MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2021

56 Morning arrived, as it always seems to do, and those things that went bump in the night were ever more absurd after sunrise. Neil arrived, right on time, with his Brekkie in a Basket: homemade muffins and breads, local jams and spreads, fruits and juices. Spoiled and stuffed, I boiled water on the woodstove for coffee and lazily readied myself for a walk in the woods. Neil spent several years building the 4.5 km of trails meandering through his 50-acre property. Colour-coded and well- marked both in person and in map form, they lead through stands of maple, aspen, cedar, larch and pine, past the pond and yurt, criss-crossing the creek and one another while passing features created or cared for by Neil. The Spirit Tree—a hulking, ancient maple whose story he details in the book The Extraordinary Tree Project: A Celebration of the Natural and Cultural Value of Trees in Grey and Bruce —piqued my interest from afar and fairly begged me A cordwood structure is, in its simplest form, a log cabin—albeit with shorter logs. Known for its energy efficiency, sustainability and simplicity, the building style tends to attract those with a self-sufficient streak. (As hand-stacking 16-inch cuts is a bit less cumbersome than craning 30-foot trunks.) Neil’s own log home has seen updates over the years, with two additions and the introduction of indoor plumbing, but the property remains completely free from the electrical grid (and the cordwood cabin still boasts a privy). Solar panels provide power for every need down to his chainsaw, which cuts enough deadfall to heat both buildings and the sauna. The small battery in my cabin stored ample energy for a few lights, which is really all one needs when left alone in a tiny cabin in the pitch-black woods, one night after watching the first episode of Stranger Things . The wind in the pines was otherworldly, as Neil pointed out on his nighttime check-in. Not unlike the ocean, really. Certain the waves crashing on my doorstep were masking the sounds of other things, I chose to forego my nighttime hike. There is a magic in this place, whether inherent or cultivated or a little of both. A hushed, deep kind of magic that won’t take no for an answer.