I have a cottage which sits halfway up the Bruce (or Saugeen) Peninsula, between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. When the sun sets after a cloudy day it gets very dark. On clear nights If the moon is up and you’re out from under the trees you’ll probably be able to navigate, and even on a moonless night the stars will probably give enough light to avoid potholes and rocks, but in the shadow of the trees you’ll be in trouble. You’d do well to carry a flashlight. As you might imagine, it’s great place to have a telescope.

There are a couple of problems with that which I had not fully considered when I bought the property. First, it’s between two very large bodies of water. That means if the wind passes over in either direction it’s likely to pick up moisture, so dew/frost is a problem throughout the year, along with “lake effect” snowfalls in winter.

The snowfalls affect access in winter because the cottage itself is over 100 meters from the road. Access is a further problem because in three seasons the property is at least three hours drive away from my urban home, and longer in winter due to snow and—dare I say it—battery depletion when temperatures are low, which can force me to stop and charge for a half-hour or so in order to complete the trip. On one occasion the roads were closed due to the amount of snow, and that’s not uncommon.