Snowshoeing in Coast Mountains

Wow! Been a long time since I've written anything! I'll forego the quintessential excuses and simply note that adapting to a new job, moving into a new appartment, buying a new car (small and ultra efficient to be sure) and rebuilding my old Jeep to get it through the safety inspection has kept me thoroughly occupied for the past 3 months!!

With all of this work though, I've been feeling ever more desparate to spend time in the outdoors, and 2 weeks ago I had finally had enough! I had to get out into nature!

To cure my nature sickness we went up Mt Seymour to do some snowshoeing on one of the established trails. Ok, so it wasn't a big time wilderness adventure, but it sure made me feel good, and made for some nice pictures! Besides, any time spent in the outdoors can amaze you when you know how to look and listen...

After leaving the madness of the parking lot behind we were pretty quickly into the woods. Amazingly for the west coast, it was a gorgeous sunny day!

Frozen creeks were seen with regularity.

The occasional break in the forest made for some fantastic winter scenes!

Along the way we saw LOT of cedars, as well as Fir trees laden with oleoresin.

Soon enough we came to the summit of Dog Mountain. Here's were you see some really breath taking vistas!




To the south, in the distance, Mt Baker could be seen rising rising up nearly 11,000 feet above sea level. There are some interesting first nations legends about this peak...

And to the North could be seen Grouse Mountain, the so called "Peak of Vancouver".

On the way back, the late afternoon sun shone through the forest at a much lower angle. It provided welcome sunlight on our faces.


All too soon were back at the trailhead, and civilization...

It was a very quick outing, on a very popular trail, so it was very difficult to feel in touch with the natural world. We really didn't have a chance to leave behind city life and settle into the rhythms nature. Still, it was MUCH better than spending a day at home, and I was happy for it!

For now, I'm almost done with my work on the Jeep and the appartment, so I'm excited and looking forward to getting out and exploring much more in the New Year. In fact I've already started planning all of my vacations, outings and weekends. Meanwhile I'm heading to Ottawa for Christmas, and I hope to do some ice fishing and winter time fire lighting while there! Can't wait to get out there!

Kayaking Desolation Sound!!!

Finally another update, and finally an actual excursion to report! It's been a pretty rough year, what with finishing school during a recession, but I was determined to get out (once at the very least!!!)and camp in the outdoors before ski season gets here! So last weekend the girlfriend and I headed up to Desolation Sound provincial park and spent a couple of nights camped out in the great outdoors.

OK, so it was only a couple of nights, which hardly constitutes a major excursion... but you have play the cards you're dealt, and we didn't have much more time. As it was, we were able to make a 2 1/2 day weekend out of it, and felt pretty lucky!

So last Friday I pointed my old Jeep west on highway 1. We left (thankfully!) Vancouver behind and headed towards the Sunshine coast for our first Kayaking excursion on the west coast. 150 or so km's on the odometer, and 9 hours later we arrived at Okeover arm provincial park. Yes...it took 9 hours! All credit goes to BC ferries. Normally I've found their service to be good, but that day it was a total disaster! Still, the views were pretty spectacular, even when we were just sitting on a patio outside waiting for the ferry to show up.



We finally arrived well after dark and quickly pitched a tent and decided to go straight to bed in order to get a fresh start in the morning. It was a rather cheerless camp the first night, with no fire and no dinner. The night was clear though so we did without the fly, and left the tent windows open for a view of the stars. It was quite beautiful.

The next morning we picked up our rental Kayaks at Powell River Kayak. I highly recommend Powell river due to the location of their shop about an hour's paddle from Desolation Sound PP. No other shop is closer.


If you're looking for knowledgeable staff however, look elsewhere. I'm from the east coast, and where I come from marine weather changes FAST. You NEED to know the latest marine forecast, and keep a constant look out for changes in weather in order to be safe on the water. The staff at Powell River looked at me like I was "out to lunch" when I asked them for an up to date forecast, and didn't seem to take it at all seriously. Note to self: Pick up a hand held marine VHF radio... relying on other people can frustrating and potentially dangerous.

Soon however we where on our way, paddling out into a glorious day. It was bright and calm and the water was perfect.


