#elk Archives – In The Sticks Cabins

Winter White

December 4, 2018 inthestickscabinsLeave a comment

All Fall long we rave about the elk viewing and the bugling and the bulls…oh my! But the truth is that elk viewing in Benezette is far more impressive in the winter months than any other time of year. In the winter the elk gather in large herds in sunny fields to catch some rays.

The Internet tells me that they also move to ‘the low ground’ for protection from the wind. We have, however, seen large herds (we’re talking 100 elk at a time here people!) all over Benezette in the colder months.

With the crazy weather we’ve had already this year, it seems the herds are starting early. I’ve seen pictures on Facebook and Instagram showing more than 100 elk gathered up in Benezette already! Plus! I’ve seen them myself a few times already this year!

I went back through some old pictures and found a few with big groups.

Look way in the back! Those spots are elk! December 2016

This crew was too big for my cell phone camera to capture all of them! November 2017

I’ll share as many pictures as I can in the coming weeks. In the meantime, check out this video from a few weeks ago! The husband caught bugling and elk digging for yummy grass below this early layer of snow!

Zoom Zoom

October 18, 2018 inthestickscabinsLeave a comment

No no. Not like the car commercial. Was that Mazda?

I mentioned that my photography skills needed a little help. Good news! My new telephoto lens arrived today and I cannot wait to test it out this weekend! My visitors from last weekend, BPM and wife, had a similar lens and were able to capture some pretty good shots!

Earlier this week, the forecast for Benezette this weekend mentioned some snow. I still have clear coating to do so I hope that moisture stays far, far away. (Because with my new zoom lens, I’ll be able to just take a picture! Ha!)

Updates to come! Have a great weekend folks. Stay warm out there!

Another Board on the Wall…

October 8, 2018October 8, 2018 inthestickscabinsLeave a comment

This weekend started off on Friday with a dry wall delivery. A ridiculous number of sheets of sheet rock were hauled into The Sapling. I was not involved. Thanks husband!

I’d spoken with several people early in the week, letting them know that we’d be hanging drywall this weekend. You know, in the event that anyone wanted to help, hint, hint. No one was interested. However – the husband already had a plan to get himself the kind of helper he likes. One who is quiet and does his job – a drywall lift!

This seemed to make quick (I’m really using that word loosely, as I have no idea how long these things should really take.) work of getting the ceilings and walls covered.

While this was going on, I was staining wood for the walls. I’ve never stained before, so there was some trial and error. There were also some terrifying hand prints and a few ripped gloves that resulted in some stained up fingers. These will run the long way across the rooms up to about chair rail height and I’m stoked about how the color came out.

Of course there must have been a monsoon at some point through the week, because the ground outside was super soggy. It did however create some neat mushrooms. It also rained both Saturday and Sunday. We’re all over the rain now, right?

And lastly – there were quite a few elk in Benezette this weekend. The only picture I snagged was from a moving vehicle, so it’s not great. They’re still bugling away and while the rut technically lasts through mid-October, I’ve not experienced this much activity into October. I have to believe that this weird weather we’ve been having is confusing their hormones.

I did find some good pictures on the game camera from the past 2 weeks. If you haven’t already, check out our Facebook page to see them!

Go Grand…

September 17, 2018 inthestickscabinsLeave a comment

So – The husband spent last week in Benezette getting the cabin ready for visitors. He had his rented mini excavator and a plan to get the sewer system installed. Yay for sewer!

Unfortunately, mother nature had a different plan. Previously dug deep trenches had already collapsed in on themselves from all of the rain we’ve had this year. The basically non-stop rain we experienced last week helped matters, like, zero percent. Every where he dug just collapsed in more and more. He told me it was like digging the new Pennsylvania Grand Canyon (coincidentally, it’s only an hour and half drive from Benezette)! The big pump helped to evacuate some of the water but not the super damp soil.

So, he filled those in and started fresh(ish). Progress went much more smoothly from then on. And then! This weekend! That big yellow ball that lives in the sky returned! And the trenching was a success!

It did however result in a pile of dirt I’m affectionately calling, Mount Sewer System.

While the digging was going on, I went to town to pick up the last of the supplies we’d ordered to finish the siding. They ordered the wrong thing. So, back I came to tackle the grounding rods. For those of you not familiar, grounding rods are eight foot long copper rods that must be pounded the whole way into the ground and attached to the main electrical system. You read that right, pounded the whole way into the ground. Regardless of being located at the top of a mountain. Regardless of millions of slate veins running through the ground. Pounded into the ground. This was my job. And I NAILED it! (But didn’t get a picture, so just take my word for it.)

With the interior plumbing installed and the electrical lines all run – we’re about ready for drywall folks! The husband is staying yet another week to finish up the things that need inspected (sewer and electric). Hopefully next weeks picture updates will be more exciting.

In the meantime – check out these pictures of elk from last week and this weekend.

Shut the Front Door

September 3, 2018September 4, 2018 inthestickscabinsLeave a comment

And the side door, if you please! We have points of entry that are not large sheets of wood! Yay!

So! First of all – Saturday night, the mother-in-law (MIL) and I went for a drive since we hadn’t seen any elk at In The Sticks Cabins. In Benezette, you don’t have to go to far to see an elk. Before we even left the neighborhood we saw a bunch of cows. Then, we drove up to the Elk Country Visitor Center (it’s across the street people, check it out). As we headed up the steep, winding driveway (I’ve walked it, it’s not for the faint of heart), we saw about 10 cars stopped in the roadway. The bull I saw last weekend was there. The MIL snagged a picture (no stopping or standing on roadways! Safety first!) where he’s got demon eyes.

On Sunday morning, the husband woke me up at 7:30 (ack!) to drive to Dubois to visit Lowe’s. (If Lowe’s offered a frequent visitor punch card, we’d both have free tshirts by now.) As we were leaving the neighborhood, you’ll never guess who we saw!

I hear this guy has been making the rounds in downtown Benezette too. Busy guy! We heard him bugle a few times throughout the weekend.

Now down to cabin business. The husband brought his A-game this long weekend. On Sunday he finished up the siding on the driveway side of The Sapling. We now have siding on 3 sides of the cabin – the front side was special order so those materials should arrive soon.

On our way back from Lowe’s, we stopped to get some firewood so I could keep my bonfire going. Since I’m not really useful for siding (although, I do pick up the scraps pretty good!), it was my job to stack the firewood. Not bad, not bad at all.

On Monday (Happy Labor Day!), the husband tackled the siding on the front side of the porch roof. I did not take pictures of him using this “scaffolding”, because, well, it looked dangerous.

He finished up by putting the front door in place – more on that next week! He was just in time, a nasty looking storm was rolling in as I was headed out. Back to the grind folks – have a good week!