Sleeping on Ice

For a while now, I have been wanting to do a winter overnight out on the trail somewhere.  To be an Outsider, you must be able to experience all forms of weather and figure out how to handle each.  When we go out on our long distance hikes, we must be ready to function in every way when Mother Nature throws curve balls.  Knowing what it is like to be outside in cold, snowy weather is a must in preparation.

So, with the three feet of snow that Jonas dumped on the East Coast, I had a good back drop for a quick stay in the woods.  I had some business to attend to up at the Museum and I made sure I brought my full pack ready to go.  As the day went by, I figured I could head up in the afternoon some time and maybe make it to a shelter area for the night.  

Even with the melting we had over the past week or so, there was still at least a foot of snow in the woods and therefore on the trail.  I had some slim hopes that the trail would have had some traffic on it and devised a way to use some of the old roads in the area (which used to be the AT) to get me up South Mountain and on my way to Toms Run Shelter.  As I always do, I had alternate plans to the main plan and would change as needed.  That change came pretty quick.

I came very close to chickening out once again after I visited the Inn Keepers at the Ironmasters Mansion (Mike and Mary), but some force made me turn onto Old Shippensburg Rd instead of crossing the street and returning to the Museum.  My back had gone out as I shoveled some snow in preparation for a maintenance visit the next day and the familiar pain was nagging me and my visit to the Mansion had delayed me some (but it was worth it. Had to sample some home brew).  I had almost decided to just stay at the Museum for the night, but after I made that turn, my mind changed and I kept hiking.  As I headed up the old road, which was clear, I figured I could always turn around and just make a nice practice walk out of it with a full pack (plan C).  

When I got to the end of the road, I had about an hour of daylight left.  I left the road and followed the little trail that goes to the AT.  I immediately started post holing.  When I got to the AT, there was one lonely set of prints and they were snow shoes.  I walked to the bridge over Toms Run and decided that plan B will work just fine for tonight.  There is a small (semi secret) spot near here, where I have camped before, so I headed there.  It wasn't a long hike, but I realized quickly that there was no way I would be able to get to Toms Run Shelter in the next hour.  This place would do fine for the night.  

Tent up, wood found.  Time for fire and dinner

I located the place and kicked off the snow that covered the fire ring.  I stomped out an area to put my little one man tent, set it up and did a quick walk around to gather a few pieces of wood, so I could have a little fire before bed.  

The day had been in the low 40s, which had softened the top of the snow, but the night was going to get into the low 20s or even upper teens.  I had what I needed to keep warm and dry.  My socks had gotten a little damp in the day as I shoveled the snow in my trail runners, but I tried out a technique where you put your feet in bread bags as a vapor barrier.  I had one bread bag and one Walmart shopping bag, but it really did the trick.  My feet felt warm and toasty up until bed time.  

I made a small fire and cooked my dinner with my stove.  The fire was for a little warmth and comfort.  I didn't really Need it, but I was glad to stare into its eyes for a short time.  The sun set as scheduled and my belly was full with warm food.  As darkness settled in and the fire burnt down, I decided to retire to the tent and read some.  It was still pretty early.

Hiker box Mountain House. mmmmm

I (wrongly) decided to keep my hiking clothes on, even keeping on my damp socks and not putting on the nice thick wool socks I bring for camp during cold times.  I still felt pretty warm from the hike up the mountain and figured my body heat would help dry the socks (which it did), but I probably should have put the thick socks on and maybe my dry base layer that I also carry in cold weather.  My puffy was standing by, but I didn't feel the need for it yet.  

Snow camp

I scampered into the small Eureka tent and once again realized, that this is really nothing more than a fancy bivy sack and not really a tent.  There isn't much room to do anything in there like change clothes and such, so I just lay down and got out my phone to fire up the Kindle app and do some reading.  Not too long after that, I was ready for a little nap.  This usually happens when I start reading in bed.  I was still feeling warm and comfortable, so I let sleep take me for a time.

If you check my FitBit sleep pattern for that night, you will see A Lot of awake time.  I did a lot of left side, flat on back, right side, flat on back, left side, repeat.  My back was still hurting some, so there's that, but I usually do a lot of tossing and turning when I first go into the bush.  My mattress was working fine, I didn't feel any cold coming up from the packed snow, but I was awake a lot.  I had forgotten to remove my hammock woobie under quilt from my pack before heading out and I used that as a ground cloth in the tent and my sleeping pad fits into a sleeve in my Big Agnes sleeping bag, which went on top of the woobie.  I also had my bag liner, which gives a few more degrees of warmth in my 30 degree bag.  Getting into that while in the small tent was fun.

