A Cabin In The Woods
I recently stayed up at a small A-frame cabin all by myself in the deep Ontario wilderness. With a supply of food, water, some damn fine (mediocre) instant coffee mix and my camera I made it through.
For 4 days I was immersed in a magical cocoon of autumn leaves and the sound of silence. Well... not really. There was actually a nearby train that would make a ghostly whistle right before nightfall and some ominous drilling was also happening far-far away every morning, but for the most part it was quiet and serene. I really treasured it but it definitely wasn't a typical 'vacation'.
To be honest, I was a more than a bit paranoid out there all on my own, especially at night. I blame it on my proclivity to imagine spooky scenarios in my head and all the sci-fi TV shows, movies and video games I consume. My partner and I just got into watching LOST recently and if you've seen LOST before you could probably imagine the scenarios that would play in my head when hearing distant (coyote) screams or rustling bushes in the pitch black woods at night. Although I think anyone could empathize with the thought of those things being creepy on their own.
I had to keep the windows open on the first floor at night to keep fresh air moving through the cabin due to some wet wood burning in the furnace. The wet wood lead to a lot of smoke filling the cabin and there was a clear choice between hearing creepy rustling in the dark forest or dying from smoke inhalation - so obviously I chose the creepy forest sounds.
I also took a lot of photos. These photos had a cold and creepy vibe quite reminiscent of scenes from the game The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.
Similar to The Vanishing of Ethan Carter it was beautiful and mysterious to explore the surroundings of the little A-frame cabin.
Although I took many photos, I actually refrained from sorting through them on the trip just in case I saw any creepy shadows or unknown figures in the backgrounds of the shots (yes, seriously).
There were two other vacant broken down creepy cabins on the property that didn't didn't help... The more creepy one can be seen below.
It turns out that I in-fact have 'no chill' though, and I could probably put myself into a deep psychosis if deprived of proper sleep, food and water for a long period of time. Luckily, I was only sleep deprived and I little bit oxygen deprived from all the smoke so I still kept somewhat of a level head.
Anyhow, I made it through. It was still a very fun and novel experience that I am happy to have had. However, if I ever put myself in these circumstances again I will be more prepared for it in the future.
Here's some of the shots I took on the trip and a couple shots on my way home.
🍂