every cottage has it

It is the thing you do that makes the cottage trip official. It's the milestone activity that you complete and say "ahhh, now that's summer". At our family cottage it was a hike around Red Point or a frog catching trip to the lake or a big bonfire on the seashore. At my sister in-law's cottage it is the hike to the top of the hill behind the house. Sheep grazed the hillside when the family bought the property and the A-frame was a beige triangle on a field of solid green. Now the lambs are no more and the brush and spruce has begun to take over the grassland. The laurels scratch your bare legs as you hack through the ankle-turning hummocks and skirt the swampy patches marked by Blue Flag iris. If you time your walk for a hot day in early July you can feed on tiny wild strawberries that have been warmed in the sun. The summit does not disappoint. The commanding views up the estuary and along to the West Mabou Beach are heart pounders.

I put together a little panorama. Click to enlarge in Flickr.