Jan 06

Cold, Cold Camp

clothing, craft, excursions, kit, meets, shelter, woods 2 Comments »

After arriving at the yard and being transported by Mark’s ‘Bush-taxi’ I considered the potentially hazardous and undulating final 100 yards into the camp. I needn’t have worried. Adam and Mike had built a bridge over the largest ditch for me to step across complete with handrail. With mates like that you just know that you will be in safe hands for the rest of the weekend. I named the bridge ‘Pablo’s Pass’ as a genuine lump came to my throat.

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We settled into a routine of collecting wood and sawing it up ready for the cold, cold night that was expected. We discussed how short the days were and how much work you have to do while there was still some daylight to work by. It certainly helps to have a group of people to share the work.

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I had brought both hammock/tarp and tipi; but I wanted to try out the tipi in anger. I was still unsure of sleeping on the ground but I had to give it a go. The others’ had a mixture of bivis with tarps and hammocks with one other tipi dweller. No one had a really uncomfortable sleep, but it was only -4C and warm compared with what the following night would bring.

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On Saturday, after a leisurely breakfast, we had a Woodlife Network AGM as all 5 of the management team happened to be there. We then got stuck into some individual tasks. Mike making a buck saw, Sean having a go at bow-drill, George making a northern shelter, Mark helping everyone out, Ben spoon-making and me trying to make an oil lantern (I’ll put up the manufacturing stages later).

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Again, we had to prepare copious amounts of wood for the stew and for a long fire for later in the evening.

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The stew was a fantastic beef stew and dumplings prepared by Mark and Andy. As the temperature dropped, we discussed different methods of keeping warm. Insulation both in terms of clothing and insulation from the cold ground were the first obvious steps. And of course hot food and a hot drink. Before we turned in we planned to make hot water bottles from our water containers to pre-heat our sleeping bags. Alcohol probably isn’t the best thing to keep warm; nevertheless, a few kuksas full of different substances were passed around.

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Every now and again, someone would race up to check the temperature. It was -6C at 8 o’clock and depending on where you were on the slope, it plummeted to -10C  later in the evening.

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The morning saw the condensation on the inside of my tipi frozen and a thin layer ice on the outside of it. Despite this I felt no ill affects waking only once during the night. My new Alpkit SkyHigh 800 and thermarest provided all the warmth (I’ll do a full review later) and apart from the condensation problem, I was pleased with the tipi/sleeping bag combination.

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Andy and Maverick had Exped SynMat 7s, which are very worthy considerations for ground-dwellers (although a bit pricey.) George comfortably survived his night in his northern shelter. In fact nobody felt any ill affects from the cold weather although on this occasion there was little wind chill to take into consideration.

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All in all this was another great weekend with great company and a challenging cold weather scenario. Thanks to everybody there for making it a great first post-injury excursion for me.

Thanks for the visit.

Pablo.

Oct 22

Shadowhawk Tracking

excursions, tracking 7 Comments »

Last Friday I took the long journey south west into Devon to help out with the Shadowhawk Foundation and Intermediate course.

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We set up on the top of Canonteigne falls and waited for the students to arrive. The idea was for me to assist with mentoring the students and perhaps take a lesson. It wasn’t long before the parachutes were set up and the fire was on the go. The dark evening gave way to a bright moon as the initial briefing took place and we settled into a chat around the fire.

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It was good to revisit the theoretical parts of tracking and I found that during the next day I was as engrossed as the students. There seemed to be a lot more material than when I attended the course 18 months ago. Either that or I wasn’t paying attention the first time! It was great to help out on the practical aspects and share a few “lightbulb” moments with others. I certainly remember this feeling well as tracks and signs come to life in front of you.

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My session, teaching about stride, pitch, straddle and use of the tracking stick was after lunch at the spoor pit. Despite more than a few years of training and instructing, I was nervous as hell and had to concentrate hard to remember the material as well as extracting answers from the group. It went reasonably well but I realised that I could have done much better. I was certainly out of my comfort zone, which really wasn’t a bad thing as I need to be pushed occasionally.

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I joined in with the night stalking exercise and got rumbled early on, which is unusual for me as I think this is my forte. I forgot the most basic of field craft principles and found myself silhouetted against the moon-illuminated background of the woods.

This was perhaps revenge for a success at the barefoot stalk, where Max (being Max) threw in another aspect. The mentors had to plug up one ear as well as being blindfolded. The advantage for me is that I’m not too good at hearing in one ear, so I was perhaps used to it!

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Nick and Duncan did a great job of leading the course. They were under pressure as well, as it was the first time they had been lead instructors. It’s not an easy task keeping things running smoothly where the woods are your classroom.

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A couple of people who are going wolf tracking to Poland (the final count on how many times “Poland” was mentioned was 476!)  were also given surprise tasks by Max. Two had to scout an area for 24 hours with only a sleeping bag for company as well as building an emergency signal fire. The results were pretty good as white smoke billowed upwards through the trees.

