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- Jun 3, 2010
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It was the first day of Spring not a flake of snow insight. The only solutions was to get in the truck and find some.
During the winter people compact the snow along trails. As the temps raise water starts to flow over the ice down hill. Makes for extremely slippery conditions. Glad in the end I decided to pack the Micro spikes. In a few weeks they will probably be put away but are worth their weight in gold when needed.
Hiked a bit then setup the shelter, gathered wood and water settling in to a night of Mountain House and dried soup. Speaking of MT I meet a person hiking from Georgia on the way to camp. He was younger but looked worked over by the trail. His sleeping pads, a worn out 1/2 melted Ridgerest combined with a silver bubble wrap car window reflector looked more ready for the trash than sleeping. He said much of his gear got toasted one night sleeping too near the fire. Asked if he could use my cell phone to call a friend in NY. Sure, why not? I showed him a short cut using the smart phone's maps to the next shelter heading north and gave up the other packed MT. He didn't ask for the food but there was no need to ask for something clearly needed. This was one of the worst winters I remember, guessing even more so for people down south. Hiking over a 1000 miles through that couldn't have been fun. On the flip side there are trail bums. These people near as I can tell somehow get sucked into the AT. Maybe living off donated food, lean-to shelters and water sources as they drift up and down the White blaze. Whatever the story I always give food, FAK supplies, info or anything else to help those on the trail. Karma.
I setup my sleeping bag off to the right. Despite my best guess as to the level ended up sliding around with my feet higher than my head. I HATE that! Bummer for sure.
Daybreak. Nice and warm. Must have been nearly 50 F. Contemplated moving the camp site however settled on readjusting the sleeping position to the left.
The good old dead cedar tree clothes line/ gear hanger trick. LOL!
Being the second day of Spring naturally I was wearing shorts.
To be honest I wasn't sure what to do during the day. Granted I would need more water and wood. Considered working these hills in the distance but decided to hold off on that till tomorrow.
Gathering some resources for camp:
Up first needed to collect and process enough wood to run the stove for 8 hours of burn time.
The fuel consisted of mostly dead hard wood stocks found OFF the ground. The area is mostly Hemlock which unfortunately is too sparky for use in my stove. Burning problem fuels within backpacking wood stove/nylon tent combo can greatly increase the chances of burn holes from embers even with spark screens.
This water looks so clean and pure originating from the surrounding hills. One could almost be tempted to drink deep right from the bank.
But this vision of purity could be an illusion. Peppered throughout the low land was deer scat. Not only that but seen them roaming about. There is very little below the hight of the deer browse. Best to treat this water with tabs or boiling.
Decided to check out the Lean-to shelter. I have been here a few times before. This is sorta standard of many shelters on the AT. There is a privy, wash pit, water source and designated campsites around. I will stop by to sign in, get water and talk to other hikers but almost never sleep in them. To each their own.
With the wood mostly out of the way and water taken care of it was time to check out the area better. Seems there are always some kinda wild edibles around. The previous day I gathered some chaga. Being a mostly Hemlock forest collected the needles for "Bushcrafty tea" night above the deer browse. Found these partridge berries near a Eastern Red oak. They're mostly tasteless so left them for the birds. There were a good number of dead cedar about. This is classical for a reforested area in the later stages. First the tall grass, then the bushes and cedars and finally other trees shade out the ceder. One thing about cedar is it doesn't rot like many other wood. Once reason why cedar fence posts are popular. Despite being hollowed out this tree is really rotting from the outside in. The wood just under the surface is red, not punky in the least. I used a cedar branch from a looooooooong fallen tree to hammer tent pegs and support wood for sawing. Despite looking like heck on the outside just under the surface it was as good as new.
Some very early Spring tree ID.
Muscle wood. Goes by many names but that's the one I use. A very hard wood this short tree has an almost muscular appearance. My advice is not to baton this with a knife.
Tulip Poplar. This tree grows tall and straight sometimes towering above all else. Often there are no limbs until much higher with tulip shaped things on the ends of the branches.
