Se7eN's trip report thread.

Love the trip reports, and mid story bantering with Bushman. You two are an inspiration, even (especially) in your bouts of madness. Looking forward to tomorrow's updates.

 

awesome pics,..you are a lucky man to have that place to roam.Safe travels...

 

Rogers pass should be listed as one of the wonders of the world. It's insane how much snow that area gets.

http://cdnrail.railfan.net/RogersPass/RogersPasstext.htm


Love these trees......BC firewood tree.....lol

 

Sneak peek from today...

 

nice!

Im heading out Sat for adventures!

 

Today was another good day. Got off work at 3 pm and promptly burned out of town to the same area I was in yesterday.

It's been overcast and snowing here, so the pictures are pretty post apocalyptic LOL

I was searching for fatwood today. There had been a crazy forest fire in these parts at some point in time. Massive for trees were standing tall but had all of their needles burned off.






Could it be?



OHHHHH YYYEEAAAHHHH!!!



This stuff was everywhere. And it's all deep Carmel coloured, pure fatwood.



I got a pretty good haul if this stuff. I'm picky though and only take the very best that I can find.

Moving on...

I have my J2 on a Blackhawk drop leg rig. Only way to go. Not hanging high on your belt in the way of you pack. Easy access o mater off you are on your back, side, stomach or standing. Hell, you can deliver a bad ass spartan kick and pull this baby out all in one fluid movement!



Fog rolling in



This place is beautiful. Even in the fog.



Something had thrashed this area. I suspect it was elk, but I was on my toes the whole time and mountain lions are very common in this area.



Curiosity sets in and I keep walking along the top of the ridge line.

 

I heard something ahead of me. I would later find this to be an elk. It probably saw we ripping apart stumps lol.



I see this tree. It captivated me. I think this is amazing.



This was the high point along the ridge.



Very nice here. Light was starting to add and I was a few km's from my truck. Time to start moving.




On my way out I stumbled upon parts of a deer. Hair everywhere. I thought it must have been a carcass dumped by hunters and then dragged up the hill by wolves, coyotes or a cougar. Regardless l, I made good time getting off the ridge at that point.




I had a pretty good day ! Excited for today though as I will have much more time to explore and hopefully the weather isn't so ghostly.

Thanks for watching!!

 

Good stuff! Like the massive Douglas fir

 

Hey all! I got out after work again. Had a wicked fatwood score and a nice fire.

Pics inbound!!!

The fire ravaged forest.



It wasn't long before a found a potential fatwood stump and ripped it apart.



My Junglas 2 is an amazing knife. The more I use it, the more I NEED it.



The top of the ridge. So nice up here.



You might be able to see it, but there is a deer in this picture.




This area is so easily accessible. You can go anywhere.



I wandered down to the lake and took a look around. Almost could have used snowshoes lol.

There were deer and wolf tracks everywhere.



I wish I had more time. I would set up a cozy lean to over there and spend the night.



I climbed back up onto the hillside and found some nice, dense fatwood. The Junglas 2 was getting worked today.



Not much for vegetation on the ground here. Nice spot for a camp.

 

Look at this! I got s few really good pieces but damn, was that stuff ever saturated!



I was hungry by this point. I headed up and started a fire.



Some fresh fatwood to get this baby lit up!





I crushed a few smokies and headed back to the truck. I've been fortunate to be able to get out in the afternoon once work is done. The bush is good for my soul.




That's it, that's all.

 

Good idea putting the J2 on the leg panel,I have used one for different pouches and holsters,will be easier in winter for sure with all the clothing.May scare some of the natives..but oh well
Great report and pics as always!

 

February 18, 2018.
Central Alberta, Canada
-26c

Today was cold. Real cold. It was windy as hell too. Snow storms approaching from the west. Today was a great day to go outside and have some fun.

I got all packed up and said goodbye to my family. I paused for a moment and asked my oldest son if he wanted to come brave the cold temperatures with me. He was all in. Apparently, so was his 6 year old little brother.

So before I knew it, I had two car seats in my F350, my troop carrier, food for myself and both kids, and extra gear. My kids have outstanding winter clothing. I made sure we bought them the best we could afford. I had sh*t winter gear when I was a kid. I froze my a** off a lot. The benefit of this was a got really good at aquiring firewood and lighting a fire at a young age.

Once we got to location, I had to spend 30 min digging the ditch out with my shovel (combat shovel?) so I could drive my truck into meadow where I usually park. I got the truck in and drove in and out a few time to try and pack the sugar snow down. No dice. It was so cold that nothing compacted.

We geared up and headed out. I was pulling the kids in the troop carrier because the snow was too deep for the little guy to walk in.



