Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle (700ml) Review

If you’ve been following my posts, you probably know that a few months back I decided to switch to a plastic cup instead of a metal one. Some of my reasons for switching were that it would be easier to handle when full of hot liquid, and would not freeze to my lips in winter. I’ve tried to use a kuksa style cup for some time now, and I just don’t feel as comfortable as I do with a metal cup. There is no good reason for it, I just miss having a metal cup. So, I decided to find one that I like. After some looking around, I chose the Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle 700 ml. It used to be sold under just the name Backcountry Ti Kettle, so if you are looking online at older information, it is the same product.

The term “kettle” in the title is misleading. It is a 700 ml cup. As the name indicates, it is made out of titanium. The cup comes with a lid, which has strainer holes and a holder that locks upright. Everything comes in a well fitted mesh storage bag. The handles are of course folding, and are welded on, not riveted. I like that because it minimizes the chance of leaks developing. The Backcountry Stoic Ti Kettle nests perfectly on the bottom of a Nalgene bottle. It will also fit a 4oz SnowPeak or Jetboil fuel canisters, but not the wider MSR canisters.

The cup is very light, weighing by itself 3.1oz. Separate from that, the lid weighs 0.6oz, and the mesh holder another 0.4oz. Everything together weighs 4.1oz, although I personally only use the cup. The lid and stuff sack would be very useful if you used the cup for cooking, which I do not.

I find the handles to be very comfortable, and I have no issues holding the cup just using the handles even when completely full. The small notch at the bottom of the handles works great to allow you to balance the cup. The handles also stay relatively cool when the cup is filled with hot liquid. The cup itself of course, gets very hot.

Overall, I am very happy with the cup. It is similar to the SnowPeak 700 and the Vargo Ti 700 mugs. I chose this one because it seemed to have simpler, more straight forward features. It ordinarily sells for $30-$40, but is currently on sale from Backcountry for $20.

Bushcraft Fashion

Recently there was a thread on Bushcraft UK regarding the existence of bushcraft fashion. The question was whether there is in fact such a thing, or whether this look we see in bushcraft circles is just the result of practical choices, streamlined by limited availability of clothing options. I thought it was a very interesting question, so I figured I would write a note about it.

I think the answer will come down to which bushcraft circles you associate with. There are different communities within bushcraft. Some are separated by geographical location, others by the approach to bushcraft people take. Here are three generic groups that I have noticed:

The first is the “naturalist” group. If this is you, you probably take the approach that you will more or less only wear natural materials. Your insulation is wool, your waterproofing is oiled canvas, your hat is leather, the pack is canvas and leather with a design from a century ago. You work very hard to make sure you look like you don’t care about your appearance and the choice of “traditional” materials over technology is usually defended in these group with a near religious zealotry. In short, you are a bushcraft hipster. Even within this group, there are differences based on geography. For example, in the UK ventille (tightly woven cotton) has become a hugely popular item for rain wear. In the US however, this material has not caught on. I believe the difference comes from the fact that the TV personality that popularized the material in the UK is not aired in the US.

The second is the “military surplus” group. If you fall in this category, odds are most of your clothing is from an army surplus store, or a modern manufacturer that produces military type gear. There are MOLLE and ALICE attachment points on your clothing and pack. Military camouflage is prevalent, but olive drab and civilian hunting pattern camouflage is also used. Gear is carried in army surplus packs or in more modern version made by companies like Maxpedition. Gear in this category may all look the same, but it can range from very cheap to extremely expensive.

The third is the “technology” group. If that is you, your gear comes from modern backpacking stores like REI and EMS, or from custom manufacturers. Your gear is at the cutting edge of performance, and next month when the new thing comes out, you will be all over it. Civilian colors are prominent with this look. Primaloft insulation and Goretex/eVent/Neoshell rain wear are common. Backpacks are of modern designs whether they be with intricate suspension systems and numerous features, or basic lightweight models made from cutting edge materials like cuben fiber.

Now, of course, some of these groups look at the other ones and say “this is not bushcraft”. Who you chose to disqualify from “bushcraft” I leave up to you. Call it whatever you want, but the reality is that the above “looks” are a very real thing in the larger bushcraft community, regardless of what any particular subgroup has chosen as the “one true path”.

So, is there bushcraft fashion, or is the look determined by practical choices constrained by limited availability? I think the answer depends on which one of the above groups you fall into.  

