A Hike into the Ravine on a Hot Day - Part 3 of 3

I went into the valley behind the park behind the house this weekend - a walk in the woods was what I wanted. Spring stayed home with Monty to remain in the cool indoors as both were very sleepy.

It was a sweltering day outside. It reminded me of the early scene in Albert Camus' "L'Etranger" on the beach where Mersault becomes overwhelmed in the glare of the sun. Yes, it was that sort of a day. Except that it ended a whole lot better than that, and I was under a canopy of trees, so that mostly kept the sun off of me.

Preparing for my hike, I hoisted my canvas bag onto my shoulder. It contained the following:

1. Mora carbon steel knife and sheath, with paracord necklace
2. Aluminum Kettle
   
3. A 1-liter Nalgene bottle full of water
4. 500 mL stainless steel cup with handle
5. Steel Striker & Flint kit in a tin, containing also a small amount of charcloth
6. A wooden spoon
7. A zip lock bag containing dry fat-free milk powder, instant coffee and table sugar, all mixed together - enough for 2 portions and a zip lock bag containing 4 oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies.
8. A length of string in case I needed to help tie a brace to hold the kettle over the fire with.
9. My digital camera

The river was high and running fast when I got down into the valley. It might have been nice to wade around - maybe another day.


Once I found a spot in the woods, I sat down and opened my bag. I arranged my kettle, my mug, my Nalgene bottle and hat beside my bag and took a picture.


The area of the forest in which I was sitting looked as though some homeless folks had made a bivouac in it over the past few years. I found a metal grill half-buried in leaf litter, and grabbed it. This would eliminate my need to make a pot hanger.


I scratched the forest litter away from where I was to make my fire, and using a stick dug down a little into the soil.


Then I made a base of sticks - this helps keep the fire going at the beginning and makes a good bed of coals for cooking later (which I didn't actually use).


I removed my flint and steel kit with charcloth from the tin container and laid them down ready to go.


Nearby in a clearing I found some dried weeds and some old vine that had climbed an old apple tree and died off in the winter. I roughed this up in my hands and formed a nest shape, into which I would put the glowing charcloth.


It took only two hits of the steel against the flint to get a spark that caught on the charcloth. I dropped it into the tinder bundle.


I then blew it into a glowing ember and held it high above my head. I find that this way the smoke does not blow back into my face (where I would pull in a whole lung full of smoke). This way the smoke just drifts up and away.


Within seconds the tinder bundle erupted into flames.


I dropped the flames onto the bed of sticks, and covered it with a couple of handfuls of pencil-thin kindling to get the fire going.


After laying on a few larger sticks, in no time I had a nice, smokeless fire going. The heat had dried out the pine twigs and kindling keeping it from smoking very much.


Then on to business: I poured the milk powder, instant coffee and sugar into my mug, and took out two cookies.


The cookies were looking pretty good by this time - the walk into the valley had made me hungry.


I lay the grill over the fire, and put the kettle on top. Soon I had boiling water, and poured it into the mug.

Then I sat on the forest floor and listened to a bird scolding me, and watched around the woods for a while while I enjoyed my coffee and cookies.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in the woods.

Cheers,

Mungo

A Hike into the Ravine on a Hot Day - Part 2 of 3

My latest hike into the ravine behind the house was very relaxing. It was just me - Monty stayed at home with Spring and they both had a snooze on a sleepy Saturday. The sun was bright and overhead and hot in spots. As I entered the canopy of trees in the woods, shade took over but for a fews spots.


A polypore (note the many pores on the bottom here) bracket fungus is a saproxylic species - that is, it grows on and digests dead wood.


A fly sunned itself beside me. I saw butterflies, mosquitoes, moths and other flying insects. At night down there if you stay silent and motionless, bats will zoom through the darkness and you can hear their clicking echo-location sounds.


I believe this is a Cheese of some sort - a relative of the Marsh Mallow.


Another little fungus hanging out on a dead branch.


I thought these thick leaves were intriguing and I leaned down to take a photograph of them.


As I positioned my elbow and side in the soft earth of the forest floor, I looked under and saw a Jack in the Pulpit hiding beneath its larger 'guard' leaves (I'm calling them that!).


The spathe was visible - I wonder if I had looked inside whether I would see some dead insects in the collected water.


As I lay on the ground inspecting the forest floor for life, I saw a grey fluffy mass. It looked like an animal dropping. On closer inspection it occurred to me that this was likely the dropping of an owl or a hawk.


It contained the grey fur of a rodent, along with the bones. In the photograph above you can see a little tiny femur top left, and a lower jaw bone, tooth intact. These were very small.


I got up and took out my BlackBerry. It's a new model, and has GPS built right into it. I opened Google Maps, and in the satellite view I was able to see my precise location within the forest. As I wandered about and found various places - like a tree I can sit on, and a place for a good campfire, I marked them in the memory. This way I can find them at night! Technology...


