todays quick hike (no pics, no camera, so follow the descriptions)
Burned off a quick hike today, alone (as i have done for 30 years), with minimal gear (as i have done for 30 years). Got to the trail head, followed the riverbed up and bushwacked into the woods. Stopped and gathered water from a trickling crik, filtered it thru my wool hat and purified it with a strong Iodine solution. Love the taste of iodine, it should be a sports drink flavor. Drank a liter, filtered and purified more and tucked it away. Added the location to my map and notes, since the trailhead i had blazed my mark on the trees, marked my direction on the map and notebook and made notes of terrain features and landmarks.
Continued on until i found a stand of willows beside another crik. Stopped and made some primitive tools. Started with a couple of hefty rabbit sticks, practiced target hunting with them for a while on a tiny rabbit sized shrub 30 feet away. A "kill" every throw. Next i fell another stout willow and stripped the bark off it with my Scrapyard S5. Split the top end about 8" down and then used 2mm x 3x5 strand hemp cord to bind and whip the split, so it would not split further. Hunted around for a flat sharp rock, placed it into the split, and bound it extremely tight with the hemp cord. Gave it a few swings and thought damn, thats gonna kill someone. PERFECT! its a rabbit or human dispatcher!
carried on, my stone axe in my hand, and as i bushwacked I gathered dry oldmans beard moss for tinder. Kept adding more to the ball of moss, rolling it in my palms to compress it. Tucked it away in my firekit on my belt and kept strolling. Found a downed tree with stringy fibers under the loose bark. Pulled out handfulls of the stuff, separating it into threadlike sizes, and then making a huge nest with it. Removed my firekit tin from the leather pouch and stuffed the nest into it. Put my fire kit tin in my pocket. Gathered handfuls of brittle dried dead twigs the size of pencil leads on the way down to the river. Stuffed those into my jacket. Added in a bunch of pencil sized and finger sized twigs too. On the way in i had pocketed a lb of wild rosehip fruits.
Stopped back down by the river and put my haul of wood down. Pulled out the stringy fibers and put it onto a piece of thick bark. Stuck the old mans beard in the center and pressed it in a bit, fluffing up the fibers. Scraped off some magnesium with a Lee valley mini wood scraper, a little 2" x 1" piece of stainless spring steel with a hook set on it by a steel. Scraped some cedar bark fuz and added it to the pile. Struck the fire steel with the scraper and VOILA! flames and smokes. Picked up the bark piece and started blowing into the nest of tinder until i had a good flame going. Set the bark down and added the tiny twigs until they caught, then the bigger stuff. Smushed up the rosehips with a round rock on a flat rock and put them into my cup. Added water and boiled it over my little indian fire. Set it aside to steep while i ate fresh rosehip fruit and a big handful of wild huckleberries. Broke out a piece of sausage and cheese and enjoyed those too. Doused the fire with water and scattered the charcoals into the river. Drank my tangy wild rosehip tea and some water, then hiked out.
Got an odd look from the Ranger on the way out, he saw my stone tomahawk
short fast and sweet (tangy) hike, and i have a bunch of tinder left over for next time.
Burned off a quick hike today, alone (as i have done for 30 years), with minimal gear (as i have done for 30 years). Got to the trail head, followed the riverbed up and bushwacked into the woods. Stopped and gathered water from a trickling crik, filtered it thru my wool hat and purified it with a strong Iodine solution. Love the taste of iodine, it should be a sports drink flavor. Drank a liter, filtered and purified more and tucked it away. Added the location to my map and notes, since the trailhead i had blazed my mark on the trees, marked my direction on the map and notebook and made notes of terrain features and landmarks.
Continued on until i found a stand of willows beside another crik. Stopped and made some primitive tools. Started with a couple of hefty rabbit sticks, practiced target hunting with them for a while on a tiny rabbit sized shrub 30 feet away. A "kill" every throw. Next i fell another stout willow and stripped the bark off it with my Scrapyard S5. Split the top end about 8" down and then used 2mm x 3x5 strand hemp cord to bind and whip the split, so it would not split further. Hunted around for a flat sharp rock, placed it into the split, and bound it extremely tight with the hemp cord. Gave it a few swings and thought damn, thats gonna kill someone. PERFECT! its a rabbit or human dispatcher!
carried on, my stone axe in my hand, and as i bushwacked I gathered dry oldmans beard moss for tinder. Kept adding more to the ball of moss, rolling it in my palms to compress it. Tucked it away in my firekit on my belt and kept strolling. Found a downed tree with stringy fibers under the loose bark. Pulled out handfulls of the stuff, separating it into threadlike sizes, and then making a huge nest with it. Removed my firekit tin from the leather pouch and stuffed the nest into it. Put my fire kit tin in my pocket. Gathered handfuls of brittle dried dead twigs the size of pencil leads on the way down to the river. Stuffed those into my jacket. Added in a bunch of pencil sized and finger sized twigs too. On the way in i had pocketed a lb of wild rosehip fruits.
Stopped back down by the river and put my haul of wood down. Pulled out the stringy fibers and put it onto a piece of thick bark. Stuck the old mans beard in the center and pressed it in a bit, fluffing up the fibers. Scraped off some magnesium with a Lee valley mini wood scraper, a little 2" x 1" piece of stainless spring steel with a hook set on it by a steel. Scraped some cedar bark fuz and added it to the pile. Struck the fire steel with the scraper and VOILA! flames and smokes. Picked up the bark piece and started blowing into the nest of tinder until i had a good flame going. Set the bark down and added the tiny twigs until they caught, then the bigger stuff. Smushed up the rosehips with a round rock on a flat rock and put them into my cup. Added water and boiled it over my little indian fire. Set it aside to steep while i ate fresh rosehip fruit and a big handful of wild huckleberries. Broke out a piece of sausage and cheese and enjoyed those too. Doused the fire with water and scattered the charcoals into the river. Drank my tangy wild rosehip tea and some water, then hiked out.
Got an odd look from the Ranger on the way out, he saw my stone tomahawk
short fast and sweet (tangy) hike, and i have a bunch of tinder left over for next time.
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