If we look at bushcraft broadly, then there is a huge range of very practical choices that are readily available on the market. If you are looking for a waterproof jacket, the choices are endless. I know, I know, bushcraft is special, and requires special waterproof jacket. No it’s not, and no it doesn't. The fact that people do bushcraft in everything from oil cloth to eVent should be a clear indication of that. People have gone to the South Pole and Everest with everything from wool clothing to ultra modern insulation suits. I think we can manage to carve a spoon in the local park with any of those options. Now, of course, if you want to look like an 18th century trapper, your options will be limited. However, at that point I think the fashion choice has already been made.

So, let’s look at each of the above groups, and see with respect to each whether there is a fashion, or whether practicality rules.

The “naturalist” group: In my opinion, this look is very much governed by fashion. Fashion of course doesn’t have to be a bad thing. The clothing may have been chosen for very valid reasons such as historical recreation or research. However, the insistence on natural materials, or particular period materials moves this look into the realm of fashion. Practicality takes a back seat to looking the “right way”. Many equally or more practical options are disregarded because they do not conform to the look. Even more so, this vary “basic” and “simple” look tends to cost more than the highest tech products out there. Now, once a person has chosen this particular style, the availability of clothing options is limited. There are very few manufacturers that will make you look like Nessmuk or your favorite 19th century explorer. However, the need to limit ones self to these clothing options is a fashion choice, not a practical one.

The “military surplus” group: Here I think the issue is a little more tricky. There are certainly people in this group that are guided by fashion. They go out of their way to look like a special forces operator. The look here matters much more than the practicality. There is little practical about getting a 35L Maxpedition pack and then strapping half of your gear to the outside of the pack, but as long as it makes you look like you can kill a man with your thumb, then it is good to go. On the other hand however, you have a lot of people in this group that fall within this look for very practical reasons, i.e. cost. Army surplus gear can be obtained very cheaply, so while it may not be the best choice for the task, the low price makes it a very practical option. You’ll have to look more closely at the individual to see whether their choices are governed by fashion or simply getting the best value for the dollar.

The “technology” group: From what I have seen, people in this group are very much governed by practicality, perhaps too much so. A lot of the clothing tends to look similar because it is developed with the same practical purpose in mind, but at some point the added “practicality” becomes meaningless. Improvements tend to be sought after to a degree that stops being practical. Spending another $300 on a new jacket just to save another half an ounce starts to border on fashion disguised as practicality. All that being said however, at leas the intent of this group seems more grounded in practicality than fashion. Of course, even here there are people who stick to the lower cost options, and fall within this look simply because they have tried to strike a balance between utility and cost.

So, is there such a thing as bushcraft fashion. Of course there is. In many bushcraft circles, people look right down like clones, even though there is a staggering amount of appropriate and practical clothing options available on the market. For most people in the community practicality is fairly low on the list of priorities; certainly much further down than “looking like a woodsman”. In many cases the clothing choices made go so far in lack of practicality as to render a person incapable of moving any significant distance on foot. What exactly the specific bushcraft fashion is will vary depending on your local group. 

Why does fashion tend to rule over practicality? Well, for starters it seems to be human nature. Looking the part is often more important than performing the role. Even more so however, in many bushcraft circles, so little gets done as far as practical tasks, that the practicality of the clothing is just not a major consideration. How are you going to carry around a 15 lb wool coat and a 10 lb oiled canvas poncho? It doesn’t matter when the bushcraft meeting/barbeque takes place 10 ft from the parking lot.

Look, we are all free to wear whatever we want. After all, this is a hobby. If we want to wear particular clothing because we think it makes us look good, or because it reminds us of our favorite woodsman, there is nothing wrong with that. What is wrong however, is trying to then justify the choice in terms of practicality rather than admitting that it was based on aesthetic preferences. It makes for a lot of poor information and it may really make a difference if someone actually tries to do something in the woods while wearing that clothing.

Council Tool Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe Review

I have been wanting to take a closer look at the Council Tool Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe since it came out, but due to lack of funds have not been able to do so until now. Fortunately, the kind people at Omaha Knife informed me that they now carry the full line of Council Tool axes and asked me if I would like to review one of them. Of course, the Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe was my choice. In the interest of full disclosure, I have not paid for this axe. It was loaned to me from their display collection.