Polypore bottom.


Polypore top.


Polypore side.


Yellow Wood-Sorrel (Oxalis spp.) Rich in vitamin C, the fresh leaves make a nice addition to a salad, or can be steeped in hot water, chilled, combined with sugar to make a nice cold drink. All species of Wood-Sorrel are edible. Yum.


I lifted up a piece of loose bark on a tree and found a cocoon. Something for a woodpecker to chew on.


Forget-Me-Not.


Black Mustard (Brassica Nigra).


Use: Salad, cooked green, cooked vegetable, pickle.

That's all for now - more later.

cheers,

Mungo

A Hike into the Ravine on a Hot Day - Part 1 of 3

It has been very hot here in Toronto for the last couple of days. It has reached 32 degrees Celsius and with the Humidex quotient (how extra hot it feels because of how humid it is), meteorologists have been saying we have reached the equivalent of 40 degrees Celsius. I think that's 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Toasty.


That's just too damned hot for me. Spring and I (and Monty) have prevailed by putting the air-conditioning on from time to time, but at a reasonable (environmentally-friendly) level.


The strange this about it all is that on Thursday night as I made my way to bed, Spring was curled up in her duvet and in her tiredness could only telegraph in an urgent yet restrained voice that she was too cooooold. I immediately went to get a couple of wool blankets, covered her up, and that made a different. But I think it is enough to say that Toronto weather is wacky, unpredictable, and that we have just got to come to accept this fact.


It is was noon on Saturday and Spring was resting after a poor night of sleep before. So I decided to grab my canvas bag and fill it with a few goodies, and walk on down to the valley through the park behind our house. The willow trees guard the gates of the ravine, and let me pass through without any questions. Spring stayed at home, she's feeling under the weather. Monty stayed home to keep her company - and to snore.


The valley has greened significantly since I was last down there, and mosquitoes are beginning to appear. They didn't seem to want to bother me though. It could my unwashed state. Who knows?


Passing by first-year Burdock leaves, I hoisted my bag onto my shoulder. It contained the following:

1. Mora carbon steel knife and sheath, with paracord necklace
2. Aluminum Kettle
   
3. A 1-liter Nalgene bottle full of water
4. 500 mL stainless steel cup with handle
5. Steel Striker & Flint kit in a tin, containing also a small amount of charcloth
6. A wooden spoon
7. A zip lock bag containing dry fat-free milk powder, instant coffee and table sugar, all mixed together - enough for 2 portions and a zip lock bag containing 4 oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies.
8. A length of string in case I needed to help tie a brace to hold the kettle over the fire with.
9. My digital camera
   

I passed by some Greater Plantain and decided that it looked pretty tasty. I gathered up a couple of leaves, cut off the stalks, folded them up and popped them in my mouth. They tasted a bit like raw adult spinach - but a little nicer than that. I could easily imagine gathering several handfuls worth of it, rinsing, blanching it in boiling water and eating it with a little bit of salt and butter and pepper.


I could even spice up the Plantain leaves a bit with the one above - Garlic-Mustard. This is a spicy little plant, full of soft, somewhat bitter leaves. I like the look of the white flowers - tiny like forget-me-nots. I chewed on some of the soft leaves, but the taste is a bit overwhelming after a few of them.


The Plantains were huge! Notice how the stalks resemble Rhubarb stalks? I believe they contain oxalic crystals. Similar to how Jack-in-the-Pulpits do, the most effective way to eliminate these is to air dry them. Cooking won't remove them. And you do not want to eat oxalic crystals.


I'll tell you a story. Twenty years ago I was sitting in my friend Robin's kitchen with our girlfriends at the time and other friends. As Robin sat in a kitchen chair thinking about the beer, he appeared to have decided that it would be prudent to eat one of the leaves brushing against his face attached to a houseplant. He grabbed it and munched away quite happily for a minute.

I should 'fess up. We were all in the midst of playing a drinking game called Century Club. I won't get into the rules, except to say there was a lot of beer to be consumed in a short period of time.


The moment blurred for a second, and then Robin was talking excitedly head-upside-down in the kitchen sink washing his mouth out and trying to rapid-fire explain the pain he was experiencing. Oddly he seemed happy with it all, hardly all that distressed. Or at least that's what I thought.

So I said "Oh, no! There's nothing wrong with this plant Robin!" and selected a choice looking variegated leaf, folded it carefully and popped it in my mouth. I chewed and chewed and it tasted sort of sweet and I called out to Robin head-upside-down in the kitchen sink again that (I was assuming he was just drunk and over-reacting) "Robin, there's nothing wrong with this plant!".

