DAY 2 [sat 8/6]
Scouted property for cabin location. Cleared site area. Started to construct floor frame. Nighttime: Named first three stars we saw; peek-a-boo, guardian, charmer. Heard wild animal noises. Grunts close to tent. Throughout the night heard wild animals sounds, just a few feet from our tent, sounded like bears sniffing.

DAY 3 [sun 8/7]
Neighbors Sandy and Wes gave us welcome gift; homemade jelly and apple sauce. Finished floor frame and hauled it up mountain to cabin location. Nighttime: New crescent moon. Gordon stood watch. Good night's sleep.

DAY 4 [mon 8/8]
Elevated and leveled floor. Chatted with Wes. Sounds we heard were likely elk and deer, and ... maybe bears as well. Went to our creek, and it was running swiftly. It is a historical creek, named Gold Creek. Drank the creek water which was pure and cold. The area surrounding the creek is filled with wild huckleberries, blackberries and all other sorts of berries, flowers and plants. We named the area "Montana's Huckleberry Hideaway" after our horse, Montana. Nighttime: heard lots of wild animal noises. In our flashlight beam, spotted a few pairs of eyes down in our grassy meadow. Activity and movement, the animals started to approach us, fast. They were big. The ground was thumping. Spotted a very large moose and her two babies. The two babies innocently cantered towards us, like they had never seen people before. Mama moose, whom we named "moon mama" moose, quickly came up the meadow after her two babies, and planted herself between us and them. She stood firm not more than ten feet from us. We made a quick and watchful dash for our car and got in. Mama moon moose snorted at us, and faced us. We started the car and drove away, which startled her and she and her babies went up the mountain. We started our evening camp fire, built a torch and settled in the for the night. Gordon stood watch. Heard lots of wild animal noises through the night, closer to us than previous nights.

DAY 5 [tue 8/9]
Completed foundation and floor. Filled bottles with creek water. Moon came out. Moon Mama moose and her two babies came out earlier tonight. The babies played and romped around in the upper meadow. Moon Mama quickly followed gathering her two babies by calling for them just behind the tall grass. She briefly stopped and looked at us then walked around our camp up the mountain. Seems as if our camp is right in the path the moose take to get up to the mountain. Nighttime: Heard white tail deer (Wes taught us that they whistle). Lit a campfire. The animals came out earlier tonight, and a lot more of them. Heard Coyotes howling. Late night: the sky was illuminated along the top ridge of the tree line. Bursts of light in the northern sky about every 20 seconds or so. Aurora Borealis - Northern Lights?

DAY 6 [wed 8/10]
Heard Wolves howling (different from coyote howl). On our morning walk looked at animal tracks. One of the baby moose is a male (has dew claw), one is female. Also some type of cat track, bobcat maybe. Noticed large poop, I think Bear, Gordon says Elk. While building first wall of cabin on site, Gordon smelled poop and we heard noticeable grunts - recalling earlier conversation with a lady in the market in town, she said you'll usually smell a bear before you see them. Also saw Wes in town, at Evergreen, he asked me if I was some sort of "naturalist" or something (pegged me right away I guess). Dumped garbage, saw Elk beside a house on the way. Built 1st wall; back, uphill (E) wall. Cut and prepped 2nd wall. Gordon noticed a breeze and cumulous clouds to the north. Clouds moving fast. Wrapped up door, windows and wood. Put fly cover on tent. Moved "camp clark fork" inside tent. Went to creek and filled water bottles. Thunderstorm. Heavy, then cleared up quick. Calm. Moved camp back outside tent. Dragon flies abound, must have hatched after rain. Rained again - back in tent. Calm again, came out again. Lit campfire. No visit from moose tonight. No animal sounds.

DAY 7 [thu 8/11]
Heard coyotes howling at sunrise to the West. On the other side of the mountain range, other pack howled back. I thought, maybe one of the coyotes got lost last night because of the storm. Cold and damp this morning. Frost coming out of our breath. Our bodies hurt this morning. Goal: finish 4 walls today. Can't let weather or physical pain slow us down. Finished 3 walls; all but door (N) wall. Lit fire. As we are chatting, Gordon gave me a "look" and said to turn around, and there standing tall was a young bull moose. Lone moose surprise. Huge. We didn't even hear him. He came from up the mountain, heading down to the creek. As soon as he saw us, he stopped abruptly, he was certainly surprised to see us. He stared at us for a few seconds, and the time it took me to reach down and get the video camera, he took just a few trots and was 40 feet away. We named him "Rover" because he just came roving along. Then we heard the Elk come out, she scurried up the hill, from the creek to the mountain top. We named her Elusive Lucy, because we can only hear her, we have never seen her (again, Gordon thinks it is an Elk, I think it's a bear). The moon stayed out longer tonight.

DAY 8 [fri 8/12]
Hiked up to cabin, hauling supply of wood (our self-imposed rule is to never go up the mountain empty handed). Went to town for more wood, gas and food. Building is a little tricky today; we have 3 built and semi braced walls, while working on limited space to build the 4th wall. Built 4th wall. Ended day early due to rain and strong winds. Noticed one dead tree swinging in the wind, which was right in back of our cabin, note; we'll have to cut this tree down. Rain and wind continued, had to move camp into tent. Set some long term goals: #1) have fun. Other, in this order (which has by now changed): gate with solar lamps on each side, door steps and awning, heat, bug prevention, outhouse, camp shower, side deck area, windy walkway to cabin, bridge by creek, clear front wood pile and build pond with bridge at entrance to property. Sky cleared up. We brought camp back outside tent. Went to gather firewood. Discovered large clover patch going from up to downhill on eastern edge of property near forest. Gordon thinks there might be an underground spring. Settled in for the night, then a surprise visit from Jim and Michele. They brought pizza, Lighthouse dressing and fresh Huckleberries! And beer. We showed them the creek and some of the property and our cabin. We had a blast. What a emotional booster. It got cold tonight.

