Log Cabin Getaway

We weren't fast enough and we missed our opportunity. Every year we book a cabin at Kettle Lakes Provincial Park in Ontario, but not this year.  So, we had to resort to finding a different one for this year. Finding a cabin is not as easy as you would think though. Too many hurdles. Too expensive, too far away, too much competition for the dates, too far away from a body of water, or too small for 4 people. So, looking beyond the Ontario border was a next step. That is where we happened to find some available cabins in Quebec's Parc National d'Aiguebelle. 

It was the four of us; Anika and Julie in one car and Penny and I in another car. We traveled north and it took some traveling down some gravel back roads to get there. We stopped for supplies in the town of Kirkland Lake. 

As we got closer to the park I noticed that the park signs were easy to find because they were all a bright orange colour.  After a couple hours of driving we arrived at the parking lot of the south gate of the park.  

Much of the signage was in French but most was easy enough to figure out.

The gate house looked like a large log cabin. The lady at the desk only knew  little bit of English, but our friend Julie was with us and she knows French so she did the talking. 

The lady at the desk shoed us on a map all the different things we could see and go to in the park. Unfortunately, the suspension bridge on one of the trails was closed for repairs so we wouldn't be able to go there. 

She got us booked in and gave us a code for the lock on the cabin door. She let us know that it would be about another 20 km or more  to get there.  We realized at that point that it might have been better if we had gone to the northern gate to book in because it would have been closer to the cabin. But you don't know what you don't know, right?  She warned us that the roads were narrow and to be very vigilant and keep a look out for any wildlife such as moose, or grouse or foxes that may pop out onto the road in front us.  

Before we left the gatehouse, we took a quick look around the souvenir shop there. There were plenty of nice T-shirts and things. However, we decided to get going and maybe buy something on our way out when we were set to leave in a couple days. 

We drove along for a little bit when we had our first encounter with wildlife on this trip.. It was a grouse crossing the road. I laughed because it's colouring made it look like it was wearing a little dark brown jacket. 

We arrived at the cabin without seeing any other wildlife along the way.  The cabin was a cute log cabin with a porch out front. 

The name of our cabin was "Le Longicorne" which basically is what they call a long horn pine beetle in French.  I admired the wood carved beetle that they had decorating the outside wall. 

There were board walk like ramps that led up to the door and picnic tables to sit at out front. 

We unlocked the lock on the big wood door using the code that the lady at the gatehouse had given us. Behind it was a screen door so we could keep the big door open and let some air flow through. 

The very first thing e noticed when we got inside was how cold it was. It was like walking into a giant walk-in fridge.  We were happy to see a wood stove off to one side and I knew that in no time we would have the place all warmed up and cozy. 

We looked around the rest of the cabin. There were two sets of bunk beds; one in each corner of the room. 

There were also two storage boxes with flat tops where we could store stuff. These two boxes could easily become two more beds if there were a couple of foam mattresses to put on them. But we didn't need any more beds. The bunk beds were enough for us. Instead we put our coolers full of food and drink on the one closest to the door. 

We saw some life jackets hanging on the wall and some paddles leaning against one of the bunks so, we figured there would be a canoe or kayak outside somewhere.  We would have to go looking for it later. 

In the middle of the room was a great big dining table. It was really long. This would be perfect for the board games that we intended to play later in the evening.  There were two great big long benches on either side of it too. Plenty of room and plenty of seating. 

The only problem we started to realize and hadn't anticipated was that there was no electricity. The other cabin we always rented did have electricity so we hadn't prepared for this. Once the sun went down it was going to get very dark in here. We quickly took stock of all the lights and batteries that we had. Between us we had one battery powered lantern and 6 flashlights with plenty of extra batteries. That should be more than plenty for the 2 nights we would be here.  There was no cell service and no way to charge our phones though. I put mine into Airplane mode so that it didn't drain the battery. We decided that tomorrow we would go check out the north gatehouse to see if there was cell service there to let our families know we had arrived safe. 

Under the window was a little counter with a propane stove that was provided by the park. You are supposed to bring your own propane though, which we didn't know so we couldn't use it. We would just have to cook our meals on top of the wood stove instead.  There was also a tiny little sink under the window.. 

​There was no running water (nor drinkable water) available anywhere though. That was ok though because we had brought some bottles of frozen water that we were using as ice for the coolers, and I had also brought my water filter with me. I am glad we did or we would have had to drive back the 20 km to get water and then 20 km back here again for the return trip.

Beside the door was a little wood box filled with wood!  You didn't have to buy wood here. You get all the wood that you need with the price of the cabin. 

They also provided matches, fire starter and a lighter.  How convenient! 
​I set about getting the fire started and it didn't take long before the cabin started to warm up. 

I went outside to take a look around and to see what the other girls were up to.  They were relaxing at the picnic tables out front. But I couldn't sit still. So I walked around the cabin to explore a little.  To one side was a little wood shed. 

And inside there was a whole bunch of wood.  We were definitely all set for firewood for the duration of our stay. 

On the opposite side of the cabin were the bathrooms. They were like a little log cabin too. It was cute. 

They were not flush toilets. Only regular vault toilets. That of course makes sense considering there was no running water way out here in the bush.  We had brought hand sanitizer and wet wipes so we were all set there. 

The door handle on the bathroom was hand made out of wood. 

Across from the cabin was a firepit with benches and a picnic table. We decided that we would have dinner in the cabin tonight but tomorrow night we would cook hotdogs, s'mores, and other over-the-fire foods for supper right here. 

The firepit has a grill that could be raised or lowered and would be perfect for cooking on. 