After a few hours of doze/sleep, I felt just a little cold.  Not too bad, but I knew it was time to put the puffy on.  I usually use it as a pillow, so I replaced it with my clothes bag and struggled into the puffy.  I immediately felt very warm and would for the rest of the night (at least on my upper body).  As the night wore on, my feet began to feel cold.  My socks had indeed dried, but the darn tough socks just weren't as good as my thick wool socks.

As morning arrived, but not light (it is still the dead of winter, no matter if Phil sees his shadow or not), I lay in my bag, feeling warm and not wanting to face the freezing cold day.  I could see with my head lamp that a fine layer of ice now coated the tent walls from the vapor of my breath.  It had cooled off quite a bit during the night.  

Eventually I forced my arising by letting the air out of my sleeping pad.  The cold immediately came through, so it was get up or get cold.  Well, getting up also meant getting cold, but I had to get moving.  At first, I had planned to make some coffee and oatmeal before heading back, but as I started packing up, I realized, I could do that later in the semi-warmth of the Museum.  I needed to get moving.

I had the usual problems.  Try to pack something without gloves.  Hands get really fucking cold, stop and put on gloves for a while.  Try again.  My shoes had frozen solid in the night.  I was glad I had untied them the evening before, but I should have opened them up more.  I basically slammed them on my feet and tied the frozen strings as best I could.  Other than my feet and hands, I was not cold.  I estimated that the temperature had dropped to the low 20s overnight. (Later verified to be somewhere between 18 and 24)

As I was getting everything together, my feet started going numb from the toes back until about half of my feet felt like a block of ice.  I would stomp in place for a while to get the blood flowing a little, then get back to work.  Also, I guess I should have had a footprint below my tent as the woobie and the sleeve on the sleeping bag was wet and so was the pad somewhat.  I just shoved everything into the pack and rolled up the icy tent and put it on the outside of my pack.  I knew I would be in warm(ish) and dry space soon.  I would be "inside".  

Before too long, I was ready to go.  It was still plenty dark and I had done all the work by head lamp so far, even though the waning crescent moon was shining brightly from above.  I retraced my post hole steps to the road and started down the mountain.  After about 1/2 mile, my feet warmed up from the effort of walking, but before they were all toasty, they had some painful moments as the feeling started coming back into my toes and forefoot.

I turned out my head lamp for the walk down the road as the moon was providing all I needed to see the black, clear strip of gravel that was the road.  After a pleasant down hill walk I could see the Museum's light as a comforting beacon to me and shortly after that, I was inside.  The 55 degrees or so it was inside felt like heaven.  

I unpacked and dried out my gear with the little radiator heater and started my day.

Looking a little tired, but none the worse for wear

It was good to get a feel of sleeping, hiking and living in a cold environment.  It raises your respect for your gear (and Mother Nature) and gives you ideas where you can improve things.  Knowing that I was only a little over a mile from shelter felt good, but I can only imagine what the day would have been like if I had to travel all day and deal with still wet gear the next evening.  But that will be a test for another day.

Keep on hiking,
EarthTone

Woods, Trails and Maps

Back when we were kids, my brother and I used to spend a good deal of time up our cousins' house.  My Mother's brother had moved away from the city in the late 60s and bought four acres of land on the county line between Lawrence and Beaver.  One of the things we liked to do, when visiting, was walk the trails on the top of their property in a woodsy area.  We would draw maps of the network of trails with pencils and I still remembering labeling the Creek as "Crick".  That's just how we said it so that was how I wrote it.  

Each time I make a trip home, I usually find myself up on the third floor, passing through the closet door into the craw space of the attic.  I look through the boxes up there as if I am looking for buried treasure.  Some times I find good things, sometimes it is just part of the stuff that a family gathers as it goes through time and life.  I hope to one day find one of my hand drawn maps.  Tucked away in a box somewhere in that magical attic.   Until then, I will have to draw a map of the trails near our house in Schramm's Woods.  I have been spending lots of time in those woods these days, walking Ginger and enjoying this little bit of woods.  It feeds my soul to walk in the woods.

At  almost every place we have lived since I left PA and those childhood trails, we have found a copse of nearby woods, that usually have a trail or three, where we have walked our dogs and ourselves through the years.  When duty meant it was time to pull up roots and pack up the house and move to wherever they were sending us.  We would find a place to walk.  Sometimes it would be the urban streets of Staten Island and the little getaway island off the tip of Manhattan named GI, other times it would be the grassy balds in the Marin hillsides of California.  In the three different places we have lived here in Maryland, there has been a nearby woods with trails, that we walked on.