I had my carhartts on. I was warm. My OR ninja mask and toque kept my head/face warm. Both of the boys had balaclavas as well. The little guy had my industrial carhartt double thick balaclava. Life saver.

The boys in the troop carrier! I had my surplus wool blanket in the TC for them. You can also see my bada** stainless grill at the front...Love this thing. I was totally taking advantage of having the troop carrier with me.



Everywhere we go in the bush, Logan is constantly stuffing his pockets with birch bark and dry grass if he can find it. I taught him from a young age that you never pass fire lighting materials in the wilderness without stuffing you pockets full..You never know when you might need it.

With that being said, my wife get pissed at me because every one of his coats has birch bark residue in the pockets LOL.

He found some dead standing timber and pushed it over, picket it up and hauled it around until we got to the spot I wanted to take them.



Kaine, my 6 year old, was having an absolute blast in the troop carrier. He was snug as a bug. Here we are going down a hill to get to the spot I had in mind.



We got down to the plateau. I was relieved and tired from hauling the kids through all the windfall and willow thickets. Here they are running around, looking for firewood and the firepit I had left here from a previous outing. The snow wasn't deep here at all.



My troop carrier was littered with gear. Frozen water bottles, the thermos full of hot chocolate and my halftrack.




Time to get to work. We uncovered the firepit and Logan took Kaine to go get kindling for the fire.





We set out in search of some good firewood. I hauled a few dead standing trees off the hillside and logan pulled them into camp for processing. 4 precise strikes with the Junglas and the timber would break nicely.



Not that I don't have faith in my Junglas, but I knew this spruce was going to be tough to split as it was really twisted...



More to come.

 

Just hit the edit button! Everything gets saved as a draft.

 

I got screwed on this one.

 

No big deal for the 5.



The boys helped me process the firewood.



Kaine likes the Silky Saw as much as I do. Nice piece of kit.



Kaine started to act funny. He started just standing still and not moving around. i asked him what was wrong and he said his hands were cold. I grabbed his hands and took his mitts off. ICE COLD. he got snow in his mitts while using the saw. Unless I could get his hands warmed up this would be the end of the day for all of us.

I gave him my mitts and tucked him into the troop carrier with the wool blanket tucked in around him. I had planned on starting the fire with the bow drill, but I knew that I couldn't f*ck around right now. Logan put some logs down for the base of the fire and collected some punky wood. I dove into my halftrack and pulled out a bag of the best firestarter out there. @Bushman5 sent me a 3 bags of dragons breath. I ripped open a bag and poured it over the fire lay.

Logan gave me some old mans beard and a pile of birch bark. I sparked it up with my firesteel and everything burned furiously.



See his mitts in the snow? That is a major no no out in the bush in the winter time ( My fault)



Logan had my Izula 2 out. Much warmer by the fire.



I poured the kids some hot chocolate. That brought up Kaines core temperature enough that he perked up.




Having fun, but it was really cold out. We kept the fire stoked up the whole time. Kaine got pretty cozy in the troop carrier lol.



With the kids settled, it was time for a brew up.

 

Spruce needle tea. It will soothe sore throats and help to cure respiratory problems. Also rich in vitamin C.




The smell was incredible.



I let that soak for a while. I got lunch cooking for the kids in the mean time.



Smokies and toasted bagels!!



I got out my bow drill set and burned and ember for the kids to see. Always good practice.



I pulled Kaine a bit closer to the fire. the boys had some chow and we packed up. The wind was getting pretty strong and the temps were falling as a result. Time to go!



We packed up and took off. The kids both had a riot on the way out. Once we found a trail, they got out of the sled and ran around as we hiked out.



It was a great day. I had fun spending time with my sons out in the woods. I tell ya, having little ones in the wilderness with you in these temperatures is not for the faint of heart. You have to have your Sh*t together. bring warm gear, extra gear, blankets and lots of food etc.

Well that's all I got. Nothing too exciting, but awesome nonetheless!

Next weekend I will be heading out again. Thanks for looking!

 

The next generation of woodsmen right there!Keep that trickle of knowledge going...Excellent job!
Thanks for taking us along....darn,no shovel pics yet

 

Shovel pics are inbound soon. Need to show bushy the final concept first.

 

great report and pics Bro! Glad the Dragons Breath Granules got your lads warmed up quick. (its real easy to make in bulk - see my DIY tutorial in DIY). Simple ingredients Peralite (garden section of hardware/homedepot etc) and paraffin (and pine pellets if you want). Just keep adding the granules to the melted wax and stir until they are soaked thru and freely crumbling. Vacuum seal into pouches and put it everywhere in your pack , jacket, truck etc with some lighters or book matches.

btw....by itself in a pile......burns HOT for about 20 -25 minutes.

I'm going to make a batch with parrafin, gobs of pitch, crumbled fatwood shavings......