An Early happy 4th of July

Just want to send out an early Happy 4th of July message. Ill be leaving for the Mountains again tomorrow AM and doubt Ill be back by the 4th.

To paraphrase Elmer Davis, we live in ;

"The land of the free and the home of the brave". 

Regardless of the untold numbers of stupid things our government does. And having served in the Military, in the false "war on terror" or "GOD War" Guns - Oil - Drugs, as some call it, AND having seen the BS govt types perpetuate, I believe the good Ol' USA is still a great place to live and raise your families - lets keep it that way.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

My Friend Jake Zweigs North America kit

About 3 weeks ago, I had the pleasure to work with Jake Zweig on a project in Colorado, I personally like Jake and found him to be an interesting rascal who is very experienced, Talented, Fit and Intelligent. Consiquently, he was fun to talk too , swap "War stories", and exchange Wilderness skills info with. Jake constantly wore his North American survival kit on his belt, and told me he wore it during his tour as a SEAL. There are some handy and cool gadgets in this Kit and I though you might like to see them.

Now, some of you might not like Jake due to the Bad press, or impression you may have attained from his appearance on "Top Shot" . I'm a great judge of character and can spot a fake operator a mile off, and let me assure you Jake has his Bonafides in the Military, the outdoors and as a Coach.

 Jake graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1995 as a commissioned officer. He served as a surface warfare officer for two years on board the U.S.S. Merrimack before reporting for Navy SEAL training at Basic Underwater Demolition School. SEAL training is the most grueling and demanding physical and mental regimen in the world and Jake not only personally excelled at the challenge, but mentored the other trainees through the program and was named the SEAL class leader. Following his SEAL training, Jake reported to SEAL Team 8 in Little Creek, VA and attained the rank of Lieutenant.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Real foods I have been experimenting with

Over the past 3 weeks or so I have been experimenting with "Real foods" as My friend Matt likes to call them - Namely pop corn and fried Pork rinds or "Chicharones". I have been taking along other foods as well like dried fruits, Various nuts , crystalized ginger, and some fresh veggies like cabbage and cucumbers. I  am dropping a few pounds in the process due to the lack of carbs in this diet. The only time I could feel the lack of carbs in my system was during(toward the end)of my 12 mile hike off the mountain last week.

Ill be going back out on Saturday for another hike through the Huachucas and plan to carry the same type of food I have been taking but with the addition of some "emergency carbs" like maybe a coupla' packs of MRE Corn bread stuffing or something similar.

I have included below some info on the nutritional value of popcorn and "Chicharones".

See you on the trail!

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Popping corn (better known as popcorn) is a type of corn (maize, Zea mays var. everta) that expands from the kernel and puffs up when heated. Corn is able to pop because, like amaranth grain, sorghum, quinoa and millet, its kernels have a hard moisture-sealed hull and a dense starchy interior. This allows pressure to build inside the kernel until an explosive "pop" results. Some strains of corn are now cultivated specifically as popping corns. The kernels are sometimes different than others.
There are many techniques for popping corn. Commercial large-scale popcorn machines were invented by Charles Cretors in the late 19th century. Many types of small-scale home methods for popping corn also exist, with the most popular in the United States being prepackaged.
Depending on how it is prepared and cooked, some consider it to be a health food while others caution against it for a variety of reasons. Popcorn can also have non-food applications, ranging from holiday decorations to packaging materials.

HISTORY:

Popcorn was first discovered thousands of years ago by Native Americans. It is one of the oldest forms of corn: evidence of popcorn from 3600 B.C. was found in New Mexico and even earlier evidence dating to perhaps as early as 4700 BC was found in Peru. Some Popcorn has been found in early 1900s to be a purple color.
The English who came to America in the 16th and 17th centuries learned about popcorn from the Native Americans.
During the Great Depression, popcorn was comparatively cheap at 5–10 cents a bag and became popular. Thus, while other businesses failed, the popcorn business thrived and became a source of income for many struggling farmers. During World War II, sugar rations diminished candy production, causing Americans to eat three times as much popcorn than they had before.
At least six localities (all in the Midwestern United States) claim to be the "Popcorn Capital of the World": Ridgway, Illinois; Valparaiso, Indiana; Van Buren, Indiana; Schaller, Iowa; Marion, Ohio; and North Loup, Nebraska. According to the USDA, most of the corn used for popcorn production is specifically planted for this purpose; most is grown in Nebraska and Indiana, with increasing area in Texas.
As the result of an elementary school project, popcorn became the official state snack food of Illinois.

