1k Post / Epic Summer Fiddleback GAW: The Bushcraftiness(?!) User Challenge

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So, to start. I live in Missouri so our terrain is usually pretty boring. If you look though, one can find things of beauty in these places. I drove across the state to meet up with a friend of mine and from there we drove two hours south of where we were both raised. We drove down into the Ozarks, the place we were going is littered with large red granite boulders and granite bluffs. The place we were headed was a little camp ground in the Mark Twain National Forest, we arrived before mid day Saturday and set up camp. Our agenda included beer drinking, fishing, and cooking. To save you guys the wait, we did all of those.

The knife I brought along was a Kephart blueback with OD micarta handles. Talk about a work horse. Oh yea, it also has RLowe pants. They make a fancy pair together if I do say so myself.


We decided we were gonna have some soup/stew, and we also figured it should have some bacon in it.

Wetterlings axe and the FB

This is the mess we made up. We set it up to cook while we went fishing.


Part 1.

 

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We figured we had better get a few cool photos of the Fid.



This is on our way out when it started raining. Thought it looked pretty cool.


That milk stout for you boys!


KCCO is a black lager like 1554, I really enjoy it. This was after our first small mouth.

Part 2

 

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This is my official entry, sorry for the sideways pics. Sorry for the small pics. But heck, I had a great time in red granite land.

 

[thurin]

Viral, I love the OD Green. Nice setup with that Blueback and RLo. It's cool seeing all the dutch oven cooking.

Great scenery! Definitely not boring. I was out in Mark Twain NF a month ago but not in an area any where near as pretty as that.

Ahhh, Lefthand Milk Stout. Nectar of the gods as Will put it. I'll have to see if I can find some KCCO if it's like 1554. Good stuff.

The entries are coming on strong.

 

[hasco]

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This is my official entry, sorry for the sideways pics. Sorry for the small pics. But heck, I had a great time in red granite land.

Man, that is some beautiful country. Those water shots are off the charts! Looks like a good adventure.

 

[hasco]

Schmittie, you are killing me with those camp site biscuits and gravy. Man, do I have a few things to learn. The bullroarer is awesome too!

 

[thurin]

Schmittie, you are killing me with those camp site biscuits and gravy. Man, do I have a few things to learn. The bullroarer is awesome too!

Speaking of dutch oven cooking:

For father's day my kids (and wife) gave me a dutch oven cookbook, soup mixes and beer bread mix for cooking up on our upcoming camping trip.

 

[SA Condor]

All these camping pics are making me have fond memories of all the hiking and backpacking trips I did with my Dad growing up. Truly some of the best time I ever spent with him. I hope during the times we return to the US that I'll be able to make some of these same memories with my daughters! Thanks for sharing all these pics guys! I did a few solo trips back in the day, but I think this type of trip is even better when shared with family. Glad to see that everybody has gone with family and friends so far.

 

[viral]

Viral, I love the OD Green. Nice setup with that Blueback and RLo. It's cool seeing all the dutch oven cooking.

Great scenery! Definitely not boring. I was out in Mark Twain NF a month ago but not in an area any where near as pretty as that.

Ahhh, Lefthand Milk Stout. Nectar of the gods as Will put it. I'll have to see if I can find some KCCO if it's like 1554. Good stuff.

The entries are coming on strong.

Where did you go in the mark twain NF? Where are you located? I might be able to give you some spots to hit up, I've got a pretty good scope on missouris outdoors. And I like kcco more than 1554, it just seems smoother to me.

 

[thurin]

Where did you go in the mark twain NF? Where are you located? I might be able to give you some spots to hit up, I've got a pretty good scope on missouris outdoors. And I like kcco more than 1554, it just seems smoother to me.

I'm in Colorado. I was out in Missouri for a meet. We were in the Cedar Creek section of MTNF between Columbia and Jefferson City. Not sure when I'll be back out there but I'm always on the hunt for good camping and hiking areas.

Looks like I can get KCCO here locally. I'll give it a shot.

 

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Yea thurin I've been up around there, you have to go further south/southeast to get a real taste of the ozarks. Where you were wasn't very special, I mean all outdoors are, but it wasn't anything exciting I'm sure. The ozarks are beautiful and underrated.

 

[hasco]

Speaking of dutch oven cooking:

For father's day my kids (and wife) gave me a dutch oven cookbook, soup mixes and beer bread mix for cooking up on our upcoming camping trip.

That's awesome. You will have to keep us posted if you like the recipes and which were the camp favorites. I haven't used a Dutch oven camping. I'm going to have to look into this.

 

[thurin]

That's awesome. You will have to keep us posted if you like the recipes and which were the camp favorites. I haven't used a Dutch oven camping. I'm going to have to look into this.

So far we've just done standard biscuit or dump cake type stuff when camping with the dutch oven. Looking to kick it up a few notches. It's fun to practice with at home too. Gives me an excuse to try stuff out. Also explains why I need to start a challenge like Michael's.

 

[RRaconteur]

Yea thurin I've been up around there, you have to go further south/southeast to get a real taste of the ozarks. Where you were wasn't very special, I mean all outdoors are, but it wasn't anything exciting I'm sure. The ozarks are beautiful and underrated.

+1 for the Ozarks. I spent a good part of the summer each year between Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes, almost on the Arkansas line. One of my favorite places in the world, even still.

So far we've just done standard biscuit or dump cake type stuff when camping with the dutch oven. Looking to kick it up a few notches. It's fun to practice with at home too. Gives me an excuse to try stuff out. Also explains why I need to start a challenge like Michael's.

Ha! Sounds like we cook similarly when camping. We went on a trip with another a while back, and the other dad remarked: "We don't eat this good at home, and you're doing it all over an open fire." I took it as a compliment, though I don't know his spouse did... 😄


Michael

 

[McVeyMac]

Ha! Sounds like we cook similarly when camping. We went on a trip with another a while back, and the other dad remarked: "We don't eat this good at home, and you're doing it all over an open fire." I took it as a compliment, though I don't know his spouse did... ��


Michael

Back in 1980 when I was first dating my wife, we attended a group camping/gathering/retreat (no mixing of girl and boy tents unless married). Early in the morning I fixed coffee, bacon and eggs on the fire for her and I. She will bring this up even to this day, some 34 years later, that that was the best coffee and breakfast that she had ever had.

I forget what wood we were burning, but obviously the ash from it seasoned everything to perfection in her eyes.

 

[RRaconteur]

Back in 1980 when I was first dating my wife, we attended a group camping/gathering/retreat (no mixing of girl and boy tents unless married). Early in the morning I fixed coffee, bacon and eggs on the fire for her and I. She will bring this up even to this day, some 34 years later, that that was the best coffee and breakfast that she had ever had.

I forget what wood we were burning, but obviously the ash from it seasoned everything to perfection in her eyes.

I suspect her dreamy eyes for you had more to do with it than the ash. 😉


Michael

 

[thurin]

Back in 1980 when I was first dating my wife, we attended a group camping/gathering/retreat (no mixing of girl and boy tents unless married). Early in the morning I fixed coffee, bacon and eggs on the fire for her and I. She will bring this up even to this day, some 34 years later, that that was the best coffee and breakfast that she had ever had.

I forget what wood we were burning, but obviously the ash from it seasoned everything to perfection in her eyes.

Walt, that is awesome.

 

[Joe Duder]

Back in 1980 when I was first dating my wife, we attended a group camping/gathering/retreat (no mixing of girl and boy tents unless married). Early in the morning I fixed coffee, bacon and eggs on the fire for her and I. She will bring this up even to this day, some 34 years later, that that was the best coffee and breakfast that she had ever had.

I forget what wood we were burning, but obviously the ash from it seasoned everything to perfection in her eyes.

This made my night.

It's awesome and very special how the simplest of things like bacon, eggs and coffee over a camp fire can be remembered and be so significant in the infant, adult and twilight stages of a bond or relationship. It's why man invented poetry.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[xxwjtxx]

14 calendar days until the big drawing folks; there's still plenty of time to get your entries in!!

For those big you who have already posted & entered, awesome job so far -- all of you have set the bar quite high with your submissions!

 

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Key West Adventure

One of the advantages of living in SW Florida aside from the respite from the ravages of winter is the proximity to the Florida Keys. This past week my wife and I took advantage of a nice weather window and made the 5 hour trip across Tamiami Trail and down US-1 to Key West with a quick lunch stop on Islamorada at Cheeca Lodge

Fishing Dock at Cheeca:

We stayed in a little beach cottage on Sunset Key right off the coast of Key West. Here is the view from our cottage:

Here is a street performer at Mallory Square.....with a little imagination you can picture the act using a few of Andy's Bishops:

We took a day trip by boat over to the Dry Tortugas to tour Fort Jefferson:

No trip to Key Wesst is complete without a photo at the Southernmost Point:

Nothing like a golden Florida Keys sunset to finish off the day with a few cold ones:

On the way back home we stopped at a roadside produce stand to sample the locally grown Pitaya (Dragon Fruit)

Had to fight off some of the attack iguanas guarding the fruit bearing cactus:

Finally a chance to sample some Dragon Fruit with the help of a Hiking Buddy in CPM:

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Not much bushcrafting involved but my Hiking Buddy sure was glad to finally get his feet wet ! Count me in for the GAW Will.....hope ya'll enjoyed the pics !