Columbus day weekend at my seasonal lakefront property is mystical and sad. All in all, October in Vermont is one of the most beautiful months. I usually take many great photos of the leaves reflecting on the water. In the morning fog often covers the lake as the sun rises. The sunsets in October are spectacular. I am not sure why, but the western part of the sky turns brilliant red, orange and yellow matching the leaves on the trees. The temperature starts out down around 50 degrees in the am, but by mid afternoon it can be 70 degrees. The term “Indian summer” comes to mind. Even with all the beauty around, Columbus day is an acknowledgment that this fun season is at an end.

Now, for my neighbors, they look forward to ice fishing and snowmobile across the lake. But for me, with four teenage kids, it means that a busy hectic life is upon me and time to close up for the dark, cold, winter months. 

I have closed “camp” for many years, even as a kid. My grandparents owned a lakefront cabin in New Hampshire. It is a bitter-sweet experience. I know that I will be spending the coming cold months day dreaming about when I can open camp again. So, on to the details of closing.

Having done this many times, I like to think that I have it down to a science. First, I always bring free labor, my kids. They know this and have attempted to come up with excuses as to why they cannot come that weekend. But atlas, the lure of 1 final long weekend on the lake usually results in at least one kid giving in. (Ok…I offer them a little money too).

Essentially, I arrive on Friday, enjoy the place until Monday. Monday is when I do all the work. It usually takes about 3 hours with 1 kid as helper. Just to mention, I have some lazy neighbors that actually pay $50 to a local person to close up camp. The same person will open it for $50. I just can’t see giving away good money for 3 hours work. I mean I have the process down to a science!

First I rake all the pine needles off the front lawn (by the lake). This is a therapeutic exercise for me. I have coffee at 7am, then rake leaves at 7:30am. I take my time, only stopping once in awhile to admire the beauty of lake front property. It takes me about an hour to rake and about 1/2 hour for my kid to drag the pine needles to the woods and dump them. This is especially important if you want green grass in the spring. Pine needles are acidic and kill the grass. Now, several of my “slacker” neighbors have decided not to bother with grass. They claim that they come to relax at the lake and not mow grass. So, I help them by raking my pine needles on their dirt (as their grass has died). In fairness to them, I occasionally think that I hear them laughing at me as I sweat while mowing my grass.

This past spring I spent extra time planting flowers and bulbs that I got at “half price- end of season sale” at Lowes. I will work hard for the next few years caring for these plants. I have many shrubs and flowers around. My neighbors make comments now and then, but they are just jealous!

After I rake the leaves, I add natural fertilizer. Now this is a point I should talk about later, as fertilizer is against the environmental regulations. There is all kind of laws about what you can and cannot do when you live next to the lake. So, I will save the horticulture discussion for the next post.

After raking and fertilizing, I move to mulch my plants and wrap many of them to protect against the very cold winter. Some will even get fertilizer. 

Next I bring the dock in. Now, this could consume allot of time depending on how your dock is designed. I leave that to another post also. In my case, I have an eight-foot extension that I disconnect from the main dock and with my helper, lift it out of the water and set in on the main dock. The eight-foot extension dock uses barrels to stay afloat, so it is not too difficult to pull it of the water.

Essentially, I leave the main dock (6×12) in the water. My swimming area has an underlayment of shale, so my dock does not sink. It does move into the lake by 2 - 4 inches each year. I simply make adjustments every spring to compensate. My Dock is made of pressure treated lumber.

I turn the rowboat over and store the oars under the building. I then bring the floating dock to the shoreline. Usually I swim out to it, lift the home made anchor, and float it over to the shore. But this year, I waited too long and the water was cold. So I used a come-along device to pull it to the shore dragging the anchor. 

After the dock is in, the rowboat turned over, oars stored, I then store any lawn furniture under the building. We are now ready to drain the water from the pipes.

This process I have made easy as a result of improvements each year. The first thing I do is turning the electric off to the water pump. Then I open all the faucets in the building including the hose and the shower. I then have a faucet on the water inlet pipe at the lake. I step on two rocks and turn the drain spicket open. All the water pours down the slight hill back into the lake.

I then have drains sweated into the pipes at precise locations. I was able to determine these locations by coming back to camp in the spring to leaks from where a little water was left in the pipe and the pipe burst. I would say that I have four drains. I open all drains and let the water pour out on the dirt floor below the building. I then open the drain on the water heater and allow that to drain (power off of course). That’s it. Takes about 20 minutes.

Next I clean out the refrigerator. All remaining food must be taken home or disposed of. If you leave anything edible, you may get visitors (mice) who leave presents (turds) for you in the spring. I usually do a minor wipe down. The kid will load the boxes of left over food and condiments into my vehicle.

Next I will add a small amount of anti-freeze to the toilets and sink traps. I will turn the gas off. I will remove the main breaker from the breaker box. Then I will bring inside any deck furniture and my grill. Lock the door. Essentially we are finished. I also have a camper that I use for extra sleeping space. That gets cleaned and locked. 

I also drive my boat to the boat launch and load it on the trailer (yet another post). The boat will get stored for the winter.

My neighbors are kind enough to watch the place for me. I will not be back until Easter weekend or after. But, the place will give me some warmth over the winter. During the winter I will get some e-mail from my neighbors as to any news.

To see my lake click on the link.