A minute later I was head-upside-down in the kitchen sink beside the one Robin was occupying, negotiating in a monosyllabic manner for a shared-arrangement of the water pouring out of the tap into his mouth. The sensation - once we'd recovered we were able to articulate this - was that someone had poked hundreds of needle holes in our mouths and on our tongues and inside our lips, and then flooded our oral cavities with white vinegar. The pain was almost too much to bear.

This was, I am certain, the result of 2 idiots consuming plant leaves containing oxalic crystals. (sorry Rob - but c'mon - it wasn't all that bright of us, was it?)


Anyone know what this one is above? I don't think it is Colts Foot.


Dandelions will court the wind. I like watching the seeds fly through the air.

It was a nice hike down into the valley.

cheers,

Mungo

Algonquin Park Trip Planning

I will probably take a 4 day weekend sometime coming up and make it up to Algonquin Park. Spring and I are going to take a nice vacation first - probably staying in Southern Ontario somewhere. More details on that coming up.

My lightweight camping list is below. I think the only question mark is the camping chair. But since I'll be doing a small portage, it isn't like I am carrying a huge amount with me. Anyway, here I go - feel free to comment on my list:

Kitchen Equipment

• Cooking pot - small pot with lid
  
• Kettle - to aid with boiling water for tea
  
• Nalgene bottle - 1 small, 2 large
  
• Mug - my stainless steel camping mug
• Stainless steel bowl
  
• Wooden spoon

Food

• Instant Mashed Potatoes - for a quick meal
  
• Powdered milk - for oatmeal and for the bannock
  
• Lemonaid Crystals - to freshen up the water
  
• Margarine - in a small tub
  
• Freeze-dried meal
• Pasta side-dishes - quick and easy to prepare
  
• Flour - for bannock and thickening stews
  
• Salt, Pepper and Tabasco sauce - for flavour
• Tea bags, instant coffee - coffee in the morning, tea throughout the day
  
• Sugar - for bannock, for tea and coffee etc...
  
• Chocolate bars - a Mars bar or two
  
• Raisins - for the bannock
  
• Slab bacon - for fat, and flavour in meals
  
• Rice and dried lentils - for main meals, add in the bacon for flavour
  
• Curry paste - add this to milk powder and make a thick sauce for the rice and lentils
  
• Tinned corned beef - to add to curry
• Instant oatmeal - as a quick breakfast, after the bannock is done
  
• Tortillas - to mop up the pasta and curried rice dishes
• Gin - for purely medicinal reasons - in case treatment is needed for Antifreeze poisoning, the ethanol is preferentially metabolized over those of the ethylene glycol metabolites, preventing blindness, respiratory collapse and coma, leading to death. Hence the gin is very important to bring along. Safety first, folks.
• Kibble for Monty
  

Clothes/Quarters

• Mattress - self-inflating Thermalite for insulation and comfort
  
• Wool blanket - rolled and tied to the outside of my bag
  
• Mattress repair kit - in case of the rare event that my Thermalite gets speared by a stick or a thorn
  
• Sleeping Bag - a light one
• Emergency Bivvy Bag - for use at night and even for sitting around in the evening
  
• Tarp - 8 foot square tarp
  
• Pole - to reduce weight I might just leave my collapsible fibreglass pole that I modified from an old tent pole, and use a piece of wood instead. We'll see.
  
• Tarp footprint - i.e. another tarp, perhaps a cheapy blue reinforced nylon tarp cut to the right specifications... it is important that a tarp footprint never extends beyond the outer walls, or it will invite water to flow on in...
  
• Pillow case - into which I stuff clothes or leaves to make my pillow.
  
• Wool pants and felt hat - I can also use the wool blanket as a Match Coat in case it gets cold. We went camping in August a few years ago and I spent the night shivering...
  
• Socks, Underwear - washed with Camping Suds to keep them warm and clean
  
• T-Shirt, Shirt, wool sweater - warmth.
  
• Rain jacket - so I can wander about and not be confined to the tarp if it begins to rain.
  

Toiletries/Kit Bag

• Aspirin/Anti-inflammatory
• Band-Aids
• Toilet paper
• Tooth-brush and paste
  
• Alka-Seltzer and Imodium
• Camping Suds
• Insect repellent spray - DEET
  

Gear

• Book, notepad and pen - for readin' & writin'
  
• Compass, woman's makeup glass-mirror case & map in plastic - navigation and signaling
  
• Flint & Steel & tinder kit - with ferrocerium backup for safety
  
• Small telescopic mini-fishing rod, Tackle & License - to catch dinners
  
• Garbage Bags - to store wet/dirty clothes & store garbage etc...
  
