Last Post of 2025
I made it up to Skookum twice since the last posting. The snow cover remains abysmal, as shown by the two “first view” photos above. In Bozeman, the snow was all but gone on Xmas day and it was warm enough that I hiked up above the “M” in shorts.
Slow and unsteady progress continues. I finally figured out the problem with the track lights and fixed that — user error of course — so the sink area is now well lit. In the cellar (right photo) I noticed some of the hanging PEX pipes were drooping, so I fashioned some ugly looking supports. My grandfather would be proud of the Rube Goldberg inspiration.
These may seem like small things, but with the kitchen lighting in place, normal kitchen activities are easy, such as cooking up a dinner on the stove (left photo) and washing dishes (right photo). I doubt that Wylie is going to be excited about the dish washing capability.
The bathroom ceiling lights are installed (left photo) and I chinked the interface between the kitchen counter and the log just above it (right photo). About a quarter of the ridge pole is also chinked plus the wood frame to the living room chandelier.
The snow is so poor that the day before Xmas a couple of 4 by 4’s with chains on all 4 drove all the way up past Skookum to get a Christmas tree. They messed up what snow there was for skiing and got good and stuck with lots of yelling and laughing. It’s conceivable that alcohol was involved. On our second trip to Skookum we crossed some fresh lion tracks (right photo with my ski tip for scale). Again, not much snow. Phil and Max Battle hiked up for a visit and a game of chess and didn’t even bother to put on their skis.
Huge wind-storms came with the warm weather that melted the good snow from early December and blew over the outhouse. Rather rotten.
I end this last post of 2025 with a picture of the Wylie testing the comfort of the couch, something he devoted quite a lot of time to, and a photo of the now upright outhouse, hopefully sufficiently stabilized to get through the rest of the winter. Skookum remains — and looks like — an incomplete construction project, but it’s easy to relax, stay warm, and enjoy peaceful quiet. Hopefully more snow is coming soon…
Looks like you need to patch the outhouse roof again. That thing will start looking like my jeans. It was in the 70’s here for Xmas, but we did get all 4 kids together (Sabrina is now officially one of the kids) which is getting to be rare. It seems like progress has slowed at skookumview, and that is a good thing because you should be enjoying the place more now.
Mark.