Schramm's Woods is the name of the woods near this latest of houses.  The Schramm's came here I think in the later 1800's and bought the land where I sit now and some couple hundred acres surrounding me.  They grew prize cantaloupes and gladiolas and eventually they raised a whole bunch of smelly turkeys.  When we moved to this current house in 2005, the once huge farm had been mostly converted to a housing development named Farmington Village.  The farmers, had a nice house and barn built on the northern corner of their property and planted some orchards.  They had a few fields still and they would sell their goods at a little market just outside their house.  They would only do it until about 2007 and then they let the field go fallow and closed the market.  I guess they got too old and all their kids had moved on.

So shortly after we moved here, we found the entrance to the woods at the end of one of the numbered streets of our neighborhood.  The woods were about an 11 acre copse of woods with a field on the western side of the woods.  This piece of land now belonged to the county school district.  I guess there was once a plan to build a school there, but it never happened.  There was a paved path that ran from our neighborhood over to the Farmington neighborhood that was used by kids walking to the nearby middle school that sat to the north of us.  That path skirted the edge of the woods, the rest of the network ran north and west towards Mountain Road.  Some of the trails were there when we discovered the place, others we would develop ourselves, as we expanded our exploration of the place.  Most would be "improved" by young overzealous quad riders, who needed to widen the trail for their four wheelers.  So the network grew and developed over the next ten years.  I have grown very close to the woods myself.

My drawing of my latest favorite woods

When we first started walking the woods, it was a rough rectangle of four trails.  In the middle of that small network was a kid build shack.  It was pretty big, and we never really checked it out until it was destroyed.  I don't remember the details.  One day it just went from shack to pile of rubble, to scattered rubble to now, just dirt, some stumps and a few boards.  Nature took back the land.

As I walked the trails with Lisa and Ginger (twice a day at least, the dog insists), I started to give each distinct trail a name.  I picked the names for various reasons, but each name is meaningful.  At least to me they are.  

There is Entry Trail.  The way in, where you break away from the paved path.  Entry leads you to the Traffic Circle.  Where three trails come together.  The quads like to do small circles here and hence the name was born.

I always turn left here.  I started walking that way when I was carrying urbanite to my campsite and in my head it was the shortest route until I could drop the rocks.  Eventually, it became the way to start our walk.  So that trail is named Pine Tree, because it leads to... wait for it... a pine tree.  There are many pine in this forest, most of them are tall skinny branch-less trunks with the needles up near the top, where the sun still shines.  This tree is like a big Christmas tree that is full top to bottom and about 20 feet tall.  

To the left of the tree leads Farmington Trail.  That is where the Boys (playmates of Ginger) come from.  Ginger always checks this trail first for signs of the Boys.  She likes to play with them.  To the right is Field trail, which runs along the field which used to grow pumpkins, but now just grows locust, sumac and broom sedge.  Halfway along this trail the old dilapidated fence opens to the field.  Sometimes we go into the field where the dogs play tag with each other.  From time to time the local hooligans would bring furniture to the field to make their hanging out more comfortable.  It is quite a sight.  The broom sedge also makes it easy for the field to periodically blaze up from someones deliberate act or carelessness.  I think it has burned two or three times since we have lived here.  Luckily it has been extinguished fairly quickly, but the first time the fire entered the woods for about 100 feet.  

Also at this opening is where Paintball Trail heads across the forest to the east.  At the end of Field Trail you come to another junction.  Hill trail heads down the slight incline that gives it its name and straight ahead is Pink Lady Slipper Trail.  Just as you start this trail, Homeless Trail forks off to the left and winds towards my little campsite.  The campsite is where a homeless man had pitched his old leaky tent when he lived there for a few weeks one summer.  When he abandoned the place, leaving all his stuff, I took the site over and disposed of the old tent and blankets.  I have built a few primitive shelters here and have made a fire from time to time in the urbanite fire ring I made when I crave the flame.  

Home less leads back to Pink Lady Slipper Trail.  This trail has a couple dozen of those pretty flowers come up each spring and Ginger likes to smell them.  PLS Trail circles around, where Schramm's Trail heads north to their old road and the house and barn, and comes to a well established trail that has some bike jumps dug out of the soil.  There are also a number of large Hickory trees, so this trail is named Hickory Trail.  Hickory leads back toward the bottom of Hill Trail and this trail now becomes Oak Trail.  We also see the other side of Paintball Trail here.  This trail's name is evident by the log barricades and fox holes you see as you traverse the path in the middle of the woods.  The kids have had their battles here.  

Oak Trail leads back to the Traffic Circle and from there you can retrace your steps down Entry Trail back to civilization.  I really enjoy our times in these cool woods.  I look forward to each days visit.

Sometimes You Just Need to Take a Hike

I wrote this one day a few years ago, after I played hooky from work and headed to the trail for a little scout trip.  Ahhh, the joys of little supervision.

