Tarp Camping in the Rain – Finding Fatwood – 3 Days Bushcraft Trip
#bushcraft #camping #survival
As you might have noticed I like to aim for outings where the weather change. I love that. Going out in the moment when spring arrives like it did here gives me so much to capture with the camera. I’m a sucker for contrasts.
Finding fatwood right away instead of struggling with damp wood in a pine forest. There was some leftover snow just a few days before I went out and I know from experience that exact time is the worst time in the year for making fires. People up north don’t understand this. Up there fire is always easy. Because when the woods freeze over they stay frozen. And things stay dry inside throughout the cold season. But here you have rain, snow, melt, rain, snow, melt all winter…It leaves things moist to the core and after a few months of that with up and down over the freezing point fires becomes almost impossible at times. You all know the mantra you hear… "birch bark burns when wet". Where I live that don’t work all of the time. In winter here I sometimes find birch bark that will not burn right away even when thrown on open flames. It’s not just only the wet it depends on the level of decay etc. It can also vary from tree to tree and from one day to another. So fatwood is the one true thing you always can depend on in all seasons and weather.
One liberating thing I experience every spring is also the first hike with a smaller sleeping bag. Clears up so much room and I have always enjoyed hiking with a smaller backpack like this. Gives more freedom. Been a while since out with the LK35 and I must say… It is a fantastic backpack.
A thing about meals you cook. I have planned ambitious meals before. Made pizzas and baked bread and made sinful cheeseburgers that make you drool… but the best 2 meals I ever had in the wild was so much simpler. You never know when they happen. First one was years ago when having the canoe as a canopy over my Lavvu out on a mire. Some simple fries fried in oil and some fried beef slices in a pan. Some mayo or ketchup don’t remember exactly. It was so good. And now this outing. Second night when I did the one pot pasta there… Hadn’t even planned it properly. Gnocchi, tomato paste, salt, paprika powder, Onsala Korv (sausage for sandwiches) and Tabasco. It was incredible. This time I didn’t even fry the sausage! And I know from experience it will not taste the same if making it again. It was that moment and everything around it.
I definitely prefer to sleep on the ground. But as I have mentioned many times before: finding flat ground is very difficult in these woods. So I always have a simple hammock with a couple of straps at the bottom of my bag just in case. This time it was actually very nice to use it in the warm sun, watching the sun set over those tree tops, over that calm mirror of a lake. And I did not record the horrible struggle all night with the sleeping pad sliding around in it. Should I?
Some really great shots I got this time that I am very pleased with. I hope you will enjoy them too! Dying to get out in my green pickle now that the lakes have cleared up. See you again soon and thanks for watching!