Nutritional value: 

Air-popped popcorn is naturally high in dietary fiber, low in calories and fat, contains no sodium, and is sugar free. This can make it an attractive snack to people with dietary restrictions on the intake of calories, fat, and/or sodium. For the sake of flavor, however, large amounts of fat, sugar, and sodium are often added to prepared popcorn, which can quickly convert it to a very poor choice for those on restricted diets.
One particularly notorious example of this first came to public attention in the mid-1990s, when the Center for Science in the Public Interest produced a report about "Movie Popcorn", which became the subject of a widespread publicity campaign. The movie theaters surveyed used coconut oil to pop the corn, and then topped it with butter or margarine. "A medium-size buttered popcorn", the report said, "contains more fat than a breakfast of bacon and eggs, a Big Mac and fries, and a steak dinner combined."The practice continues today. For example, according to DietFacts.com, a small popcorn from Regal Cinema Group (the largest theater chain in the United States) still contains 29 g of saturated fat, as much as three Big Macs and the equivalent of a full day-and-a-half's reference daily intake.

 Chicharrón: (Spanish pronunciation: [tʃitʃaˈron], Portuguese: Torresmo [tuˈʁeʒmu], Tagalog: tsitsarón, sitsarón, chicharón, Chamorro: tsatsalun) is a dish made of fried pork rinds. It is sometimes made from chicken, mutton, or beef.

 Chicharrón is popular in Andalucia, Spain, and in Latin America and other countries with Spanish influence. It is part of the traditional cuisines of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (where it is called torresmo), Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and others. The singular form, chicharrón, is also used as a mass noun, especially in Filipino, in which stand-alone plurals do not exist. They are usually made with different cuts of pork, but sometimes are made with mutton, or with beef in Argentina. In Costa Rica, they are usually made from pork ribs or similar cuts; rinds are rarely used.

Tomahawks Personal favorite types:

  Philippines – Tsitsarón, sitsarón, chicharón, (derived from the Spanish chicharrón), is usually bought from balút vendors as pulutan (i.e. appetizer dishes usually eaten with alcoholic beverages). It is prepared by deep-frying the dried pork rind with a little salt. It is sometimes eaten with vinegar (chopped chilies are added) or with bagoóng, lechón liver sauce, or atsara. Tsitsaróng manók, which is made from chicken skin, and tsitsaróng bulaklák (literally 'flower chicharrón', from its distinctive shape) made of pig intestine, are also popular.

  Mexico – Snack-food company Barcel has commercialized a vegetarian version with chile and lime flavorings since the 1980s. Chicharrón de Puerco and chicharrón de cerdo are distributed by many salty snack companies in Mexico.

  United States – Chicharrón are usually made from pig skin. They are usually sold in plastic bags as a snack food item and generically referred to as "pork rinds." They are made in a two-step process: the pork skin is first rendered and dried, and then fried and puffed. In New Mexico, the term is often taken to mean just fried pork fat, sometimes with incidental bits of lean meat.

Mad Max - Gear and Guns

Out of boredom, over the past few days in town, I re watched the Mad Max series of movies. I like them, and being several years since I have seen them, they were entertaining.

I like the guns, gear, clothing, and Vehicles shown in all 3 of the series. A prequil film "Mad Max - Fury road" is currently in production.  

Starring Tom Hardy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hardy) as the Young Max Rockatansky, I look forward to seeing this film also.

Anyhoo, here is a bit of info on the guns, gear, clothing and skills Max had at his disposal.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out! 

