Tag: winter

Categories
Cottage Life

Buy the Way: An inland cottage was the move for these ski enthusiasts

Photo by Philip Preville

The backstory: Philip Preville’s fondest childhood memories are of skiing on the slopes of Quebec and Alberta, where he grew up. “Getting up early on a cold winter morning and grabbing my skis is part of who I am,” says the 53-year-old freelance writer and Cottage Life contributor. Philip introduced his beloved sport to his wife, Lynn, a 46-year-old surgeon, and their three sons: 15-year-old, Luke and 12-year-old twins, Noel and Ivor. Skiing became the family’s favourite winter pastime, with the boys all joining racing programs from an early age. After the family moved from Toronto to Peterborough, Ont., in 2011, they became season’s pass holders at Devil’s Elbow, a local ski resort. But when Devil’s Elbow closed in 2018, the family needed a new place to ski. Friends invited them to the Muskoka Ski Club, operating out of Hidden Valley Highlands, near Huntsville, Ont., which is about two hours north of Peterborough. The family rented an Airbnb in 2018 and fell in love with Hidden Valley’s picturesque peaks and tight-knit community. And while ski club family memberships can cost upwards of $70,000 in Ontario, the Muskoka Ski Club’s membership was about $11,000. Instead of continuing to rent Airbnbs, Philip and Lynn decided to buy a Huntsville cottage to use as a permanent homebase during ski season. “Unlike most people seeking a summer getaway, we were looking for something with winter specifically in mind,” says Philip.

The search: In the fall of 2019, the family began looking to buy a three-bedroom cottage. “A waterfront property was also on our checklist, but it wasn’t a must-have,” says Philip. “The priority was finding something as close as possible to Hidden Valley.” They hoped to spend less than $500,000 on their new cottage, but quickly realized they were priced out from any waterfront properties, which were listed at $750,000 and above. The family shifted their search to more affordable inland cottages. That October, they toured a three-bed, two-bath cottage that was a 10-minute drive from Hidden Valley. Part of a recently built subdivision on the outskirts of Huntsville, the one-storey home sat on a 15,000-sq. ft. wooded lot that backed onto Deerhurst Highlands Golf Course. Though the interior has a good amount of living space, “At 1,500 sq. ft, there isn’t a lot of room for guests,” says Philip. The cottage was listed for slightly higher than their $500,000 ceiling, but the couple still made an offer. The sellers accepted, and the family took possession in November, just in time for the 2019-2020 ski season.

The silver lining: That winter, the family spent most weekends and Christmas at their new inland cottage. Despite sporadic COVID-related closures at their ski hill in the two years since, the family continues to savour their weekly winter escape. When they’re not skiing, they enjoy hiking the nearby woods and cozying up together for movie nights. They also mountain bike in the summer. “Skiing transforms your entire experience of winter,” says Philip. “You can socialize and have fun, no matter how cold it is outside. That’s why it’s worth making the long drive every weekend, without a doubt.”

Philip’s reasons to consider an inland cottage

1. Water activities aren’t your main priority
If your passion happens to be skiing, cycling, hiking, or even bird-watching, Philip cautions that a waterfront cottage may go unused and become a superfluous perk. “Why pay for premium waterfront when you might never be on the water?” he says.

2. You get more of a plug-and-play cottage experience
Philip’s inland cottage is hooked up to municipal water and hydro on a road that also has services such as garbage pickup and snow plowing. Those conveniences eliminate much of the work that comes with roughing it in more isolated waterfront cottages.

3. There are always other ways to access the water
This past summer, Philip made a habit of biking three kilometres from his Huntsville cottage to a public beach on nearby Peninsula Lake for a morning swim. “We don’t have our own private waterfront,” he says, “but there’s plenty of rivers, marinas, and beaches close by.”

Did you recently buy a cottage in a non-traditional way? We’d love to hear about it! Email alysha@cottagelife.com.

