Lean-to and Rakovalkea fire

I can't believe it's been more than 5 years since I've updated this blog.  I have been on many adventures over the past few years - both near and afar - but somehow completely neglected to document any of them.  This post is a first step at changing that.

Lately, I have been bitten by the winter camping bug.  It's February 1st and I've camped out a couple nights so far this year - once on a calm night in tents with the kids, brother and nephew, and once solo in a bivy sack during a light snowfall.

I decided my next night out should get me back to using some basic bushcraft skills that have a way of getting rusty when using modern conveniences such as tents and bivy sacks.  I decided I'd make a lean-to for my shelter, and for warmth, a "Rakovalkea fire".  A what? ... It's a fire-building technique originally from Scandinavia that I discovered in the current issue of Field and Stream, which is dedicated to subjects about fire.  Some YouTube videos filled out my education on the subject.  With time at a premium lately, I had to break this project up into several days.  On Monday night, I went out and built the lean-to on the top of a hill.  The snow was crusty and there was no need for snowshoes so walking around in the woods was easy, but it was challenging to find enough green boughs for the roof.  Most of the trees where I was had no lower branches at all.  I finished it in about 1.5 hours.  It's compact but it should be big enough for me and minimal equipment.

Looking for an excuse to use my new bow saw, I went back to the campsite on Wednesday night to set up the fire, knowing this would take some time.  Twenty feet from the lean-to was an 8-inch thick dead spruce or fir tree (I didn't check which).  It was still standing but the top had broken off and there were some red needles on a few of the remaining branches.  Apparently you need 1 inch of thickness for each hour you need the fire to burn.  I felled the tree with a combination of hatchet and bow saw, then cut the lower portion into two 6-foot lengths.  Then I shaved off the bark and some of the wood beneath lengthwise from the two logs, creating flattened areas, which I then roughed up with the hatchet so it would grip the tinder (wood chips from the felling operation and birch bark) I gathered.  I then built the supports and spacers for the logs, jammed the tinder in between, and took a few pictures (below).  I will return in a couple days to spend the night.  I plan to put up a fire reflector behind the fire using an emergency blanket to push the heat into the lean-to.

Lean-to with the unlit Rakovalkea fire set up out front.

A close-up of the fire, ready to be lit.  The vertical supports prevent the logs from rolling down the hill.  The horizontal spacers let the fire breathe.  Birch bark and wood chips are stuffed between the logs.

Bald Mountain Part II

Yesterday afternoon Anna and I hiked to the top of Bald Hill, near Wirral, NB. This is one of my all-time favourite places to visit and camp, because of its remoteness and excellent scenery. We covered the 2.6 km hike in about an hour and a half. The section of the hike where the altitude was lowest (around Three Bridge Brook) was the most challenging, as it was extremely dense with alders, which continuously got caught on our backpacks. It is easier to traverse in the winter on snowshoes.



Once we reached the top of the mountain, we took a few minutes to take in the view and take some pictures, then got to work cutting up dead trees for our campfire.




After the sun went down, we played cards and listened to music by the fire for a while before going to sleep. (I brought along a small radio which got great reception at the high elevation.) I was originally planning to sleep under a tarp, and Anna in a bivy sack, but since I forgot the pole for her bivy sack, we both decided to forego any overhead shelter.



We spent the night in our sleeping bags under a star-filled sky in near-ideal conditions. The campsite had a nice breeze blowing across it and there were no bugs. With clear skies and lows near 5 C at night, we were both actually a bit too warm in our winter sleeping bags. The sky was full of constellations and the moon was so bright I could have read a book by its light. Overall, it was a great trip. Maybe a bit too short! .... The next time I return I would like to explore the well-worn trail that leads down off the southern side of the hill. (We hiked up the northern side.)

Some highlights: - the spongy moss at the campsite (soft for sleeping on!)
- wild blueberries at campsite (even in mid-September!)
- view of early-morning mist in the valley

Maliseet Trail: Meductic Portage

I spent the day with fellow Scout leader D.A. Neville and local canoe guru and Maliseet Trail expert Dino Kubik exploring a 7 kilometre long portage route which formed part of the Maliseet Trail. We started near where the ancient Fort Meductic would have been and hiked to the Eel River, at a point where O-ski-tchin would have taken a 9-year old John Gyles in August, 1689. According to Dino, the three of us are among a group of only 20 people who have completed this portage route (alive) in the past 150 years.

The route we followed is the actual portage route, not the one established by the N.B. government which falsely claims to be. Our route was the one described by Passomoquoddy Chief Neptune in 1820. It eluded historians until 2006, when the Maine legislature released secret industrial spy maps which were made in 1820, showing the actual route. The route was marked by 37 waypoints, eached marked with forestry flagging tape, placed there by Robert Doyle. Navigation was done using both GPS and compass. The route was very difficult in places as it was choked out by hawthorns and thick forest with some boggy areas. Other times the walking was remarkably easy.

After arriving at Eel River, we canoed a further 5 km to Green Point, where we camped for the night. We paid a short visit to Molly's Rock, and caught a few bass before turning in for the night. Great trip!

