My goal for this trip is too get more material in but more importantly to get my film partner upriver and drop him off for a month. We're looking for more wolverine film plus anything elese we can get. He's a ways past the cabin setup in our blinds but the cabin will be a safe sanctuary should the weather turn or I have to extract him with a chopper. Typically he holes up in the blind for four days at a time and then comes out to recharge for a night. And i thought i was a patient hunter (not!)

We were encouraged to see lots of fresh wolverine sign. A nice fresh urine post

It took a bit longer than usual but we arrived at new cabin site and got to work. I finished up the insulation and vapor barrier, installed stove, put more strapping on roof, setup out-house, rebaited camera sites with beaver carcasses, and then dumped my partner and left.












It was a busy 24 hours. Now I leave him there alone until April 1 and hope for some magic.

Looking good! What sort of siding are you going to use?

Great pictures Brian. Did you have those Northern Sled Works tobaggons shipped down or is there a dealer in GP?? Walter is in the hospital, you might want to go see him.

AV - Metal siding for walls and roof material. Maybe 1/2 log on front. By the way i've built log canins as well. My issue is its's almost impossible to keep them mice free. These back country cabins may not be used for a year at a time and i like them clean when i come in. I sheet bottom of floor system with 3/8" plywood and that fixes them good.

I'm going to see what weather does and if it is still cold enough I will haul myself, if not i'm thinking of dropping a load with a chopper as I'll need one to get my partner out anyways.

What are you guys using on your exteriors? Porcupines and bears are our challenges.

I love metal, myself. Almost maintenance-free.

Yukon - Sorry to hear about Walter, just passed his ranch yesterday, I'm down in Abbotsford BC today. I will see him when I go back for sure.

Did you ever go on his trapline? Here's a story I bet you can relate to if you know his son Travis. We go hunting on their trapline chasing elk, using their argo. We leave their cabin early in the morning and drive for an hour twisting and turning through that maze of trails down there. Get to the "hot spot" and split up to look for sign. All of a sudden a deluge opens up and rain falls like a biblical story. I hunker down under a huge spruce and am pretty dry waiting for the rain to stop…but it doesn't. After half an hour I figure I better start a fire while the branches of the spruce were still dry and I get me a toasty little blaze going under the spruce. After a couple of hours of this I hear the argo off in the distance. Awesome travis is coming to get me, after all he sent me it this direction and knows where I am.

Gee the bush is sure funny as it sounds like he's driving away. Yup he took off and drove back to the cabin and left me there. After another hour the rain stops and it's actually sunny and getting hot. Cool, now travis will come get me. By three oclock I figure I'm on my own and better figure out how to get out of there. But is Grey sky coming in, new country, rain has not only pounded down all the grass and erased tracks but is also lying in the trail in huge ponds.

This is pre-gps and it was grey when I came in so was a bit fuzzy on directions. But I had a compass and the road in was west so one way or the other I was getting out. I was relieved to cut a fresh argo track and follow it back to the cabin, soaked from the neck down. There stood the cabin with smoke puffing the chimney, looking like a sanctuary. I open the door and there lay Travis sprawled on the couch, mouth ajar, snoring. I woke him up, rest of story censored.

I have 5 Northern Sled Work tobbogans showing up on Sunday in GP. That guy should be paying me commissions ( Right Dave? ) He treated me good and makes good product. I'm not as keen on the hitch system on the big loads. Anyone beef the hitch up with aluminum tubbing so you could back up with heavy loads? I'm 1000+ on some of these.

Funny story Brian, and I do get it!! No never been on Walts line. Northway made my sled, ( it is very similar to the Northern Sled ) he builds them with a great hitch.....Metal.....will try to post pictures. Yes you should be getting a commission. Sounds like you're moving a lot of product.

I agree on the cabins.....I like mine mouse proof as well.....impossible with logs. Like the outhouse too, I assume it was prefabbed?? I have seen guys use that newspaper tin halfway up the outside walls to deter porkys.

