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Small Cabin Forum / Member's Projects and Photos / Northwest Territories - My Piece of the Taiga
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tasteoftaiga
Member
# Posted: 24 Apr 2014 18:43
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Great forum here with some great insight from lots of knowledgeable folks. I hope to tap into that at some point in the future when I run into tough decisions about construction but for now I'll just share my progress so far.

The cabin is located just outside Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

We've just started on construction with the plans for year 1 to build a nice tent frame that we can use to go out and enjoy the land a bit and then use as a sleeper when the construction on the main cabin begins. Eventually the tent will be a nice guest sleeper.

Happy to answer questions, and I'll throw up photos as I progress.
Tent 1
Tent 1
Tent 2
Tent 2
Tent 3
Tent 3
Sled and workhorse
Sled and workhorse


Just
Member
# Posted: 24 Apr 2014 22:17
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I have slept many times in a tent at - 20 but I never like it . You northerners are tough ..keep in touch .. just

old old buddy
Member
# Posted: 1 May 2014 00:11
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tasteoftaiga
How far is your location "off the beaten path? Can you drive to a location with material fairly close to the cabin location or will you be using a snow-mobile/four-wheeler for all of it?

It appears you have a great deal of initiative and I wish you the best of luck in your future build. Do you have to worry about bears where you're located? Honestly....that was my first thought

I'm very unfamiliar with your area of the continent and probably all my questions are moot but you never know unless you ask. Again...good luck and I'll be watching for more updates.

Old Old Buddy

tasteoftaiga
Member
# Posted: 1 May 2014 01:04
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Old old buddy,

Seen many of your posts on this site, you've got a wealth of experience!

As far as location goes I can drive within 500 meteres in the winter by ice road, taking approximately 45 minutes to get to the site. It's about a 30 minute skidoo ride covering 25 kilometres (16 miles) when the lakes are frozen. To drive out I cross three lakes to get to my land when the ice roads are safe. In the summer it's a 16 km (10 mi) drive and then another 15 km (9 mi) in the boat through the same three lakes. The shape of the portages/creeks changes as the summer goes on and as the water levels rise and fall.

Summers in the North are short and sweet, roughly 3 months of good weather. So I'll go out a half dozen times per summer but quite often when the lakes are frozen and I can get out with my snow machine. I can actually leave from my back door (I live in the middle of down town) and ride my machine right to the cabin in 30 minutes.

All the materials will be coming out in my pickup truck and then another half kilometre on my snow machine. I've attached a few pictures of the set up.

Bears are definitely a worry. Before starting my own build I've spent most of my youth (I'm 29) at other friends cabins and I have had a few run ins with bears. We face mostly black bears. I fully believe they are more scared of us than we are of them but I always bring a shotgun into the bush for worst case scenarios. About 6 years ago we had a sick bear late in the fall coming in through the window of the cabin at a friends place and we had to put it down. Sad but the reality of our wild north.

I have also heard I have a resident wolf pack in the area around my cabin. I worry about the safety of the dogs, but animals will be animals in the bush.
First night out in the tent, fire's rockin'
First night out in the tent, fire's rockin'
Leaving the truck behind, just sled and boggan.
Leaving the truck behind, just sled and boggan.
The rig fully loaded
The rig fully loaded


creeky
Member
# Posted: 1 May 2014 08:16
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nice load.

and I like the tent.

honestly. I don't know why people worry about bears so much. They are more afraid of us then we are of them. Unless they're polar bears. I see trees so I don't think you're that far north. ha.

looks like a good time. you do much ice fishing?

SubArcticGuy
Member
# Posted: 1 May 2014 12:37
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It's nice that you have access so close....I had to snowmobile my windows 40kms on a bumpy trail (east of Fort Smith).
I keep a shotgun handy in the summer too. We saw 8 bears out there this fall....no troubles yet though - knock on wood. I am hoping to get an electric bear fence up this summer.

tasteoftaiga
Member
# Posted: 2 May 2014 12:08
Reply 


SubArcticGuy, I've been watching your build also, a lot tougher than mine! You definitely have a longer haul than I do with your supplies, looks like your sled and boggan setup is holding up well though. Can you get to your spot in the summer months? What are you doing for power out there to keep that fence running, offgrid solar or running the generator?

Creeky, no polar bears here bud, that's a lot further north, just black bears on our end. I agree, they are terrified of us, it's when you run into a sick desperate bear that you need to worry.

Lots of good ice fishing, and good fishing in the summer too. In fact, I think the Northwest Territories might be one of the premier fresh water fishing destinations in North America. We're a lucky bunch!

SubArcticGuy
Member
# Posted: 3 May 2014 20:22
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My sled has done surprisingly well....I was starting to think about buying a widetrack but now that most of my material hauled I think a Tundra with an Ace might be somewhere in my future. I am confined to a float plane in summer (or about 120 km's each way by canoe with a couple of unopened portages), I want to try it at some point though.

I am hoping to just go solar. I have yet to use a generator at all in this build and now I am to the point where I would just like to challenge myself to keep going without it. Silky Saws are amazing tools....I need to order a new Zubat 330...they are awesome.

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