Bushcraft and Long Distance Travel

[Wayne]

Open canoeing and Bushcraft would be my choice for a serious trip. Plenty of decent lake and river systems to keep you busy.

Foraging and active travel is not really practical. Foraging for survival takes a lot of time and calories add calories needed for the travel element and you need huge resources and a lot of luck.

 

[yerbache]

I used to take bacon on walks in Australia. Anything up to a 4 day walk was fine. A bit of bacon fried on a stick over a campfire really spices up a meal. Sausages go off, bacon, proper bacon, is preserved, and keeps remarkably well.

I'd say that bacon is something you can rely on being able to buy in most of the western world from corner shops, so it's something you can reliably pick up and use to supplement your staples.

Concur.

All the classic wilderness guidebooks written 1900-1960 (Cache Lake Country/Calvin Rutstrum/Jaeger/Sigurd Olson) comment on bacon (often 'Canadian bacon', whatever that is) being one of the outdoorsman's staple foods.

In these parts bacon is sold in a solid block and wrapped in paper, great for travelling. However I'd agree there is nothing worse than folks abandoning their plastic wrapping and cans.

Cured meats and cheeses could be a good food option. Full of proteins and fats they would be a perfect supplement to a part foraged diet.

A fair point....I might have pointed out that in the UK we don't get real bacon any more...we generally get the stuff which is 99% water and comes in a plastic pack. However, in hotter countries where REAL bacon might still be available made in the traditional way (for my experience I'm thinking of Portugal and the black pig....mmmmmm) it's a fantastic thing to throw in your pack...

 

[yerbache]

....And I'd add to that that usually some fairly good quality salami or saucisson sec are perrenials in my rucksack. Fortunately when I'm too lazy to make my own my local deli also sells some very good biltong.....mmmmm, getting hungry now

 

[Rambling Man]

For me the question would be what do you wantout of the trip/journey?
It sounds obvious but many people set off only to discover that continuously moving ALL the time can be mentally as well as physically tiring.
How much time do you like to spend on your own,a week,a month?We all need human contact so this could dictact your location,or even a STYLE of travel,for instance, hitch-hiking will put you in to a more flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants-mode ,where as continually slogging on foot for weeks in the wilderness means a more structured,methodical approach IMO,i guess what i'm trying to say is we all have different mindsets and if you have a rough idea before you set out it can help(save you money and time!).
The WOOFing thing is a great idea,i have done this on my travels(Canada & Tasmania),made life long friends,but also its a refuge from the rigours of the road.It seems to me on alot of the "ultralight forums" alot of people take great pleasure in getting from A-B as quick as possible,.Sorry i don't get it!Lighter yes,but not necessarily faster......i would just love to hear someone who walked the Appalachian Trail....but took them 3 YEARS instead of 3 months!!!!!!
For me personally i would want to go and expierience a "New culture",different people,ideas but somewhere with lots of space still.Latin America comes to mind,Patagonia,the Andes,Amazon,Atacama dessert....you can always find somewhere warm too.Great people too.....when they're not shooting at you.I would NOT be taking any expensive gear with you too!
Make a date and just go...!!

 

[pastymuncher]

For some info on long distance walking across Europe, have a read of Clear Waters Rising by Nicholas Crane. Some fantastic stories and history of the mountain ranges across Europe. It's not so much about bushcraft but he does travel fairly lightweight, even with the umbrella!

 

[steved1969]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, definitely looks like my requirements are going to be more along the lines of ultralight backpacking rather than bushcraft though, still some interesting comments though.

bearbait, you mention being required to carry bear caches in state/national parks, can you elaborate on that please. My view on bears is pretty much the same as my view on all the rest of the creatures that could cause harm, yes they are out their, but a few simple precautions will alleviate 99% of potential problems. At the risk of becoming a future news story along the lines of "long distance walker eaten by bears" the reality is that we are at far greater risk just crossing the road than we are to being eaten by bears, bitten by snakes or being carried off by chupacabras! I appreciate that government likes to legislate in an attempt to protect the terminally stupid who think that good bear safety is keeping their freshly caught salmon in the tent so the bears can't get it, but surely there is no legal requirement to carry bear caches?

 

[mrcharly]

I've read a few blogs from people who walk the US long-distance trails, and there is no doubt that in some parks it is a legal requirement to have a bear cache. Sometimes this has to be a specialized container, sometimes a hoist bag and line will do. Most of the blogs reckon it's best to eat then walk a few miles before settling for the night. Bears are attracted to the smell of food.

 

[rik_uk3]

A fair point....I might have pointed out that in the UK we don't get real bacon any more...we generally get the stuff which is 99% water and comes in a plastic pack. However, in hotter countries where REAL bacon might still be available made in the traditional way (for my experience I'm thinking of Portugal and the black pig....mmmmmm) it's a fantastic thing to throw in your pack...

