My off grid solo adventure 

This is my story

I have decided to live up in the mountains at 4300ft elevation and I am off the grid with no close neighbors, cities or towns. I am not a survivalist nor am I a prepper, I am a fed-upist.

Bought property in June of 2017

Sunset view from cabin

Purchased my own bit of paradise up in the mountains of eastern Washington. 

Weather records

Listening for rodents under the snow

2017-18 total snowfall 9' 3"

One day total snowfall 8 inches January 23 2019 and October 23 2020

Earliest snowfall September 28 2019

Latest snowfall June 7th 2021

High sustained wind speed 48 mph May 6th 2021

Low temperature -27F January 13th 2024

High temperature 105 degrees June 28 2021

Most yearly rainfall 14.17 inches in 2023

One day total rainfall 1.68 inches May 31th 2020

Least rainfall amount in year 9.85 in 2018

Least snowfall amount in a season 2019 - 2020 3' 6" 

Morons starting wildfires 80 in 2020

Site prep

Cabin site

Cleared and reopened old road that lead to an old homestead.

Cleared and leveled cabin site.

shipping containers

I purchased two shipping containers for storage of construction materials and personal property.

Cabin shell

Cabin shell

The cabin shell is 2x6 construction and is 16ft.x24ft. With a sheet metal roof and smaller windows for better thermal efficiency. 

Electrical and insulation

Wired up the interior and exterior outlets and breaker panel.

Then installed the insulation. 

Under layment

Put down 5.2 mm under layment. 

Installed the wood stove hearth.

Placed the soapstone wood stove.

Installed backup heat source

15,000 btu direct vent propane furnace that is used for extended period's of time that I am away durning the winter months so that nothing freezes up in the cabin.

12 cord

Firewood pile before being cut into firewood length and moved into the wood shed.

Well site

Clearing the site where the well will be drilled and liming the trees so the drill tower can be raised without any obstructions.

well drilling rig

The well is being drilled towards the end of the drought which isgood because if the hit water means that there will still be water during other dry spells.

Well is drilled

Well head

Hit water at 170 feet but I had them drill to 300 feet for water reservoir and the possibility for increased water flow during the wetter times of the year.

Ceiling joists

Installed a lower ceiling so that a cooling venting system can be installed.

Drywall

Installing 5/8 inch drywall because the insurance companies do not like 1/2 inch. I would prefer the 1/2 since 5/8 is not fun to move into place by ones self.

Chimney installation

I ran the chimney through the wall instead of the roof so that there would be one less place for water to try and enter the cabin.

I used insulated stainless steel for the exterior chimney and ran it 6 feet over the roof peak for very good drafting. 

Skim coating

Applying a thin coat of plaster so to make everything clean and smooth.

Insect infested slash pile

Waited for the snow to be a foot deep before igniting the old insect infested slash pile so to keep the fire under control and too keep the insects from moving into the live trees. 

Ready for winter

The plow is needed for keeping the three miles of mountain road clear of snow up to the cabin.

Icy mountain road

Need to chian up all four wheels for the drive down the steep twisting 3 miles of road that is a sheet of ice.

Cabinet install

Placed the first overhead cabinet.

The cabinets are reclaimed from a previous kitchen remodel. 

Cabinet progress

Laundry water

Now that the days get above freezing I'm letting the temperature increase to make laundry water from the snow because the ground froze before I was able to hook up  well and the laundry uses the most water. 

Freezer-refrigerator

This worked great as a freezer during the colder months but now that it is warming up it has become a refrigerator 

Flooring installation

I am installing the lifeproof brand of flooring because of the warranty and the easy installation, but the install is not as easy as it is made out to be. I am having a few problems getting the locking system aligned and locked.

Telescoping pole in place

Installed a 30 foot telescoping flag pole to be used for mounting the cell signal high gain antenna and weather station. 

Gray water

Temporary gray water disposal system. Dug down to the sand layer, drilled numerous holes into the bottom of the barrel and fit the barrel into the hole leaving a couple inch gap between the bottom of the barrel and the bottom of the hole.

Storm / screen door

I looked for a door with the pet door already installed but the were very pricey so I made my own at a third the cost.

Now that it is warming up the bugs will be active so now the cats can come and go without me having to leave the door open.

Test garden

Now that the nights are supposed to stay above freezing it is time to see what will grow.

Using old tubs that were left here.

Trying to grow tomato, cucumber, carrot, kale and cilantro.  Maybe I'll be able to make  salad. 

Laundry system

Found old laundry tub and wringer at the old homestead on the property,  cleaned them up and repaired them, now using them to do the laundry. 

Portable garage

Set up a portable garage for temporary storage of the lawn and garden equipment. 

Solar shed foundation

I cleared an 10X10 foot area and built a frame out of 9 foot treated 4X4's and leveled the frame and filled the framework with the tailings from the drilling of  well.

Cabin electrical system grounded

I now have the cabin electrical system grounded so now I can take the GFI bypass out and hook them up.

Widening the driveway

Ripped out some tree so that the driveway would be wider so that it gives me more room for piling up the snow that has been removed when plowing. 

Utility shed

8'x8' shed for housing the solar power system, refrigerator and freeze.

Refrigerator/ freezer

7.3 cubic foot refrigerator/ freezer, 110 volt hooked up to power monitor for seeing how much battery power is needed.

Painted with solar fan installed

The shed for the utilities is now painted with a solar powered cooling fan installed

Well is now working

It took  day to hook up the pump and lower to 290 feet and wire in for generator hookup.  Pumped out 200 gallons and  well did not run dry.