The past couple of months or so I have taken up the hobby of
bushcraft. On the weekends I take my youngest daughter out to the
local wilds, amongst the juniper trees, to cook breakfast on my twig
stove (the Solo Stove Lite), often including a cup of juniper tea
for myself (it is not my daughter's favorite). I have been making my
own gear - sewing and carving. So far a large drawstring bag out of
vinyl, a waxed canvas haversack, a canteen cover, a compass case, a
wooden spoon, a nylon hammock (I have camped in it already, worked
great), and a waxed canvas lunch sack with leather closure. I find
this all to be very enjoyable. Creating things is a fulfilling task.
Earlier this week my family and I did an overnighter in a national
forest. I setup hammocks with tarp shelters over them for myself, my
son, and youngest daughter. My oldest daughter + her boyfriend and
dogs, and my wife slept in tents by choice. It was a fun time. We
saw bear prints in the stream a half mile from our campsite, but the
dogs and noise kept them away. Firewood was harvested from deadfalls.
Fire was provided by ferro-rod. Only minor damage was done to my car
leaving on the forestry service road at the end (there are large
stones jutting out from the dirt road at many spots, the guard under
my fuel tank took a hit). A good time was had by all.
I would like to scout for locations where the junipers are large
enough locally to support a hammock. I may attempt to manufacture an
underquilt, as these are fairly spendy, but needed in autumn and
winter for hammock camping. I did well with just a rubber mat and a
sleeping bag in my hammock this week. Wool socks and a beanie helped
immensely. The junipers locally are typically tall enough, but not
thick enough, or have accessible enough trunks. Removing limbs is an
option, but is very labor intensive as the wood is dense and hard.
Another option is bedroll solo camping (canvas tarp + wool blankets).
I made a nice bedroll setup inexpensively. This poses less issue as
far as the work involved. Ground is everywhere and covered in dead
plant material to be gathered as cushion under a bedroll. A simple
poncho shelter can be erected very quickly. One hurdle to all of this
is parking. I do not own a 4x4 truck and need to park my car
somewhere off the road. There are not too many spots I have found to
accomplish this nicely. I am sure I will figure it out.