Categories
Cottage Life

Buy the Way: An inland cottage was the move for these ski enthusiasts

Photo by Philip Preville

The backstory: Philip Preville’s fondest childhood memories are of skiing on the slopes of Quebec and Alberta, where he grew up. “Getting up early on a cold winter morning and grabbing my skis is part of who I am,” says the 53-year-old freelance writer and Cottage Life contributor. Philip introduced his beloved sport to his wife, Lynn, a 46-year-old surgeon, and their three sons: 15-year-old, Luke and 12-year-old twins, Noel and Ivor. Skiing became the family’s favourite winter pastime, with the boys all joining racing programs from an early age. After the family moved from Toronto to Peterborough, Ont., in 2011, they became season’s pass holders at Devil’s Elbow, a local ski resort. But when Devil’s Elbow closed in 2018, the family needed a new place to ski. Friends invited them to the Muskoka Ski Club, operating out of Hidden Valley Highlands, near Huntsville, Ont., which is about two hours north of Peterborough. The family rented an Airbnb in 2018 and fell in love with Hidden Valley’s picturesque peaks and tight-knit community. And while ski club family memberships can cost upwards of $70,000 in Ontario, the Muskoka Ski Club’s membership was about $11,000. Instead of continuing to rent Airbnbs, Philip and Lynn decided to buy a Huntsville cottage to use as a permanent homebase during ski season. “Unlike most people seeking a summer getaway, we were looking for something with winter specifically in mind,” says Philip.

The search: In the fall of 2019, the family began looking to buy a three-bedroom cottage. “A waterfront property was also on our checklist, but it wasn’t a must-have,” says Philip. “The priority was finding something as close as possible to Hidden Valley.” They hoped to spend less than $500,000 on their new cottage, but quickly realized they were priced out from any waterfront properties, which were listed at $750,000 and above. The family shifted their search to more affordable inland cottages. That October, they toured a three-bed, two-bath cottage that was a 10-minute drive from Hidden Valley. Part of a recently built subdivision on the outskirts of Huntsville, the one-storey home sat on a 15,000-sq. ft. wooded lot that backed onto Deerhurst Highlands Golf Course. Though the interior has a good amount of living space, “At 1,500 sq. ft, there isn’t a lot of room for guests,” says Philip. The cottage was listed for slightly higher than their $500,000 ceiling, but the couple still made an offer. The sellers accepted, and the family took possession in November, just in time for the 2019-2020 ski season.

The silver lining: That winter, the family spent most weekends and Christmas at their new inland cottage. Despite sporadic COVID-related closures at their ski hill in the two years since, the family continues to savour their weekly winter escape. When they’re not skiing, they enjoy hiking the nearby woods and cozying up together for movie nights. They also mountain bike in the summer. “Skiing transforms your entire experience of winter,” says Philip. “You can socialize and have fun, no matter how cold it is outside. That’s why it’s worth making the long drive every weekend, without a doubt.”

Philip’s reasons to consider an inland cottage

1. Water activities aren’t your main priority
If your passion happens to be skiing, cycling, hiking, or even bird-watching, Philip cautions that a waterfront cottage may go unused and become a superfluous perk. “Why pay for premium waterfront when you might never be on the water?” he says.

2. You get more of a plug-and-play cottage experience
Philip’s inland cottage is hooked up to municipal water and hydro on a road that also has services such as garbage pickup and snow plowing. Those conveniences eliminate much of the work that comes with roughing it in more isolated waterfront cottages.

3. There are always other ways to access the water
This past summer, Philip made a habit of biking three kilometres from his Huntsville cottage to a public beach on nearby Peninsula Lake for a morning swim. “We don’t have our own private waterfront,” he says, “but there’s plenty of rivers, marinas, and beaches close by.”

Did you recently buy a cottage in a non-traditional way? We’d love to hear about it! Email alysha@cottagelife.com.

Categories
Cottage Life

Wild Profile: Meet the muskox

By Fitawoman/Shutterstock

The muskox is one modern-day mammal that looks a little like it just stepped out of a prehistoric museum diorama. Its shaggy fur could rival a woolly mammoth’s! This is of course because muskoxen live most of their lives in Ice Age-like conditions on the Arctic tundra. So, -40°C temperatures, wind, and blowing snow? Not a problem.

