Jay and I took to the woods in New York for a cold (supposed to be rainy) night, with temperatures around mid-30s. Instead, it was sunny and cold, no rain in sight, but we had a blast and added two new items to our menu, replacing the regular Spam and rice or sausage kababs. Most of what we ate revolved around some seasoning from a friend in Alabama. Lately, I’ve been using it on everything. Red Eyed Hog is the name and we made Red Eyed Hog Stew, seasoned pineapple, burgers, and bacon with it. It rained the night before we hit the woods, but it was dry when we got there. Only some remnants of rain still showed their presence. Water was abundant, despite the dry seasons we’ve had. I collected as much tinder as I could in my poncho pouch… Carrying that birch baby a little low… I changed all my guy lines to bank line, it took a while… From afar… I used the new SAK mod that Patrick did for me in Georgia on his belt sander…it worked well! Van De Camp Sausages coffee cup. Super light aluminum, with jute twine wrapping. H&B Boy’s Hawk is small and light, but I think this will be the last trip until after winter. Mexican Poncho- I have used this well over a year in all types of cold. It is 100% Acrylic and has a hood and kangaroo pouch pocket. I only wore this over my base layer and never was cold. The hood helps seal in heat but can’t be adjusted, so I still wear a beanie under it at night or in really cold weather. It is a little bulky and heavy, but it never goes in my pack because I wear it in cold weather as my main layer over the base layer. If it really gets cold, I can put on my fleece under it. It takes a pretty good sprinkle and light snow well, but isn’t a shell. I like it! The awl on a SAK does a good job at splitting thin sticks in the center for making a forked stick. Kitchen tools FOODcraft The whole pineapple
Hawaiian Spam Burgers! Red Eyed Hog Stew Morning frost… Mystery Scat ???? I think a car? Kangaroo leather for my old possibles pouch
Love the trip reports. I carry the same sak and have found that the phillips head screwdriver is the exact same diameter as the awl. It works well smoothing up the holes the awl makes.
another epic trip! that stew will definitely be a winter regular from now on...my pics: smoky fire - i was hoping for rain but just a damp start for the trip. i picked up this fry pan that was tossed on the side of a trail from another day hike and it turned out to be perfect for this trip. this should be a regular item on a burger joint! amazing how time flies just staring at the camp fire. i usually prefer to dip pineapples in salt, vinegar and habanero flakes but this seasoning isn't bad at all on it. leave the stem on - it's handy as a handle. shake shack burger.
JV3, it's nice to hear someone else wish for rain on a trip. Most folks look at me like I'm crazy (not saying that they're wrong) when I say that I like to hike and camp in the rain.
you guys always have the best food! this looks amazing.... this looks really good too, just not as good as the pineapple spam burger.,....
i like doing things that makes people shake their heads in disbelief...that explains bringing a whole bottle of whisky or spam too yup, plenty of pluses with rain: no risk of starting a forest fire (especially with rb and his white man fires! haha) and no risk of dehydration. plus i like the sound of rain hitting the tarp...i can sleep all day with that sound. i promised to keep it a secret but...rb's day job is a chef at a michelin 3-star restaurant.
Looks like a good time, we finally got some rain here overnight for the first time in over 40 days. I think we broke a record set in 1904.