As we headed north we saw seals, starfish and LOTS of oyster farms. In fact, much of the area is held in private Oyster leases, so there is no bivalve collection allowed. Too bad! We would have like to try some mussels! On the other hand, there was no cell service, so we couldn't call the "red tide" hotline to find out if they were even edible. We were probably better off not taking the chance.

After and hour and a half or so we arrived at a series of 3 islands known as the Isbister islands. We saw MANY starfish and even a sun star. I'd never seen so many in one spot.


The islands were covered in sphagnum moss and bog cranberry. I forgot to take pictures; too bad! We thought about camping here for the night, but decided to move on to see what else was available.

After kayaking around some more, we decided to head up to Grace Habour to check it out as a potential camp site. It was a beautiful trip, and it was on the way to Grace Harbour that I realized how much the forest was different way up here on the sunshine coast, as opposed to the lower mainland. There's a lot of pines, instead of firs, and it's much more arid looking. Apparently we were in the rain shadow of the Vancouver Island ranges, so the area gets a lot less rain and a lot more sun.

As we pulled into Grace Harbour we were VERY disappointed to find that it is used by boaters to pump out their raw sewage! A large sign warned us of the danger, and indicated that no swimming was allowed. We wouldn't have wanted to anyway; the water was very dark, murky, absolutely FILLED with jelly fish, and it made your skin itch when you got out of your kayak! UGH! It was gross, but the camp sites were nice, and the day was getting on, so we decided to stay here for the night.

Soon we had our camp site all set up. The weather was so nice that I decided a simple tarp would suffice for shelter.


After we set up the tarp I set off into the bush to gather up some wood and get a fire going for dinner. BC Parks DOES NOT LIKE FIRES! In fact BC Parks is VERY UNFRIENDLY towards any kind of bushcraft activity with involves interacting with the natural environment. When you're in a BC Park, you're supposed to act as though you're in a museum... look, but DON'T TOUCH. This explains why I would prefer to avoid BC parks and camp on crown land instead. The policies make sense in high traffic, front country areas close to Vancouver; but less traveled and backcountry areas shouldn't be subject to the same rules in my opinion. Making fire and use of local plants is central to bush living, and quite frankly spending time in the outdoors is much less enjoyable without doing so. So risking a steep fine I never-the-less cut some pieces of dead alder (or perhaps silver birch!) and proceeded to get a fire going to cook dinner. It didn't take too long, and soon we had a tripod set up and some water set to boil.


We had pasta for dinner, and it was great! After a long day of paddling pasta is simple, goes down easy, and tastes great. We also made some simple Bannock on a stick.


It was a touch bland, since all we had for ingredients were whole wheat flour, baking powder and water. Still, it cooked up nicely and did a good job sopping up the left over pasta sauce.

After dinner we fetched some clean water (from a nearby stream... not the harbour), boiled it up over the dying fire, and set about washing the dishes. With all the chores taken care of I stored the food bag and cooking equipment well outside of camp in an out of the way spot. There probably wasn't any bears around, but I like to follow Cliff Jacobson's advice and run a scrupulously clean camp. Storing all food in double zip lock bags and placing in under a rock or log or similarly 'out-of-the-way" location, well away from camp pretty much guarantees you won't be molested by hungry animals in the night... or so I thought!!!

Not long after we lay down to go to sleep we realized we weren't alone! For about an hour we had a curious mouse scampering over us, checking out our camp, and pulling on the girlfriend's hair until she finally put on a touque!!! I found the whole thing to be quite comical, if a little exasperating; every time you'd be on the verge of falling asleep the mouse would do something (like run across your shoulder!) to wake you up. Soon enough though he realized there was nothing to be gained from us and went about his business elsewhere. The rest of the night passed nicely. We had some rain in the wee hours, but tucked in all snug under the tarp, we barely noticed.

The next morning broke calm and clear.


I wish we'd had more time to enjoy it, but I was feeling the pressure to get moving in order to be sure we made our ferry connections home. Since we'd burned all the wood the night before, and in the interest of expediency, we used the camp stove to get some coffee going and knock together some breakfast.


