I have wandered the wilderness for as long as memory serves. It is a place of great mystery and wonderment. This Blog will help me to share some of the many lessons I have learned while wandering and paddling the forests and lakes I call home.
A hiking pole is a versatile tool that can quickly become indispensable.
Camping and hiking through the wilderness has challenges that must be experienced to be fully realized.
A hiking pole can be used for a multitude of tasks. A few example are; hanging your jacket, pole vaulting over creeks, a cooking pot hanger, a shelter support, for pushing a canoe through a shallow marsh or river and as a crude fishing pole. Heck, you can even use it as a monopod for a camera.
They are simple to make and fun to use.
Please do not cut live trees to make your hiking pole.
The one in this video was dead stand.
Always test the pole prior to working on it. Make sure it can bear your weight. It would be relatively embarrassing if you pole vaulted across a creek only to end up swimming.
The forest is a place of wonder and adventure. It is a place where we can reset our civilized minds and center ourselves.
This process is circumvented when we carry the baggage of expectation and fear. The two are separate burdens wrapped up in the same backpack.
Expectations, simply put, are thoughts which prevent us from being in the moment.
As you wander down a leaf strewn trail, The trees form a cocoon of wonder all around you and the forest smell intoxicates your mind. You have your camera ready for the big moment when a buck deer will bound out of the bush and present you with the photo opportunity of a lifetime.
Waiting for that moment or expecting that moment, precludes you from seeing the porcupine high up in a hemlock tree, casually living life as all the quilled ones do. You miss the mice people as they search the forest floor for food. You miss the hawk that is silently sitting on a maple branch waiting for the opportune time to launch itself at its intended target. You miss the dance of life which surrounds your every footstep.
Fear works in exactly the same way, it stops you from becoming part of your environment. The world around you becomes a living nightmare and prevents any knowledge the forest has to teach you from manifesting itself.
Forget the lessons Hollywood has ingrained in you, it is not real. Leave your expectations at home. Enter the world of the green with nothing but wonder and you will be amazed at the release this will bring you.
The forest is built upon layers and layers of humus, in other words, decaying matter.
Death is a constant and is absolutely necessary for the survival of a healthy forest.
I have taught this simple lesson to thousands of children and adults through my career.
I have witnessed wolves hunting and killing deer, otters killing muskrats and beavers, fishers killing porcupines and a host of other predators doing what they must to survive. I see a design in this, a reason for the killing. I see the forest flourish because of it.
When I see humans, decked out in the latest hunting attire and carrying the latest technology designed to make the kill easy, I see an imbalance, an unfair advantage.
I have killed, not for need of meat, but rather to end the misery of an animal which has been mortally wounded. I hold no ill-will towards human hunters as long as they follow the rules and hunt ethically.
For me, all life is sacred and should be treated with respect and compassion. We are an apex predator and as such have a responsibility to act sustainably.
When I see a blood trail from an animal in distress, I am compelled to follow. I have an innate desire to uncover the story behind the crimson writing on the forest floor.
I discovered an easy way to make tinder one day while trying to split some elm logs for firewood.
Elm is incredibly hard to split by axe. I used steel wedges and a sledge hammer. After several attempts, my brain started working again.
I cut the log along its length with my chainsaw to a depth of an inch or so. by doing so, I broke the grain enough to allow me to assault the log with my axe. Success!
The added bonus - Perfect tinder for starting my campfires.
I know it could be considered non-bush crafty, but who cares - it works.
Survival skills are an absolute must if you travel in the back country. The "what if" scenario is always following you as you wander or paddle.
For example; what if you are traveling through the woods on a motorized ATV and it breaks down? You're a long way in, there is no way of walking out. Cell coverage is non existent, your cell phone has just become an expensive flashlight.
Day-light is fading and the cool night air is pushing down on the land. The reality of being stuck in the woods sinks into your mind as you grapple with the situation.
It's time to get to work. Set your mind free by using your hands.
Your first task is to build a shelter which will keep you from the elements and prevent you from getting hypothermia. The shelter shown in this video is the only shelter which is easy to build by hand and it will keep you from freezing to death.
The most important thing to do is stay calm, don't panic. A mistake out here can cost you dearly. Build your shelter and accept the situation for what it is.
The chances of ever being in a situation such as this is remote, but if it should happen, it's better to be prepared then to be shivering in the dark as fear entwines your soul with its cold fingers.
Cooking a meal over an open fire is synonymous with camping.
Several technical problems have to be overcome prior to placing a pot on the fire.
First - you have to have a place to put your pot so that it rests in the flames/coals to heat whatever it is that you are cooking.
Second, you have to have a means to regulate the heat so that you can cook your food properly.
Finally you have to ensure the pot will not flop over and spill your meal into the embrace of the fire.
All of these problems can be solved in many different ways - This video explains how to solve this dilemma using a simple tripod, six feet of paracord, a 1/2" pulley and a tent peg.
Super easy to build, and even easier to operate, this method is fool proof. It will ensure you will be able to cook and keep warm, any meal that fits in a pot.
Camping is a life like no other, it will take you into a world which is removed from the controlled world of civilization. You will find yourself in a place where everything that surrounds you is part of a huge multifaceted organism.
Using your hands to create something such as a tripod connects you in a very real way to the world of the green.
Please remember that when you cut a sapling, you are taking the life of a young tree, select saplings such a poplar. These trees will re-sprout from the base.
The beaver clan taught me this - the trees they take will re-populate within ten years of their culling.
Beaver with maple sapling - R.G.Wright
P.S.
Most Campgrounds and Provincial Parks do not permit
the cutting of any living tree. That is good thing!
The tripod in this video was made on my own property and the saplings were selectively harvested.
This tripod can be made from dead branches - simply increase the stance distance of the legs and you are good to go.
