A Walk in the Park with Autumn Coming

I went for a walk in the park with Monty this afternoon.


Autumn is coming.


The light in the evening casts long shadows.


Shrubs and trees are putting their final bursts of energies into berries - hoping birds will take them and drop the seeds somewhere favourable.


Some seeds emerge from pods, skipping the berries and hoping to be pulled out on a breeze.


Some trees are shedding leaves, but this willow is holding on to them.


Monty is full of energy.


The rains seem to have passed - cirrostratus clouds remind us of clear weather ahead.


Berries I don't recognize begin to appear.


And Monty takes a break.


Conifers.


Conifers - they make cones.


They make their seeds alongside the berries of other plants.


Resin covers this spruce wound.


The red of the leaves begin to reveal themselves.


The glowing entrance to the valley calls to me.


The colours of the evening light beckon.


The weekend school building is quiet.


Almost home, the locust tree glows, and I can see my house behind the fence.

The grand willow tree in the park will wait for our next go around.

Cheers,

Mungo

Pinetree Lake Algonquin Park Solo Trip - Part 6: Edibles, Berries, Birchbark & Split Pine Roots

On my recent camping trip into Pinetree Lake, in Algonquin Park, I found all kinds of berries and edible plants in the woods around me. During my walks I would gather handfuls of Wintergreen Berries, Blackberries, Partridge berries, and would nibble on all sorts of plants from the tips of pine needles to Yellow Sorrel (Oxalis).

I found a cylinder of birch bark left on the ground, with the wood rotted out on the inside. Birch is an unusual wood. It is better to use green birch wood for fire, because it doesn't season well. It tends to rot very quickly. Birch bark doesn't rot at all (hardly...), being full of oil and resistant to fungal growth and insect attack. Some day I'm going to distill a mass of birch bark to produce some of the oil which will waterproof and preserve some outdoor crafts.


Using my #510 Carbon Steel Mora I split a piece of dried pine, into a 'break'. I dug down a couple of inches beneath a tangle of pine trees and extracted a length of root. I used the break to strip off the root bark, and to expose the core. I tried to split it and realized within a minute that the root wasn't splitting evenly, and that the length kept running off to the side. That's when I looked back at the loose soil where I'd extracted the root, and realized that I had inadvertently pulled up some juniper root instead.

Woops.


So I selected another area close by and pulled up a couple of thin pine tree roots. I was extra vigilant this time!

Using my break, I quickly stripped the root bark, and exposed the core of the roots. This time the core split evenly, and quickly. This is a very sturdy, flexible material.


I cut the birch bark into a rectangle. I began to fold it into two, and gently held it over the flames of a quick fire I built. This softened the bark, and permitted it to fold without splitting. I folded it perpendicular to the grain to make extra certain.

Gently splitting holes up the sides (not drilling), I quickly laced the roots to secure the edges. Splitting - and not drilling - the holes is important. The birch bark self-seals, closing over the splits made with the tip of a knife or an awl (of bone, or fire-hardened wood, or stone, etc...). Drilling holes weakens the fibrous substrate and does not allow the bark to seal over the cordage.


If I wanted to water proof it to make a water container or bowl, etc... I could have melted and filtered some pine pitch and strengthened the crystalline / plastic structure of the pitch with finely ground charcoal.

But I just wanted it for berries and such.


They were very tasty.

Granted, this was a very primitive container - the least sophisticated kind possible using cordage and a single sheet of bark. Maybe in the coming weeks I'll wander down into the valley and makes something more complicated. But then again, simple can work just fine.


Cheers,

Mungo

Standby for a Mini-Mungo!!!

It's been several weeks since we've known, but now I thought it was time to share it out here on Mungo Says Bah!


In about 14 weeks, a little Mini-Mungo is going to arrive in the house, ready for his own little ferrocerium rod, his own little Mora knife, his own little camping mug, and knapsack.


We don't know his name yet, but I expect he'll let us know soon enough.


Mini-Mungo might not be the best name.


But it's all that we have for him right now...

Cheers,

Mungo

Pinetree Lake Algonquin Park Solo Trip - Part 5: Monty in the Water & Woods

Monty made a slow start at 5:00 am leaving from Toronto, heading up to Algonquin Park. He slept in the car as best as he could. We stopped every hour or so for a quick walk and a pee on the grass.


He stayed close to me on the portage into the lake itself. He would run ahead, but if he got too far ahead, I'd look up and see him stopped in the trail, looking back and not moving until he caught my eye. Then he'd move again.


He explored the site as soon as we made it out of the canoe, and immediately went for a drink. He found a good spot where he could gain ready access to the lake, and scramble back up the rocks onto the site.


He was constantly roaming the camp site. He would sit close to me, watching the woods behind the site very carefully. I wonder what he would see. His nose twitched and moved from right to left, up and down and clockwise and counterclockwise. His nose was actively engaged with the environment.


Monty ate kibble mixed with warm water, and he would finish off my meals cooked over the the fire. I would eat 4/5ths of a Snickers bar. He would eat the remaining 1/5th of it. And he drank and he drank and he peed and he peed. Life was especially good that week for a beagle.


At night he would come into the tent, and snuggle up beside me while I read my book by candle lantern. Curled up, sometimes he would chew on his brown doggie stuffed toy. This is an important thing for him. He likes his stuffed toys. He's only five years old.


