Epic adventures here in BC Canada

Happy 26th birthday @Bushman5 you don't look a day over 40

 

…and remember, NO amount of alcohol..can be used as an excuse for interacting with amorous farm animals!!

 

Happy Birthday Bushy!

 

Incoming !!!!!

 

Overnighter with the boys!

Reebs! Fire! Food!

 

First sunny & warm weekend in 2024! Me and the boys all met up in Chilliwack BC, and headed up into a mountain valley.
Drove 60 KM’s up an FSR , passed hundreds of people camping / fishing / etc.

Finally got a spot to set up camp . First order of business was to fall a big alder tree (14” diameter , about 75’ tall , around 2500 lbs ) . Skidded it with the diesel Jeep to camp, bucked it into 3’ lengths and got the fire going

 

Time for Reebs! Blew thru the first case of 15 in about 2,hours

Tims to start dinner! Brought the number 3 Potjie with me , got it hot over coals , put sesame oil in and seared chunks of beef. Added onions, loads of garlic, herbs , spices, stock and left it to simmer for a few hours . Added an entire bag of baby yellow potato’s around the 3/4 mark, as well as baked a baguette in the reflector oven

 

Time for more Reebs and shenanigans!



my work buddy has a better cell camera than mine, took these night photos

 

FIRE!!
That’s a massive pile of 14” diameter alder logs with a well established bed of hot hot hot coals , being assisted with a lil (a gallon) of old stale chainsaw premix gas and waste engine oil .

from a survival point of view….. I can confirm that radiant heat that tall (20’ ) REALLY HEATS UP the area around it. (About 40’ radius)

 

Tsk tsk tsk

 

Is that your marshmallow toasting fire or do you camp with a Balrog? like seriously, I see a Balrog in a couple of those pics…

 

Yes but he prefers the name BUSHY.. @Bushman5

 

Teaser Pics and video from todays Church Of The Woods

VIDEO LINK

 

Explored a new area near my stomping grounds. An old gravel quarry from decades ago.

first part there was a massive culvert in the creek, with a secondary culvert stacked above it . Guess the creek blows out but this was insane , almost 35’ tall creek depth .




once down the trail , I crossed under the highway thru a massive rock truck sized tunnel



On the other side the road was dug put…. Prolly by a huge water surge a few years ago.



Rotten log someone dropped to use as a bridge.



beautiful green clear water

 

my second line - Platatac SPUR jungle ruck



First line - my ultralight scout rig - just the survival essentials


today was all about using my gear - the scenario was procuring and filtering water from a nasty forest water hole - standing water, rotting leaves, rotting mud, decaying forest debris. I stirred up the water using a stick until it was sludgy brown. The smell was horrific


CHELMER Bushcraft UK made Millbank Bag


the water before I stirred it up


afterwards…. Gag it was awful


Presoak the Millbank bag so the fibers swell tight


hung up to drop into a canteen cup



Crystal clear water draining out


nasty smelling mud, leaves, decaying forest detritus left in the bag


VIDEO

 

When using a Millbank bag, it’s not sterilizing or purifying the water…. It’s simply removing 99.999% of the crap in the water - leaves, mud, silt, etc, making the water clear so you further treat it by chlorine dioxide tablets, iodine tabs, boiling, or thru a certified water treatment filter like the Katadyn , MSR etc .

I chose to boil my water , using my new iWalker G43S gasoline stove. (The SVEA123 killer)


Art masterpiece! Stainless steel, brass, bronze, and graphite



Clear water ready for sterilizing. Stinks like a nasty backwater bog



Preheat - gasoline in the burner cup



ready for boiling water



smell was so bad I added pine tips to mask it.



pine tips removed after I boiled the colour and flavour outta them , full rolling boil. Dumped in fresh ground dark roast coffee and let it sit for 10 minutes

 

Reusing the heavy plastic ziploc my Carajou Tactical large sustainment pouch came in, as a “sustainment pouch” for my rations .



instant noodles, tinned smoked conger eel with sweet chilies, tinned tuna snacks, oatmeal pouch, ground coffee, bouillon cubes, half a loaf heavy Yukon sourdough, smoked aged cheddar , British hard cheddar , big ol black pepper smoked sausage , etc



I brought a “few” stoves with me . This one is the Lixada multi fuel (gasoline/naptha, diesel, methyl alcohol and isobutane/propane canister


Diesel and alcohol jets


isobutane / propane adaptor . Best thing about this setup is you can fill the main stove tank with diesel , and PREHEAT the burner / vaporizer tube using the canister gas .


I’ll be doing another hike soon and using this stove with the diesel jet / canister combo - full review coming





Classic Trangia 27 hard anodized cookset . Love this thing. Have cooked all my meals at home for like a week in it


wandered around for a bit, then stopped to make a small fire using the AMPLE supply of dead bone dry alder wood that was everywhere



Broom plant. Cut multiple bunches, tie to stick , square off the end and you have a very very effective broom for brushing your camp or sleeping area free of dust / pebbles
More

 

Time for another brew up - this time I used my BCB INTERNATIONAL hard anodized Dragon cooker , with methyl hydrate.
An empty aluminum LiquiMoly CERATEC (there’s a reason all my trucks are over 300,000 KM’s plus…..) bottle , washed out and dried , makes a PERFECT methyl hydrate stove fuel bottle .




Finished coffee, loaded up the gear and headed back towards the truck . Paused at the clear green creek to refill the canteens for the ride home


LOVE this kit!



Part of the trail back to the truck


quarry #2 view


Great DayTrip !

 

Fun BC Fact!

alders are the first trees to grow on skidder and logging roads in BC..They can be identified by scoring the bark…. If it turns dark orange , it’s alder . If it doesn’t change colour , it’s Willow. Both trees when young look the same

alder is an EXCELLENT survival wood…. It burns when green/wet, you can use the bark / wood to smoke meats, and it makes insanely hot coals . As well, those coals can be used as charcoal to filter water .

the wood is easy to split too when green, super easy when dry or frozen


When I say hot coals , I mean heat up a cast iron Potjie HOT and sear meat in less than a minute. Look at these coals