This is a fairly old picture of an older cabin. This is the first owner/builder project I was involved in. I was probably 3 years old---I'll bet Bob and Jim remember it better, but my earliest memories of anything are of 'helping' dad build this.
It's a 600 square foot 'A' frame in Running Springs, maybe 4 hour drive from where I live now. I remember carrying a hammer around, asking for a hammer for my birthday, and nailing boards together. I remember the smell of fresh cut lumber and big black beetles. I remember when we'd go up to the cabin for the weekend how it was way, way up a hill you had to climb, carrying groceries---when I came back decades after we'd sold it I was genuinely surprised how close to the road it was.
When we owned it the underside wasn't enclosed---just posts and cross bracing, and a cool swing. There was a trap door so Mom could just sweep dirt right out. The deck only went off the front and those stairs weren't there---you just went around the back. I'm not really sure why they added those stairs.
I was called up to do some helicopter work for the Butler II incident, very close to here. This cabin took some damage on the right side from that fire. We had a family ski trip the next winter and wanted to get a pic with my kids. So many memories of weekend trips, birthday parties, snow, how Dad would keep the freestanding fireplace going all night in the winter just to get the place up to 62 degrees. I really didn't want Dad to sell it. I'm guessing he sold it around 1978 or so. I think he was nervous about the prospect of 4 teenage boys having access to a mountain getaway. If he hadn't overestimated our prowess in matters of love or partying, he could have kept it. In any event it's good to see it's still standing, though it looks pretty different
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