DAY 9 [sat 8/13]
This morning - cold. In the morning, we erected all 4 walls and installed the door :) Started on roof. Wes came by, just in time, and taught us about how to construct the roof gables, using the pivot and corner cuts. Gave us some funny Idaho-isms, ie; Idaho redecorating, changing the color of your tarps. On a walk to the creek to get water, we noticed a downed pine tree, just below the meadow where the moose graze.

DAY 10 [sun 8/14]
Erected roof, rafters and gables. Full cabin frame completed. Wes came by and gave us a homemade herbal remedy that Sandy brewed. Nighttime: Heard Wolves howling in the South about one ~ two hours after sunset. In the middle of the night, heard one loud cracking noise. To me, sounded like the cabin timber came crashing down. I didn't sleep at all after that. Later we would learn from Wes that this sound is likely a bear knocking down a tree. What kept me going today, Cliff Bars. Just as the package says; "nutrition for sustaining energy" and I don't know if I would have made it through the day without them. Lifesaver.

DAY 11 [mon 8/15]
Erected rafter crossties and bird notch metal plates. Started 1st wall, outside tongue and groove siding. Debating asphalt shingles vs. metal tin roof (of which 90% residential and commercial in Clark Fork are). Explored SW corner of property. Found small pool in creek, clean and cool, with large logs over it. At same point, seems like vertical running underground water passage from uphill. SW corner would make beautiful horse pasture.

DAY 12 [tue 8/16]
No animals (that we noticed) last night. Outdoor siding, completed 2 walls; W downhill and E uphill. Decided windows will be indoor. Put 2 foundation braces (up/down hill angle) in. Explored SW area of property again, and found wild black berry patches all over. Picked as many as we could jar (in one of the jars Sandy gave us with her homemade jelly). Saw freshly downed tree log split open, as if a bear was scrounging through it. Nighttime: heard loud "crack" noise, just like the other night. Gordon heard Wolves howl from both sides of the canyon.

DAY 13 [wed 8/17]
Noticeably and unusually warm this morning. Gordon didn't sleep good last night. Continued with outdoor siding on 3rd (N) wall, it started to rain. Floors getting soaked, leaking through floor to foundation. We worked through it, until it continued harder. Went into town to Evergreen and got tarps. Saw Wes at Evergreen, and at market. Asked him about asphalt vs. tin shingles, and he thought we would be just fine with "comp" (shingles). Went back up mountain and finished 3rd wall in rain. Still raining, hard. Floor soaked. Got half way through outdoor siding the 4th (S) wall, ran out of wood. Put 2 tarps over roof, which was now up, yet exposed because only rafters and gables up (plywood not on yet). It's wet. It's cold. I'm a little depressed and worried that the weather is now slowing us down too much. Rain stopped. Sky just beautiful. Dinner: Cup O' Noodles.

DAY 14 [thu 8/18]
No sleep. MASSIVE downpour last night. Didn't expect it because it had cleared up. Left camp outside, everything wet. Gordon wants to quit today (he'll make me note - only because of my negative attitude). Went up to cabin, tarps held up. Continued and finished outdoor siding on 4th (S) wall. Sky cleared up. Gordon put roof up - plywood and tar paper. Put 1st window in. Ran out of tongue and groove siding, went down mountain to Evergreen and bought (10) 16' long T&G siding, which Evergreen cut in half; loaded (20) 8' T&G in car. Also got a sampling of "natural redwood" stain. Noticed missing hub cap, found it on way back up mountain (when I think of this luck and how the tarps stayed on, I recall how Wes said he prayed for us). Wes and Sandy, and dog Heidi, brought over a homemade blackberry pie, with the black berries that we picked on our land and gave to them! Great day!

DAY 15 [fri 8/19]
Chilly morning. 44 degrees. Wes gave us homemade muffins that Sandy made (which she used from the wild black berries we picked on our land and gave to her) and fresh tomatoes that they picked from their garden. Finished roof. Installed all windows. Hauled 2 bags of cement and 8 (or 10?) bags of shingles up the mountain. Noticed on S side of cabin a tree with the bottom 4 feet or so of bark removed, with long skinny claw marks on the tree. Think it's a bear scratch. FULL MOON.

DAY 16 [sat 8/20]
CABIN FINISHED. Placed cement along back, uphill, wall. Finished caulking and stain. Trimmed 1 window and 4 sides. Cleaned up. Gordon chopped down dead tree just behind cabin with chain saw that Wes let us borrow. Perfect fall in back of cabin, will help temper the downhill water flow. Cabin locked, and empty. Went to creek. Said goodbye to Wes and Sandy. They showed us their garden. On the way to Spokane, on 202 just outside Clark Fork, saw Owl fly by. Checked in to Super 8. Ordered pizza and salads. Took showers, first one in 16 days. Went to bed.

DAY 17 [sun 8/21]
Got up at 5:00. Drove to Spokane airport. Flight ok. Yellow cab driver tried to rip us off in Manhattan. Welcome home to New York City. We miss Clark Fork already.