We had a delicious meal of eggs, bacon, tomatoe, bagels and cheese to start the day. Soon after, with all the mess kit washed up camp was broken and the kayaks packed up a ready to head out.


We didn't linger too long since the water was filthy and stinky. We decided to head out and find a place to wash off our feet, legs and Kayaks. 25 minutes of paddling brought us back to the Isbister islands where we clean our selves in the fresh clear water of the sound. Man... it felt GOOD! We found some limpets clinging to the rocks. Too bad! As far as I know it would have been perfectly safe and legal to collect some and eat them, but we were on our way home, and I didn't want to dally.

Most of the rest of the Kayak trip back was pleasant. Again we saw lots of wildlife, and the girlfriend even ran over a seal! Bet he was pissed! Soon enough we were back at Powell River Kayaks, and unpacked the boats, and packed up the old Jeep. Our trip was over, but I was REALLY happy! It had been a great, albeit short outing and I can hardly wait to do more.

6.5 hours later we arrived at Horseshoe bay and soon found ourselves back in Vancouver...

Experimenting with a bow drill

I went for a walk down by the local creek tonight and decided it was high time I try out the bow drill method of fire lighting. We had some cooler temperatures lately and some rain today so I felt it would be ok to give it a go. Still, I felt that actually making a fire, or even a red hot ember would be going to far given that the forest is still tinder dry, just below the surface. Being beside the creek would be extra safety in this regard.

It was a nice looking evening for a walk and an experiment.

Mors Kochanski's excellent book "Northern Bushcraft" has an excellent description of the bow-drill technique for fire lighting. I've wanted to try out this method every since reading it!

I had made the fire board and drill back in May out of a piece of dead red alder. They've been drying out indoors for several months now, so I figured they should work pretty good. Using the right wood, generally non resinous hardwoods like birch, alder, willow etc., and making sure it is thoroughly dry are key to success.

For the bow and block I picked up a stick and a piece of wood in the forest on my way down to the creek.

The string on the other hand I bought from Zellers. It's a shoelace from a work boot. I think it cost me about $1.00. I cut a notch in each end of the bow, and in a couple of minutes had the string tied on and ready to go. Using a perfection loop on one end of the string really helps. It holds very steady, and you can adjust the tension at the other end.

Within a few minutes I was drilling away to establish a hole in the fireboard. I was surprised at how easy it was! Within no time I had a nice hole drilled into the wood and ready for the all important notch!

As the drill is turned in the hole very fine and hot wood dust is produced. The notch is required to collect the burning hot dust and allow the formation of a glowing red ember. The ember is then transferred to a fine tinder bundle and "blown" into a flame. Without some kind of a notch, it just doesn't work!

I sat down to drill again and see if I could get some dust to accumulate in the notch. Surprisingly again, it wasn't so hard as I thought it was going to be. Now I don't profess to be an expert in any way, shape, or form. I won't be relying on this method for all my fire lighting needs just yet, and I understand that a lot more practice is necessary; but still, within a few seconds I had accumulated a nice little pile of dust out of which a thin wisp of smoke curled upwards!!!

It's really too bad that I couldn't chance starting a fire! I was very excited and felt I could probably get one going without too much more effort. Still, I was pleased with what I had accomplished to this point and felt it was better that I not risk setting fire to the local forest!

What I seemed to find the hardest was keeping the back and forth motion of the bow to be flat and level. My hand had a tendency to wander upwards, which had the effect of drawing the string up along the drill. This eventually let to a loss of rotation on the drill since it's upper part is thinned down, and thus the tension in the rope around the drill was lessened. Additional practice is required to correct this problem.


All in all however this experiment was a success, and I can't wait to be able to use the bow-drill technique to light a fire!

Knife ready for the oil finish

Just thought I'd post a few shots of the knife now that the shaping and fine sanding are all done. As I write this it is sitting in a bath of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. I can't wait to take it out and let the drying begin!