Equipment and clothes : Mad Max

During the first two films, Max makes use of a Pursuit Special, though he drives a different vehicle (an MFP Interceptor) earlier in the first film. Between the second and third movies, after the destruction of the Pursuit Special, Max acquires a heavily modified Ford F-150, which is later taken by Aunty's men, and which he uses in the climactic scene to help the children escape.
He is clad in black leather riding clothes which consist in a heavy duty jacket (after the events of the first film, he cuts off the right sleeve and added a football shoulder pad), trousers, gloves and engineer boots. In Beyond Thunderdome his clothes shows signs of damage and repairs, he wears a cowboy boot in his left foot, an engineer boot with patched sole in the other foot and doesn't wear gloves, at the beginning of the movie he adorns a turban and cloak to shield himself from desert sandstorms and also wears a black cotton tunic with long sleeves under his jacket. All of this clothing gives him basic protection against light melee weapons and threats.
Max is armed with a Smith & Wesson Model 28 revolver (which he never uses, or even draws) during his time with the Main Force Patrol, though after the deaths of Jesse and Sprog, he favours a sawed-off Savage/Stevens 311A shotgun. In the Road Warrior he wears a Sam Browne leather belt with shoulder strap, he carries a crescent wrench, a British Army knife, a lockpick, fire brigade tools, Binoculars, his aforementioned sawed-off shotgun and a Mark II combat knife in one of his boots. He gains several more weapons during the course of his time in the wasteland until they are confiscated upon his arrival in Bartertown.
In the third film Max wears two belts, one of them has ammunition shoulder straps attached to it, and is an old British police belt. Hanging below the British belt is another belt with a pocket and bullet loops and is connected to a black leather holster. He is shown to have a plethora of weapons and some tools hidden on his person, including his shotgun, a Mauser C96, a Webley revolver, a Smith & Wesson Model 29 revolver, a crossbow, a collection of knives, and a geiger counter all of which are confiscated. He has one hidden weapon, referred to in the novelization as his "Livesaver", being a small knife carefully concealed in the handle of a flyswatter. He also carries a naval bosun whistle, which he later uses in his fight with Blaster during the Thunderdome challenge..

 Abilities:
Max's most apparent skill is combative driving. At the time of Mad Max, he was considered the "top pursuit man" in the MFP. He can easily pursue or evade gangs in the wasteland, whether overrunning another vehicle at high speed or ramming vehicles off the road. This skill is apparent with trucks as well as automobiles. He drives a tractor-trailer truck after sustaining serious injuries in Mad Max 2. He can also shoot accurately with one hand while driving with the other.
Max displays fast reflexes in Mad Max 2 by grabbing a snake before it can bite him. This leads Auntie Entity to choose him to kill Master Blaster in Mad Max 3, as he was the only one to survive her "audition".
Max also displays a fair amount of mechanical and electronics ability, performing minor repairs on his own vehicle and rigging it to explode should someone tamper with his fuel tanks.
Rockatansky is a survivalist in the wasteland and can tolerate discomfort and pain in achieving a goal. But unlike many movie protagonists, Max is susceptible to realistic and sometimes permanent injury. His left knee is blown out by a gunshot towards the end of the first movie so he walks with a slight limp with the help of a leg brace in the second film. He also wears a bandage on the knee in Mad Max 3. An injury to his left eye as a result of the crash of the Pursuit Special in the second film is evident years later in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.

Mr. Bear and my 12 mile hike

So, the other day I was on a planned 5 day camp out in the Huachuca Mountains of Arizona, I had ample food and made a decent water cache prior to coming out so I had plenty of provisions and my usual minimal gear on hand.

As you may recall in a previous post I had an encounter with a bear that was trying to steal all of my food. Typical of bears, and my fault for putting temptation in his way, but I managed to drive him off a couple of times using my sling shot and pine pitch ammo. I just fired at his ears and butt, seemed to work and he lit a shuck for other parts, until....

I went out on Saturday and Mr. Bear showed up again on Sunday afternoon. Once again, I chased him off. That night though, he showed up in camp and got into my trash that was hanging in a separate tree from my food. Rascal!

Mr. Bear tore up the trash pretty good, I cleaned it up and rehung it the next night with my foods higher in a ponderosa pine. Monday Night ol' “Yogi” showed up again and managed to figure out how to get to my food 25 feet up in a tree.

This time he ate all of my organic foods , olive oil, sardines, Vienna sausages and a can of bean less chilli. He managed to tear open those cans and lick them clean as a whistle.

So, there I was, no food, except some MRE coffee packets “Yogi” didn't eat. Now, you might ask why I didnt just eat some wild foods – Simple – there is not much out there this time of year, just ask “Yogi”.

Anyhoo, I decided to spend another night , then hike the 12 miles into town to resupply at my friend Matts house in Sierra Vista. I packed up early the next AM, and according to my pocket thermometer it was a cool 45degrees Fahrenheit. I downed 1 liter of water, then shouldered my pack and set out. It was pleasant to hike in the cool mountains, my camp was around 8000 feet and the decent was steep. It didn't take long for it to get hot! Around 9 AM the temps were in the mid 80'. the intensity of the sun is what gets to me in Arizona, even more then the aridity.

