DORSET, Ontario. A weekend get-away is a different adventure for everyone. My experience was a few hours north to a friend’s cottage in Dorset Ontario.

Wanting to make the most out of the weekend, we decided to head out late Friday evening, arriving at the lake at about 11 p.m.

Driving the speedboat across the lake to the cottage is a different experience this late at night. As the flashlights from our cellphones illuminate this still lake and pitch black sky, the immensity and grandeur of the landscape around us slowly manifested as our eyes adjusted and the outline of the mountains and valleys surrounding Lake of Bay form shadow.

Most city dwellers drive up here during the summer months, when the lake is warm and swimmable and hiking through the forest comes to life with thriving ecosystems. But here we are as the ground has just begun to frost, and most animals have settled in for their winter hibernation. The night is eerily silent as the insects too have already disappeared for the season.

During the day, the view from the cottage of the beautifully forested lake is breathtaking. Most of the maple trees have started to shed their green, leaving their natural fall colours to show.

Though chilly, we still made time to bundle up and go fishing. We didn’t get much of a catch but sitting in the boat in the middle of the lake surrounded by such immense forested hills I felt substantially small.

The only downfall of the trip was that the whole weekend was overcast. I was looking forward to seeing the bands of the Milky Way, but not even the moon came out to shine.

Dorset’s landscape is definitely worth the two and half hour drive up from Toronto. The draw and appeal of earth’s natural beauty is something in all of us. Here in Ontario and similarly across Canada, thanks to cottage country, I am grateful that we have access to places where we can escape the chaos of the city and experience the purity of the world.

Afternoon clouds reflecting off the lake. (c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

Tree carving (c) Krystal Seecharan

Small boats sandwiching the dock. (c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

Cottage in the woods.(c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

Chairs inviting you to have a seat and enjoy the view. (c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

View over the bow of our boat facing out into the forest. (c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

Boating out to the lake. (c) Krystal Seecharan

Small catch (c) Krystal Seecharan

Cloud framed lake, kissed with the setting sun. (c) Krystal Seecharan

Stretch of forest line the lake (c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan

Lone Grasshopper (c) Krystal Seecharan

(c) Krystal Seecharan