Common Outdoor Skills And Survival: Jan 1, 2008

FOREST FAST FOOD FOR FUMBLIN FOOLS

We always work the menu into our trips. Food is an important factor of the adventure. I once made a chocolate Souffle with powdered eggs and Cocoa mix while on a trip in the Hudson Gorge. It was great, it was flat in shape and flavor but after ten days it was great!

Charley Cataldo my old Mentor once told me "you can eat almost anything that grows in the forest" some are rich in nutrition some merely filling, others may be poisonous, most just taste like crap!

As I've posted before I love the liquid gas stove. No other stove gives as much in all weather conditions or at any altitude. All you really need is just a way to boil water. Today a variety of foods are available in bags that need only hot water to be transformed into gourmet meals.

Sam enjoys some very good Alfredo noodles.

While I partake of some spicy Gumbo.

Of course you can do this kind of cooking on any efficient camp fire but the stove is just so fast and clean it relegates the fire to that of ambiance. Pack out your trash, this kind of foil bag will not burn.

We now use a vacuum bag sealing machine to "custom mix" our own favorite combinations. Soups, Stews, Rice combos even Powdered Eggs........not that bad really (bring Tabasco)

Safe Travels

Not all conference rooms are stuffy places full of stuffy people that are full of themselves!

I like to draw upon the energy around me. Some times I just feel more civilized in a primitive environment. I can be myself without feeling I have to impress anyone (no stage=no show) Out of the way places and good friends bring out the best in me and others.

Here Bill and I enjoy a gourmet meal of apples and spring water. The walk was invigorating, the snack fulfilling, the company first rate and the views spectacular.

This area is just a few miles from my home but due to it's topography men have found little use for it other then run off for a near by dam. The occasional Bald Eagle may go rushing by but that's a delightful distraction, its a pretty out of the way place where one can enjoy what the outdoors has to offer.

I think some of the most effective communicating I ever do with my fellow man is along a river, across a campfire or under a tree.

Safe Travels

Walk Softly - Walk Far

Always consult your Doctor before entering the Wilderness.

There are no telephones out here and few travlers, it is often better to travel with company. Always leave trekking plans with a responsible party as well as your schedule and back-up plans. Use medical alert I.D. with pertinent info PLAINLY displyed. Share information with fellow trekkers such as special medication or allergies. You should be able to pass this info on to emergency resuce and paramedic teams. If trekking alone, this info must be readily available and obvious to anyone that comes upon you should you be unconscious or incapasitated. I have a med-alert tag right on my pack strap.

Finally, DON'T BE FOOLISH.

Taking stupid chances in the Wilderness is how most people get hurt. Storms, Rising Water, Moving fast on unsafe terrain, Failure to respect sharp equipment and most of all playing with FIRE! can get you badly hurt if not killed. Be a jerk in your own back yard, the bush is not the place to take chances.

Safe Travels........
RJ

Common Outdoor Skills And Survival

Not Really Brown Bagging It, But Close

Out Of The Way Places