Reno's Rambles

Discussion in 'Adventure, Hiking, Backpacking and Travel' started by Reno Lewis, May 11, 2018.

  1. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    In the spirit of @Bushman5's EPIC thread, Chronicles Of The Bushman, I've decided to start my own thread for my various trip reports, rambles on gear, etc.

    I'll try to consolidate all of my previous trip reports here, and any new trip reports will be posted in this thread.



    *ARCHIVE of previous trip reports*

     
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  2. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    May 10th, 2018. Walk/jog/hike cave find.

    Did about 5km today, but decided to drop down off of a forested road into a ravine.

    It's hard to tell from the pics, but from where I'm standing, it's a drop of about 85' to the water...

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    Was following a trail that hadn't been used by humans in quite some time. Only sign was deer, and bear.

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    Rounded a corner, and saw this... There's a trail going to the entrance, and from the entrance to the water... An active den.

    Inhabited by what? I don't know. Bear, cougar, wendigo? I wasn't about to go down there and look by myself.

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    Artsy fartsy pic looking down the length of a fallen 100'+ tree. The top of this fallen tree is down in the water.

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    I scrambled and clawed my way back up to the top and dropped out onto the road, and continued on my way.

    As I did so, I noticed some brown fur protruding out out of the foliage, on the same side of the road I was on.


    This photo was taken at about 10', as I walked by. I got so close without the poor thing knowing, it just froze as I walked by.

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    This one at about 20' as I walked away, the deer still frozen in spot.

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    I continued on my way, and jogged for a while up a slight hill before coming to the road down to the beach.


    Just a pic of the road down to the beach. It's a real pain to climb back up, but I've been doing it consistently, and have been keeping my pace all the way to the top without slowing down or stopping.

    The road actually continues down to the right at the bottom for another 30 meters or so.

    [​IMG]


    That's all for now, just sat on a bench on the beach and cooled down for a bit before heading back up, and heading home for a hot shower, cold drinks and good food.
     
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  3. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    that looks like an old mineshaft Reno! esp with that well packed down foot path beside it Is there any evidence of old machinery or timbers in that area?
     
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  4. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    No machinery, but there are old timbers downstream. This is just outside of my neighborhood, and there are houses about 100 meters from this spot.

    Could very well be an old mineshaft though, there are plenty hidden around town.
     
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  5. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    man......i am so coming up your Beer Block for some local food, beers and exploring soon.
     
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  6. Hammer

    Hammer Member

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    My money's on Wendigo Lair.
     
  7. Wolfman Zack

    Wolfman Zack Member

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    That den or mine looks very interesting........
     
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  8. anrkst6973

    anrkst6973 Member

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    Maybe with some decent power binocs you could zoom in on the trail directly in front of the den/hole and see if tracks are visible. Part of why I want a HPG chest pouch is to carry my 10x50 Nikon's.
     
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  9. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    Solid idea.

    I've also got a camera with really good zoom, might be able to both zoom in and capture what I see.

    Only real issue with that plan is it's often hard to distinguish details in tracks without being able to get different angles on em. I think the most I could do at that range would be look for general sign, evidence of something traveling to/from that spot, aside from the packed down path.
     
  10. Stone

    Stone Member

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    Subscribed. Sleep cometh. I'll be back.

    This den ... bear or human? :confused:
     
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  11. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    just walk up that trail to the old adit entrance, load a bear banger and fire it right into that old adit. Enjoy the MEGA BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! and Reverb BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! if no animal emerges after 15 minutes, fire up the head lamp and go explore. Wait for me though! safety in numbers.
     
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  12. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    May 13th, 2018. Just another walk/jog/hike.


    Just another short excursion, this time with my mother.

    It's an interesting thing, I've been getting out and doing roughly the same routes, and even after just one week, I can feel my fitness level increasing. Cardio, at least. The hills I once found difficult are becoming easier and easier as time goes by, and I'm actually becoming quite fond of interval jogging. It's a tad addictive, I must admit. Even while wearing my hiking boots. :p


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    Poor snek...

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    Went back to where that little cave/adit/etc is.

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    If you look closely, about 2 meters left of the waterfall in this pic, is another, smaller entrance. This entrance is roughly 30 meters down stream from the main cave entrance.

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    Zoomed in. Obvious game sign outside of it.

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    Downstream from this, I saw something odd. A white square, roughly in the center of this pic.

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    Looked a little closer, and realized it's actually a painting...

    Interesting.

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    Continued walking for a couple of kilometers and got down to the beach.

    Some fresh doggo prints (he had just finished getting pets from me before laying these prints:p)

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    From there we continued back up the hills towards home, but took a detour or two up some more hills to increase distance. All in all, put on about 6km up and down hills, in 32C (90F) weather with 80% humidity over the course of about an hour.

