The 2012 Spring/Summer mock bug out WINNERS ANNOUNCED

[bacpacjac]

Thanks Woods Walker! It was a lot of fun. He loves the outdoors and can't get enough dirt time to work on his budding bushcraft and firecraft skills. Les Stroud is his hero and he really wants to do the Scouts Canada Survivorman Challenge when he's old enough. For now, this little Cub Scout is sucking up all the knowledge and experience he can. I involve in thoroughly in the planning process (as long as he's interested) try to let him do as much as possible when we go out. It's pretty cool to watch him go.

On the way home he asked if we could do it again this weekend so there may be another trip report coming soon.

[slannesh]

slannesh - cool trip! what type of coarse are you taking? i like the shelter you built! picture 4 .... brains on a stick.

Thanks!

I'm a member in training for Prince George Search and Rescue. Just about finished, just a couple of courses left to take then I'll be eligible to go on the callout list and and go searching for people. It's been a really rewarding experience.

[Blackdog]

Blackdog - your photos look downright familiar good looking trip all around. the bug net is a must most of the year in FL. i like the breakdown rifle. there is water most places in FL, but needs to be treated as you know. i like the looks of the MIOX but my filter has been working just fine so can justify the replacment of it yet.

its a good thing you didnt take down the lizard. its a florida scrub lizard and they azre threatened. im pretty sure you were joking anyways. ive only seen them a few times here in FL. moslty we have green/brown anoles, geckos, and skinks in my area.

http://www.wildflorida.com/wildlife/liz ... Lizard.php

Don't know about that, he looked pretty tasty as did this guy. Thinking of a nice reptile/bird stir fry. Yummy.








The truth is I was joking about the lizard, I'm a guy who tosses bugs out of the house instead of stomping them.

The AR-7 is OK. I probably wouldn't buy one again, a sin of my pre-internet research younger days kind of thing. It is prone to jams and really does need high quality feeding. CCIs seem to work pretty well. Someday it will get replaced. Kind of sweet on the Ruger 10/22 breakdown these days but it will have to wait until I return "home".

I really like a filter more than the MIOX most days. While not perfect I still I like the MIOX's fizzy magic enough to drag it out from time to time.

The bug net is a Sea to Summit Mosquito Pyramid. It sure beats my old military issue net. Much more compact and I do believe the netting is a little finer. I picked it up becasue I was a block head and forgot to pack my old one. This one is a win in my book. One of the nice things about it is that the tabs that stake out to the ground are color coded, a bit of a help when you stumble into camp smoked like a cheap cigar.

http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/89

Ocala is a pretty nice spot. My original plan was to travel to the Glades and spend a couple of days there stopping along the way to buy someone lunch, as it turns out this plan was shot out of the water. My (public) apologies for not making it, I guess I owe you one.

[xxxDarksidexxx]

slannesh - sounds real cool man! congrats on almost being finished!

Blackdog - no worries buddy. ill catch ya next time your in my neck of the woods. i dont know who makes my net off hand ( would need to dig it out of my pack ), but it has worked fine so far. mine didnt come with sewed tabs, but i sewed some on myself ( blue ) i wonder if i stole the idea from them without knowing it or if they stole my idea? ocala is real nice. did a float trip there once, and im dying to go back. i wanna do juniper springs next time. ive also been wanting to do a glades trip so if you ever plan one let me know!

[Flying Lead]

You guys are really trying to give the judges a tough go of it. I like! Keep it up!

[bacpacjac]

The Plan
My son and I did another leg on our Bug-Out route this weekend - the first part. We intended to do an overnighter at our family rally point a few miles from home. (This is where we'd all meet up if we were seperated when the SHTF and we couldn't meet at home.) We planned to take off on our bikes on Sunday morning, carrying just our dayhike packs, head to the trail, hike and camp on the beach.

Trip Report:
As many an 8 year old's bike has done, my son's bike turned out the be broken (Apparently a big jump went wrong) so we drove the Jeep instead. We parked in a secluded spot a little way away from the trailhead. We grabbed our gear and hiked to the trail:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0162.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0160.jpg

...then we made some last minute gear adjustments before we started the hike:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0163.jpg

Our Gear: (Plus an extra water bottle each, bug juice, sun screen and food)
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... 195309.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0165.jpg
http://www.zombiehunters.org/forum/view ... 14&t=92838
http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.p ... 098&page=1

It was hot, sunny and windy:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0169.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0211.jpg

.... so we took LOTS of hydration breaks. We had between 2L and 3Ls each!
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0171.jpg

It was a gorgeous hike - only a few kms but beautiful. The carp and salmon were just begging to be caught so we decided we'd do that after we set up camp and had lunch on the beach:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0173.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0167.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0204.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0210.jpg

We gathered tinder as we went along, from whatever standing deadwood we could find. There's usually lots of dry wood washed up on the beach but you just never know:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0213.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... 0165-1.jpg

When we got to the beach, we weren't disappointed. There was LOTS of drift wood;
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0178.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0176.jpg

...so we gathered wood and built a windbreak, that we intended to turn into a shelter after lunch, using more logs and a tarp:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0179.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0180.jpg

...and got ready for a lunch of MH Chili Mac for me, Coleman Mac n Cheese for him, and bannock for both of us:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0188.jpg

Then my son gave his Gerber BG ferro rod a go, with a cotton ball and some fatwood on some of the driftwood we found:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0181.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0183.jpg
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0182.jpg
GEAR FAILURE: the fire starter scraper got stuck in the rod end real good without the use of excessive force. He's 8 and I couldn't get them apart. I'm thinking strike force...?

Fire!
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0184.jpg

The fire was too close to our windbreak so I showed him how to move it once it was sustainable and could handle the wind:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0185.jpg

Then we added more fuel to the fire and got our hig-tech water boiling system going (water in spaghetti sauce can and covered with tin foil):
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0189.jpg

Then we were ready to make Bannock so we put the pan and oil on to get hot:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0192.jpg

Then we got out our bag of Bannock mix. We used a simple Bisquik + water recipe this time because the chili Mac is already full of flavour:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0190.jpg

...added some water and mixed:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0191.jpg

...took the pan off the fire:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0193.jpg

...loaded it up...
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... 0194-1.jpg

... and put it on the fire like this:
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NOT like this:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0197.jpg

It was soon time to take the water off the fire using my trusty LM Wave:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0199.jpg

We opend his mac n cheese, put half my chili mac in a SS mug, added water to both and let them steam away:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0200.jpg

The Bannock was ready just about the same time the rest of the meal was.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0202.jpg

The Best Laid Plans
My son started having flu-like symptoms just before we were ready to eat. He was in rough shape so I decided to pack up after I quickly ate and head home so he could puke in private. The hour hike in took almost 2 on the way out because we had to stop to let him puke and drink more water.

That's when it happened - GEAR Failure! One of the shoulder straps on my backpack blew out. No biggie until I took the last step off the trail, lost my balance and wrenched my shoulder. Ouch!
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... G_0201.jpg

Lessons Learned:
-check your gear thoroughly before you hit the trail
-bring OTC meds even on short trips - for your kids too if they're coming along!
-don't be afraid to change your plan if it doesn't work out
if you're carrying an off-balance pack, put it down before you try to crawl through a steel gate at the trailhead!
-maintain your vehicles well
-if you're going to depend on a child's vehicle as part of your transportation plan, give yourself a day or two for any needed repairs

[atrent3]

So I went and bugged out to a place I would bug out to in the case of any emergency.


By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

Ive lived in these woods my whole life and can't get lost in them for long and know where ill end out at in every direction I have walked it many times as a kid and well into my adult life. I know the wild life and that can be great and scary at times as well. I also know where the berry's grow. (sadly none have grown in yet.) I also know all the good fishing holes.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

We each had caught a fish but they were taking flies and we had mainly hook and worms. This is one of my girlfriends first survival outings so later in the summer I hope to leave the tent at home and build them but not yet for her.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

So we set up camp and collected some fire wood and got out camp set up.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

Then we hiked out into the old farm/wood land back to a great fishing hole. Sadly like I had stated they weren't biting the worm. So I grabbed my only fly tie and they took it first thing.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

So my Girlfriend landed a branch that was in the water with a hook in it that I lost 6 years ago so I got some gear back. I was pretty excited about that.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

So I caught one and as I was cleaning my fish my Girlfriend pulled one in it was a wee one but we threw it back.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

So we went back to camp with a fish in our hands we cooked it up and collected some more wood for our night.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

The dog was all sleepy from her run in the woods. She was awesome always in sight of us.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

The night was excellent a little chilly but more then exceptionable for the great weather we were having. The Cyotoe's where close to camp that night kept my poor dog awake all night. the next day we woke up cleaned up and left our site around 12 pm. All in all it was an amazing trip.

I brought My ruck sack with an extra set of cloths, first aid kit, file, fire kit, my campers hatchet, Coleman knife, and a Gerber Gatter JR.

By atrent3 at 2012-05-23

I had a great night out around 36 hours in the woods next time I'm aiming for 2 days if she will let us. Any way happy camping.

[Woods Walker]

bacpacjac

Once again it is nice to see kids getting out there. Too much time spent with video games these days. The strike force is a good fire steel for those who don’t care about the larger size. I have one in my preps and the other gets used a bunch so you could do much worse. Good job on the bannock. Pan fired bread isn’t all that easy to cook without getting burned. Sorry to hear your son got sick and the pack failed. When it comes to gear use is the best way to find out if it will work.

atrent3

Welcome to ZS. What are the chances your GF would hook into fishing gear lost years ago. Is that a Brook trout on the grill? Nice trip and thanks for posting.

[Medic73]

Spring/Summer 2012 MOCK Bug Out Campout – 2nd Entry
Greenleaf Creek, Cherokee County in Northeast Oklahoma
Memorial Day Weekend 2012
by Medic73 and The Machinist

The day started out just like any other day. We had already gotten up and going and since nobody had to work today, we were just hanging out at home. One of the kids was on the computer and the other two were watching something on Netflix on the TV. My wife and I were watching the TV in our bedroom when an Emergency Alert Broadcast sounded.

