My old happy place

Not so long ago, I had the privilege of sharing my summer weekends on an island situated on Quebec Crown land.

The islands were very popular but some of the harder locations to get to were always empty. We found an elevated spot that required hauling our gear up a cliffside and made it our own.

^ This was the view from the upper camping spot

The view from the lower camp

Early morning at the launch point

Press-pot coffee morning views

A family of curious river otters paying us a visit. They were loudly snorting at us but I muted the audio for privacy reasons.

Basically another family of otters.

The islands are on a man made reservoir. The water got deep fast--a couple meters from shore was well past your head. I'm not a strong swimmer so I preferred to watch from shore with the boat and rescue gear if needed.

Sunset swimming with a storm on the distant horizon

Home

Panoramic of the lower camp

The islands were extremely rocky and covered in a dense layer of decaying pine needles and leaves. Virtually no grass grew there, instead you would find lush mosses and a variety of sparse plants and abundant fungi.

Black trumpets?

A cladonia lichen and a couple of mossy friends

Some kind of coral fungus

Tawny funnel cap maybe?

Unknown

Turkey tail?

Onnia?

A wasp gall

Huge water snake

Pink lady slipper orchid

A fire pit we found floating around the reservoir

A shirtless overweight Imgurian with an axe

The sounds of waves and wind

Finally a campfire to warm and comfort you on your way out.

I don't know that I'll ever return to this place. The Crown land was apparently sold off to private buyers, and it's full of lingering ghosts for me now anyway.

Here's some melodic electronic music to fill up the rest of this space before the post dies in usersub...

Synthy techno that always makes me think of the person I used to visit these islands with; energizing and comforting, they felt like those last warm golden crepuscular rays of sun before it sets and turns to red and orange over calm green horizons (2020)

https://open.spotify.com/track/6vJbJEvLvne9nqprqVteRz

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/1157142812

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/grains-record-of-the-week-abgt408-mixed/1541324451?i=1541324456

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=yROhwtzCS9M

Melodic trance that brings similar feels (2020)

https://open.spotify.com/track/1C4YecFLkm3CjK6DH9WTOY

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/848012822

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/analog-dreams-mixed/1840431548?i=1840431551

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=gU_5JDHpomk

Brooding downtempo psybient with a much darker feel (2011)

https://open.spotify.com/track/4pKsjN4Ya5eDWWHm3TOi4i

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/639020412

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/dybet-remastered-2024/1744868657?i=1744868903

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjy6jGBqI2w

Melancholic ambient downtempo (2018)

https://open.spotify.com/track/63Jo5bfsIPMtf9lVmNK6lJ

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/630057402

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/relic-mixed/1449715260?i=1449715261

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyc6rN7Q2YQ

Fun eclectic trip-hop with a silly theme and samples (1999)

https://open.spotify.com/track/7lUEfgYUsAyGw1dNClLU35

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/10235803

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/fish/416287492?i=416287514

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=jCT6TOdJ99Y

Old school genre setting synthy electronic ambient (1996)

https://open.spotify.com/track/2IBgNoMfGUTBEM3HGAKwrR

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/2270734347

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/everything-you-do-is-a-balloon-2014/916746995?i=916747111

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=5_KKJmEY2PU

Melodic ethereal progressive house, one of my favourites from this artist (2020)

https://open.spotify.com/track/4AjgGeqU3Ma2HWGJuwqwTz

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/1028643832

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/dream-of-love-feat-mimi-page/1522751850?i=1522751851

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=NpEJW3HobUU

Chill electronic emotional dubstep (2018)

https://open.spotify.com/track/2R3i3DTcQU6hQPJtRxG1v8

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/495166772

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/i-love-you/1649889688?i=1649889697

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=UfEDVtZIsm8

More chillstep from the same artist but a more brooding, darker theme (2018)

https://open.spotify.com/track/2mb0qEIwydXfS6cgCr6VUM

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/542773092

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/the-journey/1649889688?i=1649889689

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7GYwt6QVk_E

Downtempo melodic chillwave (2019)

https://open.spotify.com/track/3nYzYsI1h7LHrTuBvStp9w

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/786138712

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/always-her/1484909735?i=1484909891

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=E-GrkGuC-Nc

More nostalgic synthy chillwave (2020)

https://open.spotify.com/track/01qJ56jfaAvK2OXbamJv54

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/989654742

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/aether/1518046703?i=1518046709

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=tQsiDFFNM1g

And for something completely different, modern alternative folk-rock (2022)

https://open.spotify.com/track/416r5CNwByClIGHhs2U5PO

https://www.deezer.com/en/track/1588767292

https://music.apple.com/ca/album/spiders/1600520732?i=1600521390

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxeghxj4p1I