HelluvaCook.com! : Logging Camp 2014!!

Fall's here, which means the snow is on the way! The time came once again to head up to the Estate for a Logging Camp to get wood for the winter! Check out the shenanigans!

Ah, what a beautiful weekend for fall camping!

Thank God we had decided to wait a week until the weather was better!

We couldn't have asked for nicer conditions!

The monstrous dead 80ft oak tree in the middle was flagged for removable before a winter storm knocked it the wrong direction into the yard!

Our goal was simply to knock it down in the woods to steal the chance from Mother Nature to send it the other way!

Here's a shot of yours truly prepping for the felling of this old oak!

Pretty freakin' huge, huh?!

Looks like the guys are ready to have at it!

Jamie could barely contain his excitement!

Action shot! Sorry about all of the trees in the way!

At the half-way point, we stopped momentarily to reassess the situation and discovered this giant mushroom growing at the base of the tree!

Pretty cool, huh?

I found yet another one of a different variety under one of the other oaks on the property!

Mushrooms seemed to grow prodigiously at the Estate!

Just about half-way through this sucker!

Extreme close-up!

Jamie was working on removing the last of the wedge before cutting the back to make it fall.

Timmmmmmbbbbeeeeeerrrrrrr!!!!

Jamie managed to get it to fall in exactly the right direction!

This monster fell right on top of nearly half a dozen live trees, which ended up holding it up off the ground at about 15 toward the top. This should hit the ground as soon as it is cold enough to make the live trees under it snap!

I didn't have a tape measure handy, but I would guess that this tree was 26+ inches across!

It was also damn near, if not over, 80 feet tall!

Jamie and I got caught taking a quick break while going through the woods collecting logs to be split.

Tina came out for the weekend to give us a hand & do some partyin'!

As stated by Byrnes, she's "one down-ass bitch!" :)

WooHoo! All the logs have been collected and it's now time to kick back and relax!

Byrnestein & LoLo got to prep cookin' while I was getting the hibachi grill ready for the fire!

Grizz schlept at his momma's feet while she ginzu-ed up the vegatative matter for the stir fry!

Now, that's some damned fine choppage of the mise en place!!

I managed to get the hibachi set up and sterilized just in time to get things cookin'!

The stir-fry action is always frenetic and fun!!

I tend to toss things on as Eddie stirs 'em up!

Schingg-ching, ching-swink!

(Or so goes the tune Byrnes was jammin' out w/ those spatulas!)

Holy hell, that's lookin' good!

But wait! It's missing something!

Oodles of noodles is what is needs!

Awwww yeahhhhh!!! Fry them shits UP!!

We elected to cook the meat separate so as to:

1. Avoid over/under cooking due to diff cook time than the veggies

2. Make the whole thing vegetarian friendly for the non-meat-eaters among us!

Evidently, everyone was so excited that they all decided to send text messages at the same time!

Shit! I forgot to get pics of the finished product!

This is essentially what it looked like, though this had been a pic from the last time we'd done a midnight stir fry!

At this point, we chowed-down, then spent the remainder of the evening hanging out listening to music and drinkin' by the bonfire!

I grabbed the best of the logs that we'd collected from the woods so that I could bring them home to split for use in the fireplace this winter!

I scored approximately one full chord, though from this pic it can be hard to tell that this is so much wood!

One last shot of the lake before we leave!

I always hate having to depart after having so much fun!

Here's a shot of my new Traverse earning it's keep while parked next to the enormous stone situated at the confluence of the driveway and two-track leading to the back of the property!