The woodpeckers are really working over this Hemlock. These shallow rooted trees can grow very tall. I like Hemlock needle tea over other types of conifer needle tea I have tried.
Very impressive pile of shavings at the base.
Feeling a bit dehydrated moved up "Bushcrafty tea" night to late afternoon/dusk. The hemlock needles were placed in the empty soup box. The gathered chaga tossed into a bag.
Stated things off with chaga incense The chaga was damp but dried then coaled in short order. The smoke is pleasing to me however never consume anything in any way unless you're positive of the ID and it's effects if any.
There is more info on the making of the teas within the video.
Powdered instant potatoes, hot sauce and salami. Just add water then stir. 30 seconds later we have a cheap UL meal.
Lounging in the front of the shelter near the fire. Temps in the 20's but still wearing those shorts.
My new favorite light tent lighting option. The UCO mini candle lantern. Runs for much longer than expected for such a small tea cup candle. But best of all doesn't drip wax on me when the stove heats up the shelter. This was a problem with the larger UCO. Awesome in cooler temps but as the stove heats up some issues develop. That and my DIY neutral tinted lantern running on low offered enough light for most tasks except for reading smaller print.
Third day of Spring. During the break down of my camp it rained. Naturally once everything was inside my pack the sun came out. LOL! Ran into two guys who had overnight gear but didn't expect snow in the hills. I guess something about that was too much so their over night outing plans changed into a day hike. Too bad but to each their own. A great day for hiking.
This was about the highest point in the area. Dumped the pack for a rest calling the end of my outing. The hike back would take some time but it was just a formality.
All in all a good trip. The ground I selected for campsite wasn't as level as expected. Kinda made for sucky nights sleeping. There was even more snow in the hills which was expected. Beyond the constant wind and AM rain lucked out with the weather. No temps lower than the 20's near as I could tell. Here is the video version for those who prefer that format. I can assure you it's just as long winded as the write-up. LOL! Thanks for looking.
[video=youtube;8JEpDsZQBbI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JEpDsZQBbI[/video]
During the winter people compact the snow along trails. As the temps raise water starts to flow over the ice down hill. Makes for extremely slippery conditions. Glad in the end I decided to pack the Micro spikes. In a few weeks they will probably be put away but are worth their weight in gold when needed.
Hiked a bit then setup the shelter, gathered wood and water settling in to a night of Mountain House and dried soup. Speaking of MT I meet a person hiking from Georgia on the way to camp. He was younger but looked worked over by the trail. His sleeping pads, a worn out 1/2 melted Ridgerest combined with a silver bubble wrap car window reflector looked more ready for the trash than sleeping. He said much of his gear got toasted one night sleeping too near the fire. Asked if he could use my cell phone to call a friend in NY. Sure, why not? I showed him a short cut using the smart phone's maps to the next shelter heading north and gave up the other packed MT. He didn't ask for the food but there was no need to ask for something clearly needed. This was one of the worst winters I remember, guessing even more so for people down south. Hiking over a 1000 miles through that couldn't have been fun. On the flip side there are trail bums. These people near as I can tell somehow get sucked into the AT. Maybe living off donated food, lean-to shelters and water sources as they drift up and down the White blaze. Whatever the story I always give food, FAK supplies, info or anything else to help those on the trail. Karma.
I setup my sleeping bag off to the right. Despite my best guess as to the level ended up sliding around with my feet higher than my head. I HATE that! Bummer for sure.
Daybreak. Nice and warm. Must have been nearly 50 F. Contemplated moving the camp site however settled on readjusting the sleeping position to the left.
The good old dead cedar tree clothes line/ gear hanger trick. LOL!
Being the second day of Spring naturally I was wearing shorts.
To be honest I wasn't sure what to do during the day. Granted I would need more water and wood. Considered working these hills in the distance but decided to hold off on that till tomorrow.
Gathering some resources for camp:
Up first needed to collect and process enough wood to run the stove for 8 hours of burn time.
