35° CLOUDY, 37° CLOUDY

It was a dreary, drizzly day but we made the best of it with a snowshoe adventure.  After a slow morning, we took off above the cabin to lands unknown.  In the woods, we were largely sheltered from the rain.  We climbed upwards, first coming across a primitive A-frame shack, maybe 5×10.  It was boarded up and looked to be a work in progress. Perhaps it would serve as a suitable hunting shack but this dark, tight space was no place for me.  Next we found remnants of an abandoned cabin project from long ago, the wood post foundations rotting.  The gem was a tiny unfinished shack teetering on top of a massive boulder with the best spot in all of camp, totally private and with views over the bay and out to Chatham.  It was the perfect hermit hideout, hobbled together on a shoestring budget.  We peered inside the picture window and found a cool book collection, Pete straining to read all of the titles.  The extending “deck” was falling apart, and Pete was precariously positioned.  Unfortunately, there’d been a marten invasion and the place looked like it had been torn to shreds.  We solved the mystery of a bright blue tarp that I kept seeing up in the woods from our cabin window.  It turned out that the blue was the reflection of the sky off this shack’s picture window.  From this newly discovered backyard that we deemed “upper camp” we stayed high and continued our trek.  We headed for another place tucked up in the woods, a charming hand-hewn log cabin, a real piece of craftsmanship.  We’d come across the place last summer and were sad to now see one of the lower corners rotting.  Someone had invested so much time and care into its construction.  The cabin was elevated and everything underneath was stowed in a very orderly fashion, work boots, hard hat, rain jacket, etc., all hung just so.  Something about it was a little spooky.