My Shelter

Working outside has advantages and disadvantages. I do really appreciate getting to spend so much time outside, but the weather has an enormous bearing on how enjoyable a day of work is. The biggest problem at John Day (where I've been for the last couple weeks) is the wind. There is almost always a pretty strong wind there. The gorge is renowned for its wind, and it is pretty bad at John Day. Not to mention that it's still a little bit chilly here for my Virginia-raised bones (it's only gotten out of the 60s a couple of times!).

A nice thing about John Day is that, when you are working on the Washington side of the river, you are out on the Navlock Peninsula, a place where no one else goes. There is also an abundant supply of driftwood. Perfect conditions for building a shelter.

It started out as just a windbreak on one side. The wind here almost always comes from the west. Something about the desert air heating up and rising, thus pulling air through the gorge from the west. One day, though, the wind was from the other side, so I put in a wall over there. And then I threw a roof on for good measure. It's actually become pretty comfortable. And it saved my skin last Friday. I was working the Washington side, but forgot to check the weather, so I didn't bring proper rain gear. It has some leaks, but it kept me pretty warm

It may not look like much, but driftwood and rocks are the only building materials out there.


This is a photo of me hanging out in the shelter before I had fleshed out the roof.