Clothing made from muskox wool is really, really warm

A muskox’s coat is made up of two layers: a woolly layer, close to the skin, and an outer hairy layer. Muskoxen wool is eight times warmer than sheep’s wool but finer than cashmere. The outer layer of hair, meanwhile, is longer than any other North American mammal’s. It’s coarse, and protects the insulating wool layer. A muskox doesn’t keep all this fur year-round; in midsummer, it sheds the insulating undercoat.

A muskox is not an ox

Despite the name, these mammals are not oxen. And even though they look like a hairier version of a bison—humped shoulders, short legs—they’re actually most closely related to goats and sheep. Both male and female muskoxen grow horns. Their horns are very similar; a bull’s are thick, and almost fuse together in a solid mass on the forehead. Females have a patch of fur that separates each (skinnier) horn. But either way, the horns are razor sharp. Muskoxen use them in defence, and, along with their giant heads, to smash through crusty snow cover. Snowplow? What’s a snowplow?

What do they eat?

During winter, muskoxen roam about in mixed herds. In the high Arctic, temperatures stay below -18°C for about eight months of the year, and it’s mostly dark between November and February. But muskox don’t care! The only conditions these beasts consider disruptive are massive blizzards. In this situation, a muskox will lie down with its back to the wind, and wait it out. Muskoxen head into winter with generous fat stores to help sustain them through the cold. Beyond that, they’ll target low-lying valleys—the snow is usually less deep there—and dig down to get at willows, sedges, and grasses. They have an excellent sense of smell, powerful enough to sniff out the buried vegetation.

What’s their population in Canada? 

We have about 85,000 muskoxen. Not bad, given that they were once nearly extinct. They’ve been under government protection since 1917. (Even though they only have one predator—the wolf—human hunting didn’t do the population any favours.) And they’re certainly worth preserving: they’ve been around for a long time. Experts believe the muskox crossed over via the Bering Strait about 90,000 years ago.

 

Categories
Cottage Life

Wild Profile: Meet the muskox

By Fitawoman/Shutterstock

The muskox is one modern-day mammal that looks a little like it just stepped out of a prehistoric museum diorama. Its shaggy fur could rival a woolly mammoth’s! This is of course because muskoxen live most of their lives in Ice Age-like conditions on the Arctic tundra. So, -40°C temperatures, wind, and blowing snow? Not a problem.

Clothing made from muskox wool is really, really warm

A muskox’s coat is made up of two layers: a woolly layer, close to the skin, and an outer hairy layer. Muskoxen wool is eight times warmer than sheep’s wool but finer than cashmere. The outer layer of hair, meanwhile, is longer than any other North American mammal’s. It’s coarse, and protects the insulating wool layer. A muskox doesn’t keep all this fur year-round; in midsummer, it sheds the insulating undercoat.

A muskox is not an ox

Despite the name, these mammals are not oxen. And even though they look like a hairier version of a bison—humped shoulders, short legs—they’re actually most closely related to goats and sheep. Both male and female muskoxen grow horns. Their horns are very similar; a bull’s are thick, and almost fuse together in a solid mass on the forehead. Females have a patch of fur that separates each (skinnier) horn. But either way, the horns are razor sharp. Muskoxen use them in defence, and, along with their giant heads, to smash through crusty snow cover. Snowplow? What’s a snowplow?

What do they eat?

During winter, muskoxen roam about in mixed herds. In the high Arctic, temperatures stay below -18°C for about eight months of the year, and it’s mostly dark between November and February. But muskox don’t care! The only conditions these beasts consider disruptive are massive blizzards. In this situation, a muskox will lie down with its back to the wind, and wait it out. Muskoxen head into winter with generous fat stores to help sustain them through the cold. Beyond that, they’ll target low-lying valleys—the snow is usually less deep there—and dig down to get at willows, sedges, and grasses. They have an excellent sense of smell, powerful enough to sniff out the buried vegetation.

What’s their population in Canada? 

We have about 85,000 muskoxen. Not bad, given that they were once nearly extinct. They’ve been under government protection since 1917. (Even though they only have one predator—the wolf—human hunting didn’t do the population any favours.) And they’re certainly worth preserving: they’ve been around for a long time. Experts believe the muskox crossed over via the Bering Strait about 90,000 years ago.

