This years annual winter cabin/Jeep trip started as a reunion of sorts for me and my college roommates.

Like most well planned things, it just didn't turn out that way.

Oh well. At least the three minimum requirements were met - Jeep, cabin, and winter.

It all started early Friday morning at Bill's house with Gretchen giving Jake a tongue bath. In hindsight, maybe the reunion thing wouldn't have worked out. Not everybody can be expected to have the same tolerance for tongue baths as little Jake.

While Jake and Gretchen busy with their affections, we loaded up Bill's Jeep on a borrowed trailer.

The trailer really is the way to go. You drive the Jeep up, chain it down and go. It's so much easier then the days of crawling around on the cold ground to remove the drive shaft, make sure everything is in neutral and bolting on a tow bar.

After a two hour drive we were at the winter wonderland that is the cabin in Pine Creek.

The snow was no match for the Jeep.

Quickly the essentials were unpacked. 

The next priority was heat. The temperature in the cabin when we got there was 26°F.

The first thing we do is fire up the wood stove.

Then we fire up the coal stove.

No matter how many times I've seen it, burning rocks for heat still seems a little weird.    

In the winter, there is no running water in the cabin. To flush the toilet we use buckets of water. That water comes from a couple of different places.

If the creek is flowing, we haul it up from there.

If there's snow melting off the roof, we collect it from the gutters.

If everything is frozen, we melt snow on the coal stove.

Last resort would be to buy water.