survivalsherpa

[survivalsherpa]

Loft Floor Beams and Framing

by Todd Walker Extra space is always a plus. The loft will give us an extra bed and room for storage. Big 3″ x 10″ x 16′ rough-cut beams add the rustic look of a log cabin. Now to figure out how to hang these by myself. My pickaroon lifted one end of a beam enough to shove a block under for attching a choker. I laid the bucket of the tractor on the end of the board, hooked a chain to the choker,…

[survivalsherpa]

Subfloor and Porch Floor Installed

by Todd Walker The floor of the log cabin is really not much different to install than a normal stick-built house. The challenge comes when attaching the flat rim joist to the round sill logs. Shims go in the larger gaps between the rim joists and sill logs. I used my electric hand planner to flatten high spots and knots on the sill logs so the rim joists could be attached plumb and in a…

[survivalsherpa]

Log Cabin Double Roof System

by Todd Walker When sitting by the fire on a winter day in the future, we  want to be able to look up and see the log rafters and rough sawn ceiling boards. The challenge for this type of roof is how to insulate without an attic. I started by nailing down the 2×6’s DJ and I milled from logs on our land. The overhang needs to be at least 3 feet on all sides. This helps keep the wall logs dry…

[survivalsherpa]

Log Cabin Roof Update

by Todd Walker The box of logs suddenly resembles a log cabin. The roofline gives a glimpse of my future home. There are many more steps to make it livable, but I needed this boost of hope. Ridgepole Support Logs Three ridgepole support logs (RPSL) are installed on the two outside walls, and one in the middle of the cabin. They do what their name implies, support the large ridgepole. The…

[survivalsherpa]

Log Walls Completed

by Todd Walker Memorial Day ’23 was my last update. Why has it taken 6 months to go from ten logs high to the finial 13th row? Well, nothing is easy about building a log cabin from scratch off the land. This journey is traveling at Todd-Speed, which is slow but steady. Getting the crew together is a challenge during the Christmas season. We’re all busy with family gatherings, company parties,…

[survivalsherpa]

DiY Goldenrod Tincture Benefits

by Todd Walker I welcome the sight of goldenrod blooming in Georgia. These tiny, golden flowers signal the end of the dog days of summer and usher in cooler weather. Goldenrod gets a bad rap when it comes to seasonal fall allergies. The average person sees the blooming yellow stalks on roadsides and fields and automatically blame these showy goldenrod heads for their itchy eyes, runny nose, and…

[survivalsherpa]

Ten Rows High - Three More to Go

by Todd Walker This is my Field of Dreams. I’ve long dreamed of moving back to the land where I cut my teeth. Each day, each long, hot or cold day on this patch of Georgia dirt brings the dream closer. This past Memorial Day weekend, a few of the Fuel the Fires crew and family joined in to raise more logs. This kind of work ain’t easy. It’s hard and dangerous at times. But they roll up their…

[survivalsherpa]

Visiting a Butt and Pass Log Cabin in Alabama

by Todd Walker In my research of Butt and Pass building style for my “practice” log cabin, I discovered this site, Log Cabin Journal, about 5 years ago. Now that I’m building my “permanent” log cabin, I took a drive to see their nearly-finished log home in person. The trip was well worth the drive! Mudflap (Brian) was gracious enough to take some time out of his busy day to give me a tour and…

[survivalsherpa]

Thanksgiving Log Cabin Update: Raising Walls

Thanksgiving Log Cabin Update: Raising Walls

by Todd Walker This one is considerably larger than my “practice cabin.” I built my practice log cabin just to see if I could do it and to hone my ax skills. However, the Big Log Cabin is being built to provide a basic human need, shelter. This will be my home base on the land I grew up on. Roots run deep here! After completing the foundation piers in the scorching Georgia summer, I waited for…

[survivalsherpa]

Introducing the Survival Sherpa School

Introducing the Survival Sherpa School

Retirement (June 2022) has me reflecting on my lifework. The dust-covered rocking chair overlooking the pond tells me that it ain’t over. In between working on my new log cabin, I’ve been building my next adventure, the Survival Sherpa School! Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something else. ~ Fred Rogers December 2022 marks the 11th birthday of this…

[survivalsherpa]

Homecoming: My New Log Cabin Build

Homecoming: My New Log Cabin Build

by Todd Walker In March of 2021, just before my pancreas scare, I decided to build a log cabin on the land I grew up on. I needed a place to retire and our land would provide the resources needed for the project. All I needed was the energy and sweat equity to do the stuff. My little 10×12 practice log cabin taught me many things. The most important being that log cabin building is nothing but…

[survivalsherpa]

How to Build a Rustic Outdoor Swing Bed

by Todd Walker

This rustic swing bed provides mind-blowing naps! A swing bed is typically hung under a large porch or other roofed structure. Since I have neither of these structures, I decided to build one from rot-resistant Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) and hang it under the trees at the log cabin.

Here are the materials and tools I used.

Material List

Rot-resistant lumber milled or…

[survivalsherpa]

Log Cabin Update

by Todd Walker

My last cabin update on the blog was from November 2019. Work had stopped on the cabin since DRG’s passing in March of this year. People asked me when I would get back to building the cabin and I’d respond, “When I get motivated again.” Well I’m finally motivated.

July has typically been a very productive month for me on the log cabin build. This holds true for 2020 as well. What…

[survivalsherpa]

If You Build it, They Will Come

If You Build it, They Will Come

by Todd Walker

I’m not one to ask for help often. But I’m glad I did. They kept showing up in the Georgia heat and humidity ready to sweat through 90+ degree temperatures.

The Crew disassembled the log cabin in one day at the end of June. Once the logs were moved to the new site, I started putting the puzzle back together. I managed to stack 7 courses on the sill logs before The Crew reached out…

[survivalsherpa]

Deja vu: Building an Off-Grid Log Cabin... Again

by Todd Walker

Three 21 foot logs, the crowning roof logs, lay on the ground debarked with pine sap oozing like beads of sweat. They would serve as my ridge pole and two top plate logs. Then it happened…

The landowner’s son, my good friend, walked to the cabin site and told me that the family was putting the land up for sale. I was shocked, not so much about the fate of my “practice” log cabin,…

[survivalsherpa]

BANGARANG! Lost Boys Grow Meat in the Ground

by Todd Walker

I couldn’t believe what a student told me in Science class a few years back!

“You grow meat in the ground.”

What!?

I fought back the urge to laugh. He was dead serious. Clearly, “No Child Left Behind” wasn’t working, or was it. We’re all ignorant on certain subjects, but growing meat in the ground?

This was not a joke or prank like asking a plumbing apprentice to fetch the pipe…

[survivalsherpa]

Real World Secrets of Stalking and Tracking Wild Animals

by Todd Walker

My legs felt like a bowl of jello sliding down an old wash board. I crouched in a non-human silhouette stalking in Ultra Slow Motion. A twig beneath my foot snapped and my prey jolted his head toward the sound. I froze and hoped my screaming quadriceps would support my motionless body until he dipped his head to graze again.

What was my prey? A deer realistically mimicked by our…