With summer rapidly waning I have been trying to get out as much as possible while the good weather lasts. So far, we managed to get in some sailing time on Lake Ontario, Camping in Stony Brook and Allegany State Parks and this past week was a combined kayak and primitive camp outing.
Stillwater Reservoir, north of Old Forge in the Adirondack region, is state owned land and offers no-fee camping at a number of designated remote sites. It lies at the end of the longest 12 mile dirt road I have ever traveled. Carry in...carry out, etc. We paddled back in several more miles and set up at a site we had selected from the map. The wilderness scenery was absolutely gorgeous. At night the loons called loudly under a very starry sky. It amazing how much more of the night sky becomes visible once away from the lights of civilization.
On the second morning I awoke to find that our campfire was cold. I had lit this fire by fire piston and had used my hand drill at Allegany, much to the amusement of the next camp, so just for fun and variety I decided to see if I could fashion a bow drill set on site. I found a dead spruce nearby and had previously cut some for fire wood. Its not great for cooking but makes a nice bright camp fire for evening enjoyment. The wood felt good and passed the thumnail test, so I chopped out a hearth board and whittled a short spindle about the size of my thumb in diameter. The socket was split from a section of dead birch and lubricated with spruce gum. The fire gods were apparently smiling as I got a coal on the first try after the burn-in. For future reference, spruce on spruce works just fine.
Stillwater Reservoir, north of Old Forge in the Adirondack region, is state owned land and offers no-fee camping at a number of designated remote sites. It lies at the end of the longest 12 mile dirt road I have ever traveled. Carry in...carry out, etc. We paddled back in several more miles and set up at a site we had selected from the map. The wilderness scenery was absolutely gorgeous. At night the loons called loudly under a very starry sky. It amazing how much more of the night sky becomes visible once away from the lights of civilization.
On the second morning I awoke to find that our campfire was cold. I had lit this fire by fire piston and had used my hand drill at Allegany, much to the amusement of the next camp, so just for fun and variety I decided to see if I could fashion a bow drill set on site. I found a dead spruce nearby and had previously cut some for fire wood. Its not great for cooking but makes a nice bright camp fire for evening enjoyment. The wood felt good and passed the thumnail test, so I chopped out a hearth board and whittled a short spindle about the size of my thumb in diameter. The socket was split from a section of dead birch and lubricated with spruce gum. The fire gods were apparently smiling as I got a coal on the first try after the burn-in. For future reference, spruce on spruce works just fine.