I sat at my cubicle desk in the middle of the cubicle farm and finished up a review of my tenth award board recommendation of the day. I had quite a few thrown at me the evening before and I just wanted to get them back to the board and be done with them.

The weather outside looked a bit dreary, but that didn't stop me from thinking about my latest obsession. An overnight hike and camp in the Michaux State Forest in South Central Pennsylvania. I had been thinking about it for a while. The drive wasn't too far, the area looked like a perfect place to practice some bushcrafting skills and I was in need of a get-away.

Suddenly I had a thought. My work was done for now. There would be more later of course, but I could monitor my emails with my phone and respond as needed. It was time for a quick scout trip. I decided to head out and drive up to PA from my office in Washington, DC. I quickly logged off my computer and headed to my car.

The rain was falling lightly and the traffic wasn't too bad as I headed around the Capitol Beltway and pointed my car north. Before I knew it, I had left the cityscape behind and had entered real farm country. In about 1 hour and 40 minutes I was pulling into Caladonia State Park and finding a parking place in the virtually empty lot.

There were a few fisherman trying their luck in the creek that ran through the park. I gathered my EDC pack, took out any non-essential items and headed for the trail.

The trail started out winding through the park on its way to the climb up Chinquapin Hill. The climb actually starts out as rock steps fitted into the hillside and the climb is rather steep as I wound my way back and forth a bit to the top of the hill. From there the going leveled off for a while through a mature woods. I noticed at this time how quiet the woods were. I stopped and listened and heard nothing at all. There was no nearby water running and I was far enough away from the road to not hear the cars, but what I noticed more-so was the total lack of birdsong. I continued on.

As I headed to a junction in the trail, I suddenly heard the call of a bird. Not being a bird enthusiast, he didn't recognize what it was, (experience has taught me that it was a Pileated Woodpecker) but it seemed to be the only feathered creature out there. Shortly after that I also heard the knocking of a wood pecker, so I knew that I wasn't completely alone in the woods.

When I had started his trek, it was still raining very lightly. Now the rain had stopped, but it remained cloudy and the threat of more rain was in the air. As I passed the junction of another trail that also appeared to be somewhat of a road, I spotted another hiker up ahead who was coming my way. I had a short pleasant conversation with the older man who had been out on the trail for about three days. He seemed in good spirits despite the weather and continued on his way south as I headed north.

After turning off the road, I noticed a tall boulder strewn hillside coming up on my left. This was Quarry Hill, a quite impressive sight. Also, as I headed up the trail, I noticed the unmistakable sound of rushing water. As I came within sight of the creek, I also noticed that the rhododendron was pretty ubiquitous around the trail. As I entered the gap, I noticed an old bridge going over the creek and some foundations across the stream. I thought it would be nice to explore them next time I was in the area, (and did on my first section hike in 2011) but I had another goal in mind today and that was the Quarry Gap Shelter.

The trail headed steadily north and the rhododendron formed tunnel like pathways as I walked along. Before too long, I saw a clearing up ahead and then I caught site of a very nice looking building. I had arrived at Quarry Gap Shelter; the best kept shelter on the AT. (Since then, Tumbling Run Shelter has taken over that title in my opinion)

I rested a while at the shelter, refilled my water bottle in the nearby spring and explored the area a bit. This was surly a nice looking shelter and the caretaker definitely had earned his reputation. After a while it was time to head back down the trail.

The going down was just as much of a challenge as coming up, but it wasn't too hard. Before long I was back at the park and at my vehicle. I put my gear into the the truck and hit the road.

The road home took me through Gettysburg and it looked pretty interesting. Another possible trip in the making. (have done some exploring in the area, but still have plenty to see)

It was a good get-away for me and I was very happy I had taken the time to do it and now I was ready to get back to work.  Some times you just need a break from the daily grind and heading to the trail is the perfect way to lighten the mental load.

Keep on Hiking,
EarthTone

The Search for Survival - A Scenario

Let's play a game...

A Survival game.  I give you some information, and you tell me what you would do.  I will take your information and let you know what has changed.  What were the results of your efforts?  The benefits or consequences of your efforts.  We continue along, back and forth, you, explaining your actions; me, describing the results, which may include random, unexpected events.

My results will be based on good old knowledge, experience and confidence in the actions.  Coincidentally, you will begin this quest, but rating yourself on some different skills of survival.  You will rate your knowledge of the subject, the experience you have had practicing or implementing this skill and your confidence in how you can use this skill in the current scenario.

For the first two traits, you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5.  For the confidence trait you will prioritize each skill as to whether it is a priority A, B or C.  A being essential/very useful, B being useful and C being nice to have.

