Winter’s coming! Here’s the evidence:

• My sister is treasurer of the Highland Rovers Snowmobile Club north of Huntsville, and she’s reporting brisk sales in permits so far this year. Of course this could be because the price goes up on the first of December, but she says there is a lot of optimism for a good winter this year.
• The Weather Network has snowflakes on its long range forecast for every day next week.
• I’ve seen a dozen trucks towing trailers with snowmobiles, heading north.
• My neighbour has his snow shovel handily placed on the front porch, ready for action. That is always a sign he knows something the rest of us don’t.
• Canadian Tire has all its snow blowers lined up outside in a neat line like a platoon of soldiers ready for action.
• Our snow plough man has been to collect his money for ten ploughs.
• The road down to our cottage has been newly graded and there’s a fresh pile of sand by the side of the steep hill.
• Sergeant Cam Woolley of the OPP says so!

Winter is inevitable and I look forward to it with anticipation of lots of outdoor activity, Tim Horton’s hot chocolate, and the smell of woodsmoke in the air. In cottage country, we prepare for it, expect it to be tough at times, and respect mother nature for the curve balls she occasionally throws. For visitors to the country, particularly those renting a cottage for the first time, it can be surprising how different conditions are, just an hour or so north of the city, particularly at this time of year.

Following these tips can help make your winter cottage rental a trip to remember – for all the right reasons:

Use winter tires. All season tires are OK in places, but many cottage roads are hilly, narrow and winding. You will need all the traction you can get and winter tires are the way to go. Canadian Driver writer Jim Kerr comments on all season tires, “These tires do provide traction on ice and snow if driven carefully, but these tires would be better named “three-season” tires. They work well in spring, summer and fall, but don’t provide the ultimate traction and handling that a performance tire will on dry pavement nor the traction of winter specific tires on snow.”

Keep an emergency pack in the car. Preparing for the worst is always good advice. Some cottage country roads are pretty remote, even if they are ploughed. Our cottage is 4km down a road that is ploughed by the township, however it’s the only winterized cottage. If you broke down or slid off the road, it may be days before someone found you. Environment Canada has a list of what you should have in your emergency car kit.

We rescued a couple last year who were renting our cottage and had driven up with all season tires on a sedan. They came off the icy road on a bend and were well and truly stuck in a snow drift. They had no boots or heavy jackets with them. “We were only going to sit inside the cottage and enjoy the wood stove, or take a dip in the hot tub. We weren’t planning on spending any time outdoors”, one of them said!

Tell people where you are going and when you expect to be there. This is one of those pieces of advice we give our kids, but often ignore as adults, but it’s worth the extra minute or two before you leave on a trip to cottage country to let family or friends know your plans. Give them the contact phone numbers you have on your cottage rental information sheet, the address and phone number of the cottage you have rented, and your planned time of arrival. Phone home and let people know you have arrived safely, or if you are going to be significantly delayed.

Plan your trip thoroughly and give yourself lots of time to get there. Snow squalls are frequent in the traditional snow belt areas, and its not unusual to leave the city in brilliant sunshine and find blizzard conditions just an hour or so north. Make sure you have a good map with you, and know where you are going. Check the Weather Network for severe weather updates – you can get these downloaded to your cell phone.

Trust the owner of your vacation home. If the owner calls you to say there is a problem accessing the cottage due to snow conditions, trust him and do not travel. These people know their cottage areas and won’t get you to curtail your trip unless there is good reason. If you do attempt the trip after being advised not to, you are taking a real risk.

Winter in cottage country can be a magical experience and it only takes a little preparation to really enjoy it.

With the cooler weather on the way, if you are planning a cottage rental vacation over the next few months, I expect you’ll be looking for a comfortable and cosy place with an open fireplace or a wood burning stove. We have a high efficiency stove at Osprey Cottage and our guests love it. In fact, we will generally light the fire an hour or two before people are due to arrive so their first impression on opening the cottage door is of a warm and welcoming atmosphere. 

 High efficiency wood stoves are designed to operate most effectively on minimal wood loads.  It is not necessary to load up the stove with as much wood as possible, keep the flue wide open and continue piling in more logs every half hour as if you are in-training to be a stoker on the Titanic!.

We’re aware though, that many of our guests have never had any experience of lighting or maintaining a wood stove or open fireplace, and so we leave full instructions on how best to operate the unit. These include advice on running it in the most economical and effective way, so we do hope our guests read and assimilate the information we leave for them. This is the gist of what it says: 

• Overloading a wood stove can result in overheating and, at worst, a chimney fire. A fire will be much more effective with a couple of logs rather than a dozen.

• If you light a fire when the flue and chimney are cold, you might find the stove becomes very smoky and this spills out into the room. The trick here is to warm the chimney by laying some newspaper on top of the logs and lighting this first.

• Only use the firewood that has been designated for use in the woodstove. This is known as ‘seasoned’ wood which means it was cut and stacked many months before, giving it time to dry, and gives a slower and longer burn. Wood found around the cottage is generally damp and green, and will result in a fierce burn rate which can cause a build up of creosote in the chimney.

• Watch the fire from behind the closed door. Although it is nice to hear the crackle of the burning wood, the wood stove works more effectively and the fire will burn longer if you keep the doors closed, unless putting more logs in.

• You may be asked to clean out the fireplace before you leave the cottage. Only use a metal bucket and shovel which should be provided. If they are not, don’t attempt to remove the ashes. We had guests in our cottage vacuum out the ashes thinking they were cold, which burnt through the machine. This was quite a costly shortcut!

• We had a chimney fire in our own home last year which was the result of a combination of errors. Using green wood, inadvertently leaving the flue open, using too much wood at one time, and failing to have the chimney cleaned regularly, all contributed to a near disaster. We learnt a lot from that and have been passing this onto our cottage owners who should be including instructions and warnings in their cottage guides, so please read them. 

A winter break in a cottage is a perfect time to kick back and relax with friends or family. But if you haven’t experienced wood stove heating before, do take some time to familiarize yourself with it, before you start loading up and lighting. Have fun and enjoy our cottage country lifestyle.