While building my house on Huron Bay, we live in a trailer. I call it a camper. So I guess we are “camping” — even though, in my experience, camping requires a tent. I’ve been living this way for several months a year, over 4-5 years. I love camping, whether by tent or trailer. In summer, it works great because I want to be outdoors anyway. Autumn is a different story, as nights grow long and temperatures go low. Trailers are basically tin boxes with no insulation and practically no storage. Mine is pretty small and hard to keep clean and organized, especially when two people are coordinating a huge project. (Which is why you won’t see indoor pictures!) Longer nights mean more time inside the tin box. Yet there are gifts! Mother Nature has been pretty stingy with sun in recent weeks, but today was glorious. I’m sharing below some local autumn photos on our few sunny days — even more precious for their rarity.
Sunrise in autumn and winter has a different quality, since the air is so clear. See the mist rising off Huron Bay? That wood pile is one of many at Camp Many Moons, since we’ve cut down so many trees. It will all get used eventually.
The ferns along the waterfront are mostly gone now. This year, I cut them down and hauled them to the burn pile so I don’t have to clean them up next spring. I rake the waterfront in spring, which may seem odd, but the waterfront is the highlight and I want it to be neat. Jeff says I need to leave some ground cover for the garter snakes, since they help with bug control. He’s probably right, so I’ll leave them some dead leaves to hide in.
We call this our little island but it’s really a peninsula, bordered by a sandy beach. We took down a few dead cedars on it this year but left these small ones, because…well, they’re kind of cute and their roots also act as erosion control.
The dock doesn’t get much use this time of year but still looks nice out there. It will come out of the water sometime next month — maybe sooner, if snow starts to fly.
The road to Camp Many Moons is so pretty in autumn. I’m surprised that rock sign hasn’t worn in four years. Acrylic paint on rock really lasts!
I took this photo from the dirt road that leads down to the camp road. That’s the head of Huron Bay at the bottom. I used to jog or bike up this hill, but not any more!
During my trek into town today for more calking (because windows and doors arrive tomorrow), I stopped for this glorious view at the head of Keweenaw Bay…
…and when I got back to camp, the sun beckoned me onto the water for an evening row. Wow….
…the trees across the bay were on fire this evening!
You see, camping in autumn does have its rewards! If I wasn’t living on the waterfront — in my wool socks and long underwear — I might’ve missed this.
Meanwhile, work does continue on the house but it’s mainly indoor work, as Jeff painstakingly creates inner walls and fusses to make the roof look right from indoors. (It’s not straightforward with a cathedral ceiling, a loft, and engineered trusses.) And I’m researching tubs and showers, and calling inspectors, as we prepare for electrical and plumbing work soon.
And laundry must get done even while camping. The nor-easter’ helped the sheets dry even though the temperature barely reached the 50s. I wash them in a bucket with a kind of plunger (called an Amish washing machine). I think about my washer and dryer at my house in Virginia. I don’t take them for granted anymore.
At some point, we’ll move that camper trailer off the waterfront so the house gets all the glory!
Roscoe naps less in cool weather than he does in summer, but I caught him taking one. 🙂 I take him with me during my runs to town because he loves car rides almost as much as his walks.
Fall is my favorite time of year and the trees of fire in your pictures and the mist rising from the bay remind me how much I loved the mountain streams and fresh morning dew waking up in the campground. We had tents and shivered half the night, lingering to avoid the first dash to the loo with first light. Like you said, Mary, gifts and trade offs, but so worthwhile.
Loved reading about your Autumn camping and your pictures are gorgeous. Something about fall stirs the soul! Looks like a beautiful part of the country. As for your home building project, I love the saying- “the goal is only worth the effort that’s used to achieve it!” Hope that helps..😁
I look forward to reading and seeing more pictures!
For Many Moons 
Fall is my favorite time of year and the trees of fire in your pictures and the mist rising from the bay remind me how much I loved the mountain streams and fresh morning dew waking up in the campground. We had tents and shivered half the night, lingering to avoid the first dash to the loo with first light. Like you said, Mary, gifts and trade offs, but so worthwhile.
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I see that you can relate! 😆
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Such beautiful photos, Mary! Thank you so much for sharing.
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Loved reading about your Autumn camping and your pictures are gorgeous. Something about fall stirs the soul! Looks like a beautiful part of the country. As for your home building project, I love the saying- “the goal is only worth the effort that’s used to achieve it!” Hope that helps..😁
I look forward to reading and seeing more pictures!
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