Jiggity Jig

Today we came home from our first survival trip. The first day was physically taxing but very fun. We walked back, packs slung over shoulders, and found a nice spot up on top of the gorge where the creek bends, creating a steep point in the land. We spent about six hours building the shelter- first putting a large log in the Y of another tree, then placing and weaving sticks along that log. After that we gathered leaves by the armful, and layered them over the stick frame. We placed bark on top of that, sort of as makeshift shingles, and laid a couple more sticks on to keep the bark in place. Walking up and down the sides of the gorge, hauling logs and sticks with us as we went, we expended a lot of calories, and as soon as we finished the shelter and set our stuff inside, it was time for dinner.

We gathered more tinder, kindling and small to larger wood, and then sat down to start the fire. It took us three tries to get the fire going, but as they say, three times' the charm. Soon we had fed the fire almost everything we had collected, and we had to gather more sticks. We got ourselves in a good spot,wood-supply-wise, and Clara made a tripod out of three live spruce bows, twine and another live Y-shaped branch to boil water. That night for dinner we had one can of kidney beans and an onion, fried together in our pan from the 50-something-year-old mess kit. We didn't have any utensils, so we ate it with our dirty hands. Those were the best tasting kidney beans I had ever had in my life, and the best they would taste the entire trip. It had started to rain while we were making dinner, and so as soon as we were done eating we got ready for bed. It rained throughout the night, and our shelter held up spectacularly well. There were only two small places where water dripped through. However because of the slope of the hill, we kept sliding down to the bottom of the shelter, where our tarp didn't quit reach, and the wet leaves soaked through our sleeping bags and wool socks and made our feet incredibly cold.

The next day we woke up again around 9:15. Everything outside the shelter was incredibly wet, and it took us four tries to get the fire going. Luckily there was some dry wood still, otherwise we would have been out of luck. We kept the fire going all day, and had oatmeal for breakfast and lunch, which Clara ate with her jackknife, and I with my Leatherman . I never thought that I would relish the taste of cold, burnt oatmeal, but that was a delicious lunch. There was no end to the amount of sticks and wood we collected that day. That night for dinner we chopped up a potato, one and a half carrots, and poured half of our big can of kidney beans into the pan and fried that over the fire. We ate that with our hands, and by then the sun had come out. We went for a hike down to the other side of the gorge, and then came back and sat around the fire for a little while, then went to bed. It didn't rain until early the next morning, however our feet were still incredibly cold.

The third and final full day we awoke to a very light snowfall, around the same time as yesterday, and got right to building a fire. This time it only took us two tries. Our lives had fallen into a monotonous pattern of gathering wood, putting it on the fire, and gathering more wood, and putting that on the fire. Rinse and repeat. We had nuts for breakfast, and a small can of chick peas for lunch. In between wood trips we played a game called, "What do you want to eat", where we shared our dreams of food from the outside world.  I was fixated on these lobster ravioli I had at Ciao- I would have drop-kicked Betty White to get me some of those. Memories of fresh fruit, leafy vegetables, and meat danced across my mind all the time. For dinner we had the rest of our kidney beans and the last onion, as well as the one and a half carrots that we had left. We were both so sick of kidney beans, but Clara was a lot more sick of them than I was; she couldn't make herself eat more than a couple bites despite the fact that she was starving. I finished off the kidney beans and we went to bed. It's safe to say that I never want to see a kidney bean again.

We inhaled way too much smoke from the fire this weekend- enough that the thought of going to a friend's bonfire makes me physically ill. The same set of clothes that I wore for those days smell heavily of a fire. When we got back to my house this (Sunday) morning, I weighed myself before I ate anything, as I had done the day of our departure. I lost six pounds over the course of three days. We ate like kings at home- breakfast sausage and all. After Clara left to go home I took a nice, long, hot shower, then sat down to write this post. Overall the trip wen very well, and I am looking froward to our Adirondack Adventure.