ramblins in da swamp

[lonetracker]

so there i was,last saterday, my snowshoes crunchin there way across the virgin snow,headen for da swamp.it was about 15degf and allmost dark and i knows i should have returned earlier.its going to be dark under dem cedars.i just had to explore a little further,see a little more,and well,try to find something for supper.maybe i should go back for that porkypine.na,he looked pretty happy were he was at.i can allways find him later ifn things turn sour.lets see were was i?oh yea dark swamp.i had been in da cedars earlier and left my tote o hammock,sleeping bag,little food,and some camping essetials.hopefully that is of in that direction,i know i am close but its hard to go in a straight line in da dark swamp,around tangled blowdowns,wearing snowshoes,trying not to get a stick in the eye looking for camp thats not set up yet,while wonderin how porky would taste.whew hey i bet those are my tracks,yessir thars my tote,this will be me first camp of the knew yar (yet one more use)first things first ies need some wood for a proper warmin and cookin fire. lots of blow downs,lots of dry spruce and cedar,not much hardwood,but i'll make do.hmm if i was cooking a porky i would hunt up some proper hardwood,i seen me some dry maple on the way in and ies took note of it.fire's burnin,and the rice is on,that birch bark thats been in my pocket a couple weeks took right of.now its time to sets up me sleepin quarters.tonights hammock will be my one and only clark na.its looking especially tangled tonight as i added some whoppie slings,that can you believe it i have had laying around the house attached to some old tree steps,all this time.i however still did not want to cut the ropes on my beloved clark so i looped them,then ran the free ends toward each other to be tied together to form a ridgline.i then attached the whoopie slings to the loops.i dug deeper into my seldom if ever again pile and came up with a old tree safety belt and a rope ratchet strap for attaching to the whoopies to the trees.rereading that i can't figure out what i am talking about either,and i put it together and seen it work.probably no one still reading anyway so hopefully it will come clear in the pics if y'ar still on board.the hammock went up,wait the rice is burnin a gain(i'm only good at red meat over a camp fire)ok i can scrape that up,anyway the hammock ended up going up smoothly,i decided to leave the tarp in a ball and maybe get some insul factore out of it,shove it in a clark pocket.the stars are shinen beautifly,and grandad cedar above me will protect me from any frost.ten degf now time to hit the rack,stuffed in the na you will find a -20 alps synthetic bag,there are six pockets under my na they are all filled with sweatters gloves,wool pants,fleece fanny bags ect.when i finally crawl in i will be sporting one pair wool socks,light poly longbottoms,pollywool undie top,wool sweater and wool hat.will lonetracker survive,er get cold will he make it through the nite? find out next week,er tommorrow.as i never dreamed one night in the woods would take me this long to write upi got to get up in 5.5 hrs i needs my rest.here's some pics i will be back tomorrowto finish up.if its ok with you fine folks.


http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/p...pictureid=2011

hangin u.p.
bill

[gargoyle]

I read it all. Good report. Thanks.

[MacEntyre]

Good ramblin', Bill! Ya should be up now, according to your schedule.

[lonetracker]

ready for work.

[NCPatrick]

Like your writing style. Waiting to hear about your warm night of sleeping and the breakfast.

[TinaLouise]

I was begining to get a little worried about that porkypine!!

How is it working for you, the way you have the netting/weathershield strung up???

Great report, I enjoyed reading it,
TinaLouise

[lonetracker]

well time to hit the rack,standin here any longer in me longjohns would just be silly.my -20 deg bag as allways,allows me to crawl in allmost all the way with little bunching(unlike my weakwalled 30deg bag very bunchie)this bags thick walls seem to welcome me in and quickly surround me with warmth.coupled with the extreme comfort of my hammock,well its enough to make a guy want to become bedridden. ies is trying something differant with the clark tonight.i have unzipped the frost catcher,i mean netting and balled it up by my feet.i than unzziped the weathershield just far enough so it will lay flat.this way the big billowy clouds of me breath will be completely outside.i cinch my bags hood up tight,till i think ies must look like a cyclops.then i realize i forgot to take of my glasses.loosen up and repeat..the stars hold my attention for a little while,its dead calm in da swamp and very peacefull.before ies know it i am waking up with a cool nose and slightly cold feet,the rest of me is very warm, a little sweatty even.i roll to my side and curl up in a ball,get my feet over the hot spot,the clark stuffed pockets.the next time i wake up it is allmost dawn,my feet are still a little cold,and i can't believe i made it through the nite without getting up and remarking my teritory. however ,things are urgent right now but i just can't face that cold yet.the coldest part of winter camping for me is the ten minutes after i get up.i have every thing planned out for this time so hopefully there is no delays,get up, tote open, pants on, wool flannel on ,wool coat on, boots on,re mark teritory.dang it boots are froze can't get my feet in,really got to go,get in there foot...i had melted enough snow last night for me coffee and oatmeal(can't help thinkin how good some leftover porky would taste about now) just have to get my fire going and remelt it.last night i set aside and covered some smaller kindling and set aside enough wood for a good warm up fire.its blazeing nicely now,and my block of ice is quickly melting.its actually more like cedar tea,lots of cedar bough bits mixed in with the snow around here.time to check the temp 9 deg.i am happy with this hang.a little cold on the feet.i still had a fleece blanket and a heavy wool coat i could have used,i also never opened my hand/foot warmer packs.i spent the rest of the day in and around the swamp and spotted 3 more porkys.even found a porky holed up about 50 ft from my camp.we's neighbors.he's very quiet.must have heard me ramblin.
thanks for reading,sorry its sooo long,but once it started coming out i had to see it through.
pic of my ricktote

hangin u.p.
bill

[DeeGore]

Nice report. Sounds like a good night out. My feet are always cold too.

[Walking Bear]

Great post, Fun read.

[TinaLouise]

Your obsession with the porkypines... well it just aint right

cold feet, yep I guess most of us have had that
I too do like you and will curl up tighter, draw feet up and jest go back to sleep. If I've got a jacket (especially a down one) I'll stuff that around my feet and they warm right up.

Again another fine report and I enjoyed reading it
TinaLouise