There had been an explosion in the industrial area of our town and hazardous chemicals had been released. The toxic cloud of gas was heading towards the most populated area of town, also where we live and would be here in less than 10 minutes! It was time to either seal up the house with the plastic sheeting and shut down the air conditioning or grab the Bug Out Bags and head out for the BOL. Because it was so hot, we decided that it would be much better to head out rather than seal up the house and sit inside with mid 90s temperatures.

We grabbed everyone’s BOBs and the dog and loaded up the vehicles. It was less than 3 minutes from the time the Emergency Alert was sounded when we left the driveway. As we drove away from our house, we could see the thick white smoke cloud drifting towards our neighborhood. My wife tuned in a local AM Radio Station as we drove away 90 degrees from the drifting cloud.

As more details were coming out, it was determined that this explosion was no accident. It had in fact been some sort of terrorist attack by unknown people. The explosions had been set at six different chemical storage tanks and set to all go off within seconds of each other. It was reported that surveillance video from the business showed several people, all dressed in black running away from the storage tanks just moments before the explosions.

Now, some new reports were now coming in saying that a small plane had just flown over the water storage pond at the town’s Water Treatment Plant and sprayed the pond with something. The reports said a very strong chemical odor was in the area and a slick was seen on the water surface. The report said to immediately stop using all city water and only use bottled water. They said that this too was a terrorist attack.

“This is too much”, I told my wife. “I’m glad we left as fast as we did.” I grabbed my cell phone and called Mike, (The Machinist) one of our Group Members. “Mike, did you hear the news?” “Yep, we’re about loaded up with our gear. Are you Bugging Out?”, he asked. “Yep, we’re already on the road. We’ll head to the Bug Out Location and meet you there. We should be there in maybe an hour, hour and a half at the most unless the roads get jammed up, but I think we got out ahead of any crowds.” “Ok, it will take us closer to two hours, but we’ll be there. Stay alert.”, Mike said as we hung up.

Our BOL is located in a very remote area. It is around 8 miles of driving some very rough rocky roads after you leave the last pavement and you must make some creek crossings. If the water is high, you just can’t get there, but it has not rained much in a few weeks, so I knew we could get through.

The campsite we chose for our BOL is located next to the main creek running through the area. Even in extended periods of drought, this area would still have plenty of running water and a deep hole running down the center of the creek that holds some good numbers of fish.





The far bank of the creek has an impressive limestone bluff that is around 70 feet tall. Large sections of the limestone have broken off, dropping large rocks weighing several tons each into the creek below. The fallen rocks are stacked like fallen dominos.



The actual campsite area sits well above the creek which is about 25 feet below. We chose this spot because the area is subject to flash flooding during heavy spring rains, but the campsite area is above any sign of flash flooding and has enough level area to set up several tents and has plenty of trees to hang hammocks from. There is also a good area to park the vehicles in that is out of direct site of the main road to the campsite in case anyone should find their way into the area.

The near bank of the creek has a nice area about 12 to 15 feet wide and sits up off of the water surface by about 4 feet. This is where we usually hang out and fish from our camp chairs. There is a good rocky area where we can have a campfire there if we choose to.

When my family and I got there, I had the kids start fishing while my wife and I set up our tents and hammock. The creek here has perch, bass, catfish, carp, drum and alligator gar. The gar and catfish can get quite large. It’s not unusual to have a 3 or 4 foot gar hit the surface going after smaller fish. Once the camp was basically set up, I also grabbed a fishing pole and started fishing.



Mike got there and we helped him unload his gear. His family would be sleeping in some nice Hennessey Hammocks strung up from the trees in the shade. It didn’t take long to get them set up. They joined in fishing and soon we had started to catch a few small perch.

Later on, I also set up a Yoyo Fishing Trap strung up from a branch hanging over the creek. I baited it with a live worm and not long later, I had another small perch caught on the Yoyo. I placed the perch in the wire fishing basket with the others even though it was really too small to eat, it might make good bait to catch something larger.

I wished that I had brought the crawfish trap that I had made to try out. I forgot to load it when we were leaving. The trap is made from ½” wire mesh cloth and is about 6” round and about 2’ long with a cone-shaped entrance on each end. There is a large opening on the side of the round trap so you can fill the bait box inside. The opening is covered with a larger piece of the ½” wire mesh cloth and held closed with rubber bands and chain link hooks.

The bait box is made from an old prescription bottle with several holes drilled in it. The bait box is supported in the middle of the trap, with chain links and rubber bands, so no matter which side of the trap is on the bottom, the bait box will be held in the very center and away from all sides so the crawfish must go inside to get close to the bait box. The bait box would be filled with raw bacon and/or fish guts and have some paracord tied to the trap and thrown out into the creek. Oh well, maybe next time I’ll finally get to try my trap and by then, the second one I’m building will be finished.

It would be getting dark before too much longer and we had not eaten anything today, so we got out a small folding camping grill that we wanted to try out. The grill was from Walmart and was only about $15.00, so even if it didn’t work well, it was not too much of a loss.

We had grabbed some beef and veggies from the fridge before we left as well as some flour tortillas, so it would be beef fajitas tonight. My wife sliced the red and yellow bell peppers along with some onions from our own garden that we grew last year. She seasoned the beef with fajita seasoning and cooked it on the grill. When the beef was finished cooking, she cooked the sliced veggies in some foil packets. When everything was almost done, she heated the flour tortillas directly on the grill and it was “build your own fajitas” with the beef, sliced veggies, Mexican cheese shreds, sour cream and salsa. Yummy!



Food always tastes better when cooked outside and this was no exception. Even the kids were quiet while eating dinner!

After it got dark, we switched our fishing from worms with bobbers to fishing for catfish using treble hooks on the bottom with some calf liver we had brought from home. I was glad that we had grabbed it when we were filling the ice chest before we left because we started getting some good bites on the liver. Soon, we had a couple of small, foot long catfish. I hoped for bigger ones, but catching any fish is a good thing in times like this.

The next morning, we started looking around to see what wild edible plants we might find. I found several May Flower Plants, but it is not the time for them to have fruit and the rest of the plant is not edible. I made note of where they were for later. I did find several Sassafras Trees growing around our campsite. They are easy to spot once you know to look for a tree with three different types of leaves, single, double and triple lobed leaves.



The Sassafras Tree Roots can be used year round. You dig up some of the roots, wash off the dirt, strip off the bark of the root and slice the inner root into a pot of water. Boil the root slices until the water turns a dark red color, add some sugar to taste and let it cool down or you can drink it as hot tea if you prefer. The taste reminds you of Root Beer and this is what Sarsaparilla was made from, which is one of the earliest forms of Root Beer.

We had our .22 rifles with us and planned to try and hunt for squirrels, but we only saw one squirrel all weekend and it ran across the road when we were not hunting. I did see one whitetail doe and one rabbit, but neither when we were holding the rifles and hunting. I would not prefer to kill a deer with a .22, but I know it can be done if/when needed.

It was a hot day and the kids wanted to go swimming in the creek so we let them. My wife kept watch over them while sitting in a camp chair sat in the creek in the shallow water while the kids swam and played in the water.



As they swam, my son decided to swim across the creek and climb up on the large rocks that had fallen from the bluff. Here he is sitting on top of a couple of the rocks. He is 16 years old and is around 5’10” tall so you can see just how big these rocks are.





Later this day, I gathered some materials to try and start a fire using a primitive Fire Bow Drill. I found a nice section of dried root to use for the spindle. I carved the top of it to a pointed end and the bottom to a rounded end. I found a dead sycamore branch down near the creek and split it using my Camp Hatchet. Once split, I used a small section for the bearing block and carved a hole in it to accept the pointed end of the spindle. The other split piece would become my fireboard. I carved a hole about an inch from one side of the fireboard to accept the rounded bottom end of the spindle. I cut a curved branch from a hickory tree to use for the bow and tied some cheap Walmart paracord on it.



I gathered some dried leaves as well as the shavings when I carved the spindle, bearing block and fireboard. I also gathered some of the largest single lobed leaves from a sassafras tree to catch the embers with. It was now time to do the burn in of the fire board. I used some green leaves in the hole of the bearing block to lubricate it and make the spindle spin easier. I wrapped the paracord once around the spindle and placed the bottom end in the hole carved in the fireboard and pressed own with the bearing block. I supported my left hand holding the bearing block against the shin of the leg holding down the fireboard and began to slowly draw the bow back and forth.

Soon, I was able to pick up speed as the spindle began to burn into the fireboard. I could see the black dust starting to get thrown all around the bottom of the spindle and soon smoke started to show. I really gave it some good rapid strokes once the smoke began to get going well. After a few more seconds of doing this, the fireboard had a nice, deep blackened hole that fit the bottom of the spindle perfectly.

I picked up the fireboard and blew off the ember dust. I used my sheath knife to carve the v-shaped notch into the burn in spot. This notch looked like a 1/8 of the pie slice removed from the hole. I placed the fireboard down on the ground with the sassafras leaf under it and was about to start to really get the fire going, when I noticed that the cheap Walmart paracord was really frayed in the middle. I knew it would quickly break, so I replaced it with a different paracord.

I made a tinder nest and was ready. The tinder nest was a handful of crunched up dried leaves supported with more dried leaves and there were some of the dried wood shavings in the nest between the crunched dried leaves and the other leaves. I sat the tinder bundle aside, but within easy reach.

I assembled the fire bow again and started drawing the bow back and forth. It didn’t take long for the smoke to get started going. As before, once I had smoke, I really started rapidly drawing the bow back and forth. Soon, I had a nice coal of dust embers going sitting in the notch on top of the sassafras leaf. I carefully removed the spindle and tipped the fireboard so the entire coal would be sitting on the sassafras leaf. The coal was about the size of a fingernail and was glowing red and smoking. Carefully, I picked up the sassafras leaf and dropped the smoking coal into my tinder nest and started gently blowing on the ember.

