Prairie stroll

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
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I produced this thread elsewhere but thought it would be nice to post up one of my dog walks here in W&SS again. Its been awhile since I've done so....

Thursday afternoon RangerJoe and I went for a walk. Didn't snap off too many shots, but I went for a solo walk today and picked up more pictures and enough to do a thread.

The tall grass prairie is in full swing this time of year. Tall they call it, because the grasses now grow beyond a man's height. The mixture of wild flowers and interspersed tree stands makes a stunning place for a walk. Albeit their plethora of berry goodness, the blackberry prickles do tend to interfere with some of the walking pleasure. Nevertheless, I enjoy this place during this time of year. Its difficult wading through the goldenrod seems to lessen people traffic and give more of a bushwacking feel than in the fall where visibility is so much greater, sometimes to good and you loose the 'lost in the wilderness' perspective.

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All kinds of wildflowers, butterflies and critters to enjoy.

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Not sure what these beetles are, but I spotted them all over the prairie and must reflect a hatch-out or active period in their life history.

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In the fall this is a very distinct trail. Not very easy to keep track of where beta is among her constant scurrying about in a perimeter around me.

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Lots of rain provides for some lush green hues and soft vegetation. I love the look of healthy ferns under an overcast sky.

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more coming...
 
Entering some of the tree stand areas...

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Came across this old dead cottonwood. Interestingly, it was stripped of bark for most of its trunk accept for this one section. The paper like inner bark fibers were all exposed here and made for a perfect tinder bundle.

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A common resting spot that reflects a bit of a clearing in the tree stand.

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Joe and I both harvested some sassafras on Thursday. We did some bowdrill practice and came close to ember but neither of us were successful. Admittedly we were both pretty hot and tired out so our attempts were not full out. I had decided to keep my hearth/drill figuring I would give the same kit a try later on. Today was as good day to try again as any and I used bowdrill to start the fire for my twig stove.

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Here is that tinder bundle from the cotton wood fibers. I mashed up the inner bark enough to expose the fibers. It was pretty dry, but not as dry as I like.

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First try and I managed to get it to ember right off the bat with the sassafras hearth/spindle. Its a wonder how being fresh and also working the technique on more stable ground can change your whole perspective about ease of a given wood to ember.

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More coming.....
 
The tinder basket did draw the flame from the ember, but as mentioned above, there was enough moisture in it to require a whole lot of huffing and puffing to keep it flaming.

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About 2 cups were brought to boil in no time at all. I enjoyed a cup of tea and added some more twigs to my stove to enjoy a little fire with my tea. I love the twig stoves. You get to have fire without as much guilt about your footprint on the earth.

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On the way back, in the midst of a field of golden rod I found another downed cottonwood that fell recently clearing the field in the path of its fall. I took the opportunity to harvest a bit of this choice wood for future bowdrill. Parts of it was perfectly seasoned for bowdrill use.

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The base actually fell right over drainage ditch that runs through these parts and leads to the main path. Beta and I thought we'd enjoy the opportunity of the natural bridge and make our way back home outside of the bramble tangles.

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All and all, it was a great walk. I'm still picking the thousand burrs off my bushshirt and will presumably be doing the same for beta's fur over the rest of the week!
 
Great pics.

How hard is it to find water there?

The coffee shop is about 25 minutes walk away :D Lots drainage ditches about and you can always dig the ditches to find water if you need to. For convenience I typically pack it in. Total size of this little reserve is 300 acres, so I'm still essentially in suburbia in this place.
 
Even with all the water we got when it came it never got that green here. It was just to hot.

Good pics, though. :thumbup:
 
Hey Ken, where's that at? Been looking for a nice hiking spot nearby.
 
Great photos Ken, thanks for sharing. I am definitely going to have a play some cotton wood soon.
 
Great pics as always Ken. Is that a stove you made, details please ?


Ps Ken, do yourself a favour and get a decent knife buddy !:D
 
Nice pics! I have yet to experience true tallgrass prairie (although the fields that had been left fallow for years where I grew up in upstate NY were close to that in appearance).
 
luckily austin has had a nice bit of rain this year though. also nice to see ausitn ppl around...

great pics btw
 
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