We went and closed up the cabin on the weekend! My goodness how pretty the fall leaves are this time of year. We got rained on…terrential rain…on Friday night and Saturday morning, then it cleared up for the afternoon and Mr. Golden Sun graced us with a beautiful day to complete our work and go for a hike!
We got a little wet when we went up the back of the cabins along a trail but we made the best of our surroundings! Riley was NOT thrilled with the wet leaves on his head. Do you see the look on his face? He’s says “Seriously? Another picture? I’m wet.”
Riley is not a dog who likes to be wet…at all. He avoids the rain, walks around puddles on a walk, and runs when the hose and water guns come out in the summer. For a dog, he is a little bit of a princess around water (its amazing he goes paddleboarding with me at all, but those stories are for Spring!).
We got the little mister a rain coat and he doesn’t mind the wet walks anymore, though they still are not his favorite thing to do.
Riley’s Raincoat is a simple one from RC Pets. Its a red (because I love my boy in red!) nylon outer fabric with a grey nylon liner. It has a velcro closure under his belly which have a strip of about 6 inches for adjustable sizing. A flap from the belly goes up between his forelegs to his neck where the second velcro closure attaches. While this coat is good for keeping him dry in rain, there is no warmth to it so winter will likely result in a fleeced slicker or flannel lined coat for this pampered pup. But for Spring and Fall this works!
So this fine day we went for a trek up to where this past summer’s wildfires burned behind our cabin. Yes, that’s right, we almost lost our little slice of heaven this year. This particular wildfire was about 60 feet from our back door. It was far too close for comfort and myself and our neighbours were in touch daily with the fire departments working on the blaze.
The firefighters assigned to our district worked hard and managed to save all the cabins on our lake. By some miracle, this fire burned up one side of the lake, wrapped around the end, and burned all through the back side of all of the properties. Our view is forever changed by the devastation that occurred. Yet in all of this, we find beauty. We are reminded how powerful mother nature can truly be. How magical a world we live in when destruction is certain, and then something precious is miraculously spared.
It’s amazing how quickly the green turned to black as we hiked. Patches of grass still sprouting up around a black burned log. Green trees standing tall and proud next to their fallen neighbours. Trees whose stumps are partially burnt, others whose roots have burned away. A forest that was lush, green, and ancient, now sparse and struggling as it begins to grow anew.
On this particular weekend we hiked behind our neighbours up the mountain. We traversed some of the downed trees and burned stumps before calling it a day and returning to our cabin to get some work done. Thankfully, in large part to our devoted fire fighters, we will have another year to enjoy our cabin in the woods.
During our lock up this year we decided we would be snowshoeing in to our cabin over the winter months! We are so excited! So this trip we took inventory of all the things we have in the cupboards and all the things we will need to pack in with us. Unfortunately I couldn’t leave behind pupper food as I only brought what we needed. But we will have some dry goods ready and waiting for us!
ASR Adventures 