Hiking and Fire making

[mcjhrobinson]

So I was supposed to go hiking yesterday with the fam, but my ol lady wussed out seeing as it was uphill. So, I got to go today instead. This is my first hike in oregon and I couldnt have picked a better day (its been real foggy lately). The hike I picked is called Table Rock...a nice mesa overlooking the valley approx 2000ft in elevation.

The goal of my hike was to relax, get some excersize, poke around for fatwood, and practice some fire making skills in colder weather. The temp was around 30F or so, but there were clear blue skies.

Most of the trail had oaks and creosote bush,very chaparral and high desert-ish.

This nice stretch had some manzanitas growing as well...

some cool little mushrooms i encountered...

cool leaf shell that got frozen over...

some various views atop the mesa...

more to come...

 

[mcjhrobinson]

so heres the fire practice....first off it had gotten pretty chilly up there and i really wanted to practice my flint and steel and make a fire for some tea (hence the can). no pictures though sorry. so i had my jute nest, got a spark from some char-cloth and proceeded to exhale onto the jute nest.....and nada. just a bunch of smoke. i wanted to try again but i couldnt feel my fingers. i then just busted out my firesteel gave it two shaves with the Koyote bushcrafter onto the jute nest and some fatwood slivers and presto flames!

i noticed it was smoking heavily....unsure of fire regulations i put out the fire and packed up my things and hit the trail. sorry i dont have more pics but my hands were icecubes.

note to all who want to skimp on bags, this is what happens...

broke both zippers....luckily i always carry a safety pin.

heres one more photo of what i believe is Mt. McCoughlin

it was great day out and when i got home i had a message about a possible job

i hope everyones monday wasn't dreadful....and if so just read poor Mentors thread

-matthew

 

[Mistwalker]

Beautiful area to hike in. Now you see why I am so fond of fatwood. There are a lot of natural tinders out there and a lot of ways to prep them for a fire...and it is always good to practice with the other tinders because you just never know what you may encounter out and about and what you may have to do. But when you are really cold...or especially really cold and wet, to me fatwood is just the safest bet for quickly getting a fire started.

 

[mcjhrobinson]

i agree. i was also able to get some great shavings with the spine of my koyote bushcrafter and those fuzzies

i also like jute and fatwood combo....practice makes better

 

[TheGame]

It took you TWO strikes? What kind of woodsman are you?

Just kidding, bro. Great pics :thumbup:

Thank god for the safety pins!

 

[Mistwalker]

yeah, I meant to mention this before but... I really just don't like vertical zippers on my gear if I can avoid it. At least not on large compartments where the most pressure is going to be. With a smaller compartment it could be more easily sealed and essential small contents transferred to another, more secure area.

 

[mtnfolk mike]

great pics man.. that is a gorgeous area for sure..:thumbup: i like that Koyote knife too...

 

[mcjhrobinson]

yeah, I meant to mention this before but... I really just don't like vertical zippers on my gear if I can avoid it. At least not on large compartments where the most pressure is going to be. With a smaller compartment it could be more easily sealed and essential small contents transferred to another, more secure area.

im a cheapo

they worked fine until i had cold hands.....i guess its back to my TNF backpack...thing wont ever die

thanks mike! it felt good to be around more trees than rocks....and not have to drive 70mins to do so.

 

[Mistwalker]

im a cheapo

they worked fine until i had cold hands.....i guess its back to my TNF backpack...thing wont ever die

Yeah...me too. Hell my favorite pack is an old, cheap, all canvas, "Australia style" ruck sack made by Rothco lol.