We finally made it up the mountain this week and took some boxes and bins with us to rescue our few “finds” from the fire. We still aren’t able to peek under the roof because of the metal that’s draped over the steel “I”-beams that make up the undercarriage.

While we were there, one of our neighbors dropped by to say hello and let us know that he is renting the equipment we would need to pull the roof off to see what’s left. I don’t expect to find much more than pieces of this or that, but we still want to peek. Some of our discoveries have surprised us. After all the heavy metal objects are lifted off the interior of the house, we will be able to go in and comb through the ashes to see if anything else is salvageable. I don’t expect much, but I’m hopeful we’ll find more little things that will lighten the day.

We didn’t do much sifting or clean-up this trip, but a friend came along to look at the electrical situation. She’s a private contractor and electrician by trade (not to mention Coast Guard veteran), so I trust her word. The best part is, we should be able to get the electricity turned on without issue. That will give us electricity to our cistern, where we had a couple of outlets installed when we had our well hydro-fracked a few years ago.

We moved the ATVs and trailers that still live on the property so the kindly neighbor can get his heavy equipment in and be able to move it around. Once the roof and all the excess metal scrap is removed, the real work begins. I know we need to get into the guts before a snowstorm rolls through after peeling back the top.

Progress is slow, but it’s still progress. With luck, we should be able to poke around the remains in the next week or so. After that comes the big clean-up. I will be glad when we’re there because right now, the job looks insurmountable. I know it isn’t. We just have to start the process. I’m sure it will move fast from there.