By the time I had left the mountains and headed out on the “Flats” as I call them, the temps were soaring, I was feeling the lack of carbohydrates in my diet over the past 2 weeks. I packed along 4 liters of water so I was drinking freely as I hiked, but my lack of energy was forcing me to work hard and I was sucking in lungs-full of the hot desert air. I was down to around 4000 feet in elevation for about the last ½ of the hike, it was hot, I was tired, and musing to myself about the odd things you think about while hiking or surviving under austere conditions.

Under cooler conditions I have never stopped for a break en route to town while doing this hike before, but this time I took a total of 5 breaks. The longest break being about ½ an hour under the sparse shade of a non native Mesquite tree. Oddly it was only less then a mile from Matts house but my energy level was non existent, I was dizzy, and my pocket thermometer read 102 degrees Fahrenheit, I began to wonder if I would make it.....There is a first time for everything I suppose.

After a while , I got tired of sitting there in my crazy creek chair, sipping hot water from a plastic bottle. Standing up, I fought off the nausea and dizziness, shouldered my pack and started out on the last leg of the hike. I made it to Matts house in due time but it was difficult – Ill admit it.

I don't know for sure but  the bad way I felt was probably due to a combination of things ; heat, dehydration, lack of carbs in my system, distance, weight of my pack, cross country travel (as opposed to on a road).

All in all, it was a good experience and a reminder that I'm not as young as I use to be. But conversely, it is also good to know that I still possess the “drive on” attitude and endurance I have had over my entire life.

See you on the trail!

Tomahawk – Scouts Out!

New Knives for the collection

I just wanted to show off some of the new Knives I got from my friend Arvin Sese in the Philippines - Via Bryan Sammis - Thanks bros!

There is also an Ontario V-42 fighting knife pictured. As usual, I got this one from Trapper Jon's knives in Sierra Vista, Arizona. This Ontario looks like a hybrid of a V-42 and an Army M-3 fighting knife. I do like it .
Anyhoo,

 Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Simple Slingshot

The other day I was riding out a hail storm under my tarp. I was getting a little bored so I decided to make a slingshot. I had with me some wide rubber banding material , given to me by my good friend Shawn Sprague in Maine.

It is a bit too wide to use as is so I took my dura shears and cut a strip off the edge , about 18 inches long. Instead of cutting it and adding a cup made of leather (from a glove) or canvas (made from a torn up bag) , I simply torn a strip of duct tape from my Nalgene bottle and added a small piece to each side of the band where the cup should be.

This tape gives me an idea of where to load the ammo without actually looking at the slingshot. That way, I can run and shoot at the same time.

Many of the stones in this part of the mountains where I operate are edgy and it is difficult to find decent round or elliptical stones for ammo. Looking around I found a few stone that I made work. However, while “draining the main vein” I noticed some nicely shaped balls of pine pitch at the base of a ponderosa pine tree. There balls of pitch were roundish to elliptical and weighed about the same as the stones I was finding – perfect! This ammo put me in mind of the sling ammo used in the days of old – like David used to slay Goliath.

I was curious as to how fast this slingshot was shooting so, keeping in mind my 120 paces to 100 meters pace count, I stepped off 15 paces(= 37.5 feet or so), I took one of the semi large elliptical chunks of pitch , loaded it, drew back and let fly! From release to to impact – Wack! - with the Juniper tree, it was a count of 1001 = approx 1 second. So I'm assuming it flies at 37 feet per second, or about 25.2 miles per hour(??).

It was a lot of fun to make and play around with, I especially like the non lethal pine pitch ammo, it was also low impact,but effective to ward off pesky bears and squirrels.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingshot

See you on the trail,

Tomahawk – Scouts Out!

Bear encounter

On fathers day (last sunday), I was camping in the Huachucas - Again - , It was hot and humid. I spent most of the day laying in my hammock listening to audio books I loaded onto my Mp3 player. Anyhoo, In the evening, I decided to head down to the spring to wash up a bit.

Just after I finished up at the spring, I notice a fairly large (for the Huachucas) Black Bear (Ursus Americanus), sitting in the willows just a few paces away. His head was covered in pollen (maybe from grazing dandi lion flowers) and he was sniffing the air. Wow!, kinda cool...I had not brought my camera along so I ran up to my camp to get it in the hopes that "Yogi" would be there when I returned.

Camera in hand, I headed back to the spring in hopes of getting a few pics of this Bruin, Alas! he was gone, I did track him a bit and noticed that he headed up a side canyon which did - in a round a bout way - lead to my camp.

Knowing a bit about Bears, I realized that this rascal was heading to my camp to pillage my food supplies. I beat feet back up the trail to my camp and sure enough,there was "Yogi" with his muzzle buried in my food bag.