Just so you guys know, Omaha Knife continues to offer a discount for readers of this blog. The discount now extends to all items in the store. Just enter the code “Wood Trekker” to get your discount.

So, on to the axe.

Specifications:
Manufacturer: Council Tool
Axe Head Weight: 1.75 lb (the head is listed as weighing 2 lb, but it’s almost certainly closer to 1.75 lb)
Axe Length: 22.5 inches as measured; 24 inches as listed
Axe Head Material: 5160 steel; RC 50-54
Handle Material: Hickory
Cost: $130.00 although it can be found for less online

This axe is designed to compete with other top of the line axes, in particular Gransfors Bruks. The corresponding price is accordingly high, similar to Gransfors Bruks. The one I was provided with was taken as a random sample from a box of shipped axes, so I was interested to see how it compares to it’s closest rival, the Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe. Here you can see the two side by side.

The handle of the Council Tool Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe in terms of length falls between the Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axes and the Small Forest Axe. It is 22.5 inches, making it an inch and a half longer than the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe and two and a half inches shorter than the Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe. Council Tool lists the handle as being 24 inches, but just like with all of their other axes, that is the length of the handle before the head is hung. Several inches are usually removed during that process. For this particular head the handle seems to be a good length. I prefer a longer handle (around 26 inches), but if you are comfortable swinging a Small Forest Axe, this one will fit you just fine. As with other Council Tool axe handles, this one is thin. I usually like that, but here I found the handle to be a little too thin near the eye for the width of the handle. What I mean is that i would like it to be a bit more oval and less flattened. The grain of the handle was good, at least as good as that of my Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe. It does contain some heart wood. There is a lot of talk about whether than matters or not, but I leave that for you to decide. (Council Tool left; Gransfors Bruks right)

Council Tool describes the head as being about 2 lb. I think that is an overestimation of the head weight, just like with the Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe. With the Scandinavian Forest Axe, I have actually weighed the head, and it is 1.75 lb. The head of the Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe seems to be about the same weight. It is hard to tell exactly without removing the handle, but it is probably under 2 lb, closer to 1.75 lb. Even though it was mounted on a shorter handle, it felt like a good fit, creating a well balanced, usable axe.

In terms of design, Council Tool and Gransfors Bruks took different approaches. If you look at the bit geometry, the Council Tool head is slightly thinner immediately behind the bit. It then continuously expands until it reaches the eye. The Gransfors Bruks head on the other hand uses concave cheeks shortly after the bit until the eye is reached. The immediate differences between the designs are not apparent when using the two axes. People have put forward different theories on whether the concavity of the Gransfors Bruks cheeks helps prevent binding and whether it on the other hand limits its splitting ability. Judging the differences becomes even more difficult because the two heads differ in overall design as well. I was not able to detect any difference during non strenuous use.

 

The two heads are attached using the exact same method, a wooden wedge with a metal pin. The handle of the Council Tool axe protrudes over the eye just like that of the Gransfors Bruks.

The Council Tool Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe is well balanced lengthwise, but despite Council Tool putting a heavier poll on it, the axe is still bit heavy, a feature hard to avoid with the Hudson Bay design. 

The tests that I have done with this axe are relatively light, since it is not mine. That being said, it performed quite well. Like I said before, I prefer a longer handle, but this one was not uncomfortable. For a small backpacking axe, you can swing it quite well. I like the long cutting edge of the axe. The added cutting area made it easier for me when performing tasks from chopping to carving. The Hudson Bay pattern is also good for choking up on the handle when carving, although because of the smaller eye, you have a higher risk of the head loosening up.

The Council Tool Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe comes with a very robust leather sheath. The axe slides into it, and it completely encloses the head. It can also be slid onto a belt. I personally prefer a smaller, simpler sheath, like that of the Gransfors Bruks Scandinavian Forest Axe, but I know many have complained about how they would like a more solid sheath. If you are one of those people, then this sheath might be the one for you.

So, is the Council Tool Velvicut Hudson Bay Axe worth the money. From what I have seen, the answer is yes. I think it is a very good competitor to the other top of the line bushcraft axes. In terms of size and weight it can be easily transported within a backpack, and can accomplish a wide range of tasks. If you have been looking for something heavier than the Small Forest Axe, but easier to fit in a pack than the Scandinavian Forest Axe, this model might be one to fit that role.