The coal would glow brightly as I blew on it. The tinder around the ember started to catch and the smoke grew more and more. I was very close to getting this bad boy going! Suddenly, some of the now burning red leaves blew over onto my hands, burning me. I jumped from the burn and dropped the tinder bundle and lost the coal. So close, but yet so far!

I tried a few more times and was able to once again form a burning ember, but the second ember fell down deep into the leaf nest and went out. I had to change the cheap Walmart paracord again and by now, after several attempts and close to success, but still failing, I gave up for now.

I was practicing because I had never done this before and I wanted to make sure I could do this successfully before I shot a video of it. Of course, every time I tried after that while shooting a video, it didn’t work or I would get worn out before I could get it going!

Even though I was unable to actually get the fire started, I was happy to twice get a glowing ember coal using my fire bow drill. I will continue to try again, but I learned a few things from this event. First, I needed to use REAL paracord. That would have held up much better than what I used and I would have not needed to stop and change it out. Second, I needed to better prepare my tinder bundle nest. Having a proper tinder nest would have worked better and I really believe I would have been successful.

As it was getting late and we still needed a fire going to cook dinner on and to heat up some S’mores later for the kids, we went ahead and used some cotton balls soaked in Vaseline and a magnesium flint bar to spark it to start the campfire. While not the fire bow drill that I planned, it was still started with our fire kits and not using matches or a lighter.

While dinner was cooking on the campfire, I made up some Bannock to have for a part of the dessert later after dinner. This was a sweet Bannock recipe with flour, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, a little salt and some raisins in it. I cooked it on the folding camp grill in some cooking oil in a cast iron skillet. It came out pretty good, but next time, I'll make the batch smaller and perhaps add some apple dices to it.



Later that night, while listening to the AM Radio Stations for any News, we heard that the water treatment plant was checked out and the chemical sprayed on the water had been neutralized and it was safe to start using the water again, but there was a boil order in effect for another 48 hours, but at least the water would be safe to use after that.

The small plane used to spray the water storage pond had been found hidden in a small hanger on a private air strip over in the next county. The pilots had been caught and gave up their contacts, so those that planted the explosives at the industrial area were also caught later that afternoon.

The group were locals, but had ties to middle eastern terrorist groups. They had planned both attacks themselves as well as carried them out because they wanted to show the US that we are the “Great Satan”. The entire group was rounded up and the plans for the attacks were found on computers at one of their homes. They were not as organized as they thought they were, but they had still been able to plan and execute their plans before being caught.

The chemical cloud had sent several people to the hospitals with respiratory problems, but no one had been killed. The fires at the chemical storage tanks had been controlled and the cleanup was under way.

Things would quickly get back to normal and we could soon pack up and head back home. We decided to go ahead and pack up and head back home that night. It was almost midnight when we had everything packed and loaded in the vehicles and convoyed back out of the area from our BOL, back home.

I still wish we could have stayed an extra day or two. I’m sure I would have successfully started a fire using the fire bow drill (or died trying, LOL) if I had another day, but that will have to wait until the next Bug Out or campout.

Respectfully submitted by
Medic73 & The Machinist

[Regular Guy]

Alright, my entry:
I started out after my son got out of a 1/2 day of school. I was packed and ready to go so he hopped in the truck and we were off. We arrived at around 5pm. I had the dumb idea of bringing a cooler filled with milk, pancake mix, beer and water. It weighted about 25 lbs. Carrying it had an extremely high suck factor. Now on, everything in the pack or I'm not bringing it. I had space in my pack too.
The temperature was perfect and company was great. On Saturday we brought the coolers out because I wasn't the only one to bring one. Saturday afternoon is when my inflatable rest failed. That evening I was no where as comfortable as Friday evening. No more inflatable stuff for me.
Some gear failed, chiefly a cheap ass tent and a Therma-Rest inflatable mat. The mat has been replaced and I'm getting Eureka Solitare tents for us. I need to bring extra para-cord and I've replaced some other gear that wasn't adequate. My son hated the mountain house freeze dried meals. I need to bring stuff he likes.
Gear that was stellar was the Laplander saw. It made quick and easy work of the small wood. The sleeping bags we had were great, toasty all night. My son's foam ground mat pleased him. I think we're going to get some small inflatable pillows.
Things I'm changing or have changed: I need to bring gloves, I'm getting new tents, more para-cord, I bought Nite-Ize S brackets, I'm going to invest in a jetboil but using the fire was adequate, what I need are some smaller pots and pans. I have picked up a foam terma-rest and some extra tent stakes. I guess I didn't realize little things make stuff a lot easier.
Pics:


We made a bush craft refrigerator. Top that!



Batter Blaster pancakes. Flame on.

Camp set up. My son's tent was ripping and I chilled under to ponchos.

My son walking in.

[Woods Walker]

Great looking bannock and nice job on the bowdrill.

[Woods Walker]

Summer Mock Bug out: The Walkers.

Here is my mock bug out video. This is for entertainment purposes only. Take it seriously at your own risk.



I prefer to do my outings on foot but haven’t been car camping in a while. Some gear is too heavy for hiking but just fine if camping out of a vehicle. No way would I hike with a 10 lb shelter etc. We had a few sites in a State park near a nice river.

The USMC 2-Person tent. Heavy but good.





The night before I arrived one tent got flooded. Always make certain the rain fly covers the entire shelter. One big problem with having a waterproof floor is any water that gets in has no way out. Don’t end up with your tent drying in the bed of a truck.



The weather was unstable but fly fished near dusk as the rain moved in. The water was still high from the rain and no trout took my fly.



Picked up some Yellow Birch to help start the fire on the hike back to camp.



Seemed to work.



The next day I used a spinning rod with better results.



Some gear used:

Here is a little kit or rather enhancement bag that can be added to a BOB, GHB, daypack etc etc so the basics are covered. If room is tight I can take just the inner Green Silnylon bag. This isn’t intended to be a full 72-hour BOB.





The list of contents can be seen in the video.

Thanks for looking.

[shulatt]

Well….it’s not much of a mock bug out, but it’s what we managed with two youngens tagging along.

Since I managed to wrangle a week off work that included both my boys’ birthdays (two days and four years apart) and my 16th anniversary on June 1st (one big party and get it over with ) it was decided that we were going out in the woods to volunteer as mosquito feeding stations for a few days and shake down some gear and get it dirty. More of a car camping trip than a hike, but we’re still getting geared up to tackle some actual backpacking later this season or next year.

Making sure it was a positive experience for the 7yr old and 11yr old was a major consideration as well since we’re still setting the hook for “great outdoors experience” for them. I’m pretty sure the kids took the bait hook line and sinker, since they complained vehemently of having to come home and have hounded me since about when we’re going out again!

We had the kids pack their own kits ahead of time with the idea of “if you don’t carry it, you won’t have it!” with the understanding of food and shelter being covered already. So of course the first versions of their packs were of course toys and snacks. So we gave them a basic “Ten Essentials” list to make sure they had covered….
Navigation (how to know where you are and where you’re going): they packed their emergency whistles with a small compass on it and the map (pamphlet) of the campground.
Sun Protection (How to protect yourself from Sunburn): Sunglasses and hats.
Insulation (How to protect yourself from Cold/Heat): Fleece liners for the rain jackets and beanies and their sleeping bags and closed cell pads.
Illumination (How to see after Sun goes down): Battery powered glow-sticks on lanyards and new flashlights I bought them for their birthdays.
First-aid (How to deal with ouches and oopses): They put together basic ouch kits with the help of Mom with Band-aids and Neosporin. (We, of course, had a fuller kit on hand just in case.)
Fire (How to make fire for heat/cooking): Since we don’t let them have lighters or matches and haven’t let them have ferrocerium rods yet, the ingenious little scamps grabbed their magnifying glasses out of the bug collecting kits.
Repair kit and tools (what tools might you need?): They haven’t yet received their first pocket knives, but did list them as things they should have as well as some paracord for their packs. I will likely be shopping for a couple of basic Victorinox knives for them in the reasonably near future.
Hydration (extra water): They each carried their own Nalgene clone water bottles.
Nutrition (extra food): Each had some snacks and ramen in their packs, as well as a ½ pound of rice each to “help even the load”.
Shelter (How to protect yourself from the elements such as Rain/Wind/Sun/Bugs): Tents they listed but didn’t worry about since we told them we had it covered and we’re not getting them their own tents quite yet. It’ll happen as budget permits.

Of course some things got forgotten since we let them pack their own kits (toothbrushes, etc), but nothing catastrophic and good reminders for next time.

The plan was to grab the shulatt spawn off the school bus Thursday afternoon and load ‘em in the Jeep and roll out. Plans…pfft! Two and a half hours later, after double checking the packs and finally getting everything loaded, we were off! Fortunately, we weren’t going too far. A short twenty-five mile drive and we were at the campground and getting signed in at 6:30pm. Plenty of light left to get the tent and hammock set up and a campfire set up.

My cell phone is actually the best camera I have right now. I took somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 +/- pics and about a half-dozen vids with room to spare on the memory card and didn’t really have to recharge my phone in the Jeep more than usual for my normal usage for the phone. I think the pics actually turned out pretty decent, all things considered!

Kids prepping the tent site:


My ten year old tent isn’t quite as rain resistant as it used to be. So since we were expecting some rain, I decided tarps were called for: (It wasn’t the best tent when we got it, but it’s served us well for a decade. Since we are moving more towards ‘less is more’, it will be upgraded as soon as we can manage it)


The more I read about hammock camping, the more I wanted to give it a try. However finances being what they are (crappy), and not even being sure I can actually get a decent night sleep in a hammock due to not being able to sleep on my back and restless leg syndrome (I can dose and rest, but can never really sleep unless on my side or belly), we couldn’t justify dropping a substantial chunk of change on a proper camping hammock. I did manage to pick up a Grand Truck Ultra-light hammock that fit the budget and would give me an idea of if it’s even feasible to pursue hammock camping. After some diligent research, I figured I could give this a try for the first night out and see how it went.

Hammock setup: (Obviously still needs some fine tuning AND A BUG NET!!!!)


