In case you haven’t been following the outdoor news, all you bush crafters, survivalists, and outdoor adventure enthusiasts have just been schooled by a 34-year-old hiker who became lost in the mountains of northern California … for 10 days … without food or water when he disappeared!
I keep wondering if we will see an Arc floating by. It seems we are always fighting one thing or another. One year it’s dry and forest fires blow smoke to our southern neighbors, or like this year it’s biblical floods.
There are few things in life better than disappearing on a weekend deep into the bush and fishing a trout stream that apparently no one else knows about. Overgrown, lonely, bug and weed infested. When you are head high in weeds and being eaten by bugs, that’s when you know that only the strong few will ever fight this hard for adventure and trout.
There are few things more exhilarating in life than sneaking around somewhere you feel like you shouldn’t be. I mean, if you think hard enough all the way back to high school … isn’t that what we all did most of the time? Sneak into the school, sneak into the pool, sneak into your friend’s house, etc etc.
I guess some people never grow up.
Doing bushcraft is one thing, doing it on Federal Land is another. Who knows who will show up and put you in the clinker? You better be quiet and stealthy.
In another unsurprising move for the state of Iowa in regards to our limited and already shakey natural resources, yet another pride and joy has slipped into a putrid state of disrepair and neglect. As if the degradation of our soil and water to a ridiculous state isn’t enough, we have to add this to the list as well.
I’m not sure if you keep up on the happenings in the outdoor world, but we, Average Flatlanders do, and one of the strange pieces of news recently is the apparent dying on the vine of probably one of the most popular and best outdoor stores REI.
To knock the rocks or to NOT knock the rocks, is that now the question of our age for us backpacking and wilderness travelers? Apparently so.
Unless you are living under a rock, which is very probable considering you’re reading this blog, don’t we all wish, you’ve probably been hearing about the hullabaloo on the left and right about the NPS (National Park Service) ordering the takedown of the American Flag from contractors vehicles in Denali National Park.
Let’s just pretend for a minute, let’s say you knew that you were going to be dropped off in the middle of the woods somewhere, anywhere, 3 days from civilization. You get to take 10 items. What do you take?
There is probably nothing more quintessentially bushcraft and survival in the woods than the classic ferro rod. You see it on TV, on YouTube, in magazines, heck, maybe you’re even jealous of your friend you go camping with who whips that magic eternal flame out and gets the fire going while you’re still breaking matches in the corner.