Tuesday, November 13, 2012

A little woods time

I got out for a little bit the other day to enjoy a quick lunch with my buddy.  The afternoon was perfect weather, about 50 degrees and not much wind.  We took a simple trail towards a small lake.  Here's the beginning as we headed out.


We scouted the area a bit




Pack and axe for the day.  We found a little spot in some cedar trees and made it our small camp for the afternoon.


I finally got a chance to use a fire kit I won in a giveaway on BladesandBushcraft.   The kit below contains an antler tip ferro rod, a small antler handled knife from a file, also on the knife handle is a socket to use with a bowdrill, and a tin full of fatwood pieces and jute twine.
 

Cut up some fatwood shavings. 


Well I'm not going to lie, getting the shavings to light wasn't the problem.  The shavings weren't staying lit quite long enough to get the tinder to take.  The wood and cedar shavings I had were a little damp, just enough that I knew I would need a sustained flame to get it to take.  So between that and a 4 year old I was trying to keep entertained I chose to go the quick route on the fire.  I split a piece off the fatwood and lit it with my lighter.   Not the most bushcrafty approach but I did get fire and kept the show rolling for the little one.


Heating up some water


Hot coco is a good way to warm a kid and put a smile on their face


So with hot coco taken care of it was time for the PB&J sandwich's.  Here's bel enjoying lunch in the woods


 We took a couple swiss cake rolls too, another crowd pleaser.  We fed the fire and relaxed for a little while. 


 After that we headed to the lake shore to do some rock chunkin.


water level was down on the lake. 



I thought this stump made for a neat silhouette shot of the knife. 


We have mussels in about every lake I've been to here in Oklahoma and they are usually coin sized, but Bel found a shell from one that was the biggest I've seen here.  Knife is about 9 1/4" for scale.  


and we are now throwing rocks.  Some kids seem to be completely enamored with throwing rocks.  I seriously don't know how long she would do this until she got tired of it.  



Well it's about that time to make our way back




this last shot is Bel after she climbed her proclaimed "Mountain"


All in all it was a great afternoon out.  Enjoying one of your favorite pastimes with your young ones and seeing them enjoy it too is sure to put a smile on your face.  Helps keep things in perspective too about what's important in life, and then there's everything else.


Thanks for looking



11 comments:

  1. Of your entire post the last 2 sentences sum it up very well. That's what it's all about.

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  2. That is a massive mussel! Biggest I've ever seen in fresh water.
    And as for throwing rocks, my son is the same way! He never gets tired- just throws and throws and throws for as long as I'll sit there. He's old enough to understand that it scares the fish, so I think there's a little glee on his part that he is startling some animal with it.

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    1. haha. Whatever keeps them enjoying the outdoors if fine with me :)

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  3. Nice pictures and trip report. It doesn't get much better than combining a great hobby with family. I'm looking forward to getting out more with my son now that he's almost four. :)

    Oh yeah, nice pack and axe, by the way. ;)

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    1. Thanks man. I tried something new this trip with the pack. I took the frame off and used a foam buttpad inserted in the pack against my pack and it was much more comfortable than with the frame.

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    2. Hey, that's a great idea! I have to try that. :)

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  4. A great outing with time well spent!
    "Hot cocoa is a good way to warm a kid and put a smile on their face"
    Very true- I think hot cocoa is a good way to warm and put a smile on anyone's face..maybe it makes us all feel like kids again.

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    1. That's very true Peter. I think that's really my goal, to capture the essence of being a kid again

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  5. Very nice outing! It's great to see young folks in the outdoors, congratulations on making lifelong memories.

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    1. Thanks AG, it's great to have kids that enjoy being outdoors.

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