He would wake me up at 7:00 on the nose, sometimes by squeaking at the door flap, and once in fact by licking my nose.


Despite roaming through a marsh up to his belly in dark mud, and laying around in the soil and muck by the lake, Monty's coat was cleaner than I had seen it in months. I think it had to do with him going for dips in the water (again, just up to his belly), but also because he was walking through wet vegetation that both removed dead, loose hairs from his coat, but also washed him well.


Now that we're back, I'll be bringing him regularly into the valley so that he won't forget the experience of roaming the woods.

Good night.

Mungo

Pinetree Lake Algonquin Park Solo Trip - Part 4: Kept Busy with Fires & Cooking & Reading & Watching

On the third morning of my solo camping and canoe trip into Pinetree Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, I woke up confused.


The tent seemed so bright - but without shadows. I opened the tent flap and had to think for a few seconds, trying to figure out what I was looking at. It was fog. The campsite was in a white out.


I couldn't see down to the water, even beyond 10 feet to the other side of the tarp hung outside of the tent. Sounds were muffled, and Monty and I jumped out of the tent to explore this strange atmosphere.


Two hours later, at around nine in the morning, the sun had begun to burn the fog off. I could see blue sky above me, but looking across the lake, the fog hung on.


I got the fire going, and put the kettle beside the flames.


Breakfast consisted of 3 packages of flavoured oatmeal, some dried mango, milk powder, sugar and boiled water all mixed in a bowl.


Wolves began to howl about a kilometer or so behind the campsite. Monty's ears went up. He moved a little closer to me and we both listened carefully. The sound was an inchoate mass of voices at first, then clear howls emerged. It was amazing, I'd never heard wolves before.


Nor had Monty.


It began to get a little cold, so I layered on a couple of t-shirts, my wool sweater and wool watch cap. Cirrus clouds dotted the sky, and a skim of fog boiled across the lake. A loon popped up then disappeared beneath the surface to fish.


Blue jays scolded in the near distance in the direction where the howling came from. Monty and I both watched the woods quietly, wondering what was beyond. I spent some of the afternoon reading John Le Carré's "Smiley's People". Great book.


Hope you had a good day,

Mungo

Pinetree Lake Algonquin Park Solo Trip - Part 3: Exploring the Surroundings

At a few points during my recent solo canoeing and camping trip into Algonquin Park, I went for a wander into the surrounding hills. Monty followed dutifully, occasionally tripping me up.

Beagles...


Each time I brought my knife, a ferrocerium fire starting rod, some paracord, instant coffee, sugar, powdered milk and my mug - just in case.


Just in case I needed to build a shelter and have a cup of coffee.


The camp site was on sort of a peninsula. A flat region covered in marshy vegetation separated the peninsula from the mainland. Monty waded up to his belly. I hopped over the wet using logs and stones.


Hop hop hop.


I would sit and make a fire when I felt like it. Birch bark shaved up into little curls was my tinder. Pine knots - the base of pine boughs kicked out of rotten, fallen trees was my kindling and fuel.


They pop right out with little rounded bases, and these pieces are well saturated in pine resin. They smell good. They burn hot with little smoke, and very brightly. Using these in your fire is a great survival tip for those without an axe and having to stay out in woods overnight.

I simply balanced my mug filled with water from a nearby stream on the embers of the fire.


On another walk, I brought a freeze-dried meal. That was nice. I don't mind those freeze-dried meals. Especially the lasagna one. Mmm.


There's nothing quite like sitting in the middle of the woods, knowing that no-one is around literally for miles and miles. It's very peaceful.


The next time I go, I'll make a quick shelter with a tarp deep in the woods and spend the night there.


Hope you're having a good weekend,

Mungo

Victorinox Swiss Army Soldier Pocket Knife and a Johnson U.S.A. Component Pocket Knife

My director at work brought her Dad's old boy scout pocket knife for me to see - as I had been telling her about some knives I use while camping (Mora, and my Victorinox Swiss Army Knife etc...). It is a Johnson U.S.A Component Pocket Knife (I'm calling it that... dunno what the actual model name is...).


Hers came in a leather case, with a zipper close.


I have - and use - a Victorinox Swiss Army Soldier Pocket Knife (Silver Alox). The Victorinox Swiss Army Soldier has the following unique features:

• Blade
• ReamerCan Opener
• Small Screwdriver
• Bottle Opener
• Large Screwdriver
• Wire Stripper

I couldn't find any information on the manufacturer or any similar models. You can see that the file above actually clips into the base of the knife handle. This is how all of the blades are attached. You can attach two attachments at a time, one at each end.


It locks fairly securely.


This model has a typical blade, two files, a saw-toothed attachment, an awl, what appears to be a scooped-out screwdriver, and can opener/bottle opener attachment (angled, bottom right).

The whole lot is stored in a case, with elastic banding holding the pieces tight.


The scales appear to be made of bone, but are actually composed of a hard plastic.


I like the look of the case.


I'm thinking I want a case for my Victorinox Swiss Army Soldier Pocket Knife.

If anyone has any information on the Johnson U.S.A. company, please respond via the comment form, please... I'd be very interested.

Cheers,

Mungo