A Perfect Day
A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I, along with a good friend, hiked into our lake cabin. The cabin is only accessible by foot or by boat and in the dead of winter, no boats are moving. The lake water freezes and when the weather is just right, we can either cross country ski, skate or snowshoe across.
The day we chose to head out was one of those clear, cold sunny days that we dream of to get to the cabin with relative ease. We loaded our packs and headed out starting about a mile away from the lake which is where we can usually park our car and walk in. Once we arrived at the marina area, we took one look at the lake and decided it wasn’t really frozen down at the opposite end, so we should walk along the partially snowy trail to make our way out the other 2 miles to the cabin.
As we walked along, we could see various groups of skaters. Some were playing hockey, some were gracefully gliding along creating perfect figure 8’s and others were just enjoying a beautiful Saturday afternoon with friends.
After another hour or so we finally made it to our cabin and were able to pull out our BBQ and a bottle of wine and some chairs. We fired up the grill and sat our chairs in the snow and happily soaked up the sun. We ate crackers and cheese and breaded lamb chops that our friend prepared.
All around us was pristine white snow, cabins covered up to their windows, green trees and the few brave chipmunks and squirrels who were out looking for food.
Since this is mainly a summer use cabin, at the end of every season, I like to leave a few things accessible, like the BBQ, some water, knives, cutting boards, wine – anything I think that we might want for an impromptu picnic should the weather and our schedules cooperate. It’s hard because we can’t leave food of any kind in the cabin over winter because the bears will break in. We hiked all the food in but having the BBQ there and a few other things ready to go was great.
We enjoyed our meal and the warm sunshine for as long as possible before heading back. Luckily the trip to the car was shorter, because by then the sun was starting to go down. We knew the lake was safe to walk back on, so that made it a much quicker trip.
I must admit, I was tired at the end of the day, but getting the exercise, sharing a great meal and spending time with family and friends was time to be cherished.