 

Categories
Cottage Life

Wild Profile: Meet the crossbill

By Harold Stiver/Shutterstock

The crossbill is a shining example of a bird with a bill that’s especially adapted to how the species lives and feeds. The tips of a crossbill’s beak literally cross, in a bizarre and dramatic overbite. Quick, get this bird some braces! No: the misalignment allows these avians to expertly snip cones from trees and, holding them in one claw, lever the scales open to expose the seeds. They then use their tongues to pull out the seeds. 

What’s up with the bills?

Although plenty of birds have evolved bills to help them feed—the brown creeper, with its tweezers; the hummingbird, with its nectar-sucking syringe—a crossbill’s mouthpiece is particularly useful. A lot of bird food sources run low in the winter, but not for Mr. Crisscross. Conifer trees have plenty of cones all season long—no matter how frigid or snowy the weather. And since most birds don’t have the beaks (or the skills) to feed off cones…well, all the more for the red crossbill!

What do they look like?

Only the male red crossbill is actually red; females are yellow. They tend to forage in flocks, moving from one tree to another in a flurry of colour and noise. Crossbills can be as small as black-capped chickadees or as large as brown-headed cowbirds. There’s so much variation because North America has roughly ten different “types” of the species. (Experts, for the most part, don’t consider them subspecies.) Their beaks all vary slightly depending on the specific cones that they eat. Eastern Canada’s most common crossbill, for example, prefers pine and white spruce.

Why are crossbills noisy?

A red crossbill pair breeds in late summer, but, if the cone supply is plentiful, Mom and Dad will produce another two broods—even nesting and incubating eggs in the winter. Red crossbills will happily nest close to one another in areas thick with cones. As a species, they’re very social and generally good at sharing; ornithologists suspect that they call to one another while foraging to convey info about the quality of cones and seeds that they’re finding. This allows the flock to forage more efficiently—and that’s good for the species in general.

Categories
Cottage Life

Wild Profile: Meet the wolverine

By Popova Valeriya/Shutterstock

The wolverine may be part of the weasel family, but it’s almost bear-like in its looks. And, in its clever survival behaviour. Wolverines are smart enough to target winter trap lines and successfully steal the bait. This mustelid is ferocious and always hungry—for almost anything. It’s the only carnivore that will eat the bones of its prey.

Where does it live? 

Most wolverines stick to the Western boreal forests of North America, and, in Canada, the wild alpine areas of Alberta and B.C. (They do carve out habitat in other provinces, including Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.) They’re tough customers, and well-suited to winter, with fur-covered paws to traipse snowshoe-style over deep snow. Although they’ll take down plenty of live prey (again, not picky—they’ll even eat porcupines, ow), in winter, they primarily scavenge. A wolverine will happily chow down on the cold corpses of large mammals (deer, moose) that have died from starvation or frozen to death. The sneakiest will track other carnivores such as wolves and lynx, then steal their unattended leftovers. Not very neighbourly, wolverine!

When do wolverines give birth? 

Wolverines only reproduce every two or three years. A mother-to-be is plucky enough to bed down in a den by February—usually underneath a frozen pile of rocks—and have her babies even in the depths of winter. She’ll often only produce a few kits in a litter.

Are they endangered? 

Wolverines are listed as a species of special concern. Even though many live much farther north than other mammals, they’re still vulnerable to human encroachment, especially backcountry recreation. According to the Species at Risk Public Registry, wolverine numbers have also dwindled in response to losing certain ungulate prey, in particular, the threatened woodland caribou.

Categories
Cottage Life

Cottage Q&A: Will the septic pump freeze?

By Gozzoli/Shutterstock

I have a septic tank built into the side of a hill with minimal protection from frost. A submersible effluent pump moves the contents directly to the weeping tiles. I have always removed the pump in winter for fear of damage caused by freezing. Is this necessary or can I just leave it in the tank?—Stumped by the Pump

“I’ve seen lots of pumps freeze solid in winter and then thaw fine in the spring,” says Dale McLure, the president of the Alberta Onsite Wastewater Management Association. Still, better safe than a mangled pump. “If you’ve been successful in removing the pump every winter, there’s nothing wrong with continuing to do that.” As long as you keep doing it correctly, taking out the pump guarantees nothing will happen to it and, as McLure points out, “it’s not really an exorbitant amount of time or effort.”

