Weekend in the Whiteshell

[sketchbag]

Went out to the Whiteshell area for the weekend to try out some new gear, and also to retrieve a lost axe. Last week I was out there and left my GB axe behind (much shame, I know ), finding it was no small task though, when I got there last time it was late and I just stormed through the bush for a couple kilometers "towards the river" (didnt even get that far though), seldom checking my bearing as the sun was already going down when I arrived, I wasnt lost but I certainly didnt know where I was either. Anyway, finding my way back to this random spot in the woods was quite a challenge, the "path" i took in was way to twisted and convoluted to try to find and follow, and where I exited the first time was kind of vague, but I at least I traveled in a straighter line on the way out. After finding the general area I exited from I searched for my week old tracks, eventually I did find my exit point and began to follow my old tracks, lots of leaves have fallen and covered them up so I'd loose them, wander around a bit, find a patch of flattened moss, or crushed wood and pick it up again, loose it again, ect. I didnt get out there till the evening so time wasnt on my side, and my pack was taking its toll as I raced through the bush, not so much because of the weight but the height, it kept getting snagged on branches and I'd have to duck really low, or crawl under somethings.
I lost the trail, the sun was already below the tree line so I was going to set up camp for the night when I noticed another sign (a clump of sphagnum moss scraped from a rock) and was revitalized, managed to stay on it and found my precious Gransfors small forest axe.

This time I stayed for 3 days, 2 nights. My load consisted of...
camp
Wiggy's super light sleeping bag
8'x10' tarp
foam sleeping pad
poncho
hammock
clothes
extra wool socks, thermal underwear, fleece hoodie, wool button up shirt, touque, balaclava, work gloves +glove liners
What wasnt being worn was stored in a Eureka dry sack

Grub
coffee can pot
army canteen with cup
extra water bottle
8oz single malt
bannock mix
salami
cheese (some kind of potent dry cheese)
slab of bacon (uncut)
dried vegetables
garlic, onion, a few potatoes
oatmeal
protein bars
dried ground beef
deer jerky

Tools & Gear
Nitecore flashlight
led headlamp
SAK Farmer
Koster Bushcraft (cheers DarbyFett bro!)
GB SFAxe
Ferro rod
Doan mag block
chunk of fat wood
hobo fishing kit
paracord

Here's my pack, it's bulkier with the hammock, tarp food & billy can, but I took these gear shots when I got back. Got a few MOLLE pouches for small things I need quick access to, got one on the shoulder strap for my flashlight too. I rigged up some buckle straps on the bottom for the sleeping roll (gets pretty chewed up though), and normally I carry the PVC tube for my fishing rod where the roll is now.

My Trio. Not much to say other than the Koster Bushcraft is :thumbup:, GB SFA is a hell of a chopper and if I were planning on doing any fishing I'd have packed my Swiss Spirit multi tool instead of the Farmer.

The army canteen/cup is great, and a hell of a deal. The billy can I slapped together at the last minute, but I put some consideration into the design, the handle will stay up as shown, and will fold down under the can and snap into place.

My dry bag, and 2 belt kits. One is a small first aid kit with the usual bandages, gauze, a mini SAK (mostly for scissors and tweezers), needle & thread (for my gear, I'd probably do more harm than good attempting to stitch myself, but i'd probably chicken out anyway). The brown pouch has my signal mirror, whistle, doan firestarter and Fallkniven DC3 sharpener, and my compass when its not around my neck.


I didnt take many pictures when I was out there, it just doesnt really occur to me, but I did get a couple.

This pot stand setup works great, and the saw on the farmer was a big help in making the pointed notches.

I made stews both nights and added some cat tail root. The stuff is really white, and when I scraped it up with my knife it separated into a chalky white "powder" (it seemed powdery even though it was moist) and soft stringy fibers. The powder is really starchy and thickened up the broth nicely, and the stringy portion absorbed all the flavor (had virtually none of its own). This was a nice addition and will definitely be using a lot more of this in the future.

In the morning this cute little Whiskey Jack joined me for breakfast.

Bold little fellow would come within arms reach and just hang out, but he was more interested in my bag of food than hanging out and kept swooping down at the fire and flapping his wings to blow ashes all over me.



