The Drunken Bear

  Inside view looking through the front door towards the west bedroom. Front wall Front wall from a different angle Back wall I took a couple of vacation days off from work so Steve and I headed for The Drunken Bear. It was a beautiful day with brilliantly blue skies and a moderate temperature and we were anxious to get started. Once 9:00 a.m. rolled around we began adding more logs and the walls began to rise. It became obvious right away however that we needed more pieces cut to replace those that were either rotted or were just plain missing. I have explained this in a previous entry...including how unhappy we were with the person who sold us this "2 year old Pan Abode", and this is where the cussing began. We decided to walk through the house and figure out how many pieces needed to be cut. We had already cut quite a few, but that day alone we had to cut 116 more pieces! We know we will probably have to cut a few more, but now we should be able to cont...

The back wall. Part of the east-side bedroom, the laundry room, the bathroom, and the west-side bedroom. The first window opening completed (in the living room). Sunset on a nearby mountain peak. Steve taking in the view and enjoying a much deserved rest. Both Steve and I had plans for last weekend...he went to Hood Canal, WA to visit friends and I headed south to Eugene to visit friends and attend the very fun Oregon Country Fair (click on link in upper righthand corner of this page) so no work was completed at The Drunken Bear. Steve and Yoey headed to the property on Saturday, July 18th to continue putting up the walls. When I got off work there was a message for me to pick up more caulking. By the time I picked up the caulking and got to the property Yoey was gone...but the evidence of his work was very evident. The front of the cabin was really taking shape. Now that we had more caulking, Steve and I proceeded working into the early evening. It is...

Cedar drip cap and LTP4 brackets. First layer of logs.   Robert watching Mike and Steve making measurements. The lovely make-up of our ground. The walls are going up . Looking up the river It has been some time since I last made an entry so this posting will be a little long. The cabin building progress had been a little slow. If you have been reading from the beginning, you will know we did not pass our first inspection and had to make some changes. At first we thought they were minor, but when you actually started doing the work, it required a lot of time. Changing of the washers from round washers to square washers was a relatively easy task. Some of the others were not quite so easy. Luckily Steve had some free time and was able to make it up to the property on several occasions to do a lot of the work. Holes had to be drilled in the cement bases of the supports in the center of the foundation. Bolts were then glued in these holes. An "L" sha...

  The General Store and Post Office for the town of Index.     Kayaks along the wall of the Outdoor Adventure Center in Index. This weekend there was no work done at The Drunken Bear. Our friends, Bob and Doug had moved back into the city of Seattle (from Tacoma) and had an open house. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share in their excitement and visit with friends. Besides, there was a poker game planned. With Steve and I having the extra expense of building this cabin we thought we could make some good money. Of course when you are playing poker for nickels, dimes and quarters, you are not going to walk away a big winner. Between the two of us, I think Steve and I made enough to buy 10 new square washers. Square washers? Let me explain. This last week we had the inspector come by to check out our progress. On the plans we received at the time of purchase of our “2 year old Pan-Abode“, it showed round washers holding on the mudsill, so that i...

Steve beginning the blocking process.   Clouds moving in on the mountains up river. Wild currant (Ribes sanguineum). Steve looking up river.   The scene Steve is seeing.     Close-up of the peak in the previous photo. Saturday was such a beautiful spring day, but unfortunately I had to work. Luckily I do get off rather early in the day and I immediately headed to The Drunken Bear. This weekend we hoped to finish the floor joists and make sure it was all squared off. As I headed out of Sultan, a billboard was displaying the temperature at 79 degrees. Signs of spring were everywhere. This is one of my favorite times of year when all the shades of green can be seen in the new growth of plants. As I approached Index, I was greeted by the blooms of the wild currant (Ribes sanguineum), the Indian Plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) and salmonberry (Ribes spectabilis). Steve had arrived a few hours before me. He had dropped by the lumbe...

Pictures: 1. We awoke to these snow covered mountains across the river from The Drunken Bear 2. Mountain peak located a little northwest of us 3. Mt. Index 4. Myself toasting a bagel at the fire pit 5. Myself measuring a floor joist...the extra length will be part of the blocking 6. Steve tightening a nut on the foundation bolt atop the mudsill 7. Foundation before the building process This last weekend Steve and I headed to Index to start the construction process. It had been a beautiful week in Seattle, sunny most of the time, but cool. Friday morning as we were loading up the tools and equipment, we were greeted with a downpour. We were hoping it was temporary, but as we headed out of town it appeared we were following the storm into the Cascade Mountains. When we reached the town of Gold Bar we decided to stop at one of our favorite haunts, The Mountainview Diner, to have breakfast and hopefully wait out the storm. As usual, breakfast was good, but as for waiting out the storm...i...

Picture: 1. Just an example of the "2 year old" cedar wood we have uncovered Back in the early 50's my family bought some property where our extended family met for weekend camp outs and picnics. The land is about 35 miles northwest of Helena. My parents, and other relatives, poured a cement foundation and then cut trees to build the cabins. Being a youngster, my job was to help peel the bark off the trees...sometimes very fun...when the bark came off in long strips like a leather belt...and sometimes very tedious...when the bark would only come off in much smaller pieces. Back then, building a cabin out in the woods was quite easy. Well, I mean easy in respect to the bureaucracy you must now go through. Times have changed and now you need a permit for this, then you need this to be inspected before you can do this, then once this is completed you need to be inspected again to make sure this was done properly...this, this, this...it's enough to make you want to pull ...

Mt. Index (on the left) as seen from the Skykomish River approximately a mile northwest of The Drunken Bear Yellow skunk cabbage (Lysichitum americanum). Peaks seen from the banks of The Drunken Bear (looking northwest).   Looking up river (the peaks in picture 3 are in the background). Our little piece of heaven is located near the small town of Index, WA on Highway 2. It is a little over an hour's drive from the city of Seattle. The property runs along the beautiful Skykomish River (sometimes not so beautiful...more about this in a future post). We are surrounded by mountains with forests of Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar, Alder and various other trees. Many of the trees are covered in a carpet of green sphagnum moss. The undergrowth consists of huge ferns, salmon berry. tall huckleberry bushes (filled with delicious berries in late summer), and other plants and bushes too numberous to mention. Huge rocks jut out from the forests as if they were put the...

Bob G., Doug F., Steve C. and Yoey I thought it would be fun to have a name for our property. While on a trip through Yosemite and the vicinity I passed a bar called "The Drunken Fish". I thought what a fun name that would be since we were located along the Skykomish River. When I got home I discussed the name with Steve and some other friends. People seemed to like it until someone (yeah, you Yoey) suggested...fish doesn't sound "manly". After rethinking, I suggested "The Drunken Bear". That name seemed to satisfy everyone. By the name, you might think we are always drunk. Well, we are not always inebriated, but we do like to have a good time and when you are sitting around a campfire, you do need something to quench your thirst. This in turn allows you and your friends to loosen up and you hear all kinds of interesting stories and tales. When there is more than one person at the campfire you can almost be assured there will be lau...

Roger aboard an Amtrak train to Portland.   Mt. Index as seen from the front of the Mt. Index Café. There was a great man named Roger Rigney who had visions of a cabin along a river. Before Roger had the chance to reach his dream he passed on. His family gave me and my friend, Steve Carlson, the opportunity to keep the property by taking over the payments. This was in early 1998. Since that time, there have been many wonderful gatherings on the property with many a night sitting around a campfire. It is 10 years later and a cabin is in the process of being built.