I spent the majority of the day in this space attempting to restore running water to the cabin. Though it measured -2°F outside, there had never been issues with freezing pipes, leading me to fear that the water pump, buried underground, was dead. I crawled under the deck, unscrewing and removing the crawlspace access panel. The thermometer near the pump read just below freezing, so I headed back to the garage to dig up an extension cord and space heater to see if it was indeed frozen pipes.

As I headed back into the warm embrace of the cabin to allow the crawlspace to heat up, I received a call from one of the neighbors, Mel, who was going to be at his cabin this upcoming weekend. He got my number from Bobcat Dan who informed him of my water troubles. Mel told me where to find the keys to his cabin and how to turn on the water, should I need it. After I thanked him immensely, he inquired as to whether or not I was a "carnivore" and invited me to join him for some "animals I've probably never eaten before" this weekend. Much obliged.

Though the temperature in the crawlspace was now above freezing, I still found myself without running water. I returned back to the crawlspace with a heat gun found in the garage and noticed a section of pipe where the insulation had come loose, so I went to work. After around ten minutes, the pressure gauge on the water tank suddenly jumped backwards from zero to one hundred PSI, followed shortly thereafter by the beautiful sound of the water pump and trickling water. Crisis averted. I re-wrapped the exposed section of pipe with insulation and plastic, then re-sealed the crawlspace access panel, hoping to never have to return again.