6 things that should never go in your septic tank

In general, anything you can do to shield your septic system from a winter beatdown gets the thumbs up from the experts. This includes protecting the line from damage (by having it buried below the frost line, so it’s insulated; by keeping it heated; or by draining it completely), and insulating the septic tank with, for example, a layer of 2″ SM insulation or extruded polystyrene foam overtop, covered with soil, says septic inspector Sandy Bos. “It’s good for the overall health of the system. Bacteria thrive in warm temperatures, not cold ones.”

Got a question for Cottage Q&A? Send it to answers@cottagelife.com.

Categories
Cottage Life

Cottage Q&A: Wet windowsill fix

By mady70/Shutterstock

When we checked on our cottage this winter, I noticed that condensation had puddled on the windowsills. Can we prevent this from happening? The cottage is not heated through the winter, and we do not regularly use it.—Margaret Robinson, via email

You know the science: if warm, humid air inside the cabin meets the cooler surface of a window in winter, condensation forms on the glass.

It’s possible that the air inside warmed up because of the sun. “You could envision how passive solar heating of a cottage could create moisture deposition problems inside,” says Don Fugler, a building scientist in Ottawa.

But, more likely, says Darrell Paul, the managing director of Qualistat Building Performance Consultants in Olds, Alta., is that the condensation is an after-effect of the last time you were at the cottage—when we assume you turned on the heat and then engaged in other humidity-producing behaviours: cooking, showering, and breathing.

In either case, the best way to prevent condensation is to increase ventilation to the cottage. Simple enough while you’re there. Trickier while you’re not. Almost anything that allows outside air into the cottage will help; the problem is “How do you do that safely, in a way that animals won’t get in?” says Fugler. If your chimney is covered by a pest screen, you could open the damper; you could leave a few windows partially open, covered with hardware cloth; you could also install new openings in the cottage, such as fresh air-intake ducts.

If you have reliable power, a small fan—either rated for continuous use or triggered by a humidistat (it responds to relative humidity)—is an alternative.

This article was originally published in the Winter 2017 issue of Cottage Life magazine.

Got a question for Cottage Q&A? Send it to answers@cottagelife.com.

Categories
Cottage Life

Should you install de-icers at the lake?

By Mary Anne Love/Shutterstock

Ah, the “off-season” at the lake. The peace. The quiet. The wildlife crossing pristine ice—ah, yes, the ice. In 2019, winter ice damage and spring floods left cottagers scrambling to protect and repair shoreline structures. Katie Peet of R & J Machine in Lakefield, Ont., says that they fielded several calls from cottagers looking to install de-icers. “If they have a couple of feet of water, they can put one in to open up ice so it can’t be pushed and piled on the shoreline,” she says. “Some people use a chainsaw to open up the ice, but you may have to do that every day because it freezes over again at night.”

 

Winter is coming

Ice expands as it melts, until it turns to water. Cracks will form in lake ice in response to the different expansion rates caused by warmer temperatures at the top. An ice sheet gets bigger as water flows from underneath up into the cracks and then freezes. With successive freeze-thaw cycles, that ice moves toward shore, shoving up anything in its way—docks, boathouses—in a process called ice-heave or ice-jacking. Spring flooding can also drive thick ice into shoreline structures.

Bottom line Winter ice is a natural fact of cottage life, but, unfortunately, the damage it causes is a standard exclusion to most insurance policies. “People seem not to be aware of that,” says Allison Bryce, with insurance brokerage The Magnes Group. She advises clients to install de-icing systems to protect a shoreline investment that can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

Keeping the ice away

A properly installed de-icer will create as small an opening as possible while still keeping structures free of ice. The systems come in two forms: impellers and bubblers. Impeller de-icers, such as the Kasco and Arbrux systems, combine a motor with a propeller enclosed in a cage that is suspended by ropes or a bracket from a dock or float. The angle of the unit can be adjusted, and which size motor you choose depends on the temperature and the depth of the water (you may need more than one device).

