Bushcraft Outing 1/12/13

So I decided recently to take a quick off-trail outing in the national forest near Lyons, CO.  It was just a short outing (7 miles) to get out in the woods and do complete some of the classwork for BushClass Beginner over on www.bushcraftusa.com.

Part of the reason for the choice of day was so that I didn’t have to watch the Ravens vs. Broncos game.  I thought that the game started at 10:00 AM and went until 2:00 PM.  Of course, I was wrong.  I got back before halftime.

I got up to the trailhead at about 9 AM and set out.  The plan was to follow an established trail for about half of a mile and then veer off into the wilderness.  Here is a picture of the view of the direction that I was headed, from the point where I left the trail.

One thing that I was a bit surprised by was the amount of deer scat scattered throughout the area.

I saw lots of deer tracks in snow, and a few dog tracks.  When I got to the trailhead, I saw a sign that mentioned cougars had been spotted in the area.  This made me a little paranoid, and I walked most of the hike with a knife in my hand (just in case).  When I first saw the dog tracks, I had no idea what I was looking at and decided that it had to be cougar tracks.

When I got home and looked up animal tracks online, I realized that it looked nothing at all like a cougar track.  I was just a little paranoid I guess.

Anyway, I got about 3 or 4 miles into the hike and found a spot to setup camp and start a little fire.  After gathering a bit of wood, and a brace/platform (seen below).  I couldn’t find any downfall that was the right size, so I had to saw off a branch from a much larger piece of downfall.  The new Leatherman (thanks Kent!) came in handy!

Got a fire going and cooked some bannock.  It felt great to have a fire, considering how it was a balmy 10 degrees.

I kind of lost track of where I was sometime along the hike out, so when I turned back for the car it took me a bit of time to figure out which direction to head.  I had a GPS with me, but I am trying to learn map and compass navigation.  I had to pull out the GPS to get an idea of my current position, but from then on out it was all map and compass.

Here are a few more pics from the trip.  I hope you enjoy the photos!