As Tim likes to say, there’s no such thing as paradise. We boarded and reboarded the cabins and Lodge the last few days. Today we went for a nice walk on the southern esker. For better or worse, the weather was balmy, in the high 40’s f.
We had checked the doors before we left. When we got back, plywood covering two doors and a window were peeled back like cardboard.
A bear had gotten into one of the cabins and the office. So we boarded them up again. This is all making us a little uneasy.
But I walked to the dock after dinner and still found the views lovely.
It’s funny how perceptions can change. I was relieved to see only wolf footprints on our walk and am hoping for cold weather so the bears will finally hibernate.
I have finished my first two projects. The first was a shawl/ baby blanket I started at home, called Honey Baby. I like it because it incorporates bees and leaves. It took 3 months and I knit the border once we arrived in Manitoba.
Next is a zipper pull for my weatherproof overalls. I count on these zippers when nature calls. I took a brief Kumihimo course and made a short spiral braid from silk, which in addition to being pretty, is very strong.
I think leg warmers will come in handy. I wound a ball of yarn from wool I spun last year at Acadia National Park.
And then there’s the beast. There’s a huge black bear we have seen three times, both it and we were spooked. Hibernation can’t come soon enough. Here’s a gift it left us.
My detailed food list went largely ignored. That’s fine because the commercial kitchen in the Lodge has almost everything I need.
Today’s task, after we finish boarding up the cabins, is to make and freeze a large batch of applesauce from the carton of apples left behind.
I have already made two batches of yogurt from powdered starter I bought from Amazon, before we left home. We should have enough frozen milk to cover our 4 months.
Sprouts are sprouting. They live by the oil burner and on a shelf that catches sun.
They will be appreciated when the lettuce is gone.
Without a microwave to defrost things, I had to get creative. I want to make a sausage dish and have a large roll of frozen venison sausage. The hacksaw !! helped.
There are fields of lingonberries that I want to turn into smoothies and sauce.
Our stovetop, camping coffee percolator and toaster work just dandy.
aka, Walmart, where we find useful stuff. This is the most recent place to dump household trash but, as you can see, even the wolves, ravens, and Canada jays don’t like broccoli.
After 40 years, it has become a vast dump but surprisingly organized. There’s even a special area for the (very large) wolves:
After a 2 day delay, due to weather, the last of the work crew left today. Tim spent a good part of the past two days sending weather conditions to the pilot.
We were happy to receive a 45 gallon can of JET A fuel (diesel fuel with an additive to prevent freezing) for our heating system as a parting gift.
Then we were on our own to wrangle it off the dock and onto a trailer to bring it to the cabin. No can do. We were able to roll it off the dock but couldn’t lift or roll it onto the trailer.
So we had to collect a smaller barrel, to offload half the fuel into, and the somewhat finicky fuel pump, fondly referred to as “old red”, so we could get two “lighter” barrels onto the quad’s trailer.
In the end, we got it done. Pizza was a nice finish to the day.
It has taken me a week to absorb it all and be ready to write about it.
We are in a cabin in northern Manitoba on the southern shore of Egenolf Lake in a wilderness area that spans 6 million acres. Just like home in the Adirondacks. Except it’s not.
The nearest road is 250 miles away but travel is made easier, for some, in the winter, when the lakes freeze. We met one man who rode a snowmobile 6 hours to get here one winter.
We are in an off the grid cabin, designed to provide most of the comforts, in the harsh Manitoba winters. How harsh ?
There is a column in the cabin with the low temperatures marked for several years dating back to 2003, entitled, “The Bushmen Will Survive.”
And we are pretty sure they did.
Every system has at least one, sometimes two, back-up systems, and we have spent the week learning them all and thinking of many of the what ifs. We have had a great teacher, who has spent two winters here and who will continue to provide advice and support from afar. We have internet! And satellite communication.
Right now, the place is buzzing with activity as they close this vast fishing and hunting lodge in the wilderness. On Tuesday, that will change when they all fly off.
This is not our cabin. It’s an old trappers’ cabin near the lake, where two trappers once weathered -60 degrees and lived to tell about it.
The moon was beautiful last night as it rose to the northeast.
And a stunning sunrise greeted us this morning. We have hiked the esker that is behind the lodge and look forward to skiing and snowshoeing it. We’ll use a snowmobile and gas powered auger to get our water once the lake freezes.
As summer comes to a close, the sun is setting further south and can finally be seen dipping below the horizon here. Sunset is a very busy time at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. Everyone hopes for that perfect photo. One night people abandoned their cars on the road so as not to miss it since the parking lot was full. If I sit in the living room, I can see people running down the hill to catch their photos.
Rather than join the crowd lately, I have enjoyed my own views.
This was a beauty.Sunset and the 1961 bell reflected in the bell house window.
Sunset and bell reflection, and shadows on the bell house.
I march to my own drummer. This seems to be especially true when I swim. My watch tracks my path when we swim in Echo lake.
Apparently I swim in circles. I spun a lot of wool while talking to visitors outside the lighthouse. I’ll have plenty of lovely yarn to work with for months to come.
It’s almost a wrap and I am enjoying the beauty of these last few days.
The bees around the lighthouse are busy pollinating the marigolds, beach roses and ragwort. My neighbor spotted a few bees at my hive. I suspect they are merely robbers but time will tell.
We took the Maine DOT ferry to Swans Island last week with bikes and had a grand time despite all the hills. One stop was the Burnt Coat Harbor Lighthouse. It shows what a community working together can accomplish. From about 2007 to now, they restored it to its current, pristine state. Well worth the stop.
After another hike, we drove Acadia’s Park Loop Road. We saw first hand some of the parking issues elsewhere in the park. There was a mile long line of cars parked alongside the popular Sand Beach.
We found some quiet spots anyway – not at Sand Beach
As summer rolls by, many beautiful boats pass the lighthouse.
They make us wonder, for a moment, if we would like another boat, besides Sparky.
Just for a moment.
The hammock offers a peaceful retreat from the crowds. There is usually a breeze and it rocks me right to sleep.
While the sunset is beautiful, we discovered you can’t actually see the sun sink below the horizon from the rocks, in summer. It’s a winter spectacle when it sets further south.
There were two, mildly rotten, weed filled, half barrels at the lighthouse when we moved in. I freshened them up and filled them with veggies and flowers and they are flourishing.
Most photographed flowers at Bass Harbor Head LighthouseSalad futures and herb garden
With all the fog and rain, I have only had to water them twice in 6 weeks!
A ferry and bike ride let me get a new perspective of the area.
Great Cranberry Isle sailboat display
I succumbed to the most popular photo of the lighthouse, besides selfies, taken from the rocks.
You can see why it’s popular and the light isn’t even on yet.
The house takes on a different view at night
This week, I found the perfect setup for my hammock; hidden from the masses but with a beautiful view.
Island and North Country Life 