The rendezvous.

Woods Walker · Feb 9, 2013

The rendezvous.

I headed out with my uncle to the Dacks for The ECR. Packed up the pulk sled with too much gear. The car ride was a little over 4 hours. I was a bit surprised at the lack of snow and actual mud. The temps where in the mid 20s and upper singles overnight which wasnt bad.

All the ruts made pulling a top heavy pulk a bit difficult. There was always the chance of a roll over.

Setup my DIY stove and heat exchanger, burned the UCO then checked out the camp.

Found this modified Golite tent with Ti-goat stove jack and Ed T stove. I think they did a good job with the stove jack installation.

Hanging out in Particks 24-man tipi running both Artic and Mega Artic stoves. The heat output was only rivaled by their hunger for wood.

Good morning in tipi village.

Stream rising out of Canadian guys 6-man tipi. He burns more white gas in a day than I do all season.

The inside of Billybasss Sawtooth shelter.

Micro Spikes and Crocs. Not exactly peanut butter and jelly but very possible.

Woods Walker · Feb 9, 2013

Gathering tinder for a fire.

But someone times the tinder bites back. Billybass sliced his finger(s) open pulling dried grass out of the ground for a tinder bundle. There was even a blood trail. I was surprised that grass is capable of that.

Punk wood and chaga.

OMG, the Bic is out of fuel? What are we going to do? We field modified the Bic and used punk wood to catch the weak spark. It wasn’t easy blowing that coal into flames. I transferred the coal to progressively larger chunks of punk wood then added more punk to create a smoldering mass. Billybass suggested adding birch bark to the mix and it just burst into flames. It was easier to start a fire using marginal means with extra hands. On the down side I was feeling the pressure to ignite and blow that coal into flames. No one was going to freeze because we were about 10 minutes from camp and had multiple ways to start a fire but I talked some serious smack and didn’t want to look like a poser. On a side note I tried this trick again at dusk and was unable to get a coal. Maybe it was the increasing cold or snow fall? In any case I wouldn’t want to wait till dusk for colder weather to try marginal fire craft methods if needed.

The classic on top of the snow fire platform and simple pot hook. I made pine needle tea but like the chaga tea steeped back at camp it was too weak. I am not used to making these teas for a group. Often I just make a single cup. Going to have to work on my pot-o-tea skills.

Some gear used during the outing.

Gathering and splitting wood for a second night.

My 4-man in the front.

Ragging Mega Artic stove.

Woods Walker · Feb 9, 2013

Inside the hunting cabin near the tipi village.

All packed up and heading out.

Thanks for looking through my long winded report. If you have 25 minutes to blow check out the video. We have blood, fire and crocs. What more is there?

[video=youtube;0jxx29Ps8go]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jxx29Ps8go[/video]

[video=youtube;O9mXj1I87mo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9mXj1I87mo[/video]

JV3 · Feb 9, 2013

nice pics! must be sweet to camp with 6-figures worth of kifaru gear

were the new packs there for pre-production fondling?

Liam Ryan · Feb 9, 2013

Does everyone have the same tent because it's so awesome?

Woods Walker · Feb 9, 2013

JV3.

Yup Patrick had some new Kifaru kit on hand but nothing that hasn't been seen.

Liam.

The short answer is yes.

Woodrow F Call · Feb 9, 2013

Looks like fun.

TheGame · Feb 9, 2013

Sure looks like you guys had a great time out there. Thanks for sharing!

sicily02 · Feb 9, 2013

Very cool, thanks for sharing your trip report and the vids.

Bryan

WILLIAM.M · Feb 9, 2013

Thanks for sharing!!!

Liam Ryan · Feb 9, 2013

Woods Walker said:
Liam.

The short answer is yes.

Well, that is a good indication on where to look for my next tent then!

Golite tipi?

JV3 · Feb 10, 2013

Liam Ryan said:
Well, that is a good indication on where to look for my next tent then!
Golite tipi?

http://www.kifaru.net/shelter.html

Woods Walker · Feb 10, 2013

Liam Ryan said:
Well, that is a good indication on where to look for my next tent then!
Golite tipi?

Yup the green tent was a 5-man Golite. The rest all Kifaru from a Mega tarp all the way to the 24-man tipi. I took the 4-man with liner.

jcl-MD · Feb 10, 2013

Thanks for the post.

upnorth · Feb 11, 2013

Pretty cool

p). Your little sled looks like the doohickie that I drag my ice fishing junk in.

j_d · Feb 13, 2013

Awsome post. I have been nailed by grass before myself. Its like a terrible (arent they all?) paper cut. Corn can be the worst.
Josh

brewcitymike · Feb 13, 2013

Thanks for sharing, bro. Looks like a good time and that 24 man tipi looked awesome. By the way what does ECR stand for?

Woods Walker · Feb 13, 2013

brewcitymike said:
Thanks for sharing, bro. Looks like a good time and that 24 man tipi looked awesome. By the way what does ECR stand for?

East Coast Rondy or ERC.

Woods Walker · Feb 13, 2013

upnorth said:
Pretty cool p). Your little sled looks like the doohickie that I drag my ice fishing junk in.

Been there and done it. Ice fishing = reason to drink.

ml100 · Feb 14, 2013

Thanks for sharing, wonderful. What's the weight of these stoves?