Since I didn’t have proper tree huggers, I looked around and decided that since weight wasn’t an issue this time, the tie-down straps from the Jeep kit would fit the bill admirably! A two strand twist of paracord worked suitably well for a ridgeline for the hammock as well.


The hammock was quite comfortable, but I didn’t sleep a wink Thursday night. In part, it was just trying to get my sleeping bag settled comfortably and my RLS acting up. The MUCH larger issue was the mosquitoes. Once I get a bug net, I may give this another try. Using the cold weather bag under the patrol bag inside the bivy worked fine for insulation, but the material was so slick that moved around so much, I simply could not maintain a comfortable set up. I need to get a closed cell pad and just use the patrol bag. For now I’m going to have to call this attempt a fail.
Well, not a complete fail. A comfy hammock is never a waste on a camping trip!

My kids loved it!:

Video:


Another thing that kept me awake, aside from those pesky mosquitoes, was spiders! I was almost concerned about my wife waking up and finding me strung up in a tree wrapped in a web! Now I’m not overly arachnophobic, but the thought of this little sweetheart and her brood of spiderlings sharing my bedroll didn’t give me warm-fuzzies.

I found her by her eye-shine from my headlamp while she was hunting waterbugs (aka American cockroaches). At first I thought maybe the glow was phosphorescent fungus, or maybe just a reflection from the usual campground detritus, but when I got closer…


Female Wolf Spider with spiderlings: (very impressive specimen! She was at least 1 1/2 to 2 in. length of body and a good 4-5 in. across the legs!)


She was quite obliging and held still while I grabbed my cell phone and fumbled for the camera and snapped a few pics. She didn’t even seem to mind the flash.

Found this little guy by the bathhouse later the same night. At only 1 in. or so length of body, he’s a bit more ‘normal’ sized for the Wolf Spiders in this area.


Friday morning…cofffeeee!!! There are some things I’m willing to do without for the sake of saving weight and bulk, but that first cuppa java ain’t one of them. Good old fashioned camp percolator coffee pot on the old Coleman single burner camp stove that fits on the regular 1 lb. propane canister and stand. It’s old, it’s heavy, it’s bulky, but it’s as reliable as they come and it’s what we have for now until I can afford that MSR Whisperlite Universal I’ve been pining for.
Simple breakfasts of Rice Krispies Treats and oatmeal cookies and we’re ready to get the day started.

Scrounging firewood and showing the boys how to prep tinder and kindling killed some time and ran off some energy.

He’s so proud of himself! :


At one of the neighboring camp sites, we found a fire pit full of broken beer bottles and garbage (uncouth louts) that we took the time to clean up a bit. In the nature of the “make use of available resources” spirit, I saved some of the broken glass as scrapers for making tinder. Fine thin curls perfect for the fire starter kit. Not a durable edge, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a readymade scraper that is any sharper without spending a substantial amount of time with a honing stone and strop.

Broken beer bottle scraper:


We also found a standing dead pine that provided some excellent kindling. Good and resin heavy though not quite fatwood yet, but well on its way to becoming so.


My eldest practicing with my carpenter’s hatchet. He still needs to work on his technique a bit, but that’s what practice is for.


This kept ‘em occupied for a bit and out of Mom’s hair. :


Since I “decided to save weight” and forego bringing myself a camp chair (ie. Forgot to load it). I figured this was a perfect opportunity to show the boys how to ad-lib a one-legged camp stool from my folding shovel locked into the right angle position and using your legs as the other two feet of the tripod.
My wife, of course, had the camera handy since she was waiting to catch that pic of me falling on my ass as the ‘stool’ fell out from under me. It was a shame I had to disappoint her.
It was a bit short, and didn’t allow for lounging, bit it served very well to keep my posterior out of the mud.




Showing the kids some basic fire skills.
Wood shavings and basic feather sticks:


This should be enough to get us started:


Char-cloth:


Video: (Apologies for the background noise and over talking. My lovely lady doesn’t have much experience with taking video)




Friday’s dinner: (aka “cook your own dinner you little beggars!”)


The Saturday evening fire was PJ cottonballs for firestarter, just to show the boys the differences in the light.

We also tested out some ‘WetFire’ that a friend gave us a packet of, but I didn’t think to get any pics of it at the time. I’m definitely picking some more of that stuff up! That shit works like nobody’s business! The solid block doesn’t take a spark too quickly, but it will take one. If you scrape some shavings of first and pile ‘em around the block, just looking at the firesteel is almost enough to light it up and it burns hot for a surprising amount of time. It does leave more residue than charcloth or PJ cotton though.

Friday was pretty uneventful, other than getting everything set up, kicking back, and enjoying being in the woods. At least until the storm started gathering on the horizon Friday night. Time to tighten up the tarps and batten down the hatches. After breaking down the hammock and securing gear in the Jeep or under the extra tarps, it was watch the light show and try to stay dry.
Fortunately, the tarps did their jobs and my half-arsed rigging withstood the wind and rain just fine.

Saturday morning was interesting in the change the 20*F drop in temp and the thorough soaking wrought.
The toads were out in force, much to the amusement of my children who spent a good 15 min watching this little guy wander through the puddles on the tarp covering the firewood:



The good soaking also created a mycologist’s schmorgesborg with a variety of fungi sprouting overnight.

Still not sure what this one is. If anyone can ID it, feel free to speak up!:



I believe this is Fly Agaric that’s started to color fade as it dries out, but could be wrong. In any case I certainly wasn’t willing to test it. :



No idea what this one is either. Anyone able to educate me on this? :



Among our wandering of the day, we happened upon some tracks on one of the muddier trails behind our site.
Opossum:


Equine: (Had the kids going for a bit “My guess is it’s one of those half-ton critters with two heads and eight limbs.” But they figured it out by spotting the horseshoes nailed to one of the trees as an equestrian trail marker. )


The Most Dangerous Animal: (as correctly identified by the kids when asked “Ok, of all these tracks, which one is the most dangerous?” Smart kids.)


Saturday’s lunch was experiments with Bannock. This was actually our first time cooking bannock in the campfire, believe it or not. But since we’d seen such success with bannock on previously posted MBOs and found such a plethora of recipes online, we just had to give it a try.
We’d planned on making some bacon bannock, but that didn’t work so well. The bacon kept mysteriously disappearing from plate before it could make it into the bannock. I blame the gremlins. Never mind the spatula marks on the boys and my hands from wandering too close to the bacon plate. Honest, we were just trying to guard it from the gremlins! Momma just wouldn’t believe us though and kept thwacking us with that spatula.


While Momma and the youngest spawn mixed up and kneaded the bannock…




I filched a hunk of it, rolled it out into a rope of sorts, and wrapped it around a handy stick.

It turned out wonderfully after a bit of time over the fire while slowly rotating it for even heat.


The main bannock in a cast iron skillet that we brought for the purpose.


After the initial heating, I moved one of the bigger coals to the side and put the skillet against it facing the fire to bake


It took longer than I expected to cook through and was still pretty dense bread (the youngest was a little over-enthusiastic with the kneading), but VERY tasty and filling.


Of course, my eldest notices the patterns on the bannock and dubbed it “scary faced bread”


We also tried a batch that had more than just a bit of honey added to it. It took quite a bit longer to cook through due to the added moisture content, but when it was done….I barely got a chance to taste it after the wife and kids pounced on it. We’ll have to bring more honey next time!


After lunch, another walk and another critter.
Blue-Tailed Skink:


These little buggers are FAST! I managed to catch this one only because he ran under the door to the bathhouse and cornered himself in a shower stall. Once I brought him back out for the boys to get a better look at him, I let him go (of course), but he didn’t seem to be in that much of a hurry to leave and hung around sitting on my knee while I snapped some pics until my youngest tried to pet him.


Once we got back to our site, I showed the boys how to make a simple pot hanger. My eldest found the perfect stick for it and I set to work…
Not too shabby, if I do say so myself









Dinner Saturday was corn on the cob and potatoes cooked in foil in the fire.

They didn’t last long enough for me to get any pics of the finished product. By the time I got done cooking and thought about grabbing a quick pic of the fruits of my labor, I about had to use my walking stick to pry my kids off my dinner so I could actually get to eat some of it. (little vultures!) Apparently, we’ll have to bring more corn next time!

Sunday was break down and pack up to head home. Once we got the site packed up, we brought to boys down to the lake so they could do some fishing (aka drowning worms and scaring fish). Unfortunately, neither of them really has the patience yet to fish for long, so it turned into more of a “lets practice casting” than fishing, which was a shame. The park had restocked the lake with catfish the weekend before and the folks next to us we’re pulling 1-2 lb catfish and a good sized bluegill in using chicken livers as bait and the folks on the other side were having good luck with nightcrawlers. We’d brought some Gulp brand artificial grubs (maggots) and some dried crickets to try, but had no luck with either. That wasn’t particularly surprising though, with the ruckus our kids were making. Oh well, something to work on with ‘em.

All in all, we had a lot of fun and learned a few thing and taught a few things.
So there it is, our SSMBO

(edited for spelling and layout)

[shrimpwd]

SSMBO – Appalachian Trail
Home – 1100 on 5/16
The reports came in, showing many difficulties in the foreseeable future. I had one chance to escape before it was upon me. I grabbed my gear, hopped in the van, and left for the MBO-BOL. (Luckily, I’d planned for this eventuality, and I was able to get a ride)

Wal-Mart – 1120
We arrived at the worst place to go in an emergency. Luckily, nobody else knew about the BO, and I only had to deal with the regular mid-morning Wednesday rush. I decided to pick up a 5x7 backpacking tarp on the way to the trailhead. I didn’t have a tarp yet, and for $10, felt it was worthwhile.

Amicalola Falls – 1235



Arriving at the parking lot, I disembarked and said my goodbyes. (and posed for pictures…) I had 8.5 miles to go before I arrived at my destination for the day.

Plenty of water at Amicalola Falls, but I was already carrying about 3.5L with me (1.5L Nalgene and a 2/3 full 3L camelback) and needed to make some distance. The pack weighed just about 35lbs total, including food, water and belt. (Belt held FAK, flashlight, SAK, Big knife, camera)

The Stairs of Doom! – 1245 until 1345

I hadn’t gone this way before, and didn’t realize there were 600 metal-tread stairs between the bottom of the falls and the top. After an hour of climbing, I managed to arrive at the top.