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By the final day, I was down on hands and knees, engrossed in what looked like Red deer tracks on pine needles and discovering badger trails with a spectacular backdrop of the Teigne valley. Needless to say, being Monday and the last day, it hammered down with rain and the kit was packed away absolutely soaked!

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I certainly enjoyed the experience and, being a mentor, it put a whole new slant on the subject. I have a couple of concerns about my own performance, which I’ll perhaps talk about in another post.

As usual, it was great to meet new folk and introduce them to the world of tracking. As Max says, the knowledge must be passed on.

Thanks for the visit.

Pablo.

Sep 24

Moving Pictures

Mushrooms, cooking, craft, excursions, fire, food, meets, tracking, video, woods 4 Comments »

As promised, some moving pictures from the weekend’s meet at Mark’s wood.

Sep 22

Three Days In Mark’s Wood

Mushrooms, cooking, craft, dragonflies, excursions, meets, tracking, woods 5 Comments »

The weekend’s weather couldn’t have been more perfect. I arrived at about 1.30pm at Mark’s wood in Reading. The mile walk in was really pleasant and I stopped off to admire the still lake, which was on the way. I was pleased to reach the cool of the woods after a sweaty hike across the field leading from the lake.

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The usual camp set up took place as the parachute was hoisted and King John’s base-camp equipment was unloaded. We might laugh about the stuff he brings, but we’re always grateful for the facilities and of course the camp kitchen producing the culinary delights of Saturday evening’s meal. Did I imagine seeing a portable oven? No. There’s definitely one sitting next to the washing up bowl!

As usual I set up the hammock and tarp on the slopes. The only change on this excursion was the choice of the heavier Nanock sleeping bag for the chillier nights. Later, we had a good chat about these bags and came to the conclusion they are bulky, heavy and not particularly efficient. I think a couple of us will be knocking on Alpkit’s door before the winter sets in.

It was surprising how much quicker the darkness fell compared to the last time I was here. You have to work that much quicker to prepare the fire prior to dusk falling. The evening went racing past as we caught up, shared stories and drank a few (ahem) beers and brandies.

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Despite a late start the next morning, there was still a slight mist, which gave a wonderful atmosphere to the wood. After a well needed fry up, Mark took us ’shrooming for a couple of hours where we identified a number of edible mushrooms - Amethyst deceiver, Spiny puffball, Bovine bolete, Penny bun and the excellent Chanterelle (pictured below).

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At a rest stop near a small pond we spotted a pair of Emperor dragonflies and this Banded-demoiselle.

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The afternoon was spent carrying up and chopping the fire wood collected from the Forestry yard, prepping the evening’s meal and foraging in the small valley for willow to make Andy’s bow drill hearth board. On the way I came across some Roe tracks and found a large Common frog.

The meal was, as usual, an excellent and extravagant affair created by Rich and John. A leg of Roe was cubed and fried up in red wine and onions with celery and carrots added later to make a venison stew. Potatoes were mashed up with cream, butter and garlic. This was finished off by Strawberry trifle for desert. Strawberry trifle?! Oh yes indeed. Base camp catering at its best! Well, anyone can be uncomfortable!

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While the meal was cooking, Andy successfully tried out his new bow drill set up. The willow hearth worked well, but only when a lot more downward pressure had been applied on the thicker than normal spindle. The result was a fine glowing ember.

Estelle, who joined the group as John’s guest, tried out flint and steel on charcloth. She was delighted with her success as some dried bracken burst into flames (Picture is a still from the video)

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Bob built an interesting chair to follow in the mould of the other crafted chairs, which have become the trademark of Mark’s site. He followed the design of putting two Roycroft pack frames together and added a number of horizontal branches to make a seat. His recent attendance on a Mors Kochanski course taught him how to do the lashings. The result was an ingenious, comfortable and stable seat.

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And what did yours truly do? Well, I was slaving behind the video camera recording what went on of course. A full high definition account of this will be available next week once I’ve edited the two hours of footage down to fifteen minutes! Tough job, but someone had to do it!

Again dusk fell and another fine evening was spent around the fire; the conversation and banter was inter-dispersed with Mark’s haunting Native American flute melodies.

The morning found Andy, Steve and I looking over the fields to some Roe deer browsing by the wood edge that Steve had spotted. We decided to stalk up to them and managed to get quite close at about 30 yards. I might have got even closer but I wanted some video shots that stopped me getting down to a crawl. I don’t often see Roe and it was great to get this close even though I was inevitably spotted. (Picture is a still from the video)

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Time went around quickly and all too soon it was time to pack up. The camp kitchen was loaded up onto John’s truck as was our rucksacks and we walked out of the site across the fields and back to the Forestry yard with the warm sun on our backs.

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This was a fantastic weekend and thanks to everyone there who made it like it was.

Pablo.