Really enjoying this journal Brian. Last comments reminds me that I need to cover the plywood on my with something. Been lucky so far, two winters ago has a porky visit. The chewed high up on several if the pine at camp but did not touch any plywood.

Keep the pictures coming as you progress. Sending the tin in by helicopter sling will be fun for the pilot. It's like trying to tow a sail. Our son says when he slings plywood he likes to have other materials with it for added weight to stabilize the sling.

Great journal, appreciate the conditions similar to mine. Cabin is looking very comfortable. Why do you put your stove pipe out the end wall instead of thru the roof? Seems like more work and more hazard to put the two 90 degree bends in the pipe.
As for beefing up the hitch, I have run another piece of 1/2" UMHW over the top of the tongue as a stiffner (4"X24"). Just bolted it on as an overlay. Worked great on my first sled I built and only used 3/8" UMHW for the tongue.

Good advice on the hitch AK. I agree conditions are similar, which spurred my earlier comment to you " you can ride the river with me anytime" , offer stands.

The wall chimney exit design is grizzly and pack rat protection. they get on the roof and pick away at the edge until they crawl through. If you notice all my windows and doors are pretty high and before I'm down will be shuttered just for the bears but the packrats are almost more of a issue. they often crawl in through roof jacks but walls are more difficult. i'm also not penetrating my attic space which will be vented and needs to be as cool as possible, chimneys add heat .

Here is a picture of the hitch Northway builds.....there are two heavy stiffeners on the underside as well.....very tough hitch!

Looks similiar to hitch I have. You like the pinto hitch? too much slop for me with heavy loads and punched a hole in my snow flap pushing forward. I like a pin and I like the heavy duty block / pin system on the Alaska's

I'd like to see more of Northways product, these guys got me all jacked up on the siglins / crossfox, and i haven't regreted it yet. They're starting to get some attention from the sled heads in my area also, lots of questions at gas pumps.

Yea I like the pintle hitch.....the one in the picture is a clevis to adapt the pintle to a regular hitch...on my big sled I have the pintle.

Hello Brian what do you use to finish the flooring in your cabins? We were at a cabin last weekend that had lamanite it was slippery and was dirty all the time . It did clean up well but i really dont want to be scrubing the floor all the time? Also with the cabin being used winter and summer cold and hot i am worried about its durabilty?

Hard to beat laminate. I've had it down in heavy traffic areas for several years in some cabins and it stands up and cleans up well. I like cork floor if only I could get it cheap, warm and durable. Painted plywood is always an option. Don't use peel and stick floor tiles as they come off over time it seems.

I has lino down in one cabin that got trashed by a bear so bad that I just rolled it up with all the ketchup, soya, mustard, syrup, ect. still on it. That was kind of handy.

If you didn't have all that food on the floor, the bear would have left it alone!

I should have thought of that AV. Actually it was ugly. Bear chewed through a frame wall. Started where the propane line went through cabin wall and picked away until it got in. Pulled the kitchen cabinets off wall and trashed insdie of cabin. Finally fixed it with a 330 with safeties on and a can of bear spray coated in syrup. Great plan except bear spray should have been left outside of the cabin, not in. Does give a nice orange hue to the walls though and my sinus's cleaned out everythime I entered the cabin for the next couple years. that crap lingers on.

Relative to flooring. My camp is painted with Porch & Floor enamel (grey) and it is very hard to keep clean. We thought about the laminate but were told it would swell with water (snow) on the floor from our boots. It would sure be easy to keep clean though with a Swiffer mop. The advantage to a painted floor is that it dries very quickly when you track snow in.

Ron I've had it down in four cabins for almost five years. Edges can lift slightly like a 1/16" if right in front of door without entrance matt. It holds up and is cheap. you can see it down here on a cabin floor that is like a roller coaster.







Another advantage of laminate is that it conforms to real crooked floors. The underlay provides another layer of warmth as well. Laminate is a cold floor but unless you go with rugs that's always an issue. But I've been thinking of cork tiles if there was a way to waterproof them better. Very warm and you can get 24" tiles, so easy to pack to remote cabins.