Canadians - Help! Need winter wilderness cabin to rent.

[Tobie.lepine]

I know of a few good hunting cabins. Middle of nowhere 200+ miles north of fort-coulonge, quebec. It is not "accessible" in the winter meaning you would have to "rent" a snowmobile and snowmobile 150miles in if a snowmobile can make it. In all honesty, there's a few of those so remote, and only used in hunting season, you could spend a month there without seeing a soul, much less someone asking you for rent. The only piece of civilization you can see is airplanes sometimes passing over at 40,000ft. If you get hurt, unless you have a sat phone, you die there. Freezing to death is a concern in our latitudes hence most of these cabins remain unlocked year round as a desperate soul would still break in.

No electricity, no running water. But wood, plenty of it, you can find.

Maybe a bushplane is easier for access.

I have spent my childhood in the woods in hunting shacks in various states of decrepit and lack of insulation. We used to make it a destination for new years eve. One year, we caught -40 during the night. We had the woodstove glowing red hot and water would still freeze on the plywood floor 4 ft from it. We each had 4" of sleeping bags and blankets but our noses and ears would freeze whenever the woodstove got back to its blackish color. So a half-drunk buddy always had to stay "up" while the rest of us went to bed. He would "fire-picket" until he convinced one of us to replace him. Then the smell of bacon would wake up the rest of us later on.

Goodtimes but hard work. A cord of dry soft wood would take 2 hours to gather and would burn for maybe 6-12h depending if we had to cook or not.

I reflect on that when i look at all those kids with playstations.

Im heading out there for a few days next winter to reflect on the good ol times wanna join?

Landlubber

[Island Time O25]

Mark, if you're more flexible than just Canada, I would recommend looking at Maine as a possibility. It's northern woods are very much deserted and Siberia-like, including good size populations of moose, wolves, bears, etc. Not to mention all the ice fishing you could do there. Would probably need a snowmobile to move around in the winter but I'm sure these winter cabins would come with one or two anyway.

PS Oops, after I posted saw your post re: visas. But IMO Maine would still be great for all the wilderness and at the same time be a relatively short trip from the ocean.

[MarkJ]

I reflect on that when i look at all those kids with playstations.

Agree with you, Toby. But its the parents, not the kids. Kids are not allowed out, are imprisoned in a house or car because the parents have read of an isolated incudent. They would never let a kid go to a hut with dad in the winter, let alone a 150 mile snowmobile ride. So all they are allowed is Playstation - safer at hoem doing nothing than the parents thought of being raped by the local priest.

Yeah, 150 miles by snowmobile is above my expertise, and the cabin a bit better condition with a large window onto a viewable area. But i could spring a plane to get there and back.

[Tobie.lepine]

I have the plane... if youre willing to sit in the backseat for an hour, ill bring you to places... Land on the frozen lakes with skis. My little aircraft is a good performer in winter.

I do agree with you that parents these days wont let kids experiment ... and believe me, we had catastrophes in the deep woods, my brother broke his arm on the first day of a week out there. Your remote first aid has to be up to date. We carved a piece of wood we could strap his arm in and he saw the doctor the next week. That was years ago, in the fall but anything can happen. It is not an animal that will kill you in canada, it's a fall, a cut or the environement itself.

If you have never been out there in feet of snow, one thing that will strike you is the silence... snow absorbs so much sound you could yell and nobody hears you less than one mile away.

Even for experienced survivalists, most will opt for a satelite phone or a nice pilot checking on them every few days... being alone out there is NOT a good idea, bring a buddy. And plan for the worse.


Tobie the frost-bitten canadian landlubber

[Hanksy]

I was in Quebec a couple of years ago in the winter. Amazing place. It was my first time in a real cold climate. I wouldn't want to get caught out in the snow unprepared. I agree about the silence.
Prepared and knowing what to expect it would be a great trip to do a month in a cabin up there.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[chris mac]

Everyone keeps talking about the dangers of cold temp and snow. The real killer is humidity. -10 and wet is way worse than -40 and dry. As all sailors know:-) being wet saps yours body heat quicker.
We commonly hit -30 and -40 from time to time. But by January it is so dry that you can walk through waist deep snow for an hour and not get wet.
Of course you have to dress for it, helly Hanson is great!! But just like crossing oceans, you prepare ahead of time and do your homework.
I work outside all winter in central and northern Alberta. At -20 I stay home. I actually take more days off in the summer from rain storms than from cold in winter. So really it's not as bad as it's made out to be.
But yeah, I'd rather be on a sailboat a little closer to the equator;-)

[deblen]

Originally Posted by Brob2

Yes, but he wants to be eaten by seen by wolves, and they are few and far between in NB, otherwise a Restigouche fishing camp might work. I think it's Northern Canada or Alaska. Why Canada and not Alaska, Mark? Just curious.