So, you want to play?

Let's do Skills first.  For each of the following woodcraft skills, assign a knowledge factor, an experience factor and a confidence/priority factor.

Scenario introduction:
It is late July.  The temperature has been in the 80s in the day and dropping to the 60s at night for the last week.  You are heading to the eastern woodlands, the trees are full and the streams are still flowing, but some springs have gone dormant.

The plan is to park at a remote trailhead in a vast wilderness area that has plenty of trails, but the blazing is sporadic at best and nonexistent more than not.  The forecast for the next five days are typical for a summer day.  Daytime temperatures in the 80's with a chance of scattered thunderstorms each day.

You will travel by foot to an area that is perfect for camping and has a nice swimming hole for cooling off and a nice waterfall for atmosphere.  The hike is only about five miles in.  You plan on staying a few days in the area, enjoying the flora and fauna and then you will hike back to the car and head home.  You are hiking alone.

In the section below, rate your skills as to your knowledge, experience and confidence for the above scenario introduction.  Think carefully and try to be honest with yourself.

1. Fire Making

2. Shelter Building

3. Navigation and map skills

4. Water gathering and disinfecting

5. First Aid

6. Weather Signs

7. Edible Plants

8. Snare/Trap Making

9. Cordage Making

10. Sharp Object Skills

11. Positive Attitude


Now we need to select your gear.  For this scenario, since it is a planned multi-overnight trip, we will concede that you have a shelter (tent, tarp or hammock, depending on your preference), sleeping gear, such as a sleeping bag and pad, quilt or wool blanket and a pack to carry everything in.

List up to ten gear items that you wouldn't want to forget.  You may bring more than 10 items and we may flush those out later, but remember that you have to carry everything on your back, but only list ten for now.

First, state your shelter type and sleeping gear choice and then list up to ten other items that you would bring.  The pack also is assumed to be a standard sized pack in the 50 to 70 liter range.  This isn't fantasy.  The pack has a limit and also there is no magic in this realm, except possibly Trail Magic.

If you want to start telling a story of how you rated yourself and the gear choices you made and why you made them, that will just add color to this little... game...

If I get any comments...  This will continue...  or maybe I'm just talking to the Internets and we all know the Internets can't hear...

Simple Woodcraft

sim·ple /ˈsimpəl/
Adjective:
Easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty.
wood·craft /ˈwo͝odˌkraft/
Noun:
Knowledge of the woods, esp. with reference to camping and other outdoor pursuits.
I like to keep things simple. When it comes to my woodcraft, I like to keep that simple too. When you think about it, all you are trying to do when you are in the woods is to simply continue on.
I love being in the woods. It is where I am most comfortable. I get a sense of well-being when I walk down the trail and the cover of the woods envelopes me. I feel as if I have come home.
I am by no means an expert. I am not here to dictate the one way a thing is to be done. The purpose of this column is to bring you along on a little hike with me. Maybe start a fire and talk about the things that can be done out here, simply, that make being in the woods a positive experience.
I hope you enjoy our time in the woods.
I'll see you out there...

Home Made Fire Starters

An online friend, Roger Fandrich, invented a fire starting item called Mini-Inferno. The actual ingredients are secret, but it is basically a makeup cleaning pad with fire extenders like petroleum jelly (PJ) and or paraffin wax. It works wonderfully and it comes in a nice metal tin that makes it easy to carry and also has some other bushcraft uses. The only problem with this product is it costs around $8 plus shipping for a tin of about 6 pads.

With a little searching and some easy work, I have created my own for continued use. 100 cotton pads cost around $2.60 or so, four bars of paraffin wax cost about $3.00; eight ounces of petroleum jelly and some tins to cook it all in cost a dollar each, so that is less than $8 spent.

I had already made some a while back with just PJ and they work well. Just as good as a cotton ball slathered in PJ, but I wanted to try something that is a little less messy, but still works well.

I melted all the PJ and one bar of the Paraffin wax in two of the tins and dipped the pad in the PJ first, let that dry and then in the wax to make it less gooey and still fire worthy. I was able make 45 tinder pads with what I had melted. That is quite a cost savings from the Mini-Inferno.

I had a little wax left and made a few with just the wax to compare the two. I took one of each out back and made a nice fire with some damp wood with ease. I didn't time the burn length, I just wanted to see if each was easy to light with ferro rod and if it would make a decent sustainable fire. Both performed well.

If I want to buy tins, the are about 50 cents a piece. I thank Roger for thinking this up, but I will be using my own version from now on, unless I want to periodically buy some to provide some support for his products.

Let's go make a fire...

