In a previous post I mentioned that the plastic garbage can I was using to collect roof runoff had developed cracks on the bottom due to freezing during the winter. This past weekend I replaced it with a new container I purchased from Amazon. It seems to be more heavy duty than the garbage can but I probably won't know until next winter if it will crack also.

My third overnight stay in the mini-cabin took place in early January of 2010 after we had had a few significant snowfalls. The dirt road leading back to the cabin had a good amount of snow on it and getting in and out was difficult but not impossible. I added a couple of new features to the cabin, one successfully and one not so much.

One of the issued I'd been struggling with was lighting the interior of the cabin at night. I have a propane lantern that puts out decent light but it is very noisy and propane canisters are expensive. I purchased a Rayovac LED lantern which reviews said was very bright. The reviews lied. It works well as a "nightlight" to keep from wandering around and bumping into things but hardly makes the cabin seem "lighted." So I purchased another lantern, this time a fluorescent lantern which takes 8 D batteries. It puts out marginally more light than the LED lantern but not nearly as much as I desired. Finally, I installed a standard light socket and tried a 60W fluorescent bulb running off the inverter/battery. The worked perfectly and easily lights up the whole cabin.

Secondly, I installed a new propane heater from Pro Com. The problem with the Big Buddy heater I had been using was that it makes the cabin too hot, even on the lowest setting and on the coldest nights. I wanted a heater with a thermostat so I bought a 10K BTU blue flame heater with a thermostat. After installing the heater and hooking up the propane tank, I got the pilot lit and turned the thermostat to the "1" setting. The main burner kicked in and stayed lit for about five seconds followed by a "click" and the burner and pilot shutting off. Repeated attempts produced the same results. At this point I don't know if the problem is the oxygen sensor shutting down the heater due to the altitude (~6500 ft.) or a problem with the propane tank (they recommend using a 100lb. tank rather than a 20lb. tank). I'll have to do some research to determine the issue.

Here are some pictures I took on this trip. In the last picture you can see a deer running across the property.

For my second overnight stay at the mini-cabin I added some amenities.

I bought a deep-cycle battery and inverter for power. I charge the battery at home and transport it to the mini-cabin when I go. The battery provides plenty of power to run my laptop for many hours.

I added a Big Buddy heater which will take two 1 lb. propane canisters. Rather than use the canisters, I hooked the heater up to a 20lb. propane "grill" tank. The tank sits outside on the porch and a hose runs through a hole in the wall to the heater. The cabin is insulated well and is small enough that the heater keeps it warm on the lowest setting, even when it's below 0 F outside.

I also built some shelves to store all the items that were previously cluttering up the floor.

With the construction more or less complete, I stayed overnight in the mini-cabin for the first time.

I added a bed, a "bathroom", and a "kitchen." Pictures follow:

During construction of the mini-cabin we planted four small Colorado Spruce trees, primarily to see how well they would grow. I think they were about $15 each. We took some soil from the property to the nursery when we went to look for trees and Mike (of Mike's Nursery) assured us they would grow. Mike smelled our dirt and pinpointed the location of our property right away which was a neat trick so we tended to trust his assessment.

After planting the trees I got tired of hauling water out every week to water them so I built a rain catchment system to catch rainwater off the cabin roof. It worked well during summer but around mid-December the collection containment vessel (garbage can) developed cracks in the bottom, likely from the water inside freezing and expanding. I'm not sure what to replace it with yet.

We planted the trees in May and they seem to be doing okay now in early January.