This weekend, our crew is headed back out to central Newfoundland to Slaney's backwoods camp which he purchased two years ago. You may remember some of our past epic adventures out here just after he purchased the place where we installed a modern electrical system and continued finishing out the interior.

Flashback: Heavy Hauling, New Cabin: Work Weekend April 14-16, 2023

Today French, Stroh and I are heading out to lend Slaney a hand cutting firewood, starting a new ATV trail into camp as well as a number of smaller projects such as building new front stairs etc.

Slaney and I were on the road early Friday morning and arrived at the parking area around noon which included a couple stops along the way for supplies. The recently installed brand new transmission in my 2500HD made the trip trouble free with its very first light load.

Slaney's 2018 Argo Huntmaster was literally loaded to the roof with gear and supplies for the work weekend.

Project Foreman held its own stacking up and strapping down about as much gear as the bike could handle on the rough trail without having anything fall off.

We lucked into some absolutely outstanding weather, which was really appreciated. Fall in Newfoundland can be an unreliable crap shoot if your aiming for clear skies.

Slaney had been very busy since my last trip into camp two years ago. Besides finishing out wall board doors and trim, one of the biggest items completed was the set up running water!

This is a game changer not only for washing up dishes,

but also having a fully functioning shower, hot water and all!

In the main living area the kitchen has been outfitted with a refrigerator, sink and a full size propane range.

In 2024 Slaney and French took on and completed another huge project, building a custom fibreglass riverboat from scratch!

Once the machines were unloaded Slaney and I headed out on the water while we waited for French and Stroh to arrive as they were late leaving town. This was my very first run in the new whip and it was absolutely awesome.

French and Stroh arrived at the parking area around 4:30pm and loaded up Mark's brand new ATV. Earlier this summer he picked up this 2025 Can Am Outlander 6x6, fully optioned out and ready to rip.

With our daytime activities complete and everything stowed away at camp, French got to work cooking supper. Tonight Iris's One Pot Goulash was on the menu which is a quick, easy and delicious favourite both at camp and at home.

To say we were spoiled this trip having French's Starlink up and running would be an understatement.

Believe it or not this pic was taken on my iPhone 15 ProMax at 11pm!

Saturday morning arrived with clear skies, cool temps and absolutely no wind. That was forecast to change later in the day as drizzle would bring with it moderate winds.

This morning I fried up a feed of moose sausages, homemade bacon, eggs, fish puddings and toast for the crew, a hearty meal to ready us for a very busy day.

After breakfast we fired up the chainsaws and began our day cutting. Stroh and Slaney tackled cleaning up trees around camp, French manned the wood splitter while I headed in the property boundary cut line to begin widening it out to become the new ATV trail into camp.

This survey line was trimmed out two years ago when Slaney purchased the property, there was lots of good firewood here to knock down in the process of creating an ATV trail.

My Husqvarna 550xp fired up with ease having been topped off with fresh fuel and a nice sharp chain.

This Pro-grade saw continues to run very well, it's relatively light, has fantastic vibration dampening and just rips through trees. This Mark II model boasts 4 horsepower which is usually found in much larger and heavier standard grade saws.

A few hours of work saw a great start to the new path. Trees were knocked down, cut to 8' lengths and stacked up to be retrieved later. All stumps large and small were trimmed down as low as possible.

Looking onwards to the next stretch of trail.

Once I reached the corner property marker we all took a quick hike to plan the route for the next section of trail.

Meanwhile the boys made some really good progress around the camp clearing trees to allow better light penetration and to create a firebreak. After the crazy wildfires experienced across the province this past summer we realized the benefit of keeping vegetation trimmed well back from cabins and outbuildings.

After a long hard day in the woods it was an absolute pleasure to sit back and crash for a bit before starting supper.

On the menu tonight was my Infamous Backwoods Fried Moose which I often make at camp, at home and up in the woods for a boil-up.

After supper Stroh and French installed the new TV and wall mount they brought into camp.

Sunday morning French and Slaney headed out in the boat for Salmon flick  to enjoy the last weekend of fall catch and release only. Meanwhile Stroh and I took the shotguns for a little walk in search of small game and to scout moose hunting spots for Slaney as he still has his tags for this area to fill.

After a fine breakfast prepared by Stroh, I got our supper meal in the pot which will be a dandy slab of moose baked low and slow at 250F all afternoon.

Today we continued with outdoor projects. I started cutting a firebreak on back of the old log cabin storage shed next to camp, Slaney and Stroh hauled out the firewood I stacked up yesterday on the new ATV trail with his Argo, and French began junking up all the firewood stockpiled so far.

All the brush from around the camp was hauled down to the water's edge which will be a safe location for a bonfire later. The fire ban has long been lifted and everything is now soaking wet after yesterday & last night's rain.

To top off the stockpile of dry firewood for this winter, Slaney and Stroh headed out the old ATV path and harvested a few windblown dead timber sticks which are well and truly dry.

Mid afternoon Slaney and French headed out on the water while Stroh and I tackled replacing the front stairs. We knew the stairs were a little shaky but we were both surprised at the amount of rot we found while taking them apart!

I made the initial cuts with a Skill saw and Stroh finished the cut with a Reciprocating saw.

We had three new stringers cut and fitted just as the boys got back to camp. From there we all lent a hand finishing up the project with Slaney on the chop saw and French running the cordless impact driver.

Meanwhile our stew of moose and vegetables from my garden was finished and ready to eat, needless to say it was absolutely outstanding!

After supper the wind dropped out so we lit a fire out by the water to get rid of all the brush from around camp. A gentle breeze carried all the flankers safely out over the water.

Monday morning was a frosty one! Slaney and French were up early and headed back out on the water for a final flick of the 2025 Fall Salmon Fishery.

Unfortunately our wood stacking skills need to be polished up!

With our weekend goals complete we started to break camp around mid afternoon on Monday. I had to head back to town a little earlier than the boys so I hit the highway around 2pm.

All in all it was another absolutely fantastic and very enjoyable trip to Slaney's camp. It was a lot of hard work, but it almost didn't even feel like work in such a beautiful part of the province.

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2025 Michael Smith