Once again, a big thank you to Omaha Knife for providing me with a sample of this axe.

Les Stroud Survival Knives

Keeping with the Les Stroud team, many of you know that a while back he released a bushcraft knife called the Temagami, which is made by Helle. Well, recently he released a line of survival knives, which are manufactured by Camillus. From what I could see, he was using one of the knives on the first episode of Survivorman 10 Days.

Here is a statement released by Les about the knives:

“Hi all - I got to thinkin'....there was a press release already, but other than that there have been just a few questions here and there about me releasing a survival knife line. Firstly - yes - I have already released a BUSHCRAFT knife with the most excellent company: Helle out of Norway. The purpose was to design a high end bushcraft knife that is a one of a kind knife made by hand by the fantastic people at Helle. No two knives in this line are alike. I have even been able to visit the plant myself and sit at some of the machines hand crafting out my own blade. - In fact someone will unknowingly get one of these knives and it will be the one I worked on myself!!! I am very proud of these knives and very proud of working with Helle on them. Now. That said - Helle and I were not interested in developing a knife line together that was more specific to survival - including some survival attachments. That is where Camillus comes in. I had turned down a number of knife companies who had courted me (including one specific line of knives you could probably guess at - they went with someone else) simply because they would not adhere to my strict quality policy: "If I am going to design a survival knife for you to put in your hands - then it better be quality enough to put in my own". They were all more interested in profit and celebrity. Camillus is fully committed to working with my own designs to develop a line of survival knives you can trust with your life. So if you want that one of a kind bushcrafting knife then please enjoy what I personally designed with Helle....and if you want to outfit yourself with a survival knife designed personally by me and tested by me - then you will see the prototype we will unveil in Vegas at the Shot show in January - I think I will be there at the show on the 18th. ....Camillus had no issues with the fact that I designed a beautiful one of a kind bushcraft knife with Helle and Helle has no issue that I am designing a fully loaded survival knife with Camillus......Listen folks - whether I became Survivorman and created a whole new genre of TV or not - I would have eventually tried to write a manual (which I did called Survive!) develop a line of survival knives and develop a survival kit. As an instructor of many years - these three initiatives were always in my heart to do. So now I am able to do so thanks to creating survival for TV - ok fine - buts what's most important to me is that whatever I put my name on - it be of the highest quality. Know this: In my opinion - the survival knife...book...kit that I put on the market will be the best there is. The price point may be a little higher than those who are cashing in on the whole 'survival thing'....but our lives are worth it. For me its not about marketing or cashing in on celebrity....its about survival. Les”

Survivorman Returns on US Television

Those of you who are big Survivorman fans already know that Les Stroud has been working on a new Survivorman season. Episodes have already aired in Canada, but last night, August 19, 2012, was the first episode from the new season to air on US television. It premiered on the Discovery Channel at 8:00PM E.T.

The new season has a slightly different format. While Les still gets stranded alone with his camera gear, this time he is doing it for ten rather than seven days at a time. Because of that, the title of the new season of Survivorman is “Survivorman Ten Days”. Each episode is now split into two parts. Part one covers the first five days, and the second part the second five days. I am not sure that I am crazy about the format. While it is good to see him survive for a longer period of time, splitting up each survival situation into two episodes seems to slow down the action a bit, and doesn’t give the sense of completion in each episode that we got from the earlier seasons. Even so, it is great to see Les back in action.

The first episode that aired last night was part one of “Tiburon Island” where Les is stranded on, you guessed it, Tiburon Island off the coast of Mexico. Part two will air on August 26, 2012 at 8:00PM on the Discovery Channel. That will be followed by parts one and two of “Norway”, to air on September 2, 2012 and September 9, 2012 respectively at 8:00PM on the Discovery Channel. The “Norway” episode was the first to premier in Canada, so it can already be seen online.

Andrew Skurka: Trekking the Wild North

This is a video presentation by Andrew Skurka about his Yukon expedition, where he spent six months traveling 4,500 miles through the Alaskan and Yukon wilderness.

It is certainly a spectacular achievement. The video focuses mostly on telling the story of the trip. I wish it covered more of the skills and gear required, but it is still a very interesting video.

Trip Report: Friday Mtn Airplane Crash Site 8/3/12 – 8/5/12 Part 2

If you haven’t seen Part 1 of the post already, please check it out. This one would make a lot more sense if you do.

