Summertime Fiddleback Adventures

[hasco]

I just got back from a road trip to Northern California, Oregon and Washington with the family. We spent time in a couple different cabins in Northern California, camped and visited family in Washington. The hardest part was deciding which fiddle backs to bring. I decided to bring my kephart, my camp nessie, my scandi arete, and my bushcrafter. I picked up a scandi karda while in Washington that was mailed from a trade. I wanted to get as much knife time in as possible so I did a few different projects for fun. I made a small bow with my bushcrafter, carved a spoon with the scandi karda, made a small cup with the scandi arete, made another spoon with the kephart, camp nessie and the karda, and did some fire prep mostly with the camp nessie. All of the knives performed exceptionally well. I am crazy about the kephart and the scandi arete and I was very impressed with the scandi karda. For how small the scandi karda is, it can really get a lot done and just disappears into my pocket. I also used a deep bent knife from north bay forge and a silky pocket saw on some of the projects. I did a lot of work with all of the knives I brought and with a little stropping, they are all still scary sharp. Besides playing with the knives we had a lot of time to swim, fish, find tracks and critters and just enjoy being outside in the summertime. I tried to include a few nature pics as well as some knife shots.

I hope you enjoy and I would love to see some pics of your summertime adventures.

Tod

 

[Comprehensivist]

Tod,

Those are some excellent photos. My favorite is the joy on your son's face when he is holding up the fish. That is priceless. Very nice job on the spoon. I have a post coming soon with photos of my first attempt at a spoon, so I know how much work goes into it. You really have refined your collection to a great set of knives. Your Bushcrafter and Kephart are exceptional examples of those models.

Thanks again for sharing your journey with us. It doesn't get much better than some quality outside time with the family (and some very cool knives.)

All the best!

Phil

 

[Joe Duder]

Looks like fun! Nice river shots. What river is in the pic below the Nessie?

Is it me or was that pool full of trout? I see at least six.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[hiredgun]

I love the photos. Thanks for sharing. I especially like your boy's pose with the rainbow trout. Great memories to be sure. I recently went to the Fremont Indian State Park in Utah where a lot of petroglyphs were discovered during the construction of Interstate 70. My Bushboot got the nod for the trip.



Some of the first petroglyphs I saw.




The Bushboot and some mountain sheep.



A very cool spiral ceremonial site.



I found a big blue spruce to give a little shade and rest to me and the Bushboot.



My custom made sheath (thanks Rick!) and the Bushboot under the spruce.



A different trip to Boise, ID and what did I find--the Wienermobile!!!

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Uh... Was it for a wedding? Are you related?

Seriously though, a bunch of my family made the same trek over the same time frame to visit family in Washington for a wedding.

Nice pictures. Yours and Duder's pics have got me really looking forward to our upcoming trip to the Sierras! Couple of days and counting.

Thanks for the pictures!

Hiredgun, that weinermobile has been at my plant a few times. I work for Kraft Foods (owns the truck) and I'll tell ya, those drivers have a really unique job! I may or may not have worn a costume for the company at the county fair over the years, but that's a different gig altogether!

 

[prom52]

Hey Tod

Thanks for sharing your family outing......really diggin that shot of your son at the Owls's Perch

Your son is fortunate to have a Dad who is providing him with a love for the outdoors.

Some pretty cool bushcrafting work as well !

Peter

How do you like that Silky Saw ?

 

[RRaconteur]

Awesome shots, trip, and knives. I had thought about starting a thread by the same name before posting my pics to the "User" thread. Now I'll have to go on another trip to contribute here. 😄


Michael

 

[trestle]

Great photos from your trip! I like the cup you carved, very cool.

There is nothing better than time off with family and Fiddlebacks!

We need to have some Fiddleback West gatherings! We're all so spread out that it would be difficult but it could be a worthwhile time!

 

[catalystman80]

:thumbup:

 

[hasco]

Tod,

Those are some excellent photos. My favorite is the joy on your son's face when he is holding up the fish. That is priceless. Very nice job on the spoon. I have a post coming soon with photos of my first attempt at a spoon, so I know how much work goes into it. You really have refined your collection to a great set of knives. Your Bushcrafter and Kephart are exceptional examples of those models.

Thanks again for sharing your journey with us. It doesn't get much better than some quality outside time with the family (and some very cool knives.)

All the best!

Phil

Thanks Phil! I can't wait to see the pics of your spoon. It is not that I need any more wooden spoons, I just find the process to be extremely enjoyable. I think I might like playing with knives too much.

Looks like fun! Nice river shots. What river is in the pic below the Nessie?

Is it me or was that pool full of trout? I see at least six.

Thanks for sharing.

Good eyes Duder! I wasn't sure if people would notice the fish in that picture or not. That pool is filled with a ridiculous amount of fish. It is a great hole and it gets stocked, so there are a lot of fish in that shot. I look at it as a good place to practice my roll cast with dry flies, because you are definitely going to catch fish. The river below the nessie picture is the Klamath. It was gorgeous.

I love the photos. Thanks for sharing. I especially like your boy's pose with the rainbow trout. Great memories to be sure. I recently went to the Fremont Indian State Park in Utah where a lot of petroglyphs were discovered during the construction of Interstate 70. My Bushboot got the nod for the trip.