Jul 06

Holiday Snaps

excursions, general No Comments »

We arrived back in the damp UK in the early hours this morning so I’ve only really got time to put up a few snaps from the holiday at the moment.
It wasn’t by any means a holiday based on bushcraft but nevertheless I managed to get out and about climbing some steep hills, watching a bit of wildlife and generally terrorising the local lizard population.


They thought their reflection in the camera lens was a rival lizard.

The highlight of the holiday was snorkeling nearly every day in the clear, clear shallows of the bay where we were staying. I bought a cheap underwater camera but will have to wait until the film is developed before putting them up.


The Pitiusan lizard, or sargantana as it is known locally, is a reptile endemic to the islands, with more than thirty subspecies. They come in a variety of colourations. Green is the most common but on Formentera there are these blue coloured ones.

 


The more exposed coast of the island produced some spectacular waves when the wind got up.


The oceanic Posidonia is a plant that growths around the islands and has important ecolgical status. It’s not really a seeweed but cetainly looks like it. The Posidonia Prairies, as they are called, harbours rich underwater wildlife and protects the coastline from erosion. The locals used to use the plant for insulation on roofs. It act as a fertiliser and animal feed.

I didn’t get a chance to see a great deal of other wildlife inhabitants but I understand a white dormouse is resident on the island.
Another resident (dubbed the Incedible Swimming Dog) accompanies people across the bay if they choose to take the long journey. I decided to take the plunge only to forget that I had to get back! The dog stayed with me with every doggy-paddle of the way. I’m pretty sure he wore flippers on his paws.


More next time…
Pablo.
Jun 09

Another Meet at Mark’s

Hygiene, archery, craft, dragonflies, excursions, insects, meets, tracking, woods 4 Comments »

My mate Paul and I headed south to meet up with the Reading Group on Friday afternoon. A little rain was forecast but the whole weekend turned out fine and dry.


After a hot and sticky walk-in we arrived to find the parachute already up and a brew on the go. Mark presented me with a fine looking kuksa as a gift for doing the Reading group forum. I was completely overwhelmed and promptly planned what liquid substance should go in it. Well - it’s got to be sealed properly hasn’t it?


We woke up to a beautiful day on Saturday and after breakfast, a couple of us went roving with the bows to do a bit of stump shooting. I’d brought along the Samick SKB, the length of which proved ideal in the particular closed-in area of woodland we chose to shoot in. We all did pretty well getting close to the challenging choices of target and in a couple of instances even killed a stump or two!

Mark had brought along a large awl which enabled the construction of some wooden chairs. John decided to assemble what can only be described as a throne, which was in keeping with his heavy-weight style of camping. Hence he was dubbed “His Majesty, King John” for the rest of the meet. The chairs will be kept on site ready for the next meet.



Some of us went for a wander after lunch and ended up tracking along the moderately fast flowing stream. There was a lot of damselfly activity and I spent some time trying to photograph the amazingly coloured and aptly named Beautiful demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo).


We followed some tracks along the stream bank and decided it belonged to a small fox. The tracks ended up at a kill site where the only evidence left of the prey was a claw of a crustacian. Looking again at the photo I’m not too sure if there might be other tracks in there and I wish I’d studied the area in more detail at the time. Other tracks seen were roe, fallow, muntjac, mouse and a number of birds that had hopped along the bank. There was still no sign of the elusive water vole tracks.


The evening meal was a barbeque of literally tons of meat mostly provided by King John.
Earlier, Steve (who was on my Shadowhawk tracking course) and I identified a good sit spot covering an area where there might be some evening mammal activity. Andy had already spotted a fox cub, and muntjac had been heard the previous evening. After the barbeque, along with Andy we sat for an hour being bitten to death by mosquitos! The sum total of our sightings? One rabbit, five hundred and three mosquitos - oh and some sheep! Well, you can’t win them all.


One of the best things about meets is that you can share experiences and stories around the fire. With new faces comes new stories and experiences. Knowledge is shared, kit examined and compared, and tips are passed on. This meet was no exception. John was busy dying a leather water bottle while Mark had made a fantastic flute case. You can see these pics on the network.


Prior to packing up on Sunday, conversation meandered on to the dreaded tick subject mentioned in my last post. This prompted everyone to start examining themselves. Low and behold ticks were found on nearly everyone’s legs. A tick removal session then took place. Anyone watching would be forgiven in thinking that a strange bunch of primates had invaded the woods and were busy de-fleaing themselves. Mark’s pocket microscope (is there nothing that he dosesn’t have handy?) showed in real terms what a monstrous looking creature the tick is.


A certain lesson learned and a good tip is to tuck the trousers in to socks or put elastics around the bottom of the trousers. Those with sleeping areas on the bracken slopes (myself included) should also have cleared a path through the bracken leading to the hammock. Whatever the precautions though, it’s inevitable that you will get a couple if you go tracking or exploring through the undergrowth.

All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes and leave the site. We doused the fire and cached the pot hangers. Another excellent weekend and a big thanks to Mark for organising the meet and everyone else that came along.

Pablo.

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