Ended up hiking out on the last day with an empty stomach (see below), I had less food and water to carry, but I also had my axe and a big bundle of fatwood (about 15lb I'm guessing) added on the load, I was slack jawed and wobbly kneed the whole hike back, when I got to my car I was thrilled to find one of those kraft cheese & cracker kids snacks lost under the seat.


Learned a few things this trip...
-hammocks + cold = sucks, because it squeezes you on 3 sides, it delofts the insulation in your bag. It was only just below freezing, my bag is rated to -15C and I was bundled up with 2 pairs of wool socks, long johns, pants, 4 layers on the torso (2 wool, 1 fleece 1 cotton), a very thin balaclava and a wool toque and I was still uncomfortable. I was determined to do the night without the sleeping pad in the hammock though, and this made things even less comfy as the sleeping bag and hammock are both slick nylon, I'd slide down to the middle so my back was flat and my feet were in the air.
I was much more comfortable on the ground with with the pad + spruce bows. Much more comfortable.


-Always hang your food up. On the last night I was lazy and didnt bother to string my food up, I hadnt seen any bear signs any of the times I've been out there (conservation sets a lot of bear traps) and I only had 1 meal left. Woke up in the morning and all the empty bags were scattered, and one of them pooped on . Probably a raccoon, but I bet that whiskey jack lent a hand

-bring more paracord. Had 50', and it was enough, but I only had enough to string my tarp and hang my food, no extra for tying the tarp down

-Getting grass hoppers for bait can be easy, I stormed through the grass towards the water, and a bunch of them jumped into the river while fleeing making them easy slow moving targets to snatch up.

-sphagnum moss is excellent for washing your dishes without using any of your water.

There's more, but it doesnt come to mind.

 

[sketchbag]

I saw several deer too, I crossed paths with this buck and he just stood there not 5 paces away long enough for me to get my camera out and take a few shots. Lucky for him I was going for a camera and not a gun, cause he couldnt have made himself an easier target.

 

[rroundy]

great trip and useful knowledge for the future.loved the campfire setup for your can.

here in arizona we havent had any real temperature change. we wont see any cool weather until after halloween.

thanks for sharing

 

[Mack]

Great pics, great info. Thanks for sharing.
Good job getting your axe too!

 

[KuRUpTD]

Nice job on finding the Gransfors .... I like how you put those tracking skills to work. It sucks losing gear in the bush.

Nice gear set up you have there :thumbup:

 

[tonym]

Great pics, happy to here you found your ax.

Thanks for sharing what went right and wrong.

 

[mmmotorcycle]

Looks like a nice time.....that is some nice gear you brought with you...

 

[mtnfolk mike]

awesome pics man...:thumbup: nice gear selection...

 

[baldtaco-II]

"-hammocks + cold = sucks"

Innit. Did away with any notions of that a good while ago. Not surprising that on a hammock forum I looked at there was a great deal of importance placed on the under-quilt. Sod that. I did try with a Karrimat inside a couple of times but that wasn't much better. I did reduce some of that slippage thing moderately successfully by gluing high friction contact strips to the mat [I salvaged some of that high tack stuff from the top of hold-up stockings, but there's probably something on a roll you can buy. I know there's stuff you can spray on]. Still compromises your bag something shocking though. Aside from the squeezing you can't trap dead air under it, so it's still as sh1t as a camp bed.

 

[kgd]

Excellent trip report sketchbag and I appreciated the lessons learned and gear lists. I used to live in the 'Peg between '96-98. Loved the Whiteshell and Riding Mountain for camping. It was great to see your pics as it did bring back memories for me. The thing I loved so much was switching off between RM and Whiteshell from one weekend to the next. Totally different terrains and fauna - you only had to decide which direction to drive from the city. Thanks again for your post. Very informative.

All the best!

 

[sketchbag]

I went in to look for the ax with a confident attitude, but to be honest I was really surprised I managed to track it down, I was really starting to doubt myself at a few points, when I finally found it I was so excited, I must have had a shit eating grin on my face all night.

Any tips on hobo fishing? I couldnt figure out a way to cast, not that I really wanted to reel in the line by hand, especially with a fighting fish on the line, I just ended up trying some jigging with the line draped over a stick to give me some reach, and I set up a pickerel rig with the grass hoppers for a while. I didnt catch anything, but I guess thats just the luck of the draw, I stuck at it for a few hours and only saw one fish and a couple minnows both times I was there.


