Six friends and I had went on our annual fishing trip a couple of weekends ago and I thought I'd share some of our adventures. I'll save you the details about our off-the-boat fishing and try to stick to ETS-related activities. (Lifejacket with whistles and H20 proof strobe lights were standard equipment on the boat, along with our rods and tackle. The boat had a FAK, as well as a survival kit I put together for it last year. Everyone had cel phones and the boat and land were connected with walkie talkies in case those failed.)
The cottage we went to belongs to a close friend and is a BOL (bug out location) for all of us so it was a little bit of practice for that. The weather sucked for fishing at times so we did a little more hiking than we usually do. This preggo prepper couldn't go on any serious hikes beause it was just too trecherous for me, but I did manage to get in a couple of good scouting hikes.
Weather: The weather that weekend was cold, windy and rainy.
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/StoneyLakePanorama1-1.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...9275830_n-1.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...1627188_n-1.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...938421036_n.jpgBOVs: my Jeep Liberty, one Ford Explorer, one Honda Civic, one motorized fishing boat (with a full tank of gas, but no gas in stored gerry cans. GRRR!), one peddle boat and two canoes
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/IMG_0628.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...992919501_n.jpgWe had intended to camp out but the weather simply sucked. Besides, being almost 6 months pregnant, I wasn't thrilled about sleeping on the cold, damp ground. The cottage came with bedding, and we brought enough food for the seven of us for three days. We weren't roughing it but each brought a pack with extra clothes, toiletries and a few essentials, along with our fishing gear:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...476757491_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...642603665_n.jpgMy clothes consisted of a complete change of clothes, socks and unders, LS merino wool shirt, thick cotton hoodie (ya ya, I know. Cotton sucks), rain gear (gortex jacket and rain pants) and some warm clothing (including wool/fleece jacket, down vest, wool watch cap and mittens) and insulated rubber boots. I used every singe piece over the course of the weekend because the weather changed so much:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...391116878_n.jpgAnd here's a special look at the latest in maternity rain gear for the fashion-senseless practical preggo prepper:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/198511_10151244968816303_118428298_n.jpgMy tackle box always has some essentials like SAK, multi-tool, pilars, lighter, lip balm, emerg space blanket, hot shots hand warmers, sun screen, bug juice, crank flashlight, snap light, small FAK, purelle, extra gloves, etc.. (BTW: The small orange AMK FAK goes in my pocket when I move off the boat and onto my feet, along with an AMK Ritter PSK and the items listed below):
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...744796368_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...463180608_n.jpgI usually stuff my pockets when I'm on the water or on foot, including my LM Wave (with firesteel and micro maglite in sheath), pocket fishing kit, some granola bars, glasses, etc...:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...941534405_n.jpgAnd I always take my lanyard, water bottle and a knife too, or my LM, depending on my plan. Everyone had a similar lanyard set-up on if they left the cottage and nobody was allowed to go further than shouting distance of the cottage unless we were in a group:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...800583112_n.jpgWe planned to practice catch and release fishing, but were on the hunt for a big one so we pulled out the topo maps, travel mugs of coffee and homemade banana bread, and planned our on-foot and on-water recon:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...zps3ec1a5f0.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/Bob-Dick-map-1.jpgSince shelter, water and food were covered, and the cottage dependant on a woodstove for heat, foraging for fire wood was an early priority .
Apparently the power had been cutting in and out in the area for a few days because of the wind and the rain. Before we headed out to gather supplies, we needed to prep for not having any lights inside. A quick recon of the cottage before we struck out, netted us some old oil lamps, candles, flashlights and a few cheap glowsticks:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/oilb.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/cover-survival-drawer.jpgWe decided that when we struck out on foot, we'd mark our trails as we went, just in case:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/527478_10151247362841303_1569521742_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351..._60653463_n.jpgThis preggo wasn't going far on foot on the rough terrain without a hiking stick and Mother Nature provided:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...434615984_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...569605985_n.jpgWe did pretty well in our search for fire and food. There were lots of blown down trees for firewood, and we found all sorts of goodies as we hiked for a few hours for a couple of days.
