OK, so what is the point of having a blog if you never post to it? If I have any readers at all (which seems doubtful) then they undoubtedly are wondering the same thing.
So, just to wrap up all this discussion about land: I purchased 5.22 acres (referenced in my last blog post) in late March 2008. The surrounding woods are just stunningly beautiful. Big granite outcroppings and school bus sized boulders litter the woods. The slope of the land is generally South facing with screened views of the lake through the trees. Woods are a mix of Pine, Fir, Aspen and a few Tamarack.
County records showed that the neighbors had put in a 120 foot well that was getting better than 35 gallons per minute, so I was optimistic about getting a good well. Still, I had the property surveyed by IDEA, Inc. of Sagle, ID to verify that there would be water available. Norman's survey showed a couple good strong flows at about 180 feet of depth, noting that the water occurred in granite - so hydrofracturing the rock might be required to get good flow.
The piece that I bought had already passed the county health department "perc" test for a standard septic drain field. Of course, I'm not really planning on doing a septic system (see my posts on a composting toilet), but passing this test is the single requirement for starting construction on a dwelling in Bonner County. So, nice to already have this paperwork done!
Lastly, the location of this property was what really sold me. In total, it's only 6 miles from town! About 1.5 miles on private dirt road downhill to Hwy2 and then 4.5 miles directly into town. In addition, 4 miles along Hwy2 into town is paralleled by a paved bike path - a great commute route isolated from traffic!
In the fall, I contracted with Sweetwater Drilling to drill my well. The first 4 feet of drilling spat back rocks and dirt and went quickly. After that, the drill head hit a solid granite shelf and began slowly spewing concrete-grey rock tailings as the drill head progressed through the rock. A pile of tailings continued to accumulate as the hours passed. The drill operators would look optimistic when the grey sand coming out turned more black or more white. They explained that these color-changes indicated a change in the type of granite, which often coincides with a vein of water flowing through a crack.
We got some water at 180 feet, but not much. The flow test - using a gallon jug with a stopwatch to measure the amount of water forced out of the well by air rammed down the drill head in one minute - was showing less than a gallon per minute (1 GPM). So, we drilled deeper.
At 350 feet, we were getting closer to 2.5 GPM and the bill was getting larger as the hours ticked by! The drill rig was just about out of drill sections ("sticks") and I would have to consider whether to request another drill rig with the required materiel, or whether to "call it" and start having the drill head backed out of the ground.
At this point, Bill (the drill operator) paused and got real quiet. He asked the pump tech to go find him a properly-shaped Aspen or Alder branch. He then cleared the area of tools and shut down the diesel motors and various other compressors and pumps running the drill head. In the quiet, he grounded his leg on the well casing and focused. You could watch the branch bob up and down, up and down, as Bill focused. After about 3 minutes, the branch began to yaw side-to-side, then pause and change to up-down. Then, another minute or more of up-down passed and the branch then jumped into wild side-to-side motion. Bill stayed quiet and kept counting to himself. He kept counting to 460 and stopped, complaining that his hand and leg couldn't handle it anymore - he was getting fatigued and numb!
What did it mean? Evidently, Bill was doing a type of well-witch work that determines water depth. The branch showed water at 180 feet and then water again at 260-300 feet. After that, the rock was dry down to 460 feet when Bill gave up. We had drilled to 350 feet, and weren't likely to find water below that depth. The extra depth of my well would allow the well itself to store hundreds of gallons below the main veins of water flowing into the hole, creating a nice buffer in which to run the future well pump.
As Bill fired up the engines to begin extracting the drill head from the ground, a huge geyser of water shot out of the top of the well and pressure-cleaned the drill rig with a plume of water! Evidently, the well had been re-filling itself while the drill was stopped and had likely filled 150 feet of the column or more full of water. This water was displaced by the plunging drill head and shot right out the top!
In the end, I think I can live with 2.5 GPM and everybody tells me that I ought to expect a bit more water as the silt from drilling clears from the rock crevices and I get better flow.
Incredibly, this spring when the snow was mostly melted, water began pressure-flowing out of the bolted-on well casing cap! It seems that I will definitely have plenty of water - at plenty of pressure - during the spring and summer while the aquifer is under pressure! I'll have to consider storing this water in a cistern in the spring for firefighting and gardening.
I'll add some pictures to this post in a later update. That's it! You're all caught-up!
20080626
Renewed Search: Go West, Young Man.
After the Maker's Way deal fizzled out, winter began to settle in big time. As I noted in my post about my last visit around Thanksgiving, temps were dropping and snow flurries began for the first time that winter. In fact, my drive home from that visit was hampered by driving headwinds and occasional whiteout snow conditions.
