Mountain Wind Family; The Kids in Winter

A very special part of Mountain Wind Family. bob, Jane and 7 children living in the harsh wilderness of NE Washington Mountains without phone, power, TV, water nor electricity. Part of a long series. continue to look under 'Mountain Wind Family'..From my book available free online; Coyote; Guide to Wilderness Living'

WATER We have a year 'round creek that runs through the middle of our property. It is 50 feet downhill from the house. This water is not drinkable but is great for washing clothes, doing dishes and
watering the garden. Bringing water up 50 feet is not a problem.
We have kids.
Local stores sell 5 gallon plastic buckets. Four trips a day takes
care of all our needs. Two buckets per trip.
This summer I purchased a 12 volt Pony pump.. the kind used to
empty bilge's on boats. With a 55 gallon plastic barrel, bought
locally for 19 dollars, it takes 8 minutes for the pump to fill.
We are putting in a small .8 amp solar panel by the creek to run
the pump. Total head is 45 feet and by the time it would pump up
50 feet, its output would be down to 10 gallons per hour.

Drinking water is hauled via 4x4 from 2 local stores which allow
hill folk to draw from their wells. This has been a local practice
for many years. The water is then stored in 55 gallon plastic
barrels and siphoned into 5 gallon water containers. When needed
it is poured into 1 gallon milk containers. Doing this for so long
now.... it just comes natural. Not quite the same as turning on the
faucet but it does teach conservation through practical use. Well drilling is making some people very rich. The mash tent
neighbors had a windfall in bucks and had a local well drilling outfit come to make their life comfortable. They drilled 3875 dollars down and reached no water! They still had to pay. That's the way the contracts are written. A local told me that when these outfits drill, they use a large bit that seals small aquifers as it goes down looking for the gushers. I was told that after the drillers leave, you might put one stick of dynamite d own the well. It will blow out the clay seals on the small aquifers and you'll have water. This source was an old gold miner who had used dynamite extensively and I had the feeling that he knew from what he was saying. Hand dug wells are hard to dig but will produce a form of ground
water that is drinkable. Usually hand dug wells are about 15 to 20
feet deep and you must be sure to shore your walls as you go. Look
for places where Aspens, berries, moss and heavy brush grow
together. Then study the lay of that land around and you should
have a good chance of hitting water.

As with all 12 VDC nouveau gear, pumps are abounding. The more
expensive solar pumps are quite effective as well as quite expensive.
Try the slow pump variety. It uses little amp draw and takes a while to fill your system but is environmentally effective. This type of system takes a lot of thinking and planning. So unless you are blessed with an artesian spring (which some are), plan on hauling for a while. It's been four years of hauling for me and eventually, as with all things,it comes naturally after a time. Do not pay more than 20 bucks for a 55 gallon barrel. Some can be found for 12-15. Make sure that they were used for food stuffs, like olives or apple juice. Those are the most common. We once bought one that had contained a fluid for cleaning out kidney dialysis machines and it smelled pretty bad. Don't know what it might have done to the garden or the intestines!

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Mountain
• Wind
• Family
• kids
• wilderness
• surivival
• skills
• winter
• Washington
• bobshannon

[KeeperofTheMountain]

Very nice Video. I too was raised in the mountains of Washington state. Western Washingtom Skykomish Valley. A kid could be a kid. We had running water if we ran from the well to the house, and the bathroom was down the trail to the left. A life of healthy work and solid values. Good for you raising your kids in such a great place.