It was a single mile of agonizing pain, right from the start. I decided right then I would not take the stairs again if I had the choice.

First Break – 1405

Tired from the long stairs, I took a break and decided to refuel. I knew I was out of shape, but hadn’t planned on such a grueling beginning. Beef jerky raised my spirits and energy level. While taking the break, I contacted my ride and confirmed their safety. They had made it to their BOL as well, and were hunkering down for another two days of “regular life” before I would see them again.
I met a hiking partner and we decided to continue as a group, for safety and moral support. The “Strenuous” terrain is just that! His name was Ken, and he was bugging out for an undetermined length of time.

Road Closed – 1730

Hours passed without any trouble. Arriving at Nimblewill Gap, we took a break. Seeing the road closed sign confirmed my theory I would only ever come across zeds I couldn’t outrun out in this part of the state.

Springer Summit – 2030


After 8 hours of hiking, I managed to reach the summit. 8.5 miles in 8 hours with 35lbs of gear, while out of shape, is nothing I’m disappointed about. A quick .2 miles later brought me to the shelter I would spend the night at. I met two more people that had conquered the trail. We talked, prepared for the evening, and had dinner. I gathered water and filtered it before nightfall, using my water bag, Katadyn hiker filter, and 3L Nalgene Cantene. I filtered 6L of water, to replenish all of the 3.5L I’d had on the way up, and also used for cooking. I had red beans in rice with pieces of jerky broken up and added, two cups of hot chocolate, and a thing of Lipton soup. They had an MRE, just for the first night’s dinner.

We had a small visitor as the light faded, but it didn’t stick around long. I set up my sleeping bag on my pad and slept well enough. I slept like a rotisserie, but it was still comfortable.

Springer Shelter – 0915 on 5/17

Breakfast is the least exciting meal of the day. I usually sleep through it, but I had already been up nearly an hour out on top of the mountain. A double dose of instant coffee and a chocolate granola bar, plus a few strips of jerky, were enough to get me going for the day.
I decided before I left that I would leave my tent, sleeping bag and pad at the shelter and only carry the items I would need to go to the waterfall and return for the next night at the shelter. It would lighten the load by about 10lbs. I felt it was safe enough, as the only people that would travel to the shelter would be hikers not wanting to carry excess weight.

Ah! – 1130
Stepped on a rock wrong, and rolled my ankle. It wasn’t bad, but it did take a minute before I could continue. The others were a few hundred yards ahead, but they stopped and let me catch up.

Three Forks River – 1200

Crossing the bridge with Ken and the others. A few other people were out hiking, no news of anything dangerous, but a slight chance of rain reported. (about 30%, by all accounts) Already 4 miles covered, and in only 2 hours. Much better speed when only carrying 20-25lbs. (and not Strenuous terrain!)

Waterfall – 1230

Lunch break at the waterfall. Much cooler, and definitely a good place to take a break. My ankle appreciated the break. I parted company with the other three hikers, as they were pushing on towards Hawk Mountain Shelter, or even Gooch Gap Shelter if they thought they could handle it. I had other plans, and was sad to see them go.

Signs, signs – 1325

It says 4.1 miles to retrace to shelter down for the night. I can do this, I’m sure of it. Ankle isn’t too bad since the break at the waterfall.

Snake! - 1400

Oh, it’s just a small snake. It’s Nothing to worry about. I pushed it gently to the side of the trail with my walking stick, now held in the right hand to take pressure off my ankle.

Stover Creek Shelter – 1420


Ankle is starting to become sore. I decide a break at the shelter is in order, and take my shoes off to let my feet breath. The swelling is noticeable, but not terrible.
While I am stopped, I meet two other hikers and we talk gear and preparedness. Good meeting, and hope they had a nice hike.
I showed them my Peak1 stove, and as I was holding it up, it decided to fall into 5 pieces. I spent a few minutes rebuilding it, and then repacked it. Glad I know how to put it back together!
Rain gear is talked about, and I explain that I have a cheap jacket and the new tarp, if it were to start raining.
I leave after more than an hour of rest. I feel good once more, but the ankle is still questionable.

Rain and Hail and Thunder, oh my! - ~1600
I don’t know exactly when it started raining, but it was only a short time after I’d left Stover Creek Shelter. Good thing I’d already talked my plan through, or my gear (and me!) would have been soaked. Pea sized hail began falling and I had my jacket on, with the tarp pulled around me. I had to keep going, as I didn’t have the gear to stop for the night where I was. Also, out on the ridges is not a good place to set up camp, especially when there is lightning.

Springer Mountain Parking Lot – 1720

I managed to get to the parking lot, .9 miles from where I was going to shelter, in good time. My ankle was definitely feeling worse, but I could still walk without much trouble. I knew the mileage wasn’t helping, but I had no other option. Luckily, the rain slowed to a drizzle, and I took a moment to rearrange my gear while I had an overhang to work under.

Springer Shelter – 1750
Finally, I can be dry again! Two other hikers were already there, and they had noticed my gear, but kept it how they found it. We talked about the rain and how the day’s hike had gone. George decided he liked my cheap, lightweight, rain jacket, and I liked his heavier, slightly more expensive, jacket, so we traded. I tossed in some couscous and beef jerky as well and we were both very happy.
I filtered another 6L of water. I find 3-4L per day, plus cooking water, is about my daily amount in average heat and high-exertion situations.
I had more soup, more jerky, a pack of ramen, tuna on an MRE wheat snack bread. (I love these, BTW)
Jake had brought an MRE for the first dinner of his hike. I commented about it and told him the previous night’s occupants also had brought an MRE.
I was tired and slept better than I normally do at home.

Springer Shelter – 0930 on 5/18
I decided coffee wasn’t worth heating water, and just grabbed two granola bars and some jerky and nibbled it while walking. I left earlier than I had planned, as I figured I had plenty of time. I had 8.5 miles to go to my rendezvous at 1700. It was downhill, after all!

Shelter Break – 1100

I took a break at the last shelter I would pass on my trip. My ankle was holding up to the trek, but I knew I needed to take frequent breaks or it could get worse.

Nimblewill Gap – 1215

Another break. Another hiker passed by, but did not stop to talk. Ankle is feeling worse than before. I eat another wheat snack bread.

Unknown – 1330 to about 1530
Something about being on a trail you’ve been on before, but going in the opposite direction, can play tricks with your head. I knew I’d taken the correct turn, but it seemed to be taking much longer than I’d remembered. I took three breaks when objects seemed to be good seats. The terrain just keeps going on and on. Where is that place I took the break two days earlier? I don’t remember this long stretch of green coverage. Hey, this is where I’d dropped my bandana and found it during that one break I’d had with Ken! Finally, a location I know!

Top of the Falls – 1625
I am NOT taking the stairs again. My ankle hurts too much, and I only have 35 minutes to cover the last mile of trail. I’ll take the East Ridge Trail instead. I’ve taken that going up before, and it’s definitely easier going (and prettier scenery) than going down stairs.




Bottom of the Falls – 1655
I arrive in just enough time to sit and rest for a few minutes before my ride comes to get me. I packed a change of clothes in the back of the van before I began the MBO, and they were all glad when I used the restroom to clean up a bit for the ride home.
The experience was a great stress relief, and it made my time transitioning into my first semester of college (2nd time I’ve attempted a degree) and the hectic schedule that is preparing for a move to a new house.

Things I learned:
Tarps are amazing. I need more. Maybe another 5x7, and a 8x10 or 10x10?
I may be out of shape (~50lbs overweight), but I can still push myself to do things many people can’t. Roughly 25 miles in 3 days/2 nights is nothing to scoff at.
Soups are excellent at the end of a long day. The salt is so tasty.
The AT composting toilets are perfectly positioned along the way, and are much nicer than digging a hole.
I need a nesting cup for my Nalgene. Using my cook pot for beverages makes it possible to only have one at a time.
I need to escape more often!

Things that didn’t work:
When traveling long distances over rough terrain, carrying a hammock, a large knife that you don’t need and don’t want to ruin, and anything else that isn’t easy to use, is just pointless extra weight.
When on a regularly used trail and your plans are to use the shelters, don’t carry a 6lb tent that you’re not going to use. Just taking that out of my pack would have made it 29lbs WITH 3.5L of water and all my food!
I had too much food, maybe .5-1 day worth extra. If it hadn’t been mostly junk I didn’t want to eat, I may consider it a good thing.
I had at least 2lbs of random gear that was in my pack the whole time, and never got used (not talking about my FAK). Some is worth keeping, other stuff isn’t. The snare wire, the cheap plastic ponchos, the second and third whistles, the 3rd flashlight…
I had 2 plates and a lid as well as my cook pot. I didn’t use them. It was excess weight that could have covered the nesting cup.

[omega_man]

Well, after reading about bath-salt crazies I decided to inventory my summer gear and make like Iron Maiden and run to the hills. Thankfully, some fellow South Carolinians and myself have a plan in place and BOL to RV at in case the outbreak spreads.

Here's a quick run down:



-work gloves
-FAK
-food
-fishing pole and tackle
-Mora knife (I'll try not to break this one Ninja )
-folding saw
-small pouch w/ 550 cord, bungees, etc
-pack towel w/ hygiene kit
-medium size pouch w/ fire kit, alky stove, and other small stuff
-thermarest
-hammock
-tarp w/ bug net shoved in there
-woobie
-spare clothes, including rain gear
-WW butt pad
-2L platy, Nalgene w/ GSI minimalist, Sweetwater filter

Also bringing the luxury suite along:



-USB eneloop charger, USB port, and accessories for Orange Joos solar charger
-USB powered LED lamp and fan (that fan fucking rocks)
-Orange Joos solar charger
-bottle of Mondavi Cab in platy bag
-Uhm, fuel for the "alky" stove in the mason jar

On the body:



-last ditch lanyard and TAD survival capsule w/tinder
-fishin' license
-surveyors tape (I live the closest to the BOL, so I have to mark the trail)
-headlamp
-G29 w/spare mag
-GPS
-multi-tool
-compass
-map
-notebook
-mirror

There's a good chance Omega_woman will have to meet up with me, so that means I also have to carry my half of the tent. I'm also tossing in the Jetboil to make cooking for 2 easier. Additionally, I decided to throw in some useful reading for a BOL library:



Everything packed and ready to go in my trusty Osprey:



I arrived at the trailhead Friday (June 1st, been too busy to post) morning where Redeyes and Malice were already waiting. Redeyes had prepared to homestead in case it turned out to be an INCH scenario, but after a mile of man-handling provisions through the woods we reached our BOL. I marked the BOL with surveyors flagging as a pre-determined sign for other ZSer's who would be arriving throughout the weekend.





