Some last valleys of snow were still visible on the tundra as the plane came in for its landing in King Salmon by about 7 pm. Two bags of frozen food arrived pretty much still frozen, as were the frozen hamburger patties and stray pounds of butter that I stuffed into my duffel bag next to the tripod, crescent wrench and 3 DVD set “Ultimate Voice Coach” by Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson (I confess!). Sage was very happy to be here. Me too.
Roy, my good friend of many years, and genius (and patient) mechanic at AGS, came to meet us. He already got the steering ram installed in the New Boat (yay!! We weren’t able to use it all last season!), the foot brake unfrozen on the new four-wheeler – and its pull cord starter replaced. That's the best season's start in many years.
I made it to the cabin by about 8:30. It has been clear with a very friendly 14 mph wind from the southwest (love the new anemometer!). And at 8:30, several hours of light lay ahead.
There’s an order to opening up. Of course, when we first arrive, everything is buttoned up, including the stairs. That’s why it’s nice to arrive after a little dry spell – it’s hard to haul the luggage up the cliff when it’s wet and slippery. Luckily, by the time Sage and I got to the cabin, it had been dry and breezy for many hours. We found a good path up the cliff. In another good omen moment, I found the first agate of the season... on the cliff as I climbed up.
I was a little disoriented when I first popped over the cliff. I still haven’t gotten used to the absence of the two cabins we lost in the 2009 fire. Everything looks brown and a little desolate and forlorn at first. This photo shows the crew cabin on the left, the bunkhouse behind it in the middle and Lynnie's cabin, the Space Hut, to the right. 
This one shows my cabin, off to the left of the others. I think it needs some paint. Opening up has been really easy this year, mainly due to the help of my good friend, Jean, who came up at the end of last season and helped me close up. She was not only great company, but also, great help. It’s made a big difference – everything made sense, was clean, and I haven’t yet found a corpse.
The next part is just tips for anyone who will someday open (or close) the cabins instead of me.
Tip # 1: Make sure you arrive at the cabins with shoes you can climb the cliff in, a little bit of food – like a couple of Clif bars (it takes a while to uncover the food and you might get hungry), a little bit of water to drink (it takes a while to get the water started), cabin keys, and a screw gun with a #2 square bit and a Phillips bit – or at least a manual screwdriver with those bits.
Tip # 2: If it’s raining, bring as little luggage as possible up the cliff with you – leave the rest in the truck under cover for later.
Tip # 3: It seems that everything needs to be done first. But there are some first firsts.
1) get inside the cabin –(as you remove the plywood from the doors and windows, store them carefully so they can be found easily when it’s time to board up at the end of the season, and mark them so they aren’t used for projects during the season. I was dismayed to see my kitchen window covering of 25 years cut to become the floor of the new outhouse);
2) if it’s raining and if you brought luggage up the cliff with you, get the luggage inside.
3) unboard the windows so you can see. The solar panels have probably kept the battery charged so the fluorescent lights work, but better to save the battery.
The fourth tip is embedded here: Tip # 4: if the carriage bolts securing the windows don’t slide out easily, use a hammer to hit – NOT the end of the bolt as that will ruin the threads, but the Phillips head screw driver that you are pointing into the end of the bolt that you want to hit. That way any damage to the bolt won’t be to the threads. Tip # 5: hit the screwdriver gently so the bolt doesn’t fly off into the tundra and get lost. It’s best if it’s still hanging loosely in the hole. Tip # 6: if no screwdriver or equivalent is available, you can put a nut back on the end of the bolt and hit the nut – the thread will be protected, but the bolt won’t go as far.
4) if it’s not raining, hang out the bedding air it out, ridding it of last season’s grime and the residual of the winter’s visiting rodents.
5) if you haven’t already done it, get the luggage inside in case it decides to start raining (in which case, get the bedding inside too).
The order of the remaining opening activities doesn’t matter much.
Tip # 7: give each bolt that you recovered from the window coverings a washer and nut. If the threads have been damaged, use the “thread chaser” to fix the threads (it should be in the egg box with the other bolts. Screw the thread chaser down over the threads – it’ll re-shape them) or find a new bolt. Keep the nuts and bolts in the zip lock bag so they are easy to find at the end of the season.
The other things that should be done the first day if you can is to take out the propane and attach it to the cabin. Then light the pilot lights in the stove and the heater.
Tip # 8: don’t over tighten the propane fittings. Check for a good fit by pouring soapy water over the connections and see if they blow bubbles once the propane is turned on.
Tip # 9: propane runs slowly. It will take a while for the propane to make it to the stove, and especially to the heater. When you light the pilots on the stove, remember the two on the cooktop as well as the one for the oven under the oven in the broiler and way to the back. Just stick a lit match back there and the propane will find it.
Tip # 10: lighting the pilot on the heater is tricky. Turn the dial to pilot and hold it in… for minutes. Every now and then, try the red striker button (or use a match, like I do). Sometimes the air and later the propane will put out a regular match as you bring it close to the pilot. You might need to use one of the can’t-be-blown-out matches from REI. I consider them precious, so I wait to use them until I know the air is out and the propane is flowing.
Tip # 11: as you open the cabin up, make a note of how it was closed up and whether it worked well or not. For example, I left the hammer and screwdriver on the table by the egg box that holds the nuts and bolts so there are right there when I need them to drive out the bolts. And I’ve finally learned to put the toothpaste, floss and even my toothbrush if it was new into a zip lock bag so I can use it with confidence the next year. I do many things to avoid having unpleasant consequences of rodent visits when I open up, like rodential residue or a rodent cemetery. I cover the sinks with the wash basins and put something heavy in them to keep rodents from coming in via the drain pipes. I turn over anything that a rodent could climb into and have trouble climbing out of. I leave no standing water. I put the wooden spoons and hanging utensils in plastic bags so I don’t have to wash them all when I arrive. And I cover the dish cupboards and the hanging pots and pans with towels for the same reason. To keep rodents from getting into the garbage can and dying at the bottom, I cover it with an upside-down garbage bag and use it first. I cover the hat box and the sock box with a garbage sack so I don’t have to worry about what I’m putting on my head (or feet, but less so there).
Tip # 12: remember, once you have achieved the basics, you can take a break. There is enough to do to keep you steadily busy for a couple of days - with putting away the food that wintered over, changing the sheets, sweeping up the bits of biology from the cabin’s winter inhabitants, getting the stairs down, opening the outhouses, opening the other cabins, sorting out the mud room and putting the tools back where you can find them (some of the more potentially destructive tools are in the loft of my cabin – to keep them from falling into unfriendly hands), and getting the generators started.
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