Hot weather AT hiking/camping trip. Chaga, wild edibles, F&S and more.

[Woods Walker]

Posted this on another forum but there is some knife content so maybe people here might enjoy this thread. It was a hot and humid trip but this wasn’t surprising given the record heat wave. Somehow I injured my foot a few weeks before. If I walk normally there isn’t any problems but any twisting is painful. I came up with a plan that might help to mitigate this. I would do a short hike in, maybe ½ mile and setup camp. From there I would take the detachable daypack for a longer hike through the hills using hiking poles for support.

Osprey Daylite attached to my Argon 85.



Water was in short supply. The heat is sucking everything dry. This stream was the best I could find.



This White Birch has seen better days. They always stand out more than other trees when fallen.



White birch sometimes means chaga. It can be used for incense, firecraft and tea. I am getting low so harvested some with the help of a stick.



Speaking of firecraft I didn’t pack any matches or lighters but did bring traditional flint and steel to start my hobo stove. I was thinking about how firesteels are sometimes incorrectly identified as traditional flint and steel by the novice or product marketing like Coghlan’s so called “flint striker“. I took my Strike Force firesteel to compare with F&S using char cloth in actual field conditions aka mosquitoes biting my sorry backside. I don’t think the char cloth component is all that primitive but that’s another topic.



Firesteel compared to traditional F&S. Granted this is old hat to many on this forum. The firesteel has yellow paracord, the chert and carbon steel is near the black char cloth.



This isn’t exactly fishing but better than nothing.



Hobo stove acting as a small scout fire. Burns off the ground and leaves no trace.



The classic hammock camp. Even in the hottest weather I will still pack a blanket. The poncho liner was mostly used as a makeshift pillow but it wouldn’t take much to get chilled even during the hottest season given the right set of circumstances.



High land scrub.



I found both White and Yellow birch. Both barks work nearly the same for tinder. I prefer chaga from White birch compared to chaga from Yellow birch despite not having any scientific proof to back this up.

Yellow Birch.



Just some flowers.





I really liked the flowering Winter green.



Some wild edibles.

The Staghorn sumac is starting to turn red and despite feeling a bit early in the season harvested some to make sumac lemonade at home.

The berry clusters.



Berries and leaves.





I removed the stems then stirred and soaked the seeds in COLD water. After that used a coffee filter to remove any of the hairs and floaters.



Here is a short video on the Staghorn sumac lemonade like drink. Don’t used poison sumac. I don’t think the two are easily confused.



Partridge berries or in this case berry.

I seen the flowering plants back home a few weeks ago so wasn’t expecting to find this single berry on the AT. It might have made it through the entire winter but that’s just speculation. There were no other berries on any of the plants so who knows?



Black Huckleberries.

These are starting to ripen. I ran into a back bear just before finding the large concentration of hucks. The bear ran off leaving the berries to me.





Blueberries growing along side and mixed in with the Black hucks.



Black berries mixed in with what looks like scrub oak leaves in the higher country.





Blackberries mixed in with blueberries.



It didn’t take long before I had a wild berry mix in a bag.



Used the blackberries, black hucks and blueberries for a tri wild berry bannock.

From foraging to fry pan.



A few kit items.

My Osprey Daylite is a nice little daypack that docks on my larger Argon 85. My foot was hurting and the heat punishing. I covering less than one mile per hour through the hills. It would have been harder with the larger pack. Took along one 70 oz Platy and two large sports drinks. All got drank by the time I got back to camp. I was a bit short on water.




Mora 746 and scandi Tiger Knapp. Two good UL knives in stainless steel.



Critters.

Given the heat I didn’t see much of anything out there. After a passing shower the newts came out and then disappeared again as the sun cooked off the moisture.



I encountered a black bear not too far from the berries but it ran off before I could take a photo. Black bears like many other critters often don’t want a conflict with people and for good reason.

Even hard outings are still better than sitting home doing nothing. The ice cold Sumac lemonade drink after the trip was a great way to unwind. Hiking 10 miles through those hills with an injury was the biggest downer but I wanted to get out badly. Maybe next time I will just go care camping if hurt.

Thanks for looking.

[grunt soldier]

very nice pictures. thanks for sharing. great collection of wild edibles man. I have never found wild blueberries.

[milani74]

Great pics. How do you like the daylite pack? Does is ride well when attached to your Argon, and do you keep your water bladder in there all the time? I was looking at getting one for my Aether, but wasnt sure I'd be happy with the stabbility when filled with water weight.

[coaldigger]

Looks like a fun trip !

[Woods Walker]

Great pics. How do you like the daylite pack? Does is ride well when attached to your Argon, and do you keep your water bladder in there all the time? I was looking at getting one for my Aether, but wasnt sure I'd be happy with the stabbility when filled with water weight.

I only keep water in the daylite when being used as daypack so it rides well.

[pitdog]

Great post buddy, I made myself some berry bannock the other year and it really is tasty stuff !

[Woods Walker]

Thanks for the postive comments. Yea berry bannock is some good stuff.

[lambertiana]

Those berries sure look good. That's one thing I miss around here - you can find blackberries along lower and middle elevation watercourses, but when I was growing up in upstate NY there were black raspberries everywhere and I could always find plenty of them to eat.

[WILLIAM.M]

Great Photos

Thanks for posting

[budman5]

Woodswalker
What does the chaga taste like when you make tea?

[JV3]

another excellent thread! i believe i've said it before, i really like how you break up your vids into short chunks...much more enjoyable to watch. also, i've noticed you have a lot of backpacks! every thread you're using a different one

[Woods Walker]

Woodswalker
What does the chaga taste like when you make tea?

I never tried it. I use Chaga for Incense and tinder. It is one of the few natural tinders which I can get to catch a spark from traditional F&S.





JV3.

Thanks for the comments and yup I have lots of backpacks. Always on the lookout for that perfect knife, pack or sleep system. Never ends.