another day hike: hunter's axe and deer.

JV3 · Jan 20, 2014

it was snowing last saturday so decided to go for a day hike and explore a new area for a future overnighter.

nice spot to put my tarp up.

jackpot! tons of firewood.

another jackpot - cedar tree. i rarely see it out here and when i do there's only one. there's one area way farther south that we mountain bike on that's filled with cedar trees though.

JV3 · Jan 20, 2014

i really like this area - lots of small hills/nooks and crannies to hide behind.

snow masks noise from walking and i managed to sneak up to a group of deer.

...but i didn't go un-noticed for long though.

close up.

might be the perfect spot for me to give the mors supershelter another try. last time i did it was a fail - my shelter was too big, no backwall reflector, and the fire wasn't big enough.

got tired so time for lunch...was kinda hoping for rain (it was raining by me when i left the house) to test my newly sealed tarp to see if there's still leaks.

nice view.

toy for this trip is my gb hunter's axe.

i didn't need to split anything with so many twigs around but my axe skill is my weakest...so i'll keep practicing with it until it becomes second nature!

JV3 · Jan 20, 2014

probably the most comfortable handle shape to choke up on out of all the gb axes i own.

feels like the wildlife hatchet on steroids.

mora takes over for the finesse stuff.

with an emberlit, this is probably enough wood to boil 2 liters of water if i had to.

cedar bark as tinder.

one of the best lounge chairs i've been on

nothing like peace and quiet.

i didn't even need the tarp...blue skies before i knew it.

nessmuk trio for this trip.

massive oak tree - sobering to see something that big and healthy just tipped over.

emberlit heaven.

JayGoliath · Jan 20, 2014

Lovely pics. Peace is good.

neeman · Jan 20, 2014

nothing like peace and quiet.

Camber · Jan 21, 2014

Thanks for sharing.

vhram · Jan 21, 2014

Very cool , thanks .

WILLIAM.M · Jan 21, 2014

Another Great post Bro

Portman30-06 · Jan 21, 2014

Really makes the inside of the house look bad.

I can't wait to get back to some woods. But I guess for now I'll go make some tinder or start a fire.........

Liberando · Jan 21, 2014

Well done, thanks!

River-8 · Jan 21, 2014

:thumbup: Peacefully (nicely) done indeed; thank you for sharing...!

JV3 · Jan 22, 2014

JayGoliath said:
Lovely pics. Peace is good.

thanks, jay!

neeman said:
nothing like peace and quiet.

indeed, it's priceless! bonus is i didn't have to pay for anything but gas too

Cashmore said:
Thanks for sharing.

you're welcome!

vhram said:
Very cool , thanks .

thanks!

WILLIAM.M said:
Another Great post Bro

thanks, dr. bill!

Portman30-06 said:
Really makes the inside of the house look bad. I can't wait to get back to some woods. But I guess for now I'll go make some tinder or start a fire.........

haha...that's when i sniff the soot in my cook pot and that camp fire smell brings me back out there

that's what i like about the emberlit - i get to practice fire prep and get that camp fire smell even in the backyard.

Liberando said:
Well done, thanks!

thanks!

River-8 said:
:thumbup: Peacefully (nicely) done indeed; thank you for sharing...!

thanks! glad you like my thread.

Portman30-06 · Jan 22, 2014

Do you have the SS or Ti emberlit? Just curious on your thoughts.

Ak Stig · Jan 22, 2014

Cool story with some great photos. Thanks for sharing the day with us!

neeman · Jan 23, 2014

I love the photos
They are color but monochrome
This quality is very special

Barbarossa · Jan 23, 2014

Great pics and it looks very relaxing thanks for sharing.

tman038 · Jan 24, 2014

great pics. looks very relaxing but cold. thanks for sharing.

JV3 · Jan 26, 2014

Portman30-06 said:
Do you have the SS or Ti emberlit? Just curious on your thoughts.

i have the titanium version but i started out with the stainless version. i haven't found anything different functionally between the two, i just wanted the lighter weight version.

Ak Stig said:
Cool story with some great photos. Thanks for sharing the day with us!

thanks! glad you like my thread.

neeman said:
I love the photos
They are color but monochrome
This quality is very special

thanks! color but monochrome - i never thought about it like that! by late march i'm already complaining about all the brown and looking forward to the spring greens though.

Barbarossa said:
Great pics and it looks very relaxing thanks for sharing.

thanks! i think i'll frequent that area this year - really nice view of the lake.

tman038 said:
great pics. looks very relaxing but cold. thanks for sharing.

thanks, man! just below freezing so wasn't too bad. we've been getting single digits here lately which is rare for us actually going by the previous winters. upside is practically anywhere i go it's quiet!

Woods Walker · Jan 29, 2014

Nice pics. I also like packing the old school wooden Mora. The Ridgerest is a useful kit item. The only down side for me being snow/water gets trapped in the ridges.

JV3 · Jan 29, 2014

Woods Walker said:
Nice pics. I also like packing the old school wooden Mora. The Ridgerest is a useful kit item. The only down side for me being snow/water gets trapped in the ridges.

thanks! i have plenty of other moras (companion, bushcraft, robust, etc.) but this oval one is the newest one i tried and it's actually the one i like the best out of all of them...i should've started with this model.

i have a gossamer gear foam pad as well that i'll try out next (no ridges or anything) to see if it works better on snow/wet.