Dried milkweed makes excellent tinder:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/mGAYZSO-1.jpgWe had no idea what these flowers used to be but they made excellent tinder:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/mClL19c-1.jpgEven though the season is basically over, we found a few wild blueberries!
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...778681570_n.jpgNobody knew what these berries were so we left them alone:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...350334793_n.jpgDitto these ones:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...482253871_n.jpgRed summac makes an awesome drink:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...791599948_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...800583112_n.jpgWild mushrooms. Again, we couldn't identify it positively so we left it:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...193381074_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...792977189_n.jpgAcorns take a little work but also make a yummy snack:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...727018556_n.jpgNo idea what this plant is, but we made a mental note of it in case we needed a good consequence for teenagers someday:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...561229184_n.jpgTo our surprise we even found a few full and sealed bottles of water along the way:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...121154060_n.jpgHorseshoe fungas makes great tinder, and this downed tree had plenty of it:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...079954512_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...302090472_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...605259826_n.jpgBirch made more tinder:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...637239529_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...543204262_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...948675739_n.jpgThe downed pine tree was a goldmine of fatwood:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...541679300_n.jpgJust crack off a dead branch where it knots into the tree:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...058401638_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...912227874_n.jpgShave off the gunk and you get a beautiful piece of fatwood that smells like a bottle of pinesol:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...675667903_n.jpgWe made a drying rack out of sticks to keep our found tinder off the ground when our pockets starting filling up:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...3_7047117_n.jpgThere wasn't much wildlife in the bush that weekend. probably because the weather was so horrible. A caterpiller, a toad and some crayfish were all we saw. The cray fish were yummy in our stew:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/IMG_8255.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...790886130_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...240148882_n.jpgThis pine tree was oozing with pine pitch to help start our fires:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...066781285_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...945305742_n.jpgWe also found some discarded twine that we knew we could put to good use:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...856568493_n.jpgWe started to a get a little chilly on our foraging trek so we decided to start a fire:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...454020343_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...804708769_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...699010568_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...315930173_n.jpg*Notice the dirt on the serrated edge of my blade? Shaving off gunk is a great job for the serrations.
We did well fishing off the boat. Caught mostly bass, along with one little muskie that we threw back so he could get bigger:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...740358435_n.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...907495618_n.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...262464770_n.jpgI caught this little guy right off the dock using a hand-rig I made out of some garbage I found in the bush:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...2701094_n-1.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...408997242_n.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...215026179_n.jpg He and his buddies cooked up very nicely in tin foil over a bed of coals, along with some potatoes and onions we found in the garden at the cottage, and a few crayfish we snagged for a nearby creek. We wacked those in the dutch oven with some water and chicken and stock, and viola! Fish chowder!
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...1882339_n-1.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...071616095_n.jpg http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/dutch-oven-in-coals.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...943877010_n.jpgWe found lots of rope. Interestingly though, it was being used to rig up a broken telephone pole that the wind had broken:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...568105286_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...230453466_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/IMG_0738.jpgOur cell phones, smart phones and a lop top only got spotty reception but we could contact the outside world with the old rotary dial POTS phone in the cottage, as long as the pole stayed up:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/old-black-rotary-phone.jpgWe also found some more useful goodies like a deer jaw bone, a shovel:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...111720626_n.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...743463524_n.jpgThis gourd would have made a great water carrier but it was already broken when we found it:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...954029012_n.jpg We also picked some pretty flowers to brighten the place up:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...077182514_n.jpg An evening campfire helped chase the cold away. And some bannok and roasted marshmallows didn't hurt either:
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/IMG_0670.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/IMG_0672.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/Copyof46559_10151244976661303_841290523_n-1.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/bannockfrying.jpghttp://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351/backpackjac/Bushwacking/IMG_0697.jpg
The fishing kind of sucked and the weather was nothing to write home about it it was a fabulous weekend none the less. Working in a little bushcraft never hurts, especially when I didn't catch anything except that one little bass all weekend!
http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h351...zpsf0530f41.jpg
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