The fuel consisted of mostly dead hard wood stocks found OFF the ground. The area is mostly Hemlock which unfortunately is too sparky for use in my stove. Burning problem fuels within backpacking wood stove/nylon tent combo can greatly increase the chances of burn holes from embers even with spark screens.
This water looks so clean and pure originating from the surrounding hills. One could almost be tempted to drink deep right from the bank.
But this vision of purity could be an illusion. Peppered throughout the low land was deer scat. Not only that but seen them roaming about. There is very little below the hight of the deer browse. Best to treat this water with tabs or boiling.
Decided to check out the Lean-to shelter. I have been here a few times before. This is sorta standard of many shelters on the AT. There is a privy, wash pit, water source and designated campsites around. I will stop by to sign in, get water and talk to other hikers but almost never sleep in them. To each their own.
With the wood mostly out of the way and water taken care of it was time to check out the area better. Seems there are always some kinda wild edibles around. The previous day I gathered some chaga. Being a mostly Hemlock forest collected the needles for "Bushcrafty tea" night above the deer browse. Found these partridge berries near a Eastern Red oak. They're mostly tasteless so left them for the birds. There were a good number of dead cedar about. This is classical for a reforested area in the later stages. First the tall grass, then the bushes and cedars and finally other trees shade out the ceder. One thing about cedar is it doesn't rot like many other wood. Once reason why cedar fence posts are popular. Despite being hollowed out this tree is really rotting from the outside in. The wood just under the surface is red, not punky in the least. I used a cedar branch from a looooooooong fallen tree to hammer tent pegs and support wood for sawing. Despite looking like heck on the outside just under the surface it was as good as new.
Some very early Spring tree ID.
Muscle wood. Goes by many names but that's the one I use. A very hard wood this short tree has an almost muscular appearance. My advice is not to baton this with a knife.
Tulip Poplar. This tree grows tall and straight sometimes towering above all else. Often there are no limbs until much higher with tulip shaped things on the ends of the branches.
The woodpeckers are really working over this Hemlock. These shallow rooted trees can grow very tall. I like Hemlock needle tea over other types of conifer needle tea I have tried.
Very impressive pile of shavings at the base.
Feeling a bit dehydrated moved up "Bushcrafty tea" night to late afternoon/dusk. The hemlock needles were placed in the empty soup box. The gathered chaga tossed into a bag.
Stated things off with chaga incense The chaga was damp but dried then coaled in short order. The smoke is pleasing to me however never consume anything in any way unless you're positive of the ID and it's effects if any.
There is more info on the making of the teas within the video.
Powdered instant potatoes, hot sauce and salami. Just add water then stir. 30 seconds later we have a cheap UL meal.
Lounging in the front of the shelter near the fire. Temps in the 20's but still wearing those shorts.
My new favorite light tent lighting option. The UCO mini candle lantern. Runs for much longer than expected for such a small tea cup candle. But best of all doesn't drip wax on me when the stove heats up the shelter. This was a problem with the larger UCO. Awesome in cooler temps but as the stove heats up some issues develop. That and my DIY neutral tinted lantern running on low offered enough light for most tasks except for reading smaller print.
Third day of Spring. During the break down of my camp it rained. Naturally once everything was inside my pack the sun came out. LOL! Ran into two guys who had overnight gear but didn't expect snow in the hills. I guess something about that was too much so their over night outing plans changed into a day hike. Too bad but to each their own. A great day for hiking.
This was about the highest point in the area. Dumped the pack for a rest calling the end of my outing. The hike back would take some time but it was just a formality.
All in all a good trip. The ground I selected for campsite wasn't as level as expected. Kinda made for sucky nights sleeping. There was even more snow in the hills which was expected. Beyond the constant wind and AM rain lucked out with the weather. No temps lower than the 20's near as I could tell. Here is the video version for those who prefer that format. I can assure you it's just as long winded as the write-up. LOL! Thanks for looking.
[video=youtube;8JEpDsZQBbI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JEpDsZQBbI[/video]
Thanks for sharing the adventure:thumbup: