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- Jan 7, 2003
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I was able to spend 48 hours with my 13 year-old daughter camped on a mountainside here in Brazil this past week. It’s the tail end of rainy season and it looked like we were firmly in the end part but it didn’t work out that way.
This was to be a test of our survival skills, not just a lightweight, low-impact camping trip like we usually do. Plan “A” was to camp at our favorite campsites. It only takes about 2.5 hours of climbing to get to it about halfway up the mountain. Day two was to be a hike to the top of the mountain to shoot some video and then camp on the reverse slope. Day three was reserved for the hike out. It didn’t work out this way.
The mountain is very rocky with huge boulders scattered over the slopes. In many places there are vertical cliffs and dripping springs and seeps. Water was not going to be a problem. Our campsite was located down slope of a HUGE rock with about a ten-foot overhang. The prevailing winds sweep downhill and carry the rain around in such a way that the small flat area in front of the rock stays dry even in a heavy downpour. Freak gusts of wind can carry spray into the “dry” area but that doesn’t happen often. To the left of the rock is a small stream of water that runs during rainy season but dries up later in the year. A thick carpet of alpine grass covers the ground in front of the rock.
Upon arrival I cleared the flat area next to the rock for building our shelter. My daughter set about collecting and filtering six liters of water. After digging out some lumps and clearing the weeds I ripped out a few large armloads of grass to make our bed. I then rigged up a ripstop poncho as a windbreak/lean-to to keep the breeze and spray off us at night. The sky was clear and sunny so I wasn’t particularly worried.
I had no way to anchor the poncho to the sheer rock face. On the next trip to the high mountains I plan to carry about six screw eyes. There were all sorts of tiny holes and cracks I could have taken advantage of if I had included them in my kit. As it was I had to resort to some creative pole placement. I collected the poles from the scant patches of scrub scattered about the slope. For clearing the ground and constructing the shelter I used a 10-inch Tramontina machete.
That evening I built a fire to heat dinner (Cup O’Noodles). No big task but I decided to use my PSK Sparklite and tinder. The preceding months of heavy rain had left the small twigs and sticks too wet to ignite easily and I have to admit it took me two “practice runs” and an entire tinder bundle to get the fire going on the third try. The bottom line was that I was being lazy and not taking the time to properly prepare my fire. The conditions demanded more respect than I was giving. (Note: in dry season in the same location you can pretty much scuff your feet and make a fire by accident!)
The first night we slept in our tropical weight bags and bivy sacks with the poncho to protect us from the wind and the grass to insulate us from the ground. We woke up to dense fog and drifting, heavy mist.
The top of the mountain was covered in billowing clouds so we decided to explore the front slope and take pictures of the flowers. Just about everything was in bloom. To climb to the top would have been a wet and pointless exercise we have done before.
About 10:00 AM heavy rain was falling in the valley and we could see it steadily moving in our direction so we retreated back to our camp in time to watch the mountain get a serious watering. All of the fuel in the area was getting soaked. I had had the forethought the night before to store a supply of reserve firewood under the rock. Dry grass and leaves were in SHORT supply. I was able to collect about a double hand full that had to last for all of our remaining fires. It was a mistake not to collect as much as I could while conditions were dry the day before.
I did have an eight-foot section of well-seasoned Candeia wood under shelter. Candeia is a very hard, smelly wood that burns brightly once it gets started. Fires sweep up the slopes every few years. It seems every rock outcrop has a few dead Candeia trees which make prime targets for firewood. I was able to chop this log into six-inch sections with the 10-inch machete and my BK-7. Both of these blades are too light to work effectively on such hard, seasoned wood but I got the job done. I used the BK-7 with a Candeia baton to split the rounds into firewood, and then feathered the split wood with my daughters Mora Clipper. I could have done all the knife tasks with the BK-7 but chopping was easier with the machete and feathering the firewood with the Clipper. I would have been loath to dig or chop out roots with the BK-7 but it would have done the task.
I normally carry the ten-inch Tramontina in the higher altitudes to conserve weight. I prefer to use a “disposable” blade for clearing brush and digging. Chopping that much firewood left me seriously wanting my 14-inch Tramontina or 12-inch Ontario! A folding saw would have come in handy. I tried Wetfire tinder from my PSK and found it easier to use than the Sparklite tinder. The seasoned Candeia feather sticks lit easily.
For years my system for heating water has been a US Army canteen cup and stove sleeve. I normally use a Trioxene bar in the stove and feed in small bits of wood to bring the water to a boil. When there is birch bark available I just feed curls of bark into the stove to heat my meals. So far I haven’t found anything that burns so easily during rainy season to make this possible.
My solution is going to be wax and sawdust filled paper egg carton bottoms saturated in melted paraffin wax. I figure I can use these as a trioxene substitute, which is unavailable here in Brazil.
The second night I rigged my daughter’s poncho to shelter the exposed side of the lean-to. This was a good idea as it rained much during the night and the poncho got soaked. We slept very well protected in our bivy sacks and were able to leave them open due to the lack of bugs. I didn’t have a thermometer but in the morning it was cold enough to see our breath.
My leather roper gloves came in handy and protected my hands while climbing over jagged rocks and clearing brush. They will stay in the pack.
In the high elevations there is very little material to make a natural shelter, but there are plenty of sheltered locations where you can get out of the wind. A few of these locations even have level ground. There is an abundance of thick, round stemmed grass in places you can sink into it up to your chest. If I had to spend the night up there with only my knife and canteen I would find a sheltered location, make a thick mattress of grass and then build a thatched lean-to. By carrying the ponchos and bivy sacks we saved about two hours.
We had a great time in a beautiful place and got to practice some of our skills. There was just enough pressure to make it interesting. I’ll trade in the ease of living in a tent and cooking over a stove for my 15 pound pack anytime. Mac
This was to be a test of our survival skills, not just a lightweight, low-impact camping trip like we usually do. Plan “A” was to camp at our favorite campsites. It only takes about 2.5 hours of climbing to get to it about halfway up the mountain. Day two was to be a hike to the top of the mountain to shoot some video and then camp on the reverse slope. Day three was reserved for the hike out. It didn’t work out this way.
The mountain is very rocky with huge boulders scattered over the slopes. In many places there are vertical cliffs and dripping springs and seeps. Water was not going to be a problem. Our campsite was located down slope of a HUGE rock with about a ten-foot overhang. The prevailing winds sweep downhill and carry the rain around in such a way that the small flat area in front of the rock stays dry even in a heavy downpour. Freak gusts of wind can carry spray into the “dry” area but that doesn’t happen often. To the left of the rock is a small stream of water that runs during rainy season but dries up later in the year. A thick carpet of alpine grass covers the ground in front of the rock.
Upon arrival I cleared the flat area next to the rock for building our shelter. My daughter set about collecting and filtering six liters of water. After digging out some lumps and clearing the weeds I ripped out a few large armloads of grass to make our bed. I then rigged up a ripstop poncho as a windbreak/lean-to to keep the breeze and spray off us at night. The sky was clear and sunny so I wasn’t particularly worried.
I had no way to anchor the poncho to the sheer rock face. On the next trip to the high mountains I plan to carry about six screw eyes. There were all sorts of tiny holes and cracks I could have taken advantage of if I had included them in my kit. As it was I had to resort to some creative pole placement. I collected the poles from the scant patches of scrub scattered about the slope. For clearing the ground and constructing the shelter I used a 10-inch Tramontina machete.
That evening I built a fire to heat dinner (Cup O’Noodles). No big task but I decided to use my PSK Sparklite and tinder. The preceding months of heavy rain had left the small twigs and sticks too wet to ignite easily and I have to admit it took me two “practice runs” and an entire tinder bundle to get the fire going on the third try. The bottom line was that I was being lazy and not taking the time to properly prepare my fire. The conditions demanded more respect than I was giving. (Note: in dry season in the same location you can pretty much scuff your feet and make a fire by accident!)
The first night we slept in our tropical weight bags and bivy sacks with the poncho to protect us from the wind and the grass to insulate us from the ground. We woke up to dense fog and drifting, heavy mist.
The top of the mountain was covered in billowing clouds so we decided to explore the front slope and take pictures of the flowers. Just about everything was in bloom. To climb to the top would have been a wet and pointless exercise we have done before.
About 10:00 AM heavy rain was falling in the valley and we could see it steadily moving in our direction so we retreated back to our camp in time to watch the mountain get a serious watering. All of the fuel in the area was getting soaked. I had had the forethought the night before to store a supply of reserve firewood under the rock. Dry grass and leaves were in SHORT supply. I was able to collect about a double hand full that had to last for all of our remaining fires. It was a mistake not to collect as much as I could while conditions were dry the day before.
I did have an eight-foot section of well-seasoned Candeia wood under shelter. Candeia is a very hard, smelly wood that burns brightly once it gets started. Fires sweep up the slopes every few years. It seems every rock outcrop has a few dead Candeia trees which make prime targets for firewood. I was able to chop this log into six-inch sections with the 10-inch machete and my BK-7. Both of these blades are too light to work effectively on such hard, seasoned wood but I got the job done. I used the BK-7 with a Candeia baton to split the rounds into firewood, and then feathered the split wood with my daughters Mora Clipper. I could have done all the knife tasks with the BK-7 but chopping was easier with the machete and feathering the firewood with the Clipper. I would have been loath to dig or chop out roots with the BK-7 but it would have done the task.
I normally carry the ten-inch Tramontina in the higher altitudes to conserve weight. I prefer to use a “disposable” blade for clearing brush and digging. Chopping that much firewood left me seriously wanting my 14-inch Tramontina or 12-inch Ontario! A folding saw would have come in handy. I tried Wetfire tinder from my PSK and found it easier to use than the Sparklite tinder. The seasoned Candeia feather sticks lit easily.
For years my system for heating water has been a US Army canteen cup and stove sleeve. I normally use a Trioxene bar in the stove and feed in small bits of wood to bring the water to a boil. When there is birch bark available I just feed curls of bark into the stove to heat my meals. So far I haven’t found anything that burns so easily during rainy season to make this possible.
My solution is going to be wax and sawdust filled paper egg carton bottoms saturated in melted paraffin wax. I figure I can use these as a trioxene substitute, which is unavailable here in Brazil.
The second night I rigged my daughter’s poncho to shelter the exposed side of the lean-to. This was a good idea as it rained much during the night and the poncho got soaked. We slept very well protected in our bivy sacks and were able to leave them open due to the lack of bugs. I didn’t have a thermometer but in the morning it was cold enough to see our breath.
My leather roper gloves came in handy and protected my hands while climbing over jagged rocks and clearing brush. They will stay in the pack.
In the high elevations there is very little material to make a natural shelter, but there are plenty of sheltered locations where you can get out of the wind. A few of these locations even have level ground. There is an abundance of thick, round stemmed grass in places you can sink into it up to your chest. If I had to spend the night up there with only my knife and canteen I would find a sheltered location, make a thick mattress of grass and then build a thatched lean-to. By carrying the ponchos and bivy sacks we saved about two hours.
We had a great time in a beautiful place and got to practice some of our skills. There was just enough pressure to make it interesting. I’ll trade in the ease of living in a tent and cooking over a stove for my 15 pound pack anytime. Mac
