Gathering Winter Heat

Yesterday...spent most of the day...gathering wood to burn in my wood stove these coming seasons... ‘Gathering’ is perhaps the wrong word to use here...as the process is a little more... complicated...than that. When I first moved up to these mountains...with only the wood stove for heat...I heard a lot of horror stories about people being stranded at home...in raging days-long snowstorms... without an adequate supply of wood for their only source of heat...and having to take down and burn their fences to stay warm...Now...that’s pretty drastic...but not unbelievable in a place where the snow can continue for days without end...leaving up to 7 feet of the white glitter in its wake. Although...for many reasons...I now have electric heat as a primary heating source...I still use the wood stove regularly as it takes the chill out of those really cold windy days...and also helps to cut down on the cost of electric heat...which is exorbitant...and climbing. Plus...there’s nothing quite like the smell of the burning wood to make a house seem cozy and warm...especially on days when the snow blankets the outdoors...
For me the yearly wood getting process usually begins in the late spring/early summer...when all the snow has finally melted from these mountain grounds and it’s a simple activity to walk around to see and locate trees that have breathed their last during the winter months...and are ready to be cut down. Trees available in this area are basically aspen, pine and spruce...each one having their particular wood burning characteristics...and all usually used at some point in the burning “mix.” Factors which count in determining the trees to be cut are...size - large enough to make the effort worthwhile but not so large that they can’t be cut down with a hand saw...degree of ‘deadness’- the drier the better...proximity to the house - all cutting however usually requires a fair amount of distance trekking back and forth to the house...and finally...whether I’m alone in the task or have help...
Having walked around the land many times this summer...I had spotted numerous potentials ripe for the saw...some new and some left over from last summer’s ‘gathering.’ Besides the standing trees...I noticed many which were downed last winter...either struck by lightning...wind...or by some other unknown natural phenomenon. I knew where I wanted to start yesterday...first stop was at two trees which had fallen just feet from the house. Although they were not completely dry yet...they had to be removed because of their proximity to the house...and the fire hazard potential. They were big ones...and took their share of time to be cut down into carryable sections. These two presented a special challenge during the cutting...when the wood is not dry...it is not unusual for the trunk to ‘bind’ back into the saw as you’re cutting...making it a real challenge to finish the cut and pull the saw out before it gets “stuck” in the trunk. One way to avoid this dilemma is to have a wedge which can be put into the cut as you’re making it...but of course...this being my first tree of the season...I didn’t think of it at the time. By the time I was working on the second of the two trees my daughter and her companion had arrived to my aid. We finished cutting the branches off the trees and carried them off to a safe distance for future processing...dried needles and branches can be used to light and start the fire...and cut down the rest of the tree trunks and carried them to an area where they can dry in the next few months.
Next in the plan were the three trees I’d seen downed at the back of the property...two massive pine and a spruce...one had been hit by lighting and had taken the other two along with it on its ride down to the ground. We started by cutting branches so we could see exactly where each tree began and ended...and which one was the driest. We ended up getting one of the pine and a portion of the spruce...and will have to “gather” the rest next time...at which time we will hopefully have the gas chain saw up and running to tackle the larger portions of the trunks which can’t be handled with the bow saws. It took many trips...straight uphill... back to the house to carry all the logs we had cut down from these two fallen ones...where they were added to the pile for cutting down into burnable logs. Most of the cutting from this point on will be done with an electric chain saw...but this would have to wait till another day...since the sun had begun to set by the time all the trunk portions had been brought back up....and my helpers were beginning to balk......
Getting wood...has many rewards...one of which is getting to know and see “the tree for the forest.” It’s also a great opportunity to be out in nature...checking out among other things which creatures have passed through recently...saw lots of elk sign yesterday...and of course there’s the physical challenge and workout involved in the activity....keeping one young and healthy...and the lessons it brings for remembering the harshness of life without the convenience of being able to just “turn up the thermostat”...... After this session, it looks like there’s a lot of wood...but knowing how fast it can burn on a cold windy wintry day...I know it will take a few more days such as this one to feel comfortable with the stock piled. Speaking from past experience...of getting caught short-handed...it’s not my favourite thing to have to engage in the getting and hauling of trees in the middle of the winter...when there’s two or three feet of snow on the ground...it’s much nicer to be able to just step out on those cold snowy days...and reach into the wood box for the day or night’s supply of cut wood...heat...ready for the burning............