Why A Small Cabin In The Woods Is Your Next Dream Home

The cabin we were fortunate enough to stay in was small, built for one, maybe two. The kitchen had a propane stove and oven, and two solar panels that powered one light and satellite internet. This became my dream home, all four walls of this tiny little clay cabin.

Care Taker Cabin, Hazel Hut Retallack, BC

The cabin is located in Retallack, BC where there was once a big and busy mining town called Whitewater. It has all since burned down except for two old hotels down the street. We lived in a ghost town.

This was a day in the life:

Wake up to the light, birds singing, Eska whining. The window was right by my head and was often left open a crack because the fire got too hot. The cold breeze cleanses your face as you look outside to see the early morning light. You look out and often see a raven or another bird dancing around the snow and roof tops.

Tlapa Outside Of Our Bedroom Window, Care Taker Cabin, Hazel Hut Retallack, BC

Get up, and immediately go outside to pee with the two dogs. This gets fresh air into your lungs first thing in the morning, better then any coffee I’ve ever had.

Then the percolating coffee, and smell of boiled eggs and avocado toast. On cue the sound of the Co2 alarm goes off because cooking toast in an oven just does that kind of thing. Needless to say by this time, we’re fully awake.

We sit down for a moment, maybe write or light the fire, and see what we need to do for the property that day to pay off our stay. Then we get our base layers on, snow pants, jackets, and ball caps, and we start the day with a ski tour.

The first two days of ski touring were definitely more exploration then skiing, following logging roads and hitting dead ends or actually going in circles. Then, we finally wound up at Whitewater trees. Woah! That was what we were here for! The skiing blew our minds as we ripped through some of the nicest and deepest snow I’ve ever been in. This lasted for a few days, until the rain and hot sun came.

Soon enough, natural avalanches were happening everywhere so we decided to take it easy and just explore. We explored around the mountains, checking out valley after valley, and driving to see ghost town after ghost town. Even though we hit a shoulder season while we were there, the countless things to do and incredible things to see were endless.

Each day we returned, maybe to shovel a roof, stain a building, or dig a new hole for an outhouse. And each day we returned satisfied, exercised, and generally just so happy to be outside and living like we were.

At night, we’d put on some music, make an amazing supper, feed the dogs, and maybe sneak in an episode or two of Seinfield. We ate, played cards, and by the time we got out for our group night time pee, we would stare up at the stars for a while.

There is a reason, however, that we started going for group night time pees. There are cougars everywhere (apparently) and the bears were waking up, but these animals weren’t the ones ‘who’ scared me. I was in the outhouse alone one evening, when I thought I heard something. It was fully quiet around me, and I stopped breathing for a second to listen. Then this loud maniacal laugh that basically sprung me out of a seat no one should ever spring from and I bolted back to the cabin, thinking cougar, human, something worse… I got inside and ran up to Virgil, opened the window by our bed to listen… nothing…. This was where the internet comes in handy in the middle of the woods. We looked up the sound I heard… Barred owl. And even though my run for my life out of the outhouse was just an owl hooting and laughing at me, I still only go out at night with a crowd, whether it be for joint embarrassment as an owl laughs at you, or just for the general fear that something’s always watching.

Then we go to bed, we open the window a crack and listen to the night, and the cool air of the window and the warm environment of the fire lulls us to sleep, until Eska’s whine fills the cabin in the morning, and the morning light and cool air seeps through the window, and a raven and a warbler sing and dance just meters away.