Lean To Project

When ever those meddling kids mess up my stuff, I just move on to something else. Since they cut my cordage and toppled my wikkiup I had going, I decided to build a lean-to next. I found a good crock in a tree and cut down a standing dead oak that had widow-maker potential to use as a support for the other end and started building. I build slow, bringing a branch or two each time we go into the woods, so it takes a while. After lots of branches I will maybe shingle it with bark and throw some debris on it. Let's see how long it stays around. Here are some pictures.

Damn Meddling Kids

Damn Meddling Kids! Once again as Ginger and I did our evening walk I was passing the PS, I wasn't even going to do my usual walk through camp to check on things and something didn't look right. I took the path back and sure enough my latest project, a wikkiup, was knocked to the ground. It is never a big deal, but it still pisses me off. This time the asshole cut the paracord scraps I had used to tie the three poles together. Someone has a new toy. I also noticed that they had cut the duct tape cord I had made and used on the debris shelter. They also cut the small piece of rope that one kid had left as a peace offering that was tied in a square knot.

One day I will be hanging out there when the douche bag comes by and he will get a little Angry Old Man payback.

No biggie, self-reliance goes on.

Ginger Gets a Kill

This morning Ginger and I headed to the woods as usual as is our normal routine. The morning was nice. Not too cold, but the sky was starting to cloud up. We did our normal route through the woods towards the camp site. When we got there I was fiddling around with the fire ring as Ginger did her normal wandering to and fro.

Suddenly I heard what sounded like the squeak of one of her toys and I looked up and it looked like she had a toy in her mouth. I quickly figured out it was a baby rabbit and each time she would chomp, it would squeak. I yelled at her to drop it and of course she did exactly the opposite. I chased her around the woods for a bit until she finally dropped the poor thing and I was able to get to her.

The baby was pretty much done for. It looked like it couldn't move its hind feet and was most likely in pain and not for this world much longer.

I pulled my neck knife and quickly dispatched it by cutting off its head. I took the baby back to the camp site and quickly skinned and gutted it. There was no sense in wasting the poor thing, so I took the small carcass home with the liver, heart and kidneys and stewed the whole lot up. I mixed it all up in Ginger's dinner as it was her kill.

Later, we did our second walk into the woods and as we came around the circle I saw the tell tail sing of a cotton tail running off to my right. Ginger was on the left and didn't see it, so I stayed quiet and she never noticed. As we were almost done with our walk and after Ginger was back on the leash we say one more rabbit and Ginger appeared to see it too, but she didn't even try to go for it. Maybe she had enough killing for one day.

Wild Edible Addition

I added a new wild edible to my knowledge collection. Chickweed. I was watching Dual Survival the other day and there was a quick segment where Cody found some and put it on Dave's cut. I did a little research and decided that it would be a good edition to my repetoir.

I had a good idea what it looked like from my research and when I was heading over to play some volleyball, I saw some and tried it out. It does taste like corn silk and I'm sure it would be a good addition to a salad or as a cooked green. It has a lot of vitamins and can act as a duritic, antihistimine or externally as a pultice on a cut, bite, burn or rash. Seems like a good addition to my library.

Schramm's Woods Overnight - Recap

The overnight went very well. Pretty much as planned. After packing and repacking my pack I had all I needed and was ready to go. Around 1900, I headed out and walked into the woods. As I got to the PS I saw a group of people down slope towards the Green Haven houses, but they were heading out by then.

I got my shelter up and set out my sleeping bag. The sun was due to go down at 1945, so around about 15 minutes before that, I got the fire going. I made some noodles for supper and settled in to enjoy the woods in the evening hours. I had brought a six pack and started working my way through it.

The evening was pleasant and I worked on making another frog gig using a length of pine and some hanger parts. At around 2200 I hit the sack and slept as best I could through the night. Of course it is still sleeping on the ground. The sleeping pad is pretty thin and not very good and I had pillow issues as usual. This time I put my rain gear in a dry bag and sealed it up. I was hoping the air would stay int there and help make the pillow soft, but it seemed to lose its air after a while.

I awoke around 0600 got the fire going made some oatmeal and broke camp. I had a bit of a headache from the beers, but other then that it was a good night out.

Overnighter

Tonight I am finally going to get into Schramm's Woods and do an overnighter. It will just be a simple set up and sleep over to see how my Modular Sleep System works. I may cool some noodles in the evening and maybe some oatmeal in the morning if I feel like it.