Once , I got his attention with yelling and some rock throwing, I was able to drive him off and salvage most of my food stuffs. This old rascal, only chewed up a cabbage , some cucumbers and a bag of pop corn..not too bad. This bear came back 2 more times before I was able to land a couple of decent rocks on his head and tail bone. Last seen "Yogi" was heading up the mountain at a fast pace, huffing and puffing all the way.

I salvaged the remainder of my foods , bundled it up, then hung it high in a Ponderosa pine. All in all it was a pretty good experience and marks the 4th or 5th bear encounter I have had in those Mountains.

I also saw another Elegant Trogon....Sorry for all of the panning around in the video but I was searching for rocks to wing at "Yogi" as I was filming.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Elegant Trogon

Two days ago while hiking around in the Huachuca Mountains, I decided to take a break in the shade of some Arizona Maples trees near a small spring. The elevation was around 6000 feet or so. I was just sitting there on my pack, sipping water and enjoying my solitude, when I noticed a movement in my peripheral vision to the left.

I turned my head slightly  to the left, and saw for the first time a beautiful Elegant Trogon (Trogon elegans).

 I have been hiking around the Huachucas for about 20 years and have never seen one before. It sure is a pretty bird.


Here is a little 411 for you.


Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

The Elegant Trogon, Trogon elegans (formerly the "Coppery-tailed" Trogon), is a near passerine bird in the trogon family. It breeds from southeasternmost Arizona in the United States to northwestern Costa Rica. It occasionally is found as a vagrant in southeasternmost and western Texas.
It is a resident of the lower levels of semi-arid open woodlands and forests. It nests 2–6 metres (7–20 ft) high in an unlined shallow cavity, usually selecting an old woodpecker hole, with a typical clutch of 2–3 eggs.
Trogons have distinctive male and female plumages, with soft, often colourful, feathers. This species is 28–30 centimetres (11–12 in) long and weighs 65–67 grams (2.3–2.4 oz). Both sexes have a white undertail with fine horizontal black barring. The undertail also has large white tips spaced evenly ending in a black terminal band. Both have a yellow bill, orange-red undertail coverts and lower belly, and a white horizontal breast stripe.


The male Elegant Trogon has a metallic deep green head, upper breast and back, black face and throat, and red-orange lower breast and belly. He shows grey upperwing coverts. The female has a metallic bronze head, upper breast, back, upper tail and upperwing coverts. She shows a dull white upper belly, and a small white vertical stripe behind the eye.
The usual call is a croaking "co-ah co-ah co-ah". The trogon will also include some chattering notes.
Elegant Trogons feed on insects and fruit, often taken in flight. Their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits. Although their flight is fast, they are reluctant to fly any distance. They typically perch upright and motionless.

Agave

I was camping in the Huachucas this week and came across this Giant Agave in bloom. Just thought you would like to see it. Sorry for the blurry quality of this pic. Below is a little info from wikipedia about the Agave. As usual, Im wayyyyy to lazy to write it out myself.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Agave parryi

	Plantae
	Angiosperms
	Monocots
	Asparagales
	Asparagaceae
	Agavoideae
	Agave
	A. parryi

Agave parryi, known as Parry's agave or mescal agave, is a slow-growing agave native to Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico.
The leaves are grey green and have a spine at the tip. One of the distinguishing features is that the point on the tip, which is typically dark tan, brown, or black, is darker than the leaf. Indentations of previous leaves show on the back of each leaf. The Huachuca variety grows in a rosette pattern as large as 2½ feet in diameter.
Because of its compact size, plus its low water use and low maintenance, Huachuca agave is considered a good landscaping plant for desert residential landscaping. It requires full sun. It is hardy to roughly -5 degrees Fahrenheit, though there are reports of specimens surviving temperatures at -20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Parry's Agave is evergreen. Aged agave produce a twelve-foot stalk with bright yellow blooms. They then die after blooming, as all leaf and root resources are put into the stalk, flowers, and seeds. It can be propagated by either offset or seed.

Snake Blocker - www.snakeblocker.com

Last week I had the pleasure of working with Snake Blocker(Deadliest warrior) and Jake Zweig (Top Shot) on a project in Colorado.

I just wanted to post the link to Snakes website for your enjoyment(http://www.snakeblocker.com/). Karen Hood from www.survival.com gave me permission to use her picture with snake.

