cabinporn: Contributed by Pascal Boillat: We are a family of four and we own three camps in the
cabinporn: Contributed by Pascal Boillat: We are a family of four and we own three camps in the Northwoods of Maine, two of them on the Aroostook River and one on two lakes. The Northwoods of Maine is a reserve with 3.5 million acres of forest, lakes and rivers. We lease the land. The owners harvest the wood, but all the area around the lakes and rivers are natural preservation areas and can not be build on or harvested. I was lucky to get a one-acre land lease in between two lakes due that an old cabin stood there and we were allowed to tear it down and rebuild. It was quite a project as there is no road to the site. The original cabin was pulled in by horses over the frozen lake and then assembled onsite sometimes in the 1950s. To get to the place you need to drive 40 miles on a gravel road, another mile on a 4WD field road, walk a few hundred yards and load up into a small boat and traverse the lake to get to it. When I decided to rebuild the cabin I had a friend make one, by hand, from local timber in his backyard. We then disassembled it and trucked it via that 40-mile gravel road and then we hired a helicopter to fly in all the logs and materials. 125 flights over 2.5 days. It was amazing. To rebuild it we had to hire a tree climber and put a steel cable in-between two large trees so that the builder could lift up each log into its place. In the end, we got a fire permit and burned down the old camp in a ceremony.There are two large lakes, my camp is nestled on the small strip dividing the two lakes and there is a pond at the end of the big lake too. There is a Natural easement in place and nobody is ever allowed to build on the lake so its complete solitude and off the grid. There is a spring providing the best fresh water right into the camp through a hand pump and I run the lights and fridge on propane gas. There is an outhouse with a composting toilet and small tool shed. My family and I fly in with our seaplane. We bring food for a week and fish, read, play cards, make crafts and enjoy the solitude on the dock. Why Loone Tunes? My daughter named it as there are lots of Loones on the two lakes making beautiful sounds every morning and evening. And yes, occasionally there are Black Bears swimming across the lake. Amazing -- source link