The linseed oil finish penetrates into the wood and hardens into Linoxyn when exposed to the air. It should take about a week to dry and once ready it will protect the handle from water damage, while not inhibiting the natural aging process, and maintaining good low slip grip unlike other finishes. It'll also be easy to touch up as required. Meanwhile, here it is before the oil finish:


This first one has a blade hair shy of 4" long, made out of Swedish stainless steel.


I spent a lot of time filing, sanding and steel wooling the handle to get a shape custom fit to my own hand.


From butt to bolster the handle is made from: maple, birch bark, birch, birch bark, maple, brass.

It's taken me since May to get to this point, but then it's been an after hours project, and living as I am in a temporary rental accommodation in Vancouver I'm not really equipped with a workshop to get it done super quick!

Next comes the sheath. It'll take a while I'm sure, but it'll be a whole new set of skills to learn, so lots of fun!

Scouting a Mountain Trail

On Sunday the 19th I decided to scout out the trail to lake Elsay in Mt Seymour provincial park. I've started to plan a hiking trip out to the lake and I wanted to get an idea of what the trail looks like. I plan on bringing my 5 weight fly rod to see if I can't hook some trout, as well as camp out over night.

But the snow lingers for a long time in the mountains and the trails can be covered long after the we've forgotten all about winter down in the Fraser Valley. I also didn't know how well it was marked or how easy it is to follow, and I figured it would be a good idea to check it out before I hiked in with gear.

A quick apology is warranted here, as the pictures were taken before I got my new camera, and they are thus of very poor quality!

Here's a shot from google earth with plotted waypoints showing the way to the lake. Appologies again as I am only just learning how to input trails into kml and it's pretty rustic for the moment!


Everything was looking good as I started out in the late afternoon, though it was pretty hot!!! Before I knew it I was at the top of the main chair lift in the Mt Seymour ski area and approaching Brockton Point:


The trails weren't very well marked in this area, but the alpine views were pretty spectacular!




After a while I came to a trail sign that told me the Elsay lake trail split was 300 meters ahead. Not too long after that I came to this little pond, with all kinds of animal tracks in the mud surrounding it.


Are those cougar tracks?!



A little further along I came to the Elsay lake split. I took me about an hour to make it out that far. Overall the trail looked pretty clear once you got past the ski area, and I figured it would be a real breeze to get out to the lake. When I got home and plotted the trail into google earth I started to wonder however... What happens to the trail between points ET2 and the Mount Elsay Split? That's some pretty rugged terrain and I'd like to get a look at it first before I go hiking in with all my gear.

Overall it was a good, short, outing to scout out the trail, but I'll be going back later to scout a little further past ET2 and make sure I really understand and know the area.

New Camera!!!

I finally have a new camera! It's been nearly 2 years since I ruined my last one, and I've been anxiously awaiting the chance to buy another. I felt that I had to complete my master's and find a new job before I could pony up the cash though. Now that I've finally landed a proper position I figured it was high time to treat myself to a reward!

Thanks to my enjoyment of time spent in the outdoors I've ruined the last 3 digital cameras I've owned. The first got dropped on hard ground, the second got wet due to rain on a canoeing trip, and the third got wet from a leaky hydration pack on a skiing trip. Though I love taking great pictures, and I fully intend on purchasing an SLR type camera eventually, THIS time I wanted something that wouldn't let me down when I really needed it in the outdoors. I needed something waterproof, and shockproof, but of course still wouldn't break the bank. I also wanted to be able to take some nice quality pictures. So all in all a pretty tall order given the limitations that "lifeproof" designs generally place on image quality and manual controls. The answer for me was the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000!


WOW! All I can say is that it's damned hard to pick a camera these days! So many different features, manufacturers and reviews. I'm not going to bore anyone by getting into all of the details here, I'll just summarize what I determined were the most commonly noted pros and cons of the camera, as well as why i decided to go with it.

The Pros
1. Tough as old nails! By all accounts it is truly as waterproof, crush proof and freeze proof as the manufacturer claims.

2. Great wide angle lens. Genuine 28mm wide angle shooting capability on a 35 mm equivalent scale.

3. Fantastic Macro mode. You can really get in close and take clear, high detail shots of small objects.

4. Decent Zoom. Most cameras in this category, including non waterproof point and shooters only have a 3x optical zoom. The stylus tough has a 3.6x optical zoom.

