During the May 2014 trail work session, IAT Board Member Bill Duffy and friends, noticed carpenter ant and dry rot problems in the historic Deasey Fire Cab. During another visit over Labor Day weekend in August/September 2014 Bill, accompanied by his wife Jude, took the time to thoroughly inspect the leaking roof and water damage in the fire cab, then wrote a detailed report on the problems with accurate measurements so plans could be made for future repairs. Thanks to Bill for this prep work and the resulting minimal waste when the project was completed (less than 2 shingles) and no wasted wood!
All of the new roofing shingles went up to the Deasey Fire Cab in September and October 2014 at two different times. The first trip was over the last weekend in September during the first annual “Stars over Katahdin” weekend at EPI Lunksoos Base Camp. At the event, EPI and IAT volunteer Eric Hendrickson from Presque Isle led a Maine Conservation Corps (MCC) group lugging shingles and the ice & water shield rolled roofing up to the fire cab. Then over the last weekend in October, Eric again led a group of ten Kieve Wavus educational staff members up to the top of Deasey with the rest of the shingles. Many thanks to Eric and these two groups for their volunteer efforts to get the new shingles up the mountain last fall!
June 2015 Work
Tuesday, June 9
After spending the night in the Hunt cabin at Lunksoos Base Camp, IAT Board member Herb Hartman motored Don Hudson, IAT President, up the beautiful East Branch of the Penobscot River to the Big Sebois Campsite, where Don lugged new roofing boards, drip edge, nails and tools up to the Deasey Fire Cab to start the re-shingling project. He worked for two hours, building a makeshift ladder and removing old shingles in the rain, then came down to catch a canoe ride back downriver to Lunksoos, where he and Herb again spent the night.
Wednesday, June 10
Herb again motored Don upriver, but left Don’s canoe for him to paddle back down. Don finished removing the old shingles and replaced the rotten sections of roof boards, then covered the roof with ice and water shield, installed the drip edge, and put about ¾ of the shingles on the roof – very impressive, since he was all by himself! He found that going up/down the old Fire Warden’s trail from the Old Telos Tote Road and the River Connector Trail from the Big Sebois Campsite was t he quickest way to get up/down the mountain for work. After paddling back to Lunksoos and reporting on the work he completed to IAT Board members Kirk and Cheryl St. Peter and Dave Rand, Don left for the long drive home.
Thursday, June 11
IAT Board members Kirk St. Peter, Dave Rand, and Cliff Young followed Mark Adams of EPI up the East Branch of the Penobscot River to the Big Sebois Campsite and went up Deasey the quickest way (old Fire Warden’s trail) with tools to finish shingling the roof. They also figured what wood would be needed to replace the rotten sills and corner post due to carpenter ant damage in the fire cab.
Friday, June 12
Kirk, Cliff, and Dan Jordan (an UMPI student sent by IAT Board Member Chunzeng Wang to assist with this work session) motored up to Big Sebois Campsite, then hiked up the old Fire Warden’s trail to the top of Deasey, carrying three 2 x 4’s provided by EPI (thanks, Mark!) to replace the rotten wood in the cab. They replaced the sills and corner post and found a large number of carpenter ants in the rotten wood.
Saturday, June 13
Kirk and new IAT Board member Josh Bowe went to the top of Deasey to clear blowdowns and did not see any carpenter ants in/around the fire cab. Also, the interior was completely dry, even after the hard rain the previous night. Looks like the fire cab is watertight again! Thanks to everyone who worked on this important project!