True about wolves in N.B.
Best we could do is a pack of ravenous coyotes

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by deblen

True about wolves in N.B.
Best we could do is a pack of ravenous coyotes

Too true about wolves in New Brunswick. They have been extinct in the area for 100 years untill 2 were shot a couple of years ago. Them environmental hunters again

http://mainewolfcoalition.org/wolves...-newfoundland/

Alberta, one of the areas I am looking at, has 4,200 Grey Wolf- Fluff-Balls to cuddle and play 'go catch' with.

[chris mac]

Mark, The place I was telling you about, about 4 years ago my cousin was out hunting. Walking through the trees and came across 2 wolves eating a dead deer. They growled at him, so he growled back.
Now one is hanging on his wall. You can see them but they aren't always happy about it. Quite common to lose calves to them too. That's when you are most likely to spot them.
I have only seen 4 in my life here. But it was really cool each time!

[Mike OReilly]

Let us know where you end up Mark. That way we know where to send the search party ;-).

Seriously though, I have family in Calgary, and we often get to southern Alberta area where we have the use of a cabin in the mountains. We are wintering in the Okanagan valley ... not too far from s. Alberta.


Why go fast, when you can go slow

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Tobie.lepine

I know of a few good hunting cabins. Middle of nowhere 200+ miles north of fort-coulonge, quebec. It is not "accessible" in the winter meaning you would have to "rent" a snowmobile and snowmobile 150miles in if a snowmobile can make it. In all honesty, there's a few of those so remote, and only used in hunting season, you could spend a month there without seeing a soul, much less someone asking you for rent. The only piece of civilization you can see is airplanes sometimes passing over at 40,000ft. If you get hurt, unless you have a sat phone, you die there. Freezing to death is a concern in our latitudes hence most of these cabins remain unlocked year round as a desperate soul would still break in.

No electricity, no running water. But wood, plenty of it, you can find.

Maybe a bushplane is easier for access.

I have spent my childhood in the woods in hunting shacks in various states of decrepit and lack of insulation. We used to make it a destination for new years eve. One year, we caught -40 during the night. We had the woodstove glowing red hot and water would still freeze on the plywood floor 4 ft from it. We each had 4" of sleeping bags and blankets but our noses and ears would freeze whenever the woodstove got back to its blackish color. So a half-drunk buddy always had to stay "up" while the rest of us went to bed. He would "fire-picket" until he convinced one of us to replace him. Then the smell of bacon would wake up the rest of us later on.

Goodtimes but hard work. A cord of dry soft wood would take 2 hours to gather and would burn for maybe 6-12h depending if we had to cook or not.

I reflect on that when i look at all those kids with playstations.

Im heading out there for a few days next winter to reflect on the good ol times wanna join?

Landlubber

Very cool. What a fun post. This Florida girl didn't grow up with Playstations, but the thought of surviving in these kinds of conditions really makes me shiver! Good luck to you, Mark. Sounds like a great way to make an adventure out of spending the winter in New York. I'm sure looking forward to hearing about the stories of survival and wood chopping

[deblen]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Very cool. What a fun post. This Florida girl didn't grow up with Playstations, but the thought of surviving in these kinds of conditions really makes me shiver! Good luck to you, Mark. Sounds like a great way to make an adventure out of spending the winter in New York. I'm sure looking forward to hearing about the stories of survival and wood chopping

I can never understand why thousands of "southern folk" go skiing,if they don't like a bit of cold.
Skiing,& other outdoor winter sports,available in southern mountain areas can be more bone chilling than an average day in the north.
I think southerners should have ,n their bucket list,a week or two winter vacation in the north.
You don't know what you are missing

/ Len

[DeepFrz]

You don't really want to go to far into the wilderness cause beer is heavy and difficult to carry when you are on snowshoes.

https://www.facebook.com/rickster999.../256023987396/

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by deblen

I can never understand why thousands of "southern folk" go skiing,if they don't like a bit of cold.
Skiing,& other outdoor winter sports,available in southern mountain areas can be more bone chilling than an average day in the north.
I think southerners should have ,n their bucket list,a week or two winter vacation in the north.
You don't know what you are missing

/ Len

I nearly killed myself downhill skiing in Massachusetts after college, and minus 17 on Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondacks in January filled up my bucket for a while You guys can have that frigid stuff!

[rubbywilliams]

Off shore to off topic, there is nothing wrong in it.