Wide documentary photograph of a heavy wooden work barge loaded with fresh-cut cedar framing timber navigating calm morning water toward a rugged granite point on Sturgeon Lake.
Wide documentary photograph of a heavy wooden work barge loaded with fresh-cut cedar framing timber navigating calm morning water toward a rugged granite point on Sturgeon Lake.
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Sturgeon Lake Chronicles

Building the Camp, Year by Year

Every piece of lumber...every ounce of concrete...every nail, screw and tool was hauled across open water, every post set onto Canadian Shield granite. Here is the chronological record of how raw lakeshore turned into Fishtaylz Camp.

Documentary angle of foundation work on Canadian Shield granite rock, showing leveled steel rebar pins, string lines, and a small campsite set among dense jack pines.
Documentary angle of foundation work on Canadian Shield granite rock, showing leveled steel rebar pins, string lines, and a small campsite set among dense jack pines.
Timber framing in progress along the rocky lakeshore, showing exposed heavy cedar rafters and framing against a backdrop of deep blue water and evergreen trees.
Timber framing in progress along the rocky lakeshore, showing exposed heavy cedar rafters and framing against a backdrop of deep blue water and evergreen trees.
Finished off-grid timber cabin at dusk with dark spruce siding, warm glowing windows, solar panels mounted on the south pitch, and a gentle plume of woodsmoke from the chimney.
Finished off-grid timber cabin at dusk with dark spruce siding, warm glowing windows, solar panels mounted on the south pitch, and a gentle plume of woodsmoke from the chimney.
The Build Years

From First Stake to Warm Hearth

Year One

Bedrock Pins & Granite Footings

We cleared dense spruce by hand, drilling steel rebar directly into ancient lakeside granite. With zero road access, every bag of dry concrete and generator gallon came across the water.

Year Two

Framing Walls & Raising Rafters

Rough-sawn cedar posts rose under long northern summer days. Using block-and-tackle and steady family hands, we hoisted the heavy ridge beam into place just ahead of the first October freeze.

Year Three

Solar Power & First Winter

We hung double-pane glass against northern gales, set the dark steel roof, and wired the battery banks. When sub-zero snow blanketed Sturgeon Lake, the cast iron stove crackled warmly.

By The Numbers

Sweat, Timber, and Open Water

48+

barge crossings

100%

solar & wood powered

3 Yrs

bush to lockup

0

roads to our door

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Read More Camp Stories

The construction was only the opening chapter. Follow along with seasonal lake logs, fishing trips, and wilderness updates from life at camp.