Speak for yourself mate, I'm about 20 miles from you and get real bacon, even Iceland sell 300gm vac packed dry cured smoked for only a quid (and not, its not full of water) so it is there you just need to look for it. The vacuum packed is better than the gas flushed packs, vac pack will last a good while, dry cured will last weeks.

Remember that in many national parks in Canada and the USA open fires are banned except for some designated areas during summer months (big fire dangers at these times) at least so you will need a stove of some sort other than a wood burner/hobo type. One popular option in the States is the post yourself a food parcel to a post office ahead of you on the trail. So, hike on the trail and drop into town for your pre arranged re-supply, couple of people I have spoken to have done this with great success.

Bear safes are supplied in many areas I'm told, if none available store your food in a bag and hang high in a tree; its advised you don't cook anywhere near your tent, well away couple of hundred metres or more away IIRC.

 

[bearbait]

Here's an example from Denali National Park in Alaska: http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/brfc.htm mandating the use in some spots and recommending the use elsewhere. They will loan you a cache if you don't have one.

As mrcharly says one approach is to eat then hike further before stopping for the night. Another one is to have your cooked meal at lunch time and a cold snack for supper. You still need to cache your food safely for overnight, though. Many backcountry campgrounds (and even regular vehicle accessible campgrounds) do have metal caches for your use, or a means of hanging your pack out of reach. Some campgrounds are closed to tents at certain times of the year due to bear activity, Lake Louise in BC being one. This one, IIRC, has an electric fence protecting the tents from the bears at other times of the year.

If you're camping in the wilderness - no campground - a recommendation is to to lay out your camp at the points of 100 metre-sided triangle. The downwind point is where you cook; the upwind point is where you sleep and the remaining point is where you cache your gear and clothes. (Make sure you can find it again!) Don't sleep in clothes you've cooked in. I never cook, store food or eat inside the tent whatever the weather; I sleep in a set of "sleeping-only" clothes; my day clothes are always locked in the car - my big bear cache; I never use toothpaste in the evenings; I don't use soap to wash, or deodorent, or after-shave; I try and minimise the intake of strongly-flavoured foods (difficult as I kill for a curry or a chilli), etc. etc. As you say if you take care the chances of a disturbing bear encounter are slight.

 

[bearbait]

Whilst stomping through the woods today pondering your trip a couple of further things occurred to me:

If you're planning some long multi-day hikes you could consider caching supplies en-route beforehand, perhaps by hiking in from a nearby road, or arranging to meet a buddy or buddess to hand over supplies at a prearranged spot. The other thing you could consider is getting a bush pilot to resupply you out way in the boonies. This, of course, wouldn't be cheap but if you can share the cost with another hiker(s) it may be worth considering. Also if the bush pilot has a scheduled route and your resupply point is not too far off his course it might not be so bad. Whilst we're talking bush pilots you could also consider getting one to drop you out in the bush, pick you up, or both for some more extra remote wilderness hikes.

Some terrain is difficult to hike across without some means of water crossing (for example glacier meltwater is cold - I've never felt such pain - it feels like it's way below zero). Some hikers carry a lightweight packraft such as the Alpacka to aid them. If you have a packraft you can then additionally consider hiking up into a good spot to make camp, spend a few days day hiking the area then float back out on your raft. Adds a whole new dimension. If you're interested check out people such as Roman Dial and Erin McKittrick, who has undertaken some remarkable journeys. Erin's websites (here and here) has some stuff on lightweight long-distance camping you may get an idea or two from.

 

[Husky]

It seems to me on alot of the "ultralight forums" alot of people take great pleasure in getting from A-B as quick as possible,.Sorry i don't get it!Lighter yes,but not necessarily faster......i would just love to hear someone who walked the Appalachian Trail....but took them 3 YEARS instead of 3 months!!!!!!

It is a trend that any outdoors feat has to be an achievement in the way of being some sort of record. Further, faster, or first. In sweden we have something called the "blue ribbon" which is kayaking the whole length of the coast from the norwegian to the finnish border. Your logg is then reviewed by a comitee and if found to be according to the rules you get a small token as a "prize". Once when I was out on a lengthy solo paddle I met another kayaker who asked if I had time to stop and chat. He said that almost every kayaker he met on this part of coastline was "doing the ribbon" and didn't have time to stop because they had so far to go and were in a hurry to get there. He suggested that there should be a prize for the one who was out the longest time instead of the shortest. Something to think about.

If kayaking is your thing, have a look at Timo Noko's homepage.
He is definitely living the free life of traveling without a timetable.
http://koti.welho.com/tnoko/

 

[treefrog]

If you haven't yet watched Lars Monsens adventures as he travelled in Scandinavia for a year, you can watch them here on youtube. Lots of nice fishing up there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQMHKWfnDzo

I'd not seen this series. Thanks for posting, i really enjoyed watching all the lot