cabin

Jan 13 2013

I go camping in -40ºC

In my mind going out o the cabin is like going on a mini vacation. I go out there to relax and get away from city live. However when I return home and move around I feel exhausted and sore.

Going out to the cabin is a lot of fun and I enjoy every minute of it but I forget how much effort it takes to get out there and stay out there. First there was getting everything I needed while out there, food, supplies, camera gear. It all adds up and then I need to strap it to my komatik. Then I have to get the sled going to get out to the cabin. That was the easy part.

This was probably the first fire in the cabin all winter, so it took a couple hours to heat up to a decent temperature. And while I thought I was going to have tons of time to do some writing it seems like the time just flew by. Cut more firewood, fixed some insolation issues, laid down some carpet and then it is dinner time. Steak and potatoes.

I had not looked a the weather to closely for the weekend other than to see if it was going to be clear. I was hoping to get some photos of the Aurora, but it got cold and my camera crapped out. When I woke this morning it was -40ºC, the coldest night so far this winter. Thankfully I had keep the fire going all night so the cold was kept at bay.

The tricky task about getting back to town was actually getting the snowmobile started. It was a giant ice brick. The pull cord was completely frozen and would not moved at first. After some gentles tugs it started to moved and then after a good 100 pulls the motor finally turned over. After letting the sled idle for 30 mins it moved but it was still a rock. The seat and suspension were hard as concrete and having to drive over the drifts on Great Slave Lake I’m a little sore now.

A very enjoyable weekend.

Nov 24 2012

Breaking Trail to Cabin

Tomorrow I think I will be breaking trail into the little cabin I use throughout the winter. I’m really looking forward to this winter and hoping to get out as much as possible.

The northern getaway has always appealed to me and for me it is just a matter of doing it. The great beyond is just beyond my backyard.

There is much I need to get prepped first though as I know the cabin will need some work. It is literally four walls and a bunk and that is even stretching it. The walls need work. Proper insolation in the corners.

My next step is to make a list of what I need out there. I’m also hoping to journal the project of getting out there and what it is like.

Apr 15 2012

My Hidden Lake Adventures

I have tried to get out to Hidden Lake every other weekend this winter and that seems to be working. I went out for Friday night and most of Saturday this weekend and now I feel exhausted but it is always fun.

This was one of my hang-ups living in Fort St. John, I didn’t get out in the woods much. It could have been for several reasons: I didn’t know where to go, there wasn’t a place to go, no one to go with or maybe I just had a general lack of ambition to do so down there. None of those are a problem here in the Northwest Territories. It is my domain, where I grew up, what I know.

There is not just one cabin I could go use, there is 3, all on different lakes spread out outside of Yellowknife. Even though my snowmobile broke earlier this year I have friends who lend me theirs. I’m never without access to the great outdoors and the ambition is there.

Hidden Lake is one of my favourite places to escape to because there is no contact with the outside world. In other words no cell phone service. The cabin itself is well setup with a propane furnaces that doesn’t require any maintenance other than changing out the bottles. Even then three 100lb bottles hooked up into the system allow it to go for several weekends without needing to be changed.

The cabin is located on a ridge of rock at one end of this lake and even though I have gone to this cabin now for almost ten years I finally climbed the ridge this winter. Check out the view:

While there is a lot of time for good R&R we do get some work and maintenance around the cabin done. This past trips project was to get some scrap wood out from behind the outhouse so we could have a bonfire. While I was cutting a trail in towards the outhouse I got the snowmobile stuck – this in no way reflects the performance of the snowmobile, just the driver 😉 – so we had to cut it out.

It did eventually drive right out of there once we cut out the brush that was wrapped around the skis.

Moving on to a more recreational activity, no winter outing at a cabin in the Northwest Territories would be complete without some Ice Fishing and Hidden Lake offers some of the best. Ciscos are often a good choice for bait when Ice Fishing and sure enough out of our three holes we caught a Lake Trout.

Finally of course would be the Northern Lights or Aurora. Getting out of Yellowknife with all its light pollution generally means the aurora will be good and sure enough – when I was actually awake – they were.

Feb 20 2010

A Cabin Companion

So if you haven’t noticed I have, once again, been a little absent over here.

I am currently sitting in a chair, in front of a fire, in a cabin back in the bush. I had the greatest intentions about coming out here for the weekend. I was going to read a book, listen to some podcasts, go cut some fire wood and of course write. It was going to be a blast, all by myself.

Well things never work out the way you imagine them. It is currently Saturday morning and I have no ambition. I barely made it through the night with the wood I head and instead of going out to cut more I decided to write this. I don’t know how to describe the feeling. I guess it can be called laziness.

Although I’m giving into my own laziness and heading home today, I did do the one thing I had been wanting to do for 2 years. That was to stay the night out here. Next time, which I hope will be in two weeks, I am going to bring a foamy. I may be able to “rough” it but plywood and my back don’t agree.

There is one other reason I feel I have lost ambition out here and that is companionship, a parent is one thing an actual companion is another. I now understand why so many people who wonder out in to the bush have dogs. They may not be great conversationalists, but they still listen…. for the most part. Having a dog would be great, a close friend would be better. Sometimes I feel sorry for the Madtrapper, and think maybe all he needed was a friend. Other times I side with him and think people should have just left him alone.

Well the time has come for me to stop talking about my missory and pack up and head home. I was going to take a bunch of photos but my flash light died so I used the batteries out of my camera.

Tell me, what is something you long for? Mine would be companionship.

Dec 28 2009

Out to the Cabin

On boxing day, after my adventure in Walmart, two friends and I went out to a cabin up the Ingraham Trail here in Yellowknife. The cabin is owned by the Yellowknife Scouts, which we were once all a part of and still have a hand in in someway.

Although we only went for one night it was nice to get out of town and just relax. I’d like to say I was able to get away from the distractions of the Internet and technology but upon arriving at the cabin I found the I had full cell service on my iPhone. I was very shock, and well, pleased. We came to the conclusion that whoever deals with the cell network area, whether Bell or NorthweTel, put up another repeater around Prelude Lake, which is near by to where we were.

I took my small camera just for kicks and to give you all a sense of where I was.

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