These conditions turned into one of the biggest winters Bonner County has seen in some time. Numerous area homes and buildings collapsed due to snow loads. Area moose had a tough winter as they struggled to make their way through deep drifts and a record-setting 127 moose stumbled onto county roads, starving. Snow was so deep in December that a state of emergency was declared for the county as crews struggled to keep roads clear and many folks got a bit more intimate with "cabin fever", unable to leave their homes.
Suffice to say, not many new bare-land listings come on the market during a North Idaho winter. The listings that remain active are hard to assess and impossible to "perc" (for septic) this time of year. So, I continued to peruse the MLS listings via the CM Brewster website and occasionally sent an inquiry to Tom Renk to see what he might know about the listings in question.
I asked about an incredible value on a 10 acre parcel North of town that I learned was not wider than 100 feet at it's widest point and was a long narrow track with a railway down the center. That explains the price, eh!
I asked about another seemingly good deal on 12 acres a bit further up the road from the Maker's Way parcel I had tried to purchase and learned that the listing was held by a group of survivalists that may or may not have been likely to want me for a neighbor.
I asked and asked, but the pool was pretty small. Winter is slim pickings. I kept looking and waiting for the onset of spring.
In February, I drove back out to Sandpoint to enjoy a bit of a vacation with a purpose. I wanted to clear my head from work, enjoy some cold weather, sip some beers at Eichardts, meet with Tom at CM Brewster, and peek at a few semi-interesting listings that maybe had potential.
I took a different route into town, turning off I-90 at Spokane and following HWY-2 through Priest River and into town from the West. The scenery was, as always, absolutely stunning. I was also amazed to see a number of huge mill operations; at one mill there was an area which I'd estimate at over 20 acres in size covered with de-barked logs stacked almost 2 stories high. Got wood?
While in town, I started asking folks about any interesting places they might know of for sale. I got into a number of conversations with Doug, who bartends and serves at Eichardts. Notably, Doug has been working with his wife and friends building a house for his family built out of hybrid bricks - huge lightweight bricks cast of concrete and pulped wood fiber. He said:
As it happens, one of the listings I wanted to peek at was West of town up Carr Creek road. It was a Southebys listing for "Luxury Vacant Land" with great views marked at $55,000. The next morning, I drove out to see what the area was like.
These conditions turned into one of the biggest winters Bonner County has seen in some time. Numerous area homes and buildings collapsed due to snow loads. Area moose had a tough winter as they struggled to make their way through deep drifts and a record-setting 127 moose stumbled onto county roads, starving. Snow was so deep in December that a state of emergency was declared for the county as crews struggled to keep roads clear and many folks got a bit more intimate with "cabin fever", unable to leave their homes.
Suffice to say, not many new bare-land listings come on the market during a North Idaho winter. The listings that remain active are hard to assess and impossible to "perc" (for septic) this time of year. So, I continued to peruse the MLS listings via the CM Brewster website and occasionally sent an inquiry to Tom Renk to see what he might know about the listings in question.
I asked about an incredible value on a 10 acre parcel North of town that I learned was not wider than 100 feet at it's widest point and was a long narrow track with a railway down the center. That explains the price, eh!
I asked about another seemingly good deal on 12 acres a bit further up the road from the Maker's Way parcel I had tried to purchase and learned that the listing was held by a group of survivalists that may or may not have been likely to want me for a neighbor.
I asked and asked, but the pool was pretty small. Winter is slim pickings. I kept looking and waiting for the onset of spring.
In February, I drove back out to Sandpoint to enjoy a bit of a vacation with a purpose. I wanted to clear my head from work, enjoy some cold weather, sip some beers at Eichardts, meet with Tom at CM Brewster, and peek at a few semi-interesting listings that maybe had potential.
I took a different route into town, turning off I-90 at Spokane and following HWY-2 through Priest River and into town from the West. The scenery was, as always, absolutely stunning. I was also amazed to see a number of huge mill operations; at one mill there was an area which I'd estimate at over 20 acres in size covered with de-barked logs stacked almost 2 stories high. Got wood?
While in town, I started asking folks about any interesting places they might know of for sale. I got into a number of conversations with Doug, who bartends and serves at Eichardts. Notably, Doug has been working with his wife and friends building a house for his family built out of hybrid bricks - huge lightweight bricks cast of concrete and pulped wood fiber. He said:
Have you looked West of town? I know I've seen some realty signs on Carr Creek road for Widmer, or Windermere, or whatever... and it's a nice area. I keep seeing the signs 'cause that's where I'm building; we've got a spot up near the end of the road.
As it happens, one of the listings I wanted to peek at was West of town up Carr Creek road. It was a Southebys listing for "Luxury Vacant Land" with great views marked at $55,000. The next morning, I drove out to see what the area was like.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)