Outside the Cottage

Our cottage has the ideal southwest setting. The early morning summer sun rises over the forested hills behind the cottage and dances into the windows of the master and guest bedrooms, filtered by lush greenery, accompanied by the songs of a multitude of birds. 

Looking across the bay you will see undeveloped crown land to the left and several private cottages to the right. 

Below is a 150 degree early morning panorama taken in late fall
Click on the picture to enlarge it then then use the horizontal scroll bar to get the full impact.

The sun baths the deck and the dock all afternoon. You can always find a comfortable place to sit in shade under the deck table umbrella. 

(NOTE: Click most pictures to see a larger image, BACK to return)

Living/Dining Walkout opens to a Tiered Cedar Deck
(note the built in side boards)

Dock View from Cottage Deck

The large, stable, 10'x 14' floating cedar dock, new in 2002, is perfect for lounging, swimming and diving. The lake water is above 20C (68F) from mid June to mid September. It usually peaks at 28C (82F) during the last week of July into the first week of August. 

Water depth on the far side of the dock is 1.5m (5 feet). The water depth quickly increases to 15 feet as you swim away from the dock. It is about 10m (30 feet) deep in the middle in front of our cottage.

Great Sunsets, Moon Rises, Stars, Northern Lights and...

... Loons

Paddle the canoe 100 meters from the dock an watch the moon rise over the end of the bay. Look back over the cottage and see the Big Dipper then find the North Star - right in line with the dock ramp.  If you are lucky you might also get a vivid display of northern lights. Loon calls can often be heard through the night and into the early morning hours. They mate for life and return to Stormy Lake every spring. Click the picture to hear one. As the night darkens a billion stars come out. From the bon fire fire pit you see the southern sky, the milky way and the constellations. Sometimes the northern lights appear over the entire sky.

Later in the night the forest comes alive with a procession of deer, foxes, lynx, wolves, porcupines, the odd bear and yes, maybe even a moose. You seldom see them because they sense you long before you can sense them. 

The picture below was taken at 5:20 A.M. June 16, 2003. 

The Setting Moon

Moose tracks are pretty obvious on the road the next morning.

Every day you are likely to see and/or hear chipmunks, squirrels, ferrets, martins, mink, raccoons, beavers, snapping turtles, toads, bull frogs, chickadees, hoot owls, screech owls, garter snakes, woodpeckers of all sizes - even the large pileated Woody the Woodpecker, blue jays, humming birds, loons, seagulls, geese, mallard, bofflehead and merganzer ducks, crows, ravens, hawks, wild turkeys, turkey vultures, eagles and the Great Blue Heron.