I am not a bird that flies south. Rather, a winter escape for me is to leave dirty city streets behind and seek out a spot where the snow is still pure white. This year, the escape was to a cozy cabin on the blank canvas that is Lake Winnipeg.
The city quickly disappears behind as we drive the blustery road north. Conditions like these aren’t great for driving…
…but they sure are beautiful when you’re out of the car. The big snowflakes covered everything with a fresh white blanket.
At the edge of the world, there is a fishing hut.
And our friends own one of these huts. In the midst of a cold snap (steady -30 degrees celsius weather), the ice auger was just long enough (at ~5 feet) to get through the thick lake ice. The wood stove in the hut kept the four of us more than warm while we caught dinner.
Windswept, there isn’t much snow actually on the lake. Walking out on the ice, you often are directly on the ice. That, or on snow packed so densely it is like walking on firm sand dunes.
Towards the edge of the lake however, deep snow drifts build up and are quite the obstacle to get past if you’re forging a new trail.
The scene is beautifully minimalist and refreshing.
A portrait of myself, warm and happy.
You really need to know what you’re doing when venturing out here – it can be very remote and harsh should you run into a problem.
On our last evening, we hiked out to an old lighthouse at the tip of Hecla Island. With only a vague idea of where it was, we headed out after dark on what turned out to be a several hour adventure. Snowshoes would have been a welcom tool, but we made it out to the point with high spirits mainly from laughing at ourselves as we sank into snowdrifts up to our chests. It was a beautiful, frosty night to enjoy this remote piece of Manitoba wilderness.