Another Sunday Afternoon Visit...

After practicing repetitive casting on a local NE Ohio river and having my efforts rewarded with (1) a lowly sucker for all my attempts, I suggested to the family that we take a stroll out to camp and spend the afternoon relaxing among the trees and wildlife. I was met with some reluctance from my two children, but my wife was all for it. In our household, if the wife and I are onboard...then we're ALL onboard! So, pushing it a bit, I was able to arrive at the forest opening to camp in 2 hours 10 minutes. I made most of my progress on the major freeway as driving the back roads into camp at anything moderately higher than the speed limit is not advisable considering the dangers. Concentrating on the road side reveals many deer that have met their fate via a speeding car. I didn't want the Xb to serve this purpose and certainly not while my love ones were coming along for the ride. Having made several trips back and forth has taught me that it takes longer getting there once exited from the interstate than while traveling on it and driving back home in the dark is both mentally taxing and alarming.
Camp hasn't changed all that much since the last visit. I chose to move an overturned 55 gallon barrel from the entrance to a place more near the fire ring (at least the location of where the fire ring will be placed). It wasn't too much trouble as I used the gradient and gravity to roll the drum into place. For now, it sits and waits patiently. Oh man! I just remembered, I set it upright and I'm not sure there were any holes near the bottom?! It may have no choice but to serve as a rain collection barrel until we get an opportunity to re-visit!
The last several stumps, the ones that were most in the way and were likely to put up the biggest fight when removing, have been extracted from Mother Earth.  I may have attempted the short drive to where the parking spaces will be placed, but with the low clearance of the subcompact it was not advisable.  Next time!

As a public service announcement:  I'd like to point out that the collapsible razor sharp pruning saws are indeed razor sharp and will cut through jeans and pierce skin without much effort.  The warning that chopping or sawing while tired is good advice and one to be followed!  Ouch!

Floatman's 1st blog on our piece of the Mountain

Waiting on the transfer of monies and official documentation seemed to take as long as old man's winter grip to release its hold on the weather. After what seemed like an eternity, all the moons aligned and Dj and I got to finally hit the road this past weekend to step onto our piece of Heaven as the proud new owners of our Moutain property. After many weeks of staring at topo and sattelite maps and thinking about the lay of the land we got to walk the property lines, revisit the boundary stakes and begin to discuss our ideas for access into and onto the camp area. During our walking of the entire area, we found several well used deer trails throughout the property. Looks like were going to be sharing the area with plenty of wildlife !

I took some time to stand where we agreed to put our camp area and pondered the wonder of it all......my mind raced with all the possibilities that we will face on this great new adventure. I'm sure neither of us can fully grasp the endless possibilities that we will enjoy.

Speaking for myself, at this moment, I'd like to share that I have been blessed with the opportunity to fish PA for nearly 30 years. For approximately 25 of those years, I have had the dream to own some terra firma in this awesome state, to have a base camp to drive into and spend some more time exploring the fishing opportunities that this beautiful state has to offer. I was not sure that my dream would ever happen, especially after having some previous deals fall thru over the past couple decades.

Well, as you are now reading this blog, you now know that Dj and I formed a strong friendship that helped to lead into making this a reality. I'm still kind of pinching myself, but realize that the time is here to live and share the dream.....WOW.....Amazing !

I look forward to sharing this experience with Dj and his family as well as my own.
Dj, on the first campout at Dajtcha........the first celebratory cocktail is on me !!!

More to come, yep, much more to come...................
- Floatman

I volunteered to spend my day off at Dajtcha while Floatman worked and as luck would have it...the wifey came along to spend the afternoon snoozing in the quiet calm of nature while I toiled at clearing the path that will become the road we'll use to get vehicles into camp.  We could have not asked for a better, more beautiful, day! The sun was shining bright, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the air temperature hovered in the mid 40's.  I packed a sleeping bag, heavy blanket and sleeping pad which must have been just the ticket for the misses to snooze in the sun.  I think she felt right at home!  We got off to a late start and arrival, but in a matter of two hours I was able to clear just enough small shrubs and a few 2-3 year old trees out the way to make the road just about usable.  Three more root balls and I'll be comfortable driving the SUV and camper down the path to our lot. The .gif I've created is a walk through of the cleared "driveway" accessing the southern edge.