Great pics hiredgun! Thanks for adding to the thread.

Uh... Was it for a wedding? Are you related?

Seriously though, a bunch of my family made the same trek over the same time frame to visit family in Washington for a wedding.

Nice pictures. Yours and Duder's pics have got me really looking forward to our upcoming trip to the Sierras! Couple of days and counting.

Thanks for the pictures!

Hiredgun, that weinermobile has been at my plant a few times. I work for Kraft Foods (owns the truck) and I'll tell ya, those drivers have a really unique job! I may or may not have worn a costume for the company at the county fair over the years, but that's a different gig altogether!

If you have a picture in that costume, you should consider using it for your avatar! Gets some pics from the Sierra!

Hey Tod

Thanks for sharing your family outing......really diggin that shot of your son at the Owls's Perch

Your son is fortunate to have a Dad who is providing him with a love for the outdoors.

Some pretty cool bushcrafting work as well !

Peter

How do you like that Silky Saw ?

I thought you might like the owls perch! I hope you don't mind that we stayed in your cabin for four nights.

I really like the silky! It packs up small and comes in handy a lot.

Awesome shots, trip, and knives. I had thought about starting a thread by the same name before posting my pics to the "User" thread. Now I'll have to go on another trip to contribute here. 


Michael

It is always good to have an excuse to get out there again!

Great photos from your trip! I like the cup you carved, very cool.

There is nothing better than time off with family and Fiddlebacks!

We need to have some Fiddleback West gatherings! We're all so spread out that it would be difficult but it could be a worthwhile time!

I think a fiddleback gathering would be epic!

:thumbup:

:thumbup::thumbup:

 

[thurin]

Tod,

This is awesome! Thanks for sharing it with us. Looks like an incredible time. Great pics. I'll reiterate what other's have said, the pic with your boy and the fish is priceless.

Nice work on the bow, spoon and kuksa. Great set of knives in use here.

Hiredgun, thanks for the petroglyphs and the bushboot. The handle on that one is insane.

 

[hasco]

Thanks Nathan!

I sat down with a little sand paper and cleaned up my projects from the trip a little tonight. I need to do so more work on the mini kuksa. The cedar spoon turned out the best.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

Those came out nicely! I need to get back to spoon carving one of these days.

 

[Crano]

Hey Tod looks like you had a great holiday mate and your young bloke had a great time .
What could be better, good weather , a few fish , a happy son ,some awesome knives and great photos of your trip.
Great stuff.

hiredgun
Those Petroglyph's are just fantastic and the very cool ceremonial site amazing. I'm hoping to go on a trip later this year to a remote aboriginal bora ground similar to the spiral.
Do you know what age are those petroglyph's
and the spiral are?
Oh and the Bushboot is a ripper.

Mick

 

[hiredgun]

hiredgun
Those Petroglyph's are just fantastic and the very cool ceremonial site amazing. I'm hoping to go on a trip later this year to a remote aboriginal bora ground similar to the spiral.
Do you know what age are those petroglyph's
and the spiral are?
Oh and the Bushboot is a ripper.

Mick

Thanks Mick. The petroglyphs and spiral were created sometime between 400 AD and 1350 AD. I'm sure someone has a better fix on the approximate time period, but if you're interested in the Fremont Indian Culture, I found a website that has some good general info about the culture as a whole and not necessarily about the site I visited. http://www.thefurtrapper.com/fremont_indians.htm

 

[SA Condor]

We visited a historical site called 'El Fuerte' that dates back to around 300 AD, and I brought my Fiddlebacks along! This was our third time here, but our first with our newly adopted daughter. You can read more about the site at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/883

First view of some of the ruins. . .

Some flowers. There are lot more varieties at different times of the year. . .

The Karda facing the sacrificial part of the stone. The groves are where the blood would run down. . . You can see it better in the next 2 pics. . .

The Karda outside a priests quarters. . .

Sentry posts at one point. . .

A poisonous leafy plant that's all over. . .

Wielding the Karda as we approach. . .

The Karda is pretty too!

Sentry posts on the opposite side. . .

You'd have to scale this to reach those sentry posts!

Part of the road and one of the reasons it can take so long to get anywhere. The big boulders are bigger than our Land Cruiser!

Hidden little lagoon during the dry season. . .

 

[RRaconteur]

Awesome adventure!

This is my favorite shot:

 

[hasco]

Great pics Luke! The makers of those ruins would probably have been pretty stoked if the had a fiddleback back then!

 

[SA Condor]

Great pics Luke! The makers of those ruins would probably have been pretty stoked if the had a fiddleback back then!

Yes! The sacrifices would have been much cooler!

Don't think the Karda dates back to 300AD, but I thought the historical design fit the place. I swapped the Runt for the Karda for the rest of the day!

 

[thurin]

Luke, great pics of the ruins, flowers, Fiddlebacks! Thanks for bringing us along.

Yesterday we headed up into the mountains with the in-laws to celebrate my daughter's and my mother-in-law's birthdays. Had my favorite Fiddleback strapped to my belt. We cooked up our favorite camp breakfast of pancakes, sausage and country potatoes. Birthday cake came in the form of coffee cake shaped like a 16 for my daughter (how the heck do I have a 16 year old daughter?!?!)