The Hole

About 2 years ago I decided to dig a hole in my back yard.
Why?
Why not.
Its good exercise and I could get a tan too. Plus holes are cool.
I don't remember what set me off on this venture at this time but when I was a kid we would dig lots of holes and tunnels and cover them with scrap wood and dirt and use them as hide outs and camps.
At some point or another I made this plan in 3ds max for my hole.


I was trying to figure out how I would cover it etc. Finally I think I just said screw it and started digging.


As I dug, I tried to throw the dirt in an even ring around the hole, this would help make a berm to put the roof over and cut windows out of later, and keep rain water out. The hold was dug on a small rise to keep water out as well.


Now it might be hard to guage the scale of things here becuase there are no refrences. In the two pictures above, that yellow line is my shovel. This pic makes a little easier to understand how big this hole is. You can also see how I would dig by levels, starting in the middle and working my way out. The closer it got to the wall the harder it was to dig.


Here is Belle dog, she was a full grown Chesepeak. She is standing on what will become the entrance step of the hole. The little indention at the bottom of the pic will be the look out area with the only window.


Its getting deeper! Keep in mind this is taking place over several days/weeks.

At some point I found some old 4x4s and other scrap lumber and would span them over the hole to guage how deep I was from the top of the berm to the bottom of the hole. I think at this point I could pretty much stand up in it with my head just touching that board.


Again, here is trusty Belle dog provinding some measure of size. I have a tarp over the hole to see what it would be like with the roof on. Second pic is me us inside the hole looking out where the hatch will be.


Here is my wife Jill hopping in the hole. She's about 5ft 7in tall.



Hmmm whats this! An amazing discovery!