The Cons
1. Compared to others, it's slow; it takes a long time to go from shot to shot. The autofocus also takes a long time before you get a focus lock. The Stylus Tough 8000 as well as others are much faster and better adapted to taking action shots in fast moving situations.

2. It doesn't focus well in dimly lit rooms. It takes a long time and ofter doesn't get a focus lock when taking shots indoors. The pictures you do manage to take are probably not going to be super clear. Look elsewhere if you want something for taking drinkin' party shots to post on Facebook.

3. The video function doesn't record in High Definition (HD). For a camera you're going to pay in the neighbourhood of $300, HD capability seems to be almost expected.

My Thoughts
All the pros I really like, (especially the wide angle lens and macro mode on top of the tough features) while the Cons aren't particularly a problem for me given the use I have in mind for this camera. As I mentioned, I'll be getting a better "Camera" type camera eventually, but first and foremost I wanted something that wouldn't let me down when I really needed it to document my outdoor trips. And while the video may not be HD, it looked looked pretty darn good to me!

Here's a few sample shots using the Macro and Super Macro modes:

MACRO


SUPER MACRO



I'm really looking forward to getting to know this camera over the next few years and reporting back on it's performance and durability for outdoors pursuits!

FINALLY!!!!

Finally I get to post to my blog again! It's been crazy around here for a few weeks. I had a big interview on the 14th so I spend several weeks and weekends craming in preparation. I did virtually nothing "outdoorsy" until last weekend, but then I was too tired to post here. Now I have 3 long overdue posts to come out within the next few days!

First, just a quick update on my knife progress. I get to work on the first one every once in a while before I go to bed. Here it is with only 2 wood and a birch bark section added:



And here's the stage it's at now. All the wood is on and I've started shaping the handle with a coping saw:


So far I'm very pleased with the way it is turning out. In fact I can't wait to finish it so I can take it out into the woods! It's been quite a fun little project up to this point, so I'm a little sad it's almost done. Still, next I have to make a sheath for it, and that's a whole new project!!

Materials so far...

So it's been one helluva week and a half...I've been running around non stop and finally have a chance to sit down and work on the blog a bit. I was in Ottawa and Montreal until last Saturday to get a number of things done so I haven't had much time for anything to do with the outdoors or bushcraft. It's driving me nuts!!! Still, I did manage to get some materials for my knife handles!

First I scored some sweet looking pieces of Maple. This stuff is HARD!!! My father and I cut it into useful sized blocks using a bench saw. The saw tripped out a couple of times because it was overheating. Here's a shot of some of the blocks of wood all cut up and ready to go.


Next I found some time to go for a walk in the woods, not far from my parents home, to look for some birch. I found some dead standing birch trees and managed to get some really nice bark and a solid piece of birch wood. A knife, bow saw and hand axe were useful in the collection! Here's a couple of pictures:


Finally I found a business in Ottawa that sells brass bars. The shortest they sell is 12" lengths, which was more than I needed, but it wasn't expensive and I really wanted brass bolsters to protect the wood and bark in the handles. I had them cut me two 6" pieces. Here's one of the sections of brass:


I thought I had a source for Elk antler but no luck. I wrote, called and visited, but responsible individual at the business in question never got back to me! Too bad... I'll try and do without, but I might have to place an order for a few pieces of caribou antler from Ragnar!

Anyway, it think I've finally settled on a plan for the two blades. The smaller carbon steel blade will be fitted with a birch bark handle, with birch and brass bolster and birch pommel. The whole thing will be held together by a riveted tang.

The 4" stainless blade will have a handle made from the maple, and maybe with a section of antler added in as well. It will be held together by epoxy, allowing the handle to be longer, with a larger pommel. Here's a (not so good) shot of my plan for the knife.


Things are moving along, and perhaps I'll have my own custom fitted, personally handmade knife soon! Other than that the weekend is coming up soon, so maybe I'll get some time to spend in the woods! There's no guarrantee, I still have a lot of work to do trying to secure I job I really want... but damn it would be nice!