Snow Trench

This weekend was the Scouts' winter camp at Yoho Lake. Expecting temperatures around -15 C at night, we spent the day Saturday building various types of shelters. One Scout slept in a tent, one in a hammock, and the rest slept in lean-tos. I decided to build a snow trench. This is a shelter that is very similar to a quinsee, but requires a lot less energy to build and allows you to stay a lot drier.



The first step was to make a waist-high mound of snow, let it sit for a few hours, and eventually dig out the middle to leave three walls. Since I had my winter sleeping kit with me and wanted a more spacious shelter, I just decided to build the walls without bothering to hollow out a mound of snow.



The second step, after allowing the walls to harden for a few hours, was to lay a cris-crossed pattern of sticks across the top for the roof supports...



...eventually ending up with something like this:

The third, and arguably most important step, is to gather a lot of spruce and fir boughs to lay on the floor of the shelter for insulation from the ground. This is a time-consuming step, but it pays off when you lay down on a thick mattress at the end of the day. And it smells good, too.



Finally, a tarp is placed on the roof supports and snow is piled on to a depth of at least 6 inches, and more if possible. This gives the shelter even more insulation. I used my sled as my door, but a large backpack could do the job as well. I found one of the main advantages of this shelter was that I could attach things to the roof from the inside, keeping them off the floor and out of the way. It was very warm inside at night, too. My long-burning candle gave off some heat and light. I had to step outside at one point and estimate the temperature difference to be at least 10 deg. C! Next time I will have to bring a couple of thermometers.

Winter Debris Hut - first attempt

Yesterday afternoon I had a couple of hours free and had been wanting to build a winter debris hut after reading about them on www.survivaltopics.com. Also, this coming weekend is the annual Scouts winter camp, and I was thinking of building one of these, so I figured it would be good to get some practice beforehand. After a 5-minute drive to the UNB woodlot, I had my snowshoes on and set out into the woods. Two days previous, we got about 20 cm of snow so the snowshoeing conditions were excellent. The woods were quite dense but eventually I came across a bit of a clearing with some evergreens around, so it seemed like a good place to set up the shelter.

Since I forgot my shovel, I had to use a snowshoe to remove the snow from the shelter site. It took about an hour to do this and gather enough spruce and fir boughs for the floor. Even then, I could have used more. (I was quickly learning not to underestimate the amount of time this shelter would take.) After that, I made a support for my ridgepole and then cut down a ridgepole using a small spruce tree. Next, I cut about 12 "ribs" and leaned them against the ridgepole along both sides. (The photo shows the shelter at this stage.) Next, I draped my tarp over the structure and started shovelling snow on for insulation. I found the tarp sagged in between the ribs under the weight of the snow. Also, it would have been helpful to tie the tarp to the support structure to prevent it from caving in. In all, it was a good learning experience and hopefully it will go better next weekend.

First Grouse

Today I went hunting with Sarah and Cole in the woods below Castle Acres in New Maryland. The area is largely forested, with a mixture of hardwoods and softwoods, and lots of grouse habitat. We flushed several birds this morning, and actually managed to shoot one. Although I was the one who pulled the trigger, we all had a part in the kill, since it was Sarah and Cole who first spotted it.

Camping at Gibson Falls

This Labour Day weekend, Dad, Mom, Sarah, Cole, Steve, Chelsey, Rachelle, Madeleine and I decided to go camping. Cole knew of a spot near Woodstock that he used to go to as a kid and suggested we try camping there. The campsite is at the top of Gibson Falls, a 20 m high waterfall located on the Gibson Creek near Woodstock.

To get there from Fredericton, we followed the scenic Route 105 from Mactaquac to Grafton, and then turned onto the Upper Kilmarnock Road. Next time, I would probably take the Trans Canada to Woodstock and then cross the Saint John River to save some time. The Upper Kilmarnock Road is a dead-end dirt road in fairly good condition that continues deep into the woods. There are several camps along the road near the bottom of the road, but they become sparse as the road climbs further into the woods. After about 10 minutes of driving, there is a bridge over the Gibson Creek. The access road to the falls is on the right hand side of the road immediately after the bridge. Either drive or walk the remaining 100 m, and follow the trail on the right toward the sound of the waterfall!


After we unloaded all of our gear we were ready to check out the waterfall! It wasn't a very hot day - about 20 deg. C - but we wanted to go for a swim anyway. After all, it isn't every day that you get to swim beneath a waterfall. Since we had no idea how deep the pool at the bottom is, we scaled down the steep hill toward the far end of the pool (where I am standing to take this picture) and swam over to the falls rather than jumping off the huge cliff. You can actually climb up on the rocks to the right of the falls and jump in from there.



I always love camping near water, whether it is near the ocean, a lake, a river, or a waterfall. Because of all the recent rain, this waterfall was loud! The land at the top of the waterfall (just behind and to the right of the big cliff in the top pictures) was the only logical place to set up our tents. The land was uneven so it took some time to find an ideal spot.



And of course, no campsite is complete without a kitchen for the chefs to do their thing! Here is Mom getting supper ready on the camp stoves.



Overall, this was an awesome place to visit and camp at and I would definitely return. The only downside was that it seems to be pretty well-known in the area and some visitors have left garbage behind, which is too bad. We were lucky to have the campsites to ourselves this weekend, and a good time was had by all. Here are Madeleine, Steve, Rachelle and Cole hanging out by the campfire.