MAKING A LOG CABIN FOR A GRIZZLY Wild Adventures The summer I was out of high school I worked in Montana for the Forest Service with young men from across the country. Our first job was as “brush- pilers”. The pine beetles would land on a tree, bore holes, deposit their eggs and the next season the larva would kill the tree by eating its sap. The damaged trees had been identified and tagged during the winter. We had skilled woodsmen who felled the trees and cut them into huge sections. Then we young men would lop off the branches, and walk the length of the logs to spray them with an insecticide. We used a peeve hook to turn them over and douse the underside. When we finished with a tree, we piled all the branches together so they could be torched in the winter snows. When the larva emerged in late June, it was too late to do any more good on any other damaged trees, so they moved us to another camp. All of our garbage was deposited in a huge log-lined pit in the ground. The top was also covered including a lidded access hole. One night we heard a terrible roaring and shuffling around the pit. A bear had smelled the goodies and was trying to pry off the top to get to them. The garbage pit was only about a hundred yards from our tents, so naturally the foresters were concerned. The next night they sat up and waited for the bear. They were actually sitting on my cot in the tent with their big guns. Soon the bear appeared and easily got into the garbage pit which was so nearly full that his head was visible as he stood on the garbage to feed. When they shot him, he did not struggle out of the pit but fell back into it. We were in big trouble, for there was very little extra room for much garbage, and there were about twenty-five of us in the camp. So the boss assigned a kid from New York and me, from Missouri, to dig a new garbage pit. It had to be eight feet square and eight feet deep. The rest of the crew, except the cook, went off to pile up brush so there would be no debris littering the forest floor in case of fire. We did pretty well the first few days, and then found out why they call them the “Rocky Mountains”. We encountered huge boulders. We were told to move the rocks out of the hole, as long as we could, but when it got too deep, we had to break them up or dig a cave in the side of the hole and shove the rocks in there. A week or two later when the hole was finished, the saw-men felled trees and the whole crew lined it across the bottom and all the way to the top with logs. I had to leave for home about the time they were cutting trees. I guess they thought I would be there forever. It was a very remarkable summer. We are going to run into obstacles every day of our lives. How we handle them and how we let them affect us is the key to a happy life. We had not planned on a bear getting into the garbage pit, and we never figured he would die and be buried there. We thought we would be going to the forest with the other guys, not stay at camp to dig a huge hole in the ground. But we made the best of it, clowning around and getting special food from the cook. Many obstacles, like the larger rocks, can just be rolled out of the way. But life may get so complicated that we can’t budge them out of the hole. They have to be dealt with, when and where they occur, with what means are available, if your work is to be finished. Obstacles, difficult people or a change in circumstances may certainly claim our attention. They can be stumbling blocks, or challenges to be met and dealt with. Having a rescue plan ahead of time is a good idea. But when difficulties come, it is best to remain calm, not shout or get into trouble. Take it one “rock” at a time. Move, it, break it or deal with it. But you cannot avoid them or pretend they don’t exist. A bear may cause the trouble, but a good pick and shovel can find a way around him.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:15:46 +0000
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