We immediately went to work gathering firewood. It had been raining, was forecast to rain more, and everything is generally wet in the Blue Ridge foothills anyway--so, thankfully Redeyes had an axe. We had to forage a ways off-trail to find decent dead fall. After working our asses off, Redeyes kick-ass on the axe and started splitting everything.

Redeyes TCB!


Spent the rest of the day fishing and lounging in the hammock. Regular Guy and Spearyourface showed up later road-weary and trail-ragged. Stayed toasty and dry all night in the hammock with my Kifaru woobie and thermarest despite the fact in dropped down into the mid-'40s.

The next morning I fixed my coffee with my alky stove setup and wolfed down some dry granola:


Everyone else had a more substantial meal. Flapjacks courtesy of RG's batter blasting


Omega_woman and dog showed up that afternoon, shortly followed by HomerJ and his wife. Our group was complete with the arrival of HomerJ's buddy who showed up later after escaping from Columbia.

Now, with Omega_woman on board, I would finally get a decent meal (MRE and Mainstay up to this point). She has an awesome recipe for backcountry pizza. Using a waffle grid insert in a pot allows us to "bake" with steam convection by placing dough in oven bags. Works great for cornbread and biscuits too. Here's the play by play:

Making the dough in an oven bag




Seasoning


Sauce


String Cheese


Pepperoni


"Bake" for 20mins


Finished Pizza!




Feeding my fat face! Mmmm...


Regretfully, Sunday morning showed up and we had to return to real life. I had a great time with great company! My deepest thanks to everyone who came out and kicked it in the woods with me.

More pics:

[congochris]

So two MBO's this week. The first one was a family camping adventure involing myself, my wife and our three kids: ages 8, 4 and 2. Sadly, while we had the camera it was utterly forgotten in the press of just trying not to let our kids starve, freeze or otherwise die a tragic death. My eldest daughter is creating pictures with construction paper, crayons and her memory. So I'll get back to that MBO when those pictures are ready.

Until then, we have a short hike undertaken for Daddy Daughter time on Lorelei's 9th birthday today. Camera was in the pack for the walk out, but it came out as soon as we got to our lunching spot. The plan was to hike out, cook up some mountain house Turkey Meatloaf (I lucked out and got a test package as a pre-production trial) and some sprinkle covered donut holes for desert left over from her birthday donut breakfast afterwards.

So, here we are getting it all set up to cook. Using a Trangia, "custom windscreen" and a Coleman Solo set.



Close up of the trangia and pot stand.



And my chosen fuel. Generic yellow Heet.



The Mountain House package.



No.. that was her donut holes. Hmm, maybe in her hiking bag?



Nope. Perhaps in my 5.11 RUSH72?



Hmmm, let's see..



Hmm, FAK? check.. times two.. why do I have two FAK's? Sewing kit? check. Eh...No MH pouch here.



There's my poncho. I'm sure I'll need that on a day hike in 80+ F weather with 0% chance of rain. Rite in the rain notebook? Check. I even have pens for it. Crap, guess we'll have to dip into my emergency supplies in the deepest darkest depths of my pack for lunch.



AHA! There's the mountain house! Sitting next to the coffee maker. At home.



Crap. Hey Honey, wanna share your donut holes with Daddy?



Meanie. Granola bar for me, I guess. Well, no dehydrated meal.. no reason not to boil water though.







Hey Lorelei, those donut holes look good. You sure you don't want to give Daddy one?



Ok, Ok, I can take a hint. Sheesh.





Come on, boil already! It's hot enough out here you're most of the way there to start with! I think my stove is defective. Heck, it worked at 8 degrees and 2K feet higher on Catamount.. oh well.



What the? Aw, crap. That doesn't look right. Oh well, cleaned everything up, and then my kiddo wanted to go to the nearby playground.



Remember Honey, a good zombie hunter takes good care of their equipment, and always has it with them.



I guess that's a work in progress, then. Good thing we brought our own water, though:



Not that I'd let that stop me, I've got a filter and treatment chemicals. At home. With lunch. Crap. Oh well, time to start back. So it seems if you don't put the lid to your nalgene on tight enough, it leaks. Just ask my daughter. She just thought her butt was getting sweaty.



And just for fun, some wildlife on the way home.





And at macro and zoom on the camera, a nice one of a dragonfly:



Stupid auto focus... Lemme try that again.



Much better. And some tadpoles:



No, autofocus, not the bubbles! The tadpole in the water! *sigh* nevermind.

And here's a pic of the beaver/muskrat thing that leaped out of it's den and went swimming like greased lightning right at me! Or rather into the culvert underneath my feet.



Hey, you try to take good pics when some crazy carniverous man eating furry thing is charging you and your 9 year old! Well, at any rate, here's it's dam. Or den. Whatever.



And as a final note: just because something looks like it might be a good bug out route you should still check to make sure it doesn't go right past the county lockup.



So, lessons learned? Summer is hot. A hot meal didn't even sound appetizing when we got to our lunch location. Which is ok, since I forgot the damn thing anyways. Also: MH should never send me a product to test ever again. I've been on two MBO's and still haven't tested it out.

[the_alias]

The_Alias's UL MBO or how knowing your limits is important.
Part 1

The key facts:
Distance covered day 1 ascent ~ 4-5km
Ascent in meters/ft 1600 meters or 5,269 feet
Weather Between 80-85f

This is going to be a bit of a short writeup a bit heavier on the pictures but there are some valuable lessons here not just for me but for hopefully everyone.

I packed relatively light - no sleeping bag, no cookpots or food that needed to be cooked. Instead I had modern pemmican which was made up of
1 part beef jerky
1 part sultanas
1 part walnuts
1 part dried apples
All ground up and blended together using a 2:1 ration of Peanut Butter to honey.

It was epically tasty and sustained me very well.

Other gear I was testing for the first time was Ribz chest pack. My backpack was a 45litre Black Diamond Jackal - I'm really impressed with this pack and this trip cemented it's bombproof ability.


As you can see Ribz worn with a barechest is NOT becoming to anyone

On with the scenery pictures!




^Those peaks where what I was aiming for...

Lunchtime! So here is a picture of the super tasty pemmican:



Honestly it did everything it needed to and I'm going to be using this in some form in the future.

Up until now it had been difficult hiking but nothing too bad - soon I was going to start across some hair raising ice patches where one slip could send me tumbling to injury or worse...

Part 2 to follow with videos!

[the_alias]

Reserved for Part 2

Negotiating hazards:



Using snowmelt for water replenishment at high altitude

Some images of the top of the pass and why I decided to return the way I went:




Camp with no sleeping bag - comfortable!

View opposite where I slept

[KillerPretzel]

Hey all, I am a long time lurker and haven't really posted much, and I thought I'd contribute to the Summer Mock Bug Out Thread. Since I can't get my pictures to upload, I'll try and explain the best I can.

This past weekend (6/16/12) me and 5 other guys decided to do the Ridgeline Trail leading from Kings Mt. Natl. Forest to Kings Pinnacle on Crowders Mt. We planned to do it in one day, making it 9 miles out and 9 miles back. That morning, we left at 10:00AM.

Mile 1: As we left the campsite, we all had 1 liter or so of water each. Mistake 1#. We started off very strong, and going the wrong direction. Luckily, someone caught our error early, and we headed back the other direction.

Mile 2: The Ridgeline Trail actually connects to an overgrown fire trail, and continues like that until the NC/SC border. It is a very nice walk and flat until you reach NC.

Mile 3: The trail starts to get wavy, and the downhills are just as painful as the uphills.

Mile 4: I am down to 750 milliliters of water and it is not looking good.

Mile 5: We cross hwy 161, and everyone is feeling it now. Even though it is only moderately hot, I am worried about heat exhaustion.

Mile 6: Bear scat, the only sign of wildlife I saw on the trail besides squirrels. As of now I am cursing the mountain.

Mile 7 & 8: Pain, lots of pain. Throbbing pain, dull pain, aching pain...

Mile 9: Holy Jesus and baby Moses in a motorcycle sidecart, we climbed .2 miles of 70% incline towards Kings Pinnacle. When we summited, it was already 3:00PM. So we ate a quick lunch, I drank what was left of my liter, and we head back down.

Mile 10: My shoulder's were being destroyed by my overloaded Rush 12, so I made a jerry-rigged waistbelt from my riggers belt. It worked great, except for the chaffing.

Mile 11: I was getting the fuzzies, and I was given a half-empty bottle of water from my friend, who was out of water except another water bottle. I noticed, when you get really tired and dehydrated, you just don't notice yourself moving.

Mile 12 - 14: I was just trying to think about anything else besides my body about to collapse. I don't even remember going over some of the road crossing's.

Mile 15 - 16: Me and a friend pulled ahead from our pack of 5 and talked about everything and anything to keep us going. We finally come across a water spicket (or however you spell it) and refill. All of us were out of water and I had stopped sweating.

Mile 17 - 18: We stumbled back over the NC/SC state line and followed the fire trail all the back to camp. By that time I could not feel my feet, and didn't want too. We finally got back to camp at 8:00PM.