It shouldn't be too difficult or anything. I saw a list on a forum where the guy tried to limit his kit to 15 items. I am going to try the same. Here is what I plan on packing in:

1. Knife
2. Fire Kit
3. Space Blanket (Shelter)
4. Sleeping bag (MSS)
5. Bivi bag
6. Roll mat
7. Cook Kit
8. Cordage
9. Head Lamp
10. Saw
11. Food and water
12. Spork
13. Hygiene kit
14. FAK
15. Rain Gear

All will easily fit into my Medium Alice pack. I hope to head into the woods later in the day when the kids have headed home, so I don't attract any undue attention. Set up should be quick; just a cordage line with the space blanket set up in lean to fashion. Start the fire and enjoy the evening. A few beers should help set the mood. I should take a project to do, if I can think of one.

Today is supposed to be about 60 degrees and it should go into the 40s overnight. Saturday speaks of showers and thunder storms all day long.

Update - 1644:
I have played with the pack a few times; going through the list and just putting what I need in it. I weighed it and it was about 3olbs. Quite a lot for a one nighter that is about 500 yards from my house. The MSS itself is 10lbs. I took everything out, dumped the black sleeping bag and repacked everything and I like the feel a little better now. I put the main sleeping bag inside the Alice (it just wasn't full enough with what I was taking) and wrapped the sleeping pad in the bivi and put that on the outside. Ginger and I will be taking a walk into the woods soon and then I will head in about 1900 or so. Sunset is scheduled for 1945. Let the fun begin.

Michaux State Forest Plan

Something I have been obsessing about lately is taking a trip up into PA and hiking the trails of Michaux State Forest. This looks like a perfect place to spend some time in the bush and maybe do some dispersed camping. I have been pouring over the maps of the area and have a general plan from where to park, what trails I want to take to possible places to camp. I will have to be open to changes as I have never been there and I don't really know what the place is like. The AT goes through the forest and I plan on moving along it for a ways, but then I want to head down towards a lake that is within the forest. I will continue to plan and study the area and hope to get up there within a few weeks. It is only about a 2 hour drive from the house, so it should be easy to get to. I do however will want to spend some time there exploring once I drive that distance. Onwards...

Personal Space (PS)

Here is a picture of my Personal Space aka PS and mostly referred to by me as The Campsite.

I have been playing with the porch on the end of the shelter with mixed results. It kept falling down or was knocked down by the gremlins of the woods, but this time I buried the two front supports about 8 inches or so. It was still a little wobbly until I put up the side supports. I am harvesting bark from nearby dead trees to act as shingles and will probably finish off with leaves and other floor debris.

I have also repositioned the opening of the fire ring to better facilitate putting a lean-to basically right in front of the camera. The prevailing wind comes from the right side of the picture making the position of the debris shelter not the best. The ring is also a little too far from the shelter, but it does have its uses.

Here is another angle that show the bark shingles. It is still a work in progress, but it is going pretty good.

I hope to spend a night here real soon.

Saturday Update

Yesterday hovered in the 40's with sporadic rain throughout the day and evening. I thought about just heading into the woods for a sleep over, just to test the MSS and bivvy, but decided against (chickened out). Not a big deal, but I really need me some overnight in the bush time.

We drove over to the northern side of the city yesterday to have some lunch at Cheesecake Factory with the college going daughter. It was a good meal and the area is cool to visit, but very city like. On the way back I went to Home Depot to return a full set of sockets that I bought when I only needed one size (15/16). Earlier that morning I had watched a video of one of my Pathfinder classmates making a hobo fishing kit and I had that on my "list" of things I wanted to do, so I used the refund to pick up some PVC pipe and connections. As I was putting it together in my mind, I thought of another way to do the frog gig set up and I bought a couple extra parts to try and get that together.

I spent the late afternoon putting together the hobo kit and today I will paint it if weather permits. I also hope to hit Walmart today for some fishing stuff that I don't have already. Namely line and bobbers that will fit into the kit.

This morning it still looks gray out and the temperature is still in the 40's, but Ginger has shown up at the computer room at 0800 sharp and if I make any moves away from the chair, she will take that as an indication that it is walk time.

Well, I guess it is time to hit the woods...

p.s. Also, I did some more research on the Michaux State Forest up in PA. It is about a 2 hour drive, but I think it would be nice to just head up there one weekend to explore and maybe do some dispersed camping bushcraft style.

Woodland Happenings

I think I am going to try and write an entry here at least a few times a week for a while. Just to get down what is happening in the nearby woods I have adopted as my own.

First of all, the trees are starting to sprout their yearly growth and the understory is starting to green up. This will provide my PS with a little more concealment and keep the nasty kiddies away.

Speaking of the kiddies, they have wholeheartedly jumped into their moto-cross trail building. The good thing is they are concentrating on the southern end of the woods, near where we enter and are pretty far from my PS. There are others who still play nearby, but have seemed to stay away from my shelter for now.