Bubbler de-icers, like Canadian Pond’s Thawline linear system, use a compressor on shore to feed air through submerged tubing. Brent Statten, of DeiceAir in Huntsville, Ont., which installs both Kasko and Thawline systems, is a fan of aeration. “It’s like a tailored suit,” he says, “custom fit to snake around docks and open up only the minimum amount of water necessary.” Bubbler systems use less power than impellers, with no electricity in the water or moving parts to get clogged with sticks, debris, or even ice. And bubblers can be left in place all year (as can impellers, but they’re unsightly).

Bottom line Get advice from companies that sell the systems, even if you plan a DIY installation. Often people wait until the last minute to install them, Statten says, rather than planning their site out and taking time with the installation. Do it before it gets cold, he advises, “and obviously before the ice sets in.”

 

This one’s on you

Though not highly regulated by municipalities, de-icers are prohibited on some waterways, such as some administered by Parks Canada. At the very least, bubblers are controversial in cottage country. Chris Collings, a bylaw enforcement officer for the Township of Lake of Bays, Ont., says that he often gets complaints about installations that create open water near snowmobile routes or about hazard lights that bother other property owners. But while your municipality may not control the use of de-icers, Section 263 (1) of Canada’s Criminal Code says,  “Every one who makes or causes to be made an opening in ice…is under a legal duty to guard it in a manner that is adequate to prevent persons from falling in by accident and is adequate to warn them that the opening exists.” If you fail to do that, and a death occurs as a result, you could be charged with manslaughter. But what’s “adequate” is not specified. The experts we consulted recommend marking any opening with signs (in all directions), reflective tape, and flashing amber lights (not red, which could be mistaken for the tail lights of a snowmobile).

Check with your local municipality before installing a system. Even if there isn’t a de-icer regulation, there may be other restrictions. Lake of Bays, for example, has a dark-skies bylaw that requires all outdoor lights to be shielded and facing downward, so flashing lights may be non-compliant. But Collings says you can install a downward-facing spotlight that illuminates a warning sign.

Bottom line As the Criminal Code makes clear, alerting lake users to the dangers of open water is serious business. So channel your inner Scout and be prepared. As Brent Statten says, “No one wants to think that winter is coming, but it does every year.”

Categories
Cottage Life

Wild Profile: Meet the pika

By Peter Bowman/Shutterstock

The pint-sized pika is the coolest mammal that you’ve never heard of. The rodent-like creature is actually a “lagomorph” and has more in common with hares and rabbits than it does with mice or rats. But if you’re familiar with Pokemon—and you are, because you live on this planet—you might be interested to learn that the species is the inspiration for the fictional character Pikachu. Who knew?

Like Pikachu, Canada’s two native pika species are squat-bodied. But unlike the cartoon, the real-life critter has short, round ears and practically no tail. There’s a reason for the round shape: a compact build allows the pika to survive in alpine terrain. In Canada, that’s the Rocky Mountains in Alberta and B.C., and further north throughout the Yukon.

Pikas cache food and sing like birds! 

Pikas thrive in barren, rocky landscapes (they’re nicknamed “rock rabbits”). They don’t hibernate. To sustain themselves through winter, they cache food like squirrels and non-migrating birds. Before winter, a pika will gather bits of plants—wildflowers or grass—cure them to preserve them by letting them sit in the sun, and then hide them amid rocks. (This isn’t the species’ only bird-like behaviour; the mammals “sing” to defend territory and to attract mates in the spring.)

Winter is a pika’s preferred time of year. (Because their coat is thick year-round, too much time in the heat isn’t good for them; similar to the polar bear, the pika has been impacted by climate change and overall warming temperatures.) Even though they’re active all winter, they do spend more time in their rocky dens. Pikas live in colonies. This type of group living is a survival strategy. One pika can alert others to potential predators—hawks, weasels, and coyotes—by giving out a warning call.

How Canadian animals adapt to winter