Mistakes: Need more water, lots of it. I grossly underestimated the amount of water I needed to consume.
Distance. 18 miles was a lot in one day, and if not for that water spicket, it could have been longer.
Training: We were all hurting from it, and wearing new combat boots does not help.
Useless Sh&t: I personally took to much stuff, all my EDC and GHB along with a few extra's. More provisions, less flashlights.

I will see if I can upload a few pictures, if I can figure it out. I hope I provided enough details. Any comments or opinions will be greatly appreciated!

[ninja-elbow]

Ninja-Elbow and his Dad practice a bug out to the woods.

Me and my Dad haven't done any backpacking with each other in over 10 years. He got into motorcycles when he turned 60 and just don't like sleeping on the ground in squat tents anymore (and I am going that direction myself). Last week I told him, "Pack a pack for an overnighter, we're heading out to do a little woodsbummin'." I gave him details and said I'd pick him up Saturday morning at 9am and we'll be setting up a camp by 12noon.

Well, it was more like 1pm as we stopped to get coffee and scones in a small town coffee shop and some son/Dad talk about raising kids before we hit the turnoff to our area. It was an 80 degree day so the women were in shorts in this town (a ski stop heading up to Mt. Hood) and Dad enjoyed that.

We got to the trailhead and loaded up.
Load-out for my Dad was "way too much shit" but he's 70 years old and needs way more stuff. He was willing to hump it and I was watching.

Pic of Dad by my truck with his waterskin and pack in the bed.


For me, it was the usual and some new stuff to try out – namely an ENO Singlenest Hammock, some slap straps, and my Swedish surplus "Mountain Ruck" plus a Finnish gasmask bag that held my 5Cs in possibles haversack style.

How the stuff sits on me:


On me:
Normal pocket stuff – hanky, wallet, keys, lighter, multitool
Helle "Viking"
Glock and mag
Surefire

In the Finnish gas mask bag:
Mora
Guyot bottle and nesting mug (plus some Pur tabs) and an extra Platypus 16oz bladder (empty)
Emergency blanket
Cordage
Fire kit
Headlamp
Compass
"admin" pack
Cliff bar
Leather gloves
Repair kit
Boo boo kit
Poncho
Smokes
…plus a USGI 2 quart canteen as the old Swede pack lacks any kind of pouch for the 2 litre bladder I usually take thus I was lacking water carrying.



In the Swedish pack:
ENO Singlenest
ENO Slapstraps
8x8 tarp
Wooby
40' paracord (ridgeline)
Zebra pot, kitchen tools, "Ducky" alcohol burner and alcohol, Esbit
Kuplika drinking cup
*Jetboil … *Dad did not want to bring his stove, I brought this as back up as boiling water over a campfire in the PNW is not a guarantee
Wetterlings Small Hunter axe
Folding saw
Skivvies, wool socks, wool watch cap, wool gloves, scarf, thermal pullover – in small dry bag
Toiletries – TP, soap, toothbrush, powder, floss
Tool bag – wire, tape, lightweight 'biners, leather sewing needle, grommet kit, spoon knife, chunk of leather, chunk of canvas, utility sewing needle, Lansky puck and diamond sharpening plate, batteries, Steripen
2 servings mountain House (stripped pouches into 2 servings), 2 Cliff bars, 6 coffees, hard candy, gum, hot sauce, seasoning powder, olive oil
Supper – half pound of frozen beef, handfuls of: chopped onion, sliced carrot, cubed yam




The hike was flat, quick and easy (see my MBOI entry… same place). Dad handled his huge pack well. It was hitting the mid 70s and was humid so a good sweat was getting worked in. I was wearing a linen "colonial work shirt" and that was fine on top of a Duluth wicking tank top. Also was wearing some Dultuh boxers, OD BDUs, light hiker bamboo socks, my Vasque boots (which I think I have worn out in 7 years of use), and my Duluth boonie hat. Amazingly, and I am wondering what it was, but that old surplus pack was the most comfortable pack I have humped in years. Embarrisingly I like it more than my Snugpak or that old REI ruck I had a few years ago. $19 frikkin dollars. The whole set up with haversack on my left, canteen on my right, ruck on my back worked suprisingly well.

We did about one flat mile along the Salmon River and found the spot Crystal Bandon and I could not get a fire going to save our lives. It was a bit after 12 noon when we de-packed and set up camp. I had set up my hammock for the first time:



Lunch rolled around and I was not very hungry. Neither was Dad. I was sweaty though and had not pee'ed since we were at that coffee shop 3-4 hours ago. I knew I was dehydrating but was not thirsty. I finished off my Guyot bottle of water as I knew I had to (32 oz). I then refilled it from the river and dropped some Pur tabs in it as I was trying to use those things up. I then drank half of what I had in my 2 quart canteen and refilled that from the Guyot and kept drinking from the 2 quart while the Guyot became the "processing" vessel. My Dad instituted the same procedure but used his pump filter instead to keep the water flowing. After an hour of all that water I kind of felt like I was mustering a pee and a bit hungry so I ate a Cliff bar. Dad had some licorice candy and bread and butter he brought.

*Technical note: It sure would have been nice to have some sort of portable, large capacity, reservoir like an MSR Dromedary bag or one of them gravity feed filter bags.

After "lunch" Dad went for a solo walk up the trail to look around and I started to gather and process fire wood. I started with building a twig bundle and worked my way up using the pencil lead, pencil, thumb rule looking for wood. I also found some dry stuff as wide as my wrist and dragged it in to be chopped up. Most of the wood was maple or cedar. Finished with my twig bundle and kindling I decided to take a siesta in the hammock (it was around 3pm).



While lying there I thought of some Kochanski Bushcraft stuff and decided I was going to do a fire lay like him. Put my fuel logs down, like 3 of them side my side, and light my twig bundle and lay it right on top to see if it caught. I've seen Mors do it plenty of times. I'm used to the old cabin/teepee build and you drop your tinder bundle in the middle of that.

Dad had returned from his nooner hike and I rebuilt my twig bundle into something more substantial. I planned for dinner to be a stew made from my thawing beef, yams, carrots, and onions so I needed to get a fire going around 4 so I could eat around 6. I fixed up my billy pot with the stew fixins, I laid the logs, and lit the twig bundle with a match and it did this:



It's a lot like a reverse lay, bottom to top is: fuel logs, thumb-sized kindling, twig bundle and moss. I left it alone and hung that pot over it and let the twigs do all the work and it did great.

Just so y'all know I got them twigs by tromping through the underbrush to get to living trees whose lower branches were dead and dried up. What you are looking for are branches, twig thin like "pencil lead", the easily snap right off. It took some work sometimes and, if the moss is dry keep it on there as that helped me light that thing right up. That moss fizzled at first but lit right up as soon as I waved the bundle in the air a few times and then I plopped it on top of my logs, 2 thumbs wide, and let it burn.

Recipe:
Cubed beef
Chopped carrots
Chopped onion
Chopped yam
Olive oil
Seasoning
Fire
2 hours

So, dinner was cooking and me and Dad were BSing about stuff. I used my Jetboil to boil water (I had forgot to pack my vial of denatured alcohol, whoops) and keep our water containers full as my billy can was busy stewing dinner over the fire. I made us a bit of coffee as a breeze picked up and cooled us off some. Dad's main course was a pack of ramen which he cooked in his old '50s era BSA pot he's had since he was in the BSA … in the '50s. He ate it and realized there was not enough protein so I gave up some of my beef in my pot for him.

The fire burned pretty well. That maple and cedar went up nice and slow and the smoke and breeze drove the bugs away.

Another note re something I had not really noticed before: My Wetterlings axe went through the wrist sized logs I cut up for fuel WAY faster and more efficiently than my saw. I was quite amazed. That is one fine axe, as long as I keep it sharp.

6pm rolled around and I pulled my pot off the heat and gave it a taste. It was done. I finished the stew with some hot sauce I had made (fish sauce, chili, vinegar) and let it cool for a bit. Dad was back into his licorice candies and I had some tea going too.

Time to eat:


I want to get this posted now, will edit and add post supper stuff later. Hope you enjoyed. That's about it for the pics though and I had some hammock drama. Stay tuned for more.

PART II:

Did I mention this was my first overnighter with a hammock? Welp, it was and as I always say:
You can read about shit on the internet until you are blue in the face but you don't figure nothing until you get out there and do it.
That's me at least. I know some folks that can just read something and see a pic or 3 and it is now knowledge for them. I gotta' fuck shit up a few times until I get the hang (<< get it? Hang?) of things.With that in mind here is how hammock sleeping went for me.

Me and Dad were nice and tired about 10pm. Sun was down and it was plenty dark and our blue skies and cool-breezed sunny day turned into a typical PNW drizzle. Not rain mind you, just that drizzle stuff that get's called rain in some places. Dad and his 70 year old bones goes crawling into his little 2 man Mountain Hardware tent and I hoped up into my hammock. I was just under the tarp that offered some good protection. Being as the predicted low was to be in the 50s, I risked going at it with just a poncho liner and no insulation under me.

First - I could not get comfortble right off. I went diagonal and even to my side (as I usually sleep). Just couldn't get it. I laid there for about an hour listening to the night woods and river and Dad snoring.

Second - Eventually fell asleep but awoke to a stinging pain to my butt. My body reverted to the straight flat on back position in hammock and it stretcehd some. My butt was on the ground. I got up, could not find my iPhone and thus my clock, found my head lamp, peed, and thanked myself for getting slap straps that allow me to raise the hammock by just goign up one loop in the strap.


If you look in this pic you can see how the slap strap works. You just loop it around the tree and yu get a ong trail of loops to hook up to. To fix the "my ass is on the ground" problem i just went up about 2 loops. That brought the hammcok up to lower chest high on me.

Third - Your hammock should scare you when you try to get into it. I basically backed up to my hammock in the dark in my skivvies, pulled the edge down as much as I could with my hands, leapt my 280 pound ass into the night backwards, the ENO caught me like a baseball glove cradles a ball, and swung my legs up and into the thing. I then found my smokes in the side pocket and lit one up - reward for not launching myself off the other side and probably into the puddle of pee I made by the dead log and bushes over there.