So, I woke up at sunrise. I felt great. All the hydration and sleep had done a great deal to help me feel better. 

After heating up some oatmeal for breakfast, I packed up and headed up through the cliffs again. The going wasn’t particularly though because there was very little vegetation in this area. After about an hour or so, I reached the summit of Friday Mountain, marked as #4 on the map I showed you.

I’ve mentioned before that all the peaks in the Catskills with elevation over 3500 ft that are not accessible through any trails, have a canister at the top where you can sign your name. Now that I was at the summit, I started looking for the canister. This proved to be a difficult task. I must have crisscrossed the top of the mountain several times in search of the canister. It took me over an hour to find it. Just as I was getting close to giving up, I spotted it on one of the trees, almost at the very edge of the cliff on the eastern side of the mountain.

I signed my name in the book. It felt like an achievement, but I knew the day was just starting. I didn’t have any time to waste, so I took a compass bearing from the map towards my next location, the unnamed peak (#5) next to Cornel Mountain.

Unfortunately, there isn’t anything interesting to report from the next stretch of the trip. The whole distance from Friday Mountain to Cornel Mountain was covered in thick spruce. It was simply a matter of putting my head down, arms in front of my face, and forcing my way through the tangled branches blocking my way. The whole time I kept thinking about those beautiful forests that I see Ray Mears always walk through on his shows. How come none of them were in these mountains? This is not the type of forest where you can take a stroll with a billy can in one hand and an axe in the other. Often i would stop and just keep looking around in the hope of finding an area that was a bit less dense so I can actually move through it. More often than not, it was simply time wasted, and I would just have to push my way through some more tangled trees.

There was one spot where the trees opened up for a few feet, and I was able to see a few plants other than spruce and fir.

 

Then, more pushing through the trees. It was almost impossible to keep a good bearing. Quite often the bearing would take me into areas where it would simply be impossible to get through. I would have to circle around and then try to find my way back on the bearing. Luckily, the fact that I was following along a ridge line helped a lot with that. Whenever I deviated from the bearing, I simply looked for the highest point on the ridge, and once there would re-establish the bearing.

It wasn’t easy to determine when I was at the top of the peak for which I was aiming. The gradient wasn’t that steep, and the vegetation prevented me from seeing more than fifteen feet in front of me. Judging by the tracks recorded by the GPS receiver, I had missed it slightly to the east. Either way, when I though I was on top of the peak, I took a bearing towards Cornel Mountain and headed in that direction.

Earlier during the day, when I reached the top of Friday Mountain, I knew I was going to be short on water. I had only a liter left. This was a result of me drinking more water than expected the previous day because I wasn’t feeling well. This meant that I had to carefully ration my water for the trip between Friday and Cornel Mountain. Needless to say, I was running very short when I took my bearing towards Cornel.

After some traveling through the same type of thick tree cover, I reached a cliff side. It was too tall to attempt climbing. My only option was to try to see if there was an easier way up to the side of the cliff. I started moving towards the west. Soon, I saw what looked to be a way up.

I started climbing up, and soon it became to appear that this was some type of path. I figured it was the result of other people trying to get up and down the cliffs, and this being the only way to pass through them, creating a funneling effect. I quickly however realized that this was actually the trail which lead up to Cornel Mountain. By moving west, it seems that I had intersected the trail right under the summit of Cornel. Here is me realizing that I am actually on the trail and out of the bush:

After a bit more climbing up the trail, I started to see open sky. It was a very exciting feeling to finally be able to move around without trees constantly hitting you in the face.

As a reward for making it to the top of Cornel Mountain, and through the hardest part of the trip, I finished the rest of my water. Now I headed down the trail in search of a water source that was marked on the map. There were a few plants worth photographing along the way.

My big worry at this point was that the water source would be dry. It in not uncommon, and judging by the low level of the Neversink river, it was a likely scenario. My concerns were confirmed when I ran into two people on the trail going in the opposite direction, who told me that all the water sources till after Slide Mountain were dry.

At this point I started searching for any water I could find. I followed rock outcrops, looking for areas of pooled water. I was lucky to find one such puddle.

I managed to filter almost a liter of water out of it using my Sawyer Squeeze Filter. This here is a prime example of why I favor filters over other water purification methods. There was everything from mud to amphibians living in this little puddle. There is no way I would have drank the water without filtering, no matter if it was drenched in chemicals or  boiled into mud stew.