There's a 60km trail I'd like to tackle, trying to get a friend to join me though. I'd also like to get my pack weight down, if only to accommodate all the extra food. My kit's already pretty lean though. I guess I could trade the ax for a folding saw, definitely loose the hammock, I've got that 2 man 4 season tent on the way but it's 7lb and I could probably make due with just the tarp considering theres no bugs.
Any thoughts?

Also in my bag I had a bathroom bag with bare essential hygiene (toothbrush, mini tooth paste, soap, floss) and some more emergency/first aid stuff (rubber gloves, large triangular bandage, more alcohol swabs, some pills, emergency space blanket). Already slimmed it down after last week, I could move it all into a lighter plastic bag and save a few ounces.


The night I spent on the ground I did half the night without my sleeping bag, just made a nice long parallel fire and folded/propped up the tarp to make a wall behind me. I was pretty comfy, but had a hard time falling asleep. Eventually switched to the sleeping bag so I could get some solid rest, had to put the fire out though cause I couldnt have sparks putting holes in my new $200 bag.

I think I'll bring the extra sleeping bag shell next time, I think the extra comfort and rest will be worth the 2lb. Should also note, I bought the wide versions (34" across laid flat), never had a mummy bag before and I didnt want to be too constricted, but last night as I laid curled up in the hammock I was thinking I should have gotten the regular (31"), though at this point I cant say whether the extra space was contributing to me being colder, or if the smaller one would have made any difference.


Some other lessons I learned: Bring water disinfecting tabs, boiling watter is very inconvenient, slow with the canteen cup and I always get ashes in it.

Ended up drinking some straight river water in the night, I'd been upstream to the lake that feeds the river and there are no beaver dams around and the water was crystal clear, but it was still a risk, and if I were on a more serious trip I'd have had to go thirsty that night (or get up, make a fire, boil water, let it cool, yeah right).


And splitting wood so far has been completely unnecessary, it's a lot easier and more economic to just find some sticks of the diameter you want, and better to make up for lost intensity of slow burning logs by adding more fuel, than preparing the existing fuel to burn faster, just end up having to stoke the fire more often that way in addition to all the work of splitting.

 

[stieg]

Sketchbag, a few things:

If you want to hammock in the 'cold' you need to either use a pad or better yet get an underquilt. Even then you won't be able to get much colder than 20 degrees. Jacks R Better make a great underquilt. It's relatively expensive, though.

You didn't mention the brand of hammock. I like both Speer (I made my own using his directions) and my Hennessey (sp?). I actually like the Hennesey better. If it were warmer here I'd probably like the Speer more. The Hennesey is a great all-around package. I made my own silnylon tarp to go over it that is 8x10 to have more coverage in the rain (coverage for camp, not sleeping).

If you want a light tent, Check out Tarp Tents. They are silnylon and simple, light tents. They are simple but very solid. I have a the Rainshadow which will fit 3 people (tightly) and weighs under 3 lbs.

 

[sketchbag]

The hammock I got is "the travel skeeter beeter" hammock, bought it from bensbackwoods, I dont know much about hammocks, but I have no complaints about this one. It's nice parachute nylon with a built in bug net. I bought it for summer use, but when I was asking for input on sleeping bags someone mentioned using a hammock in the winter, so I figured I'd give it a try.

There were some lighter tents I was eying, but settled on this heavier one because it's more rugged, with much higher denier fabric. Weight is always a concern, but I wanted a tent that'll last me many years, and that ended up being a higher priority.


A comment on the CPM3V bushcraft knife, I'm impressed. It's very time consuming to sharpen with the high wear resistance of 3V and the large amount of steel you have to remove from a wide scandi bevel, but it does take a nice edge, I can get it to whittle hair but not whittle free standing hair, but really the difference is just splitting hairs (ba-zing!). I did get to witness the toughness of 3V on this trip, I was sitting by the fire prying the surrounding wood off a fat pine knot, I was stabbing the tip in pretty hard and one time I missed and hit the ground which is one big rock with a layer of moss on top. There was tip damage, lost maybe .5mm and blunted it a bit, but see for yourself.

The first picture looks worse than it does in person