The other cabin that we had rented in the years past had a view of the lake right from the window and porch. This one did not. We were very disappointed by this. We knew there was a lake somewhere because the online pictures had shown one. Online it had seemed as though the lake was much closer than it actually was. But all we could see all around us were trees. Nothing but trees. 

So, we went for a walk on a search for the lake. We followed a wide trail leading into the bush in hopes that it would be just right there around the corner. 

It was not. There was a sign for the lake though, letting us know that we were at least headed in the right direction. The lake we were looking for was called Lac Lois.

Instead of opening up into a wide open space with a lake in it, quite the opposite happened.  The trail narrowed significantly and the trees got thicker and closer together.  We had to go through  the forest to get to the lake. 

Not far into the forest, the trail split into 2 different directions. We were not sure which one to take so we split up. Julie and Anika took the left trail and Penny and I took the right trail. 

We could still hear Anika and Julie as we went so we knew we weren't that far away from us.  The trail we were on led us down to the lake and to a dock. 

Off to the side was a green canoe.  The people who had been there before us had not put it away. It was on the ground and not on the storage rack  It looked to be in good condition and maybe we could go for a canoe ride at some point while we were here. 

There was not much wildlife around No major birds or animals. There was some Joe-Pye Weed growing off to the side though. 

The dock was oddly shaped but I liked it that way. We walked to the end of the dock and looked around. 

We could faintly hear other campers in the distance around the bend, singing and having a good time. Not loud enough to be annoying or anything. I suppose there is another cabin over in that direction somewhere.  The lake looked beautiful but there was no beach to swim from. 

It was mostly weeds and tall grass near the shore. The water was much too shallow here for a good swim.  Perhaps where Anika and Julie were, there might be a better swim spot.  We called out to them and they called back. They shouted out "we found a picnic table in the woods!"  And then they shouted "And there is another one!  And another one!" They told us to go down their trail to see what they were talking about. So, Penny and I headed over to meet them. 

Sure enough, as we went down the trail we kept seeing random picnic tables nestled into the woods along both the left and right sides of the trail. There were 5 in all.  It was kind of odd. But you can't say that there wasn't enough tables for everyone. 

The very last table was at the end of the trail where it opened up with a view of the lake. The last table was the best one and probably the only one that I would choose to sit at along the trail. 

It over looked the left side of the lake. You could see from here that there wasn't really any good place to swim on this side either. It was a beautiful view and I bet you could see moose from here if you were to get up really early i the morning and come sit quietly by the lake. But we never put that to the test while we were here. 

But the water was full of sludge and weeds and the only one that seemed to want to swim here was a little frog and perhaps the loon that we could hear calling in the distance. 

Looking across the lake, we spotted an old beaver lodge. We wondered if anything was currently living in it. We figured if we were ambitious enough to take out the canoe, we might paddle over there to see what we could see. But we had no energy for that right now. 

Instead we headed back to the cabin to start supper.  Along the way we heard the tapping of a woodpecker and looked up to see it searching for its own supper in thee tree above us. 

The fire was going nicely when we got back and the cabin was now cozy and warm. We cooked our supper in a pot on the top of the wood stove and sat down at the big table to eat. 

While we were sitting and eating we noticed a little plaque on the wall with a story of how the cabin came to be named Le Longicorne. It was all in French so we had Julie try to translate it for us. 

Also on the wall was a guest book that had entries from past cabin dwellers. Many were in French but some were in English and we read some out loud while we ate. 

After cleaning up our supper dishes we figured we would walk back down to the lake to see the sunset. We couldn't see the sunset from the cabin because of all the trees. Besides, it gets dark quickly in the cabin. So if we go outside to the lake we would be able to save a bit on our batteries if we didn't have to light the place up for quite as long. It was much brighter outside. 

The sunset was not vibrant or anything, but it was peaceful and it was still pretty. We stayed just long enough that we could still see the trail and wouldn't break a leg if we didn't use flashlights. 

We went back to the cabin and played board games by the light of the battery powered lamp and some hanging flashlights. 

As evening turned into night and it got later, it came time to put the games away. Julie and Anika went to bed but Penny and I wanted to walk down to the lake one more time. 

The moon was big and quite bright this night. We were able to turn off our flashlights and walk in the dark up until we got to the tree line. We turned them on to travel through the woods but once we got  tot he lake we turned them off again and just sat in the quiet stillness of the night. 

The stars were clear and beautiful in the inky sky. We didn't talk much in order to preserve the sanctity and the magic of the moment.  We would occasionally whisper something to each other once in awhile as we observed or heard things. "Did you see that shooting star?"  or " I hear a loon over there".  

After a time we headed back to the cabin. Mostly we travelled in the dark because our eyes had adjusted to the low light levels by then.  We had just passed the tree line when we heard a rustling in the bushes behind us from where we had just come,  It sounded fairly large. A raccoon maybe? Or perhaps a fox?   We turned on our flashlight to try to see what it was. 

It was a rabbit! A little brown bunny!  We scared it when we turned on our light and it quickly darted out of sight. As we turned back towards the cabin with our light still on, I caught a glimpse of more movement on our left. Looking down we saw one of the biggest toads I had ever seen. And his markings were dark and beautiful. We felt luck to have had the opportunity to see both of these animals tonight. 

We made a quick stop at the bathroom before heading into the cabin. We talked about the bunny and we said that at least now if we have to go outside to the bathroom at night and we hear an animal in the woods, we can just say to ourselves "oh that is just the rabbit" and we will feel more at ease. Whether it is true or not, we can tell ourselves it is. 

In the doorway of the cabin we turned around and looked up at the star filled sky one more time before closing the door and heading off to bed and to sleep.