Anyhoo,

 Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

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Snake Blocker

Snake Blocker is your all-American Military, Martial Artist, and Extreme Sportsman that after meeting him you'll know what he stands for and what he won't stand for. And allthough you may have never heard of him, his martial arts website has received over 25 million hits since 2004. Snake was recently featured on Spike TV on the Show "Deadliest Warrior" (2009-2010).
Snake is Native American (Lipan Apache) and he is well known among the Native Community as he teaches seminars on their fighting culture and designs Native theme fighting knives. Snake was interviewed at the Jicarilla Apache Reservation's Radio Station, KCIE 90.5 FM (2009). Click on the link bellow to listen and download his interview:
Deadliest Warrior Interview with Snake Blocker & Alan Tafoya | Download/Play
Note: To Download this interview, Right click on it and  click on "Save Target As"  or "Save Link As".
Alan Tafoya interviews with Jay & Kirby Productions about The Deadliest Warrior show and talks about some Apache History and Tactics | Download/Play
Note: To Download this interview, Right click on it and  click on "Save Target As"  or "Save Link As".
Snake Blocker's interview with Jay & Kirby Productions about The Deadliest Warrior show and talks about some Apache History and Tactics | Download/Play
Note: To Download this interview, Right click on it and  click on "Save Target As"  or "Save Link As".

Where does his name come from?

The Lipan Apaches see the snake to be a very misunderstood creature by many outsiders. It is not to be thought of as a representation of evil, but as a symbol of strength. By shedding its skin, the snake symbolizes change in the cycle of birth, life, death, and eternal life. It counts among its strengths the power of creation; power of sexuality; power to know one's self, as well as, of transformation. Snake-people are rare, because as part of their experiences, they have to have to come into contact with poison and have been able to transform the poison in their bodies into something harmless. The snake belongs to the element of fire, which causes desire and passion in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm, creating a connection with God and wisdom. Whenever the snake appears in your dreams, it is a sign of change as you come ever closer to your destiny and true goals. The snake is also used to mark rivers...for snake-people flow and adapt like a river. The snake is also associated with flashes of lightning, as both are feared for their speed and deadly power. Very few Apaches are given this name because of the value attached to it.

North Maine Woods By Canoe

Here is a pretty good story written by my good friend Nick Gallop from the UK. Nick came over to go on the 28 day canoe expedition ran by the Jack Mountain Bushcraft school in Maine(www.jackmtn.com).

I hope you like it. The text and photos are from Nick.

If you find the time check out his blog (http://www.skillsforwildlives.com/2012/06/north-maine-woods-by-canoe-munsungan-stream/).

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

North Maine Woods By Canoe – Munsungan Stream

June 14, 2012 No comments yet

We’re camped on Munsungan Lake. Last night was cold but at least there’s no rain. As the sun starts to peep through the thick firs, today’s guide team get the reluctant fire crackling under the coffee. The fire’s soon roaring and a steaming mug of coffee makes the world a much better place.
Today we will leave the lake and head down Munsungan Stream towards the Aroostook river.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States, spent time in the North Maine Woods in the late 1800′s as a young man. Roosevelt and his Maine Guide Bill Sewall poled up the Aroostook river to Munsungan Stream. It was September and they found the stream with little water, forcing them to drag their heavy boat up much of the stream. These were formative years for the young Roosevelt. Being in the midst of this land I can see how it would have a strong influence on the willing mind. I hope some of this rubs off!
We certainly have better luck than Roosevelt at Munsungan Stream. After an unusually dry winter Tim was worried that we wouldn’t have enough water. Fortunately, topped up by spring rain, the water’s high. The two days of heavy rain that kept us at Chase Lake should have topped it up a bit further.

Munsungan Stream, according to the well-thumbed Appalachian Mountain Club river guide we brought along, has rapids from class I-II. A few miles downstream lie Munsungan Falls which are small but dangerous enough in a loaded canoe. The falls are preceded by a series of ledges. With this much water many of the obstacles are submerged which makes progress easier but the speed of the current is unforgiving. Strainers are a constant danger and with the river flowing this fast it’s easy to run into trouble.
Defensive rather than offensive paddling is the order of the day. We’re not here for the white water, we’re here for the trip and more importantly to get home again. Running rapids in a boat loaded with camp gear a day or two’s paddle from home is a different prospect than having the truck parked just up the way and an empty boat.
Of course, in this modern royalex boat I could smack and scrape rocks all day and most likely come out of it relatively unscathed but that’s not the point. Why take the chance? In days gone by when canoes were made from birch bark, wood or wood and canvas, there was no such leeway. Any damage could spell disaster. You might be lucky and spend a day or two in the woods repairing the canoe. You might be less lucky.

