Last Winter we spent so much time out in the snow! While we have gotten out a lot this year as well we have been limited to shorter trips due to Bear’s surgery. He is doing really well but we do find that after about 2 kms he is ready to go home. He will be in primo shape NEXT Winter, and we will have even more trails by then too! Anyway, a trail we did often last Winter was the one down to the Boathouse; probably because it was one of the few super maintained trails we had access to. We loved it but found the saplings that were growing down the middle to be quite bothersome so we determined that if we did nothing else, trail wise, we would definitely clear those lil suckers before Winter 2017/2018!
Now I have to tell you, we have truly enjoyed the wildlife up here but one species we could definitely do without is the mosquito! Oh my! They were thicker than thieves at a public market! They loved me, in particular, and then Bear and Sam; Luke seemed pretty unfazed by them. Lucky fella! And those mozzies, they hung around forever! I honestly thought they might spend the Winter with us!
Thankfully the mozzies finally dropped off in numbers so we braved the ones that remained and hit the Boathouse Trail hard with picks, pruners and secateurs. Now some of the lil saplings were so little you could just pull them out, root and all, which was absolutely fabulous. We soon learned to give a trial pull and if they gave easily we went ahead and pulled them out; sometimes though, you would give them a tug and instead of coming out it was like the lil suckers tried to pull you into the ground! Very X-File moment, that! (Schizogeny Season 5, Ep 9 and Detour Season 5, Ep 4) It was back breaking work due the sheer quantity of saplings but we persevered and cleared them ALL! Woot, woot! Alas the work is not finished…is it ever really finished…all the piles of saplings still need to be burned off; when those fires are lit I will have the lovely task of clearing more saplings and adding them to the fire. Unfortunately those guys will be about the same size as me so a bit more challenging to cut down. Last year I used my secateurs, meant for pruning, like, rose bushes, to cut down 150 cm (5 ft) trees….they get “tree” status when they are that tall, yea? I was pretty pleased with myself! I tried to do the same this Fall and there was just no way! S’all good; when Ryan was up in August, I think it was, he introduced me to the pruning saw. Then when Luke’s folks were here, Dad bought me one of my very own pruning saws.But I think there is a bit of a learning curve in using it effectively; I tried my hand at using it and found myself doing more cursing that cutting but I am sure I will get the hang of it sooner rather than later.
We all love the cleared path! We ventured down a few times before Bear’s surgery in October, relishing in the clear, wide path; plenty of room for us to walk four abreast even! Once the snow started falling we appreciated our efforts even more! As you can see in the second last photo Sam still prefers to bounce along to the beat of his own drum; Bear tries to do the same but quickly ends up on our heels, in the trail we have broken in with our snowshoes.
It is a nice lil walk down to the Boathouse. We didn’t really spend a lot of time down there last Summer; we hope to get down there more this Summer though. We’ll tidy the place up a bit, clear some of the trees from around the Boathouse, maybe build a dunny down there, improve the state of the Boathouse itself – make it a place you want to go to. Note to self, build a mozzie proof gazebo to enjoy the breeze off the lake during those hot summer days!
Apparently the lake is full of trout. There is a canoe. There is a row boat with a small motor. There is a dock …though I think it is in need of some TLC to make it float properly….one corner is sinky. So if you are into trout fishing and you love solitude, come on up and go fishing! I’ll pack you a nice lunch to enjoy on the shores of Brittany Lake. (oh, I may email you a grocery list which you can fill at William’s Lake and we will happily pay for if you just deliver the order AND then I can fill a Picnic Basket for you)