• Gransfors-Bruks Small Forest Axe - firewood gathering
  
• Folding Bucksaw
• Frosts #164 Hook Knife - this blade is one-sided, and tapers to a point, so it is easier to use with bare hands
  
• 3 Mora carbon steel knives - 1 primary + 2 for backup
  
• Diamond sharpener - for knife and for axe
  
• Headlamp and AAA batteries - to read at night & for evening strolls
  
• Mini Radio - to pick up CBC if possible - nice entertainment & relaxing
  
• Lantern & mantle (filled with naphtha fuel)
• Paracord & string
  
• Stove & full Fuel Bottle (and 2nd filled fuel bottle for reserve)
  
• Folding legless chair - to sit and read in comfort, tied to back of knapsack (very lightweight)
  
• Camera & 2 batteries
• Mosquito netting - to keep the inside of the tarp insect-free
  

This would mostly be stored in or on my knapsack, using dry-sacs for the items that need to remain dry. I haven't weighed this, but I expect it would be a very light load.

Cheers,

Mungo

Fugawi Touratel Topographic Map Resource - Great for Hikers, Hunters, Canoeists, Campers and Bushcrafters

My old friend Robin (a.k.a. Bobbin who also says Bah) is the President of Northport Systems Inc., a GPS software firm here in Toronto, Ontario. Fugawi Touratel is an online map resource that his company recently released.



From a recent press release:

"Touratel is a free service for hikers, hunters, anglers, mountain bikers, canoeists or others who enjoy the outdoors.

View and print US or Canadian topographic maps from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) or Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).

Or instantly turn your ordinary cell phone into a GPS navigator with topo maps.

We are pleased to offer Canadian and U.S. topographic maps to the public at no charge though our new web resource, touratel.com,” said Robin Martel, president of Northport Systems. ”

Here is a topographic view of Rock Lake in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada. You can toggle back and forth between a Google Maps image within the interface. This is actually really cool.

You can download a free 10 day demo of their desktop software as well - note that other than partying a great deal with this fellow in years past, I have no connection with the company. Like, as if you needed to hear me say that anyway. :-)

Cheers,

Mungo

"It's The Charcloth, Stupid" - Adventures with my Flint & Steel Striker

The weekend was winding down and softball games and skateboarders were beginning to vacate the park behind the house. Spring read a book while I puttered around the kitchen. Done with tidying, I decided to step out into the backyard and experiment with my new Flint & Steel Striker.



I donned my new straw hat, camera in hand and removed the steel striker, flint and charcloth from the tin can holder.



I peeled off a bit of charcloth and held it to the flint and then spent a frustrating, somewhat painful and cramping 15 minutes thwacking and hitting the damn steel against it.



I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I was getting sparks. Sure, the flint was getting a bit dull in some sections, and that was affecting the result I wanted, but sparks kept flying.



Sure, I eventually got the charcloth smoldering, and it only took a moment to blow it into flames with some wood shavings from the shed.



But 15 minutes is too long when you need to get a fire going. And it was in calm, windless weather - all conditions optimal. I was warm and hydrated and my fingers were uncut and undamaged from canoeing and bushwhacking. I was in the backyard after a grueling day of sitting around. And then a thought occurred to me. I grabbed my keys, ran through the house muttering to Spring that I was just getting something from the car. I had put the charcloth that I made myself last week into a tinder kit in my knapsack that was sitting in my trunk.



I opened the zip lock bag, tore a strip off of the roll and compared it to the sample that came with my kit. Mine is the one on the left in the image above, and the one that came with the kit is on the right. Two differences jumped out to me. Mine was evenly carbonized, unlike the somewhat unburnt sections in the other - but more importantly (I think), mine was very thin, with fine charcloth fibers surrounded by air.



Feeling quite confident (as confident as one can feel in such circumstances, sitting in the backyard with a beer), I doubled over a strip of my charcloth on the upper edge of the flint, struck down with the steel and instantly my charcloth caught a spark.



Without any help, the embers grew and I could feel the heat coming off the strip.



Time after time, I put a new piece of charcloth on the flint, and time after time I got the charcloth glowing hot. To paraphrase James Carville - "It's the charcloth, stupid."



Pleased with the results, I sat back and watched the sun begin to go down. A woodpecker arrived to nibble on the suet hanging from the bird feeder.



A grackle (I think) dropped by to sample the dropped bird seed.



I examined the lawn that I had intended to mow, and decided to mow it tomorrow.



I pondered the shed and wondered how I was going to get a ramp set up to the door.



And since it was Sunday evening, I relaxed.



And Monty and I just sat, and Spring read her book and relaxed.

Cheers,

Mungo

Our Grass Is Growing

The grass in our backyard is growing and it is very green and dense.







I watched a Mourning Dove land in the grass this morning by the bird feeder and vanish, except for the top of its head.







Now I'm worried that if I go for a walk in the backyard, I will end up tripping over - or stepping on - Mourning Doves, Grey Squirrels, Red Squirrels, Cardinals, Sparrows, Grackles, Woodpeckers and maybe a Beagle.

I will mow the lawn today.



Mungo