Rather than barrelling through, canoes would be carried, lined or eased through using the pole at questionable spots. Using a pole to propel a craft on water is probably as old as man’s use of anything resembling a boat.
A pole can be used to propel a canoe upstream. This is known as poling. A pole can be used to slow the canoe when running downstream. This is known as snubbing. By using short stabs of the pole onto the river bed the canoe can be brought to a standstill even in fast water. The pole can then be used to ferry the canoe sideways to avoid an obstacle. The pole is an incredible tool for defensive river travel. It’s use here in Maine was widespread due to the often shallow and rocky rivers.
As it stands today at Munsungan Stream, I have maybe three or four hours poling experience under my belt and two goes at snubbing (the first of which saw me take a dive straight away!). Today will test my skill with the pole to the limit.
We paddle across Little Munsungan Lake to the outlet stream. The stream starts out wide and slow but soon narrows and the current quickens.
I’m learning a valuable lesson about the importance of trimming the canoe. Most of my paddling before this has been tandem where the weight of the bow paddler tends to keep the boat pretty evenly trimmed and there’s not much to think about. Trim turns out to be very important! The current will try to spin the heavier end of the canoe downstream so the canoe needs to be bow heavy for downstream travel. Believe me, running a speedy river sideways or backwards isn’t much fun – I’ve been there.
Today I’m solo in an 18ft boat with limited kit to make her bow heavy. I’m carrying my personal kit weighing around 15-20kg, someone else’s kit weighing slightly more (my muscles told me this as I lifted their bag into the boat!) and one food box weighing probably 20kg plus a few other bits and pieces.
Even with my best efforts the canoe spins in the current. It’s a combination of things – but probably none of them my fault. It’s a jokey tradition at Jack Mountain to never accept responsibility for anything. Ever. Despite strictly adhering to this tradition I learned many lessons on the rivers of Maine.
At this early stage in my poling career I’m finding snubbing a loaded canoe (and one that isn’t trimmed right) challenging to say the least! I’m just not doing it quick enough. Luckily as the water is high I have the luxury of resorting to the paddle.

When snubbing, a series of jabs are made using the pole at a shallow angle so the weight of your body is behind it. Snubbing consists of a pair of ‘snubs’. One to the left, one to the right or vice versa. As soon as you plant the pole, the canoe will try to turn around the pole. A snub on the opposite side counters this. Repeat until the canoe has slowed enough.
Snubbing should never be done with the pole across the body. If it is and the pole gets stuck, you’ll take a swim for sure! To do this properly means moving the pole from one side to the other for each snub. For example the left-right snub involves planting the pole left, swapping the pole to the right side of the body, planting the pole right. To do this quickly takes practice. More practice than I’ve had so far.
I’m pleased to hear from the guys who have already gone through this early experience with the pole that the level of frustration I feel today is pretty normal. It’s a steep learning curve.
Back to the water. We’re speeding along. My journal notes that a couple of members of the party took unplanned swims before we reached Munsungan Falls. I stayed dry. I’ve trimmed the boat as best I can with the weight I have available by kneeling just behind the yoke and leaning forward to get more weight at the bow end when necessary. She still spins from time to time if the fast current gets the better of my rather rusty paddling.

We reach Munsungan Falls soon before lunchtime. Boats and gear are carried up the portage trail to the campsite above the falls. Sit down. Rehydrate. Eat lunch. It’s a warm day and it’s nice to relax but all too soon we’re carrying boats and gear down to the put in below the falls and off we go again.
Below the falls the river is a bit more relaxed for a while but soon there’s plenty of rocks and a few strainers to keep your mind on the job.
It’s on this stretch that I take my swim of the day. Rounding a bend where the river narrowed I stood and swapped the paddle for the pole as the river got shallow and rocky. After a blur of snubbing and canoe spinning in the current I had to avoid ‘an obstacle’ (as so often happens when travelling with others!) and despite some panicked poling couldn’t avoid putting the canoe broadside onto a fallen tree at the edge of the river. As the current weighed on the boat and the gunwale started to dip below the water I jumped. Fortunately the current was slow enough that I could pull the boat off and walk it round the tree, have a breather and hop in again.
After what seems like a very long afternoon we reach Munsungan Stream Campsite. Everyone looks wrecked. It’s been a super hard day but boats must be unloaded, taken out and turned over for the night and camp chores done. Soon tents and tarps are up, the fire’s lit and some hot sweet tea is brewing. Wet kit drips on a couple of clothes lines in the last rays of the afternoon sun.
This campsite is accessible by woods road. Thousands of years of ingenuity, skill and knowledge that made navigating the woods possible have been replaced by an hour or two sitting in a truck on a gravel road. Travelling the rivers which run like arteries through the North Woods makes you really appreciate the place. After the incredible journey we had, driving here seems like cheating.
Watching darkness fall over the woods and pondering our place in it all is about as much as I manage tonight before retiring to sleep the well earned sleep of hard labour. Another great day in the North Maine Woods.