    Not too shabby.

    That's all for now, thanks for checking it out!
     
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  13. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    Looks like the smaller cave is a ventilation shaft.......pop some airsoft smoke and see if it gets sucked in or pushed away. Might be a nice system of mine tunnels . Im researching MinFiles right now see the history .

    Animal wise id build a fire where the air is rushing in, and pile on the greenery . Smoke em out and follow up with some bangers shot down the tunnel . .


    Oh , stand clear of the exits ;)
     
  14. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    All perfect solutions, if it weren't so near a residential area. If there was smoke and explosions going off in that area, I'd have the RCMP and fire trucks rolling up code 3 in no time, which is something I'd prefer avoid.

    Going to have to find a more subtle method.
     
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  15. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    May 14th - 2018. Hike/jog with my mother and brother.


    Went on my usual route for the umpteenth time this month, but was accompanied by both my mom and younger brother.

    Put on another 8km in 28C heat, got home drenched in sweat (the HPG Tara doesn't exactly breathe), and did some more interval jogging with my brother.


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    Went right past the cave/adit/den once more, and didn't notice anything different aside from some deer sign.

    And this. Looks like a bear has been digging.

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    You can see the rocks of the creek bed through the trees to the left, but the photo makes it look a lot less deep than it is...

    The drop down to the water from the trail is about 25 meters, and steep. Steep enough that, if you were to slip off the trail, you'd have a hard time stopping yourself from sliding.

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    I decided to explore a new area, and dropped down the steep slope. Brother in tow.

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    Again, it's hard to tell the scale of the drop here. From where this picture was taken down to the water is a good 50' at this point, and very steep.

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    My brother has been a photographer of great dedication for as long as I can remember.

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    As proof of this, check out the killer photo he took of me.

    I let my Finnish traits seep in here as seen by my resting b!tch face:p I promise, I wasn't upset here.

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    I decided to bring my ole Buck 119 for the trek, as this was the blade I had on my hip exactly two years ago to the day, for my 36 hour survival exam.

    Strongest knife? Best edge holding? Full tang? Carbon? Scandi ground?

    Nope.

    But it worked just fine. Still does.

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    Continued a few kilometers further down to the ocean.




    A doggo print. Thought it looked cool.

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    Part of a dead Sea Urchin.

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    The blade of honor.

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    Sundown silhouettes.

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    That's all for now, thanks for looking!
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2019
  16. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    May 18th, 2018. Went back to the cave.


    It was just too nice out this evening to stay in. We got a couple millimeters of rain about a half hour before sundown, and the heavy clouds and rain brought with it a temp drop of about 8 degrees Celsius, leaving a crisp chill in the air.

    Seen as we've had 30C weather for the past couple weeks or so, it was a nice reprieve.

    Decided to go for a short walk, and on the way, I decided to take a detour past that little cave/adit.


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    Please excuse the blurry zoomed in cell phone pics.

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    The sun had just set, and with the heavy cloud cover, the forest was darker than normal. I was carrying my old Fenix PD35 on the strap of my Tarahumara, and decided to see if it would be powerful enough in the dusky woods to light up the cave at distance.

    Cranked it up to turbo (900 lumens) and let er rip. I was about 100' away here, and about 60' up.

    From the looks of it, it's only about 6-8' deep. I plan to return during daylight hours to go down and check it out up close.

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    A couple quick shots of my companion blade.

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    That's all for now, just thought I'd update with some illuminated pics of the inside of the little cave.
     
  17. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    Just got back from that cave. Pics/video in a bit.
     
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  18. Stone

    Stone Member

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    Late to this party.

    Meant to get here via another link. Spaced it. :confused:

    Let me get another drink, and check this out .. but if I fall onto the futon before I get back

    .. because the hammock is in the pine (pinus) grove out back, then ... please forgive

    I'll be back

    by virtue of this link/post
     
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  19. Reno Lewis

    Reno Lewis Knot-A-Challenge Champion

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    Hahaha, don't worry about it man, take your time.

    I do recommend you check out my two most recent trip reports linked in my archive at the top, "Spring Scout" and "Hike/jogging in the rain". They're immediate predecessors to the rest of the trips in this thread so far.
     
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  20. Stone

    Stone Member

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    Finally caught up reading/viewing here after am 8-hour video day with the worst swarm of black flies in the woods I've ever experienced. My torso net allowed me to keep most of -- but not all -- of my blood. :eek:

    Fantastic photos. What a great area to live in.

    What's the latest hypothesis about the den? :confused:
     
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