Fourth - That shit got cold. Eventually woke up, after eventually falling asleep, to everything touching the hammock being cold. Amazingly, the wooby held up and was very warm. My mind plotted in the dark some kind of solution other than order an underquilt off the internet. Was tired so just gutted the cold and tried to go back to sleep after adding my dry bag full of clothes to the hammock to be a pillow.

Fifth - Awoke to birds tweeting and Dad having some drama in his tent. Sun was rising so it was about 5:30. Dad is old so it is hard for him to put on pants all squat in a tent. It was raining too, like Oregon ran. One thing I LOVE about hammocks (set up at the proper height ) is putting on pants and boots.

Heated up some water over teh Jetboil stove, made coffee, ate a Clif bar and some raisins, helped Dad pack as my packing was easy and done in about 10 minutes, hit the trail and we were back at the truck by 8am. Had him home by 9:30 and was in the loving arms of Roxxors by 10:45. Noticed bug bites all over my hands and applied hydrocortizone.

[bacpacjac]

DETAILS:
Date: Friday June 15 - Sunday June 17, 2012
Where: Kawartha Lakes, Ontario
Who: 9th Pickering Scouts (those of us who like to practice their bushcraft skills on a Friday night)

GEAR:
-personal survival kits and whatever bug-out/get home gear we regularly keep in our vehicles
-small gear trailer with: tents, sleeping bags, firewood, axes, saws, flashlights, patrol boxes with kitchen gear, large propane stove and grill, coolers (full, thankfully, from our Troop who left all their non-perishables and frozen food from an outting the night before), large water coolers (full, thankfully, in anticipation on a hot and sweaty night processing wood), camp chairs, a wagon, a bike, a couple of wooden pallets, etc.
-canoe trailer with about a half dozen canoes and 2 kayaks, paddles, life jackets, bailing buckets, throw ropes and whistles

DAY ONE

On Friday afternoon, as a few of us Scout leaders gathered with some brand new and eager Scouts and Cub Scouts to work on their knife, saw, ax and firecraft skills, the radio suddenly started blaring a warning report about a possible Zombie outbreak in the nearby mega-city. Rather than wait and find out how bad it would get, we grabbed our survival kits, threw the kids in our vehicles, hooked up one truck to one of the gear trailers, another to the canoe trailer, and hit the road. We had 11 kids, 8 adults and 2 kids without parents. A check-in with one said "please, take him with you!" and the second a "I'll get our camp trailer and meet you there."

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... railer.jpg

We headed a couple of hours East, to a conservation area where we do an annual camping trip. There's a relatively unknown group camping area, that has a big picnic shelter, a water pump, an outhouse, and room enough for all of us and the three trailers.

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ing/kr.jpg

When we arrived we inventoried our gear, set-up our tents and started moving and processing firewood to the fire pit:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... g/gear.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... dwagon.jpg

Once we were set up, we sat the kids down for a safety talk. Common in this area are black bears and poison ivy:

http://s1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... sonivy.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... /bears.jpg

We also showed them were the rasberry bushes were, though the berries aren't out yet:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... erries.jpg

By then, the kids were getting hungry, so we broke out the propane stoves and whipped up some hotdogs and juice:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... /mugup.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... gmugup.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... otdogs.jpg

Once their tummies were full, they started to get a little nervous about the ZPAW, so we got the Scouts and older Cubs working on the campfire:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ecraft.jpg

After a little while, they got it going:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... g/fire.jpg

While the older kids worked onthe fire, the yonger ones were charged with finding good marshmallow sticks that they could also use as spears to protect themselves:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... eapons.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... eardad.jpg

Once all was ready, we gave them a bag of marshmallows and let them have at it:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... allows.jpg

To help everyone relax a little more before bed, Carl pulled out his guitar and we had a little sing song:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ngsong.jpg


DAY TWO

After a restless night sleep for the grown-ups, a good breakfast was in order. Thankfully we had some pancake mix and frozen sausages in the trailer, along with those hot dogs. Sadly, the coffee percolator wasn't in the trailer but because we brought our survival kits, all the grown-ups had instant coffee:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ncakes.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ausage.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... reakie.jpg

Everyone helped with the clean-up. We used the non-potable water from the site well and boiled it on the stove for washing up:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... leanup.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... /water.jpg

After breakfast, we decided that we'd better get a move on teaching these kids a few things that just might help them fight off the zombies, so we went portaging through the local marsh:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ortage.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ewater.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... /marsh.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... marsh2.jpg

We saw lots of wildlife along the way:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... leeggs.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... g/swan.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... osprey.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... lilies.jpg

By the time we stopped at a look-out, everyone was ready to chow down. It was hot, humid and not a hint of wind. We brought a couple of coolers of sandwhich fixings and a melon, and were also sure to slather everyone in sunscreen, make them drink lots of water and insist that everyone wear a hat:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... /lunch.jpg

After lunch, it was time for a Canoe 101 lesson. The adults paddled out but if ZPAW is really upon us, it's important that the kids know how to use this vital tool to escape if they need to:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... lesson.jpg

We also let them try out the kayak:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... /kayak.jpg

By the time we got back to camp, everyone was confident but hot, so we hiked to the local beach where more canoe lessons were on the agenda. This time, they practiced staying the canoes on rough water and also how to get back in case of a tip-over:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ecanoe.jpg

Brody also took the opportunity to give us all a lesson in camoflauge:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... g/camo.jpg

Then it was time to head back for dinner. Thankfully, Dillion had just bagged a deer a couple of days earlier and was bringing some to add to the group freezer when we left, so venison burgers and spaghetti were on the menu:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... urgers.jpg

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... ghetti.jpg

After dinner and clean-up, we again got the Scouts to practice their firecraft skills and roasted marshmallows on their fine creation:

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... mpfire.jpg

We were overcome with relief when we heard a news report that the ZPAW was in fact just a minor outbreak of grumpy soccer fans and it was already contained. We could go home in the morning. YEAH!

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h35 ... mandjo.jpg

[scurvy]

scurvy's high desert canyon outing, spring 2012,


took my usual small gear, arrived at daybreak to an ominous red sunrise (a sign of low pressure and bad weather on the way)



sky was clear but the wind was gusting, clouds on the horizon... rain was on it's way.

I was looking for the annual 'gold stone-salmon fly hatch' that draw fly fishermen to this canyon every year.

as I chose a place to set up camp a little blue day moth cooperated nicely for a photo:



camp, the rain came in and I dealt with on and off DOWN POURS the first day (the camera stayed dry and safe in my tent, photos are a bit out of order because of that, my poncho was WELL used)



morning, looks much better, and waking up to the fresh smell of sage does'nt suck..



looking for the hatch, found a flower:



a closer look in the riverside grass and found the bugs, stone above, salmonflys below:


and before you ask..... yes I have, they taste like rhubarb, quite sour but not that bad.


another patch of mateing 'golden-stones':



decided to match my fly to the smaller gold stones:



another angle:



Yeah, it worked... fingertip to elbow is a nice size fish. thanks to the other fisherman that saw my battle and came to watch and be a photographer.




all fish were released, I had plenty of food and these fish are wild trout. I got plenty of fish to hand and they all went back home, I hope to see them next year.



thistle, right next to camp, tastes very similar to aparagus, VERY TASTY.




gopher snake, this guy was right in my camp. he bit me 4-5 times before he realized I wasn't a threat and calmed down, relaxed, and was comfortable in my hand.



(why in the hell would I let a snake bite me? hopefully he'll never come near humans again and get mistaken for a rattle snake and end up with a rock on his head. and I got a photo. hehehe. he's out there somewhere eating mice right now.)



and of course, I always try and include a critter,

this guy was VERY comfortable in his little thorn covered area and let me get this close up.



thanks for lookin';

[Woods Walker]

Entry # 3. Just a short 8-mile dayhike with my GHB.

Last week we had some very hot and humid weather and seeing how adverse conditions are always preferable I took my daypack/GHB for a 8 mile dayhike on the AT. The terrain is well known to me and as usual the few hikers I encountered grumbled the hill is harder than expected. Aren’t they all. LOL!



There was about 100 oz of water and 23 oz of ice tea, which just lasted the 8 miles.



Also took along the Frontier Pro filter straw and GSI cup attached to the outside of my pack giving me the option for a fast drink but it wasn’t needed. That black birch staff was made from a sapling in the same area years ago. I think it brings me luck.

Always liked these rocks.



There are a few streams in the area all of which had water despite the hot week. I think the temps hit over a hundred.



Some plants and critters.

This looks like sassafras.



American chestnut. Sadly these will die from the blight even as new shrubs push up from the roots. This has been going on for a long time and not sure how much longer they have left.





Some kind of wild rose possible a Virginia rose. Most seem to have that funky looking bug in the center.





Another nice looking flower.



Staghorn sumac.

When the clusters turn redder they can be made into a lemonade like drink. Right now however they’re still not ready.



Black Cap Raspberries.

They turn ripe when black so most of these are still not ready. They are getting increasingly harder to find and not sure why. Maybe the invasive Wine berries (same family) are pushing them out? I did find a few patches but only a small number were ripe. That is how it goes when looking for forage. The area has a large population of timber rattlesnakes. I looked first before putting my hands or feet anyplace. This is especially important when foraging because it can be distracting.









Wild Blueberries.



Unlike last season this seems to be a good year for them in this area. The larger numbers of very small seeds helps distinguish Blueberries from the Black huckleberries. The hucks also become ripe a bit later in the season but both berries can be found ripe at the same time and area.





Something bad happened to this tree.



This Garter snake looks ready for a fight. Often they take off for cover but not this one.



Just a few sharp things.

I packed the BHK scandi Tiger Knapp and my new Mora Robust.



So far I like the Mora Robust and will post up a review in the appropriate area.



Here is an old trick for dealing with hit temps. I like to take my bandana, dunk it in a nice cool stream then wrap it around my neck. Near as I can tell it actually works better around my neck than over the head. Granted if I didn’t have a hat and was in direct sunlight the bandana would be placed on my head.





Thanks for looking.

[Flying Lead]

Can't wait to see if someone did a MBO in the triple digit heat this weekend.