With the water I was able to gather, I continued down the trail. I finally hit the marker indicating that I was at 3500 feet. This allowed me to pinpoint my exact location on the map.

A little bit further down, I reached the marked water source. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was not literally dry. While it was not flowing, there was more than enough water for me to fill up for the next portion of the trip.

Now, my original plan was to camp in this area for the night. This is location #7 on the first map I showed you. However, I had made faster progress than I expected. It was about 2PM, and it was way too early to set up camp. Now that I had water, I ate some food, and decided to hit the trail again.

The climb up to Slide Mountain was not particularly easy. It was very steep, and in some places required more rock climbing than I was happy to do while alone.

By now, my legs were burnt out. I felt fine, and I didn’t feel tired, but even the smallest amount of pushing uphill, got my legs burning. At one point I fell down, and my face landed in a raspberry bush. As punishment, they were promptly eaten.

 

Eventually, around 4PM, I reached the summit of Slide Mountain. There is a plaque there commemorating John Burroughs.

I had the rest of my chocolate for an added energy boost, and some powdered drink mix.

Even though this is what I believe the highest mountain in the Catskills, the peak is still heavily forested, so you can’t see much. However, a short distance off, there is a standing dead tree, and if you climb on top of it, you can get a decent shot of the surrounding area.

After reaching slide mountain, the way from there was easy. I moved relatively quickly, stopping only to take a few pictures.

The above picture seems to be some carpenter ants digging out a home into a tree. If you look carefully near the opening, you can see one of them.

Around 6PM I reached the Yellow trail, which would eventually take me out of the forest. There was another plaque on the trail crossing.

It seemed like a good place to set up camp for the night. However, I was again running low on water. I would have enough for the evening, but not for the next day. On the map, there seemed to be a small creek in the opposite direction on the train from where I was going to go the next day. It appeared to be about half an hour away, so I decided to go see if I can get some water before setting camp. Unfortunately, this water source was dry as well. I decided to follow the creek bed into the lower elevation to see if maybe I could find some small pools. Not far off, I found one.

Since I didn’t need water immediately, I dug out the area, and left it for the night to allow more water to gather. I then set up my shelter.

I made a small fire to cook my food. Now, you usually see me cooking directly on a bed of coals when I use a fire. There are different types of fire and different ways to use them depending on what resources you have and what you are trying to do. In this instance, I had a lot of birch, which while burning easily, doesn’t make the best coals. I also had no intention of sitting by a fire the whole evening. I just needed something small to cook with. Suspending the pot over a small fire was the easiest way to get that done.

By keeping the fire small, I cooked my food without too much mess, and with just a few handfuls of sticks. By keeping the flame small, only the bottom of the pot accumulated any sooth, making it easier to clean.

After dinner I went to sleep. I was starting to not feel well again. I figured another good night’s rest would take care of it.

In the morning I made breakfast. I wasn’t feeling well at all. All my stomach problems were back. I ate none the less, and packed up.

Before heading out I filled up some water. The hole I had dug up worked great.

Near that area I spotted some more chaga. I’m sure that if I was looking for some, I would never find it, but on this trip it was everywhere.

It was very humid that morning. It seemed like it was about to rain.

Here is a picture I wanted to share with you because it was the first running water I had seen since Friday.

There was a toad taking opportunity of the water.

There were a few mushrooms to be seen as well.

It was a very uneventful day. The trail was easy, I had enough water; it was just a matter of making my way out. Shortly before reaching the road, I spotted a berry bush. It made for a good snack.

After that, it was only a short distance before I was out of the woods and back in my car.

Overall it was a great trip. I am sure I would have enjoyed it more if I was feeling better. The first two days were very difficult, both in terms of navigating certain stretches, and certainly in terms of physically making my way through the bush. I stuck more or less to the planned route. The only deviations were to leave the bearing and follow the creek bed to the airplane crash site on day one, as well as leaving the bearing to make my way up Friday Mountain. I also moved faster than I expected, making it much further down the trail than on the second day. Here you can see my tracks as recorder by the GPS receiver.

You can also see the elevation profile.

That’s about it for the trip report. Maybe I’ll do some other posts going over the gear I had with me, and what things worked and what didn’t.