Bush Camp 2017

About to head east on Hwy 5 , east of Hope BC.

-25 C in the canyon, 75 km/h winds from the north. Heavy snow pack, clear skies. Cold.

It's cold! No chainsaw lol. And I'm going to need a lot of wood for the fire tonight.

Almost out of cell range.

General location Hwy 5 east of Hope , west of Portia , in the BushTracker

See y'all Monday.

 

You need a Silky KatanaBoy 650!!!

Have fun man, I hope to see plenty of pics when you return.

 

Have a good time, Bushy!

 

Come back in 1 piece ya dang Canadian!

 

well, I'm back early....turned into a day trip (night trip technically). Weather system moved in quick and the winds picked picked up bad. The snow, although dry and powdery, was just too much. And seeing a fleet of ten heavy plows heading up the Coq Canyon (hwy 5) made me make that decision. Didn't want to get snowed in.

Only -4 in back down in Hope , but up in the canyon it was -23 C with heavy winds from the North. Clear skies for the most part but that changed pretty quick.....

Had I gotten there early in the day like i originally planned, I would have had AMPLE daylight and TIME to cut lots of dead maple and alders down for fire wood all night, and shelter materials. But the medical emergency last night in the building messed up my sleep...lol. Plus my chainsaw crapped out when i fired it up in the parking lot of the apt. Didn't have spare parts so i left it behind......

not too many photos, it was dark when i left. But i got some good ones

access FSR , only about 2 feet of snow here, near the Coq summit there is 20 - 30 feet snow base.


yellow sign was blinding as my lamps hit it....



blurry....but found a little spot to set up camp, and it had lots of standing dead (and dry) alders and maples. Stamped out a trail and a fire base with my bearpaw snowshoes i always keep in the rig. (along with an ski patrol snow shovel)

anybody see the GIANT eye?



splitting lots of these.....with the rusty trusty ol Junglas #0115



fire ready to go. Used quick light BBQ briquettes for the fire starter.





getting the dinner going.....liberally sprayed the 6" Lodge dutch oven with cooking spray.



note the steel plate to set the briquettes and dutch oven on.....again, fast light BBQ briquettes rock for winter cooking

prepped red spuds, onions, portabella and button mushrooms, Chorizo sausage, parsnips, carrots, and garlic and my own blend of seasoning



slow cooking at its finest



gathered more wood, and sat down for a snack and a cold beer. Baby Bel cheese is the ultimate woods survival food, its good for you, its full of fat for long term warmth, and the wax is very useful for fire starting or whatever. Also ate that entire jar of raw garlic stuffed jumbo olives. MMM....

Scar Blades "Hawkeye" is the knife



more knives and a Rolling Rock beer




yours truly rocking the Hill People Gear recon pack and a Fenix 900 lumen headlamp. I'm out on the FSR , the wind is just racing thru me.....cold. Behind me is the old BC Hydro aerial tram that used to ferry crews and parts another 5000 feet up the mountain.



all dead , dry and standing. Used my BattleCord and a biner to pull down a bunch of the bigger ones. Work smarter not harder.



couple hours later, dinner




ate dinner, stoked the fire with more wood and sat back for a couple hours. The Pelican cooler makes a great seat.

when the wind picked up as well as the snow, although I was well equipped for multi days stay, and had a warm sleeping bag, mats, canvas duck tarp, and two lighter secondary sleeping bags........I just didn't feel like waking up with 2 feet of snow on me......Plus the winds where gusting hard enough to snap dead tree tops around me. So packed up and headed back to Vancouver. Oh well.



great trip none the less.

EDIT: just checked the Hwy Cam for the area i was in (PORTIA) . Wow did the snow come down a lot since i left there.......

 

That looks like a damn good time to me. Good call on heading back though, looks like it got really bad.

Every time I see that Junglas I want one... I maintain though, you really need a big ass Silky saw.

Glad to see you're getting good use out of that HPG, that thing was with me all through the GSAR class.

 

How thick is that steel plate you're cooking on? I assume thick enough that you don't get any warping associated with heat. But the next question is, how heavy is the damn thing?

 

Rolling Rock only tastes good when it is really cold.

I guess that isn't an issue when it is sub zero temps outside...

 

Excellent report Bushman, this kind of stuff is living! Keep rockin those chest rigs too. People don't realize how easy and comfortable they are.

 

It's just a piece of 1/8" plate. Its the lid from my little portable drum smoker. Does triple duty. Lid, dutch oven base, tire jack base with a 1" piece of plywood on top of it....etc

about 3 lbs?

 

Was your male stalker around? Any smell of cigarette smoke in the wind? Do you get all warm and fuzzy knowing that he is nearby protecting you?

 

lol @MMW

no but the creepy giant eye in pic three males me think I disturbed the slumber of a mountain giant......

 

yea i agree with you....Rolling Rock has to be really cold to drink. I don't normally buy it but the cold beer and wine store had it on sale for $5 LESS than the local Government outlet.

 

Nice drive for lovely romantic fireside dinner with a mountain giant
Seriously, good report though

 

Your dutch oven cooking is making me hungry .Nice post Bushy. You are really making me want a Jungles.
Also maybe you need a Jeep with wide rubber tracks!
We don't get much snow here in East Texas.

 

Who's the sexy old guy with the chest rig? I've been following him to his camps for a while and I even left him a little doll made of tape. He was supposed to follow me to my van but gave up on the chase too fast last time I'll be close don't worry Mr. @Bushman5

 

Rolling Rock is very good when cold but then again I'm a bit of a alky

 

oh please i could smell the welding fumes wafting of you a mile away...

 

Caught me. But I do love the HPG chest rigs. I wear mine mountain biking, hiking, fishing (when it's cold) and camping.

 

A whole jar of olives! That's like 40 calories....went straight to your thighs.