During my time in the North Woods of Maine I was a paying guest at the excellent Jack Mountain Bushcraft School run by the ever hospitable and knowledgeable Tim Smith, registered Master Maine Guide, admirably assisted by his cousin Cletus.

Kombucha Tea

I know you all will call me a liar but im swearing off booze, Beer and coffee for a while. Believe it or not Im switching back to Kombucha tea, Yerba Mate and Water. Just like back in the day when I was an Ultramarathoner.

I found this decent brand of Kombucha at the local "Hippy" co-op store and just bought a bunch of it instead of making it myself. Besides being too lazy to make my own,I dont possess a starter for it.

We did make some decent Kombucha in Maine over the past month.

Below is a bit of info about Kombucha from wikipedia, Im wayyyy to lazy to write about it myself.

Enjoy,

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Biology

Yeast and bacteria in kombucha at 400X

The kombucha culture is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, comprising Acetobacter (a genus of acetic acid bacteria) and one or more yeasts. These form a zoogleal mat. In Chinese, this microbial culture is called koubo (Chinese: 酵母; literally "yeast mother").
A kombucha culture may contain one of more of the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii, and Zygosaccharomyces bailii. Alcohol production by the yeast(s) contributes to the production of acetic acid by the bacteria. Alcohol concentration also plays a role in triggering cellulose production by the bacterial symbionts.^{[citation needed]}
Although the bacterial component of a kombucha culture comprises several species, it almost always includes Gluconacetobacter xylinus (formerly Acetobacter xylinum), which ferments the alcohols produced by the yeast(s) into acetic acid. This increases the acidity while limiting the alcoholic content of kombucha. G. xylinum is responsible for most or all of the physical structure of a kombucha mother, and has been shown to produce microbial cellulose.^[1] This is likely due to artificial selection by brewers over time, selecting for firmer and more robust cultures.
The acidity and mild alcoholic element of kombucha resists contamination by most airborne molds or bacterial spores. As a result, kombucha is relatively easy to maintain as a culture outside of sterile conditions. The bacteria and yeasts in kombucha may also produce antimicrobial defense molecules.
The kombucha culture can also be used to make an artificial leather.^[2]

Etymology

The English kombucha (putatively pseudo-Japanese, *酵母茶 *koubocha, "yeast tea") is often confused with the Japanese drink 昆布茶 kombucha, literally "kelp tea", from Japanese 昆布 kombu or konbu, "kelp", which is dried and powdered to produce the kelp-based beverage. ^[3]
In Japanese, the fermented black tea-based drink is known as kōcha kinoko 紅茶キノコ ("red tea mushroom"). In Chinese, kombucha is called jiàomǔchá 酵母茶 ("yeast tea"), hóngchájùn 红茶菌 ("red tea fungus/mushroom"), hóngchágū 红茶菇 ("red tea mushroom"), or cháméijùn 茶霉菌 ("tea mold").
Both the actual Japanese and Chinese names incorporate the characters 红茶/紅茶 for (zh) hóngchá/(jp) kōcha, literally, "red tea," as Asian languages denote what is known in the West as "black tea", in contrast to "green tea".

History

The recorded history of kombucha began in Russia during the late 19th century.^{[citation needed]} In Russian, the kombucha culture is called čajnyj grib чайный гриб (lit. "tea mushroom"), and the drink itself is called grib гриб ("mushroom"), "tea kvass" чайный квас, or simply kvass, which differs from regular kvass traditionally made from water and stale rye bread.

Some promotional kombucha sources suggest the history of this tea-based beverage originated in ancient China or Japan, though no written records support these assumptions (see history of tea in China and history of tea in Japan). One author reported kombucha, famously known as the "Godly Tsche [i.e., tea]" during the Chinese Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), was "a beverage with magical powers enabling people to live forever"