years of America's development.) Personally, I think log buildings are fantastic. When I moved to Alaska in 2003, I had a very romantic image of what the architecture would be like there. I imagined everyone living in a quaint log cabin with lots of wilderness around. Well, this is hardly the truth, and it makes sense that it's not. Anchorage, the city I lived in, was mainly developed in the 1960s and 1970s- when inexpensive frame building was becoming very popular. Log buildings require quite a bit more expertise, craftsmanship and hard labor (logs are HEAVY!). Sadly, skilled log craftsman are on the decline. This is why such organizations like Preservation Trades Network are increasing in popularity- we don't want to lose these skills!

I could go on and on about logs, but let's get to the Alpine Guard Station and the work we've been doing. If you remember, the main cabin of the building is a pretty impressive log structure. The bottom logs (the sills and the spandrel logs) were sitting either directly on the ground or on concrete. Both of these situations caused the logs to rot quickly. We had to remove these bottom logs and replace them with new, healthy logs. So...how do you remove the bottom log of a building without taking it apart??

Like I mentioned in the last blog, we had to jack up the building, use a lot of force and chainsaw power, and a bit of manly sledgehammer power to get these suckers out.


It took a few days, but we finally were able to get out the sill log and two spandrel logs on the East and West sides of the building. Thank goodness for the hefty 12 ton jacks we had, otherwise there's just no way...
Kind of looks like the building is floating huh? Well, it kind of is for a moment. It's pretty amazing to lift an entire house straight from the ground; and a little scary.

Once we got the logs out, we had to put in the new ones. But first, we had to cut down the trees, somehow carry them to where they needed to be (trucks and hitches come in handy for this), peel them, drawknife them, and then notch them to fit back into place. All of this took about two weeks from start to finish, seriously, this is not easy work. Like I said, these suckers are heeaaavy. And notching the corner of a log to fit into the one above and below it is not exactly easy either. We did it though, and I think the end result looks pretty dang good!










Now we just need to put the finishing touches on, like a little bit of paint, and any epoxy on some logs that can be saved. I'm glad that this difficult phase is over though, now we can get going on other things like fixing the interior, re-shingling the roof, and building the porch that once stood many years ago.

As a bonus, if you're interested in seeing how a log cabin is built from start to finish, I recommend the move "Alone in the Wilderness". It's about a man who moves to Alaska by himself when he is 51 to build his own cabin and live there for an entire year alone. It's very impressive!