I got another idea on what to do with all the hangers I have from dry cleaning my uniforms. Those things sharpen up real nice and are sturdy enough to become a decent frog gig. I did a test assembly on a short piece of stick and I think it would work just fine.

I took four pieces of hanger about 6 inches long and bent about 1/2 an inch at the non sharpened end into a 90 degree angle. I drilled four holes into the end of the stick about two or so inches down. I put the small end into the hole and secure the four prongs to the shaft with para-cord. It seems to be pretty stable and should work. I hope to get a full sized prototype together soon and maybe test it out if I can find a pond with some frogs.

I am anxiously waiting a chance to spend a night in the woods. Just a simple set up to test out my modular sleep system with its bivvy bag. Weather isn't a factor. I can set up and stay in any type Mother Nature wants to offer. I would like to have Ginger with me, but I don't want to wake up to find her gone because she decided to head home and get away from the crazy guy. Still thinking about that one.

Until next time...

Planning a Night in Schram's Woods

The winter wallyball season is done and the weather is getting better. I have been hoping to spend a quick one nighter in the nearby woods, just to do it and maybe practice a little bushcraft.

I might do it this Friday or the one after. I think it will be fun.

Woodlands Self Reliance

A little something I been working on.

Schram's Adventures

Well, Spring is in the air, or at least in the area and that means the kids start coming into the woods to do their kidly things. Now, I know I was most likely no better than some of these at that age, but they seem a mite bit more destructive and litter buggy.

Ginger, Lisa and I walk the woods on a daily basis and I have been hanging out at my PS quite a bit, making fires and playing with my toys. I had been planning on re-doing the debris shelter soon and these events helped make that happen.

Quite a few weeks ago, after I had been out of town, I noticed that someone had disturbed my site, knocking down some of the shelter supports and the fire ring. I also noticed that someone had taken some boards and hammered them into four close together trees very near my site. It looked like someone was moving in. After my camp was disturbed a second time, I had had enough and I decided to take action.

I dismantled their construction and left a note telling them I didn't appreciate their disturbing my camp and hurting the trees. I signed it Angry Old Man and figured I was either starting a war that I would fight ruthlessly or setting some rules that they would follow.

A few days later, I found a note in my shelter. It was basically an apology and they promised not to piss me off anymore. I responded that all was well and if they wanted to learn some bush craft, I was willing to share what I knew. It seemed that I was going to have some more students/teachers in this fun new hobby/way of life I have gotten myself involved in. I even set up a ziplock with some paper and pencils calling it Tree Mail so we could exchange notes more easily. It lasted about two days...

About a week or so ago, Tony, A guy who walks his dogs there, and I were sharing a fire at the site when we heard a group of loud kids enter the woods. They had shovels and hammers and implements of destruction and were apparently building a jump for their mini bikes along one of the main paths. They saw our smoke and loudly investigated, moving away when they saw we were still there. It was getting dark and Ginger and I had to get back, so we headed out. The next morning I was not surprised to see the shelter push back and the fire ring disturbed. I quickly fixed the damage, but decided it was time to re-do the shelter anyway. I am trying to make the site as concealed as possible.

So the potential still exists for a nice little war with the kids. They really don't want to piss off a couple of older men that know how to one up young kids without actually hurting them. I am ready for war or peace, whichever they choose.

I rebuilt the shelter. It is smaller this time, but would do the trick if needed. Last evening Ginger and I went in again after I had seen the kids doing their thing again in the woods earlier. All was well, but I decided to build a porch on the shelter and set about putting up the framework until it was too dark to see well. I will continue to improve it as time allows and hopefully it will not get kicked over anytime soon.

The adventure continues in Schram's Woods.

Severn Run Dog Walk

Today I decided to give Ginger a little more woods then the usual Schram's Woods walk, so after doing our usual, we went over to Severn Run Natural Environment Area for a little exploring of the western side of the area.

We hopped into the van and headed down to Quarterfield Rd and parked at the beginning of a development where the path heads into the woods.

There are a lot of posted signs at the edge of the road, but we found the path and headed into the woods. At the beginning, there are quite a few brambles, but as you get deeper into the woods, the undergrowth thins out and the woods become more mature.

After we got well away from the road, I let Ginger off the leash and she was able to range into the woods on either side of the trail, smelling the smells of the woods and have a grand time.

We went in about a mile or so and all was going well when all of a sudden we saw about 5 or 6 white flags pop up about 30 yards away. Ginger takes off at these huge squirrel and of course she isn't listening to me now. I called after her, but she kept on and I was a little worried. I blew my whistle and saw that she was already coming back. I was glad she didn't disappear forever. I put her on the leash for a while and we continued our walk.

After a while we headed back to the van and returned home. It was a good time with some new sights and smells. I think Ginger had a blast.