Finally, It's ours!

Monday, March 1st marked the day that all the necessary paperwork was completed and mailed to the State of Pennsylvania for closing by the closing attorney and as a thank you from the county, we received our first tax bill!  I'm not sure that this is worth celebrating, but it does signify that Floatman and I are now the responsible parties. 

With warmer temperatures slowly making their way into the forecast over the next couple weeks, the weather is starting to look more promising.  A consequence of a somewhat remote mountain top retreat is the fact that weather affects the logistics of navigation in and out of it.  The current snow pack of nearly 2 feet, maybe more, has got to melt before even a 4X4 can safely make it in.  Needless to say, Mother Nature has some thawing to accomplish.  Until then, the drive up the country road and certainly through the woods onto the property is inadvisable and risky.  Floatman and I are keeping our fingers crossed in the hopes that the warmer temp.s combined with the possibilty of a few scattered showers are enough to melt it all away and allow us to visit again soon.  I'm hoping for a trip out next Wednesday with the camera, the actual surveryor's map and flag tape to mark things.

The suspense of waiting is eating us alive and doing busy work as a distraction is getting old!

Deed's Here!

Tomorrow marks the day the closing attorney will have everything required to process the transaction and transfer ownership.  Saying we're anxious to revisit the acreage is a slight understatment.  "DAJTCHA" (D & J Trout Camp Hide Away) has that shiney new toy aura surrounding it.  It has occupied our minds for much of the last several weeks.  There are so many cool things that we could do to make it more accomodating to our camping needs.   Everyone of them requires our devotion and investements in time, energy and finances.   The "All in good time!" factor is killing us!

A few weeks ago, we found ourselves debating the endless possibilities that owning a small piece of what many consider a treasure chest of natural wonders would afford our families. It became apparent through repeated online property searches that the opportunity would continue to resurface until we took the time to investigate and act. Out of the blue, we found ourselves discussing a mutally agreeable departure time as well as the logistics surrounding proper navigation.

As we rounded the steep bend nearly 3 hours later, we caught a glimpse of the HH real estate sign. Winter's frigid claws were firmly grasping the region. At altitude, the air seemed thin and cooler than what the dashboard thermometer noted. I made sure to bring the Camcorder and had it busy video taping the first short leg of our walk into what would soon be our land. How different the acreage appeared now in the dead of winter as compared to the listing agent's photographs. The green leaves that screened the imagery like drapery across a window were now serving duty as a brown blanket buried deep under snow white as ivory.

I focused on the camera's fold-out video screen making sure to capture as much as I could of the terrain and surrounding landscape. The property had a entrance road and was dotted with small stick flags. The surveyor's flags and border pins glowed with a fluorescent orange halo against the white-washed background. My boots crunched loudly through the ice layer as they fell deeper into the powdery snow below. Every step becoming increasingly labored and requiring more and more effort to complete as I made my way back to an area that was still part of what we will be soon calling the trout camp hide-away.

We have big plans and a methodical way to accomplish them over a period of time that is financially feesible and responsible. Our end of the deal is just about completed. As the paperwork makes its rounds, it will likely be just a few more weeks before all parties involved in the transaction are satisifed.

We have so much to do, but first and foremost we must wait. Patiently we count down the time until we can return and begin making small noticeable changes (for the better), staking claim that D & J are here to unwind, to relax, to fish, to have fun and most importantly share adventures. We look forward to the days spent laboring on the forest, the creation of a road, errecting structures and the repeated visits. We wish only that at our time, sweat, labor, energy and investments leave lasting memories and fire humor not just for us, but the next generation of both families.