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A New Years Trip to the Woods

My brother and I have been trying to plan a trip to the woods, for several month now. Yesterday was the day, that it finally worked out. When I went to pick him up, his middle son (of 5), who is 8 years old, decided to go with us. We knew it would be cold, but we tried to plan appropriately. As we began our overnight adventure, we hiked into the woods, where I had spent many hours riding my 4-wheeler (ATV), many years ago. It had been over 20 years since I had been in these woods, but I felt like I would remember them well. Fortunately, they were pretty much, just the way I remembered. Because it had been raining off and on for days,we knew we would have to find a place that wasn't too drenched. Because the temperature had been dropping, some of the areas we hiked across,the ground was starting to freeze. As we hiked along the paths,the wind was blowing, so we tried to find an area to set up camp, that would protect us from the wind. We finally settled on a small clearing just below a hillside, near a creek. The first priority was to gather wood and build a fire. There was a lot of dead wood in the area, but very little that was dry. Fortunately, we were able to find some cherry and maple that were not too wet. The maple made for a nice quick and hot fire, while the cherry burned longer and had a sweet aroma. After the fire was going, it was time to eat. Once we all had full bellies, we decided to set up our tents. We went on a short hike before the sun set on us. After we got back to camp, we sat around the fire and had a couple of snacks, to keep our internal ovens going. It got dark very early (shortly after 5 PM). We decided to snuggle into our bags around 8:30 PM. My brother (Ben) made sure his son (Jake) was warm enough, before he settled in himself. The wind did let up, for the majority of the night. I had a hard time getting to sleep, for multiple reasons, First of all, I don't normally go to bed that early. Secondly, the noises of the wild are difficult to shut out. Thirdly, the cold temperatures were making it difficult to stay comfortable. My new tent did everything it was supposed to and worked out great. On the other hand the sleeping bag, wool blanket and clothes, that I had on, were not quite sufficient for the weather. After laying on the cold ground (with many items between myself and the ground) I decided to add one more layer of clothing. That seemed to do the trick. I was finally able to fall asleep. After being asleep for only a short time, I woke up with a sore throat. I had never tried sleeping outside when it was only 20 F before and didn't realize what breathing the cold air would do to my throat. My brother was having a difficult time keeping his feet warm. After only getting about 2 to 2 1/2 hours of sleep, my brother and I both got up around 2 AM. We got the fire going again and made breakfast. Jake, who got the most sleep, finally got a little cold, so he came out to join us by the fire. We tore down camp and headed out about 7:20 AM. We were all ready for some heat and comfortable place to lay down. That is probably what they are both doing now.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Howard P Reynolds on January 2, 2016 at 12:28

Thanks for the story and pics, Jeremy. Great Winter shake-down trip. New tent, new stove to ckeck out. Looks like you had a great, if cold, time. I try to look for standing dead trees of moderately small diameter if the woods has been soaked by heavy rains, which isn't always easy to do with all the leaves off the trees, but the ones that have been standing dead for a while have lost many of the tiny branches that the live, but leafless, trees still have. Also, you can get a solid, dried wood baton from a standing dead tree, a baton that will last longer than a green one.

Permalink Reply by John Kellogg on January 2, 2016 at 15:20

Great story Jeremy and good for you!! The best way to learn survival is to get out there and practice what you have read and watched. It all seems easy from the living room couch but its much different when your actually out there doing it. And you going out there under less that great conditions was smart!!

Good Job!!

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on January 2, 2016 at 18:24

We were able to find some large branches that had fallen but were still leaning against other trees. Since they had not fallen to the ground, they were fairly dry. The maple that I found was very good burning wood. It kept us warm for manhy hours, including the time we spent cutting it, if you know what I mean. LOL

Howard P Reynolds said:

Thanks for the story and pics, Jeremy. Great Winter shake-down trip. New tent, new stove to ckeck out. Looks like you had a great, if cold, time. I try to look for standing dead trees of moderately small diameter if the woods has been soaked by heavy rains, which isn't always easy to do with all the leaves off the trees, but the ones that have been standing dead for a while have lost many of the tiny branches that the live, but leafless, trees still have. Also, you can get a solid, dried wood baton from a standing dead tree, a baton that will last longer than a green one.

FeaturedPermalink Reply by Jeremy B. Buchanan on January 2, 2016 at 18:27

Thank you John for recognizing the value it what we were doing. A lot of our family members don't understand why we would do something like this in the cold temperatures. We know that there is value in trying out our skills in less than pleasant conditions. Our dad (who hates the cold, or might have gone with us) understands and appreciated what we did. If the time ever comes, when we would have to put our skills to the test, for survival, we have a better chance of knowing what works and what doesn't.

John Kellogg said:

Great story Jeremy and good for you!! The best way to learn survival is to get out there and practice what you have read and watched. It all seems easy from the living room couch but its much different when your actually out there doing it. And you going out there under less that great conditions was smart!!

Good Job!!

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