CHAPTER FIVE: Bushwhacking
“Make the most you can of
the Indian hemp seed and sow it everywhere.”
– George
Washington, 1st
United States President
Marijuana Fields
Marijuana is sometimes grown illegally in national forests, especially in
northern California, Oregon, and Kentucky. This problem has caused
several wilderness areas to be temporarily closed due to the fact that growers
are very protective of their illegal crops. A healthy marijuana stalk can
bring between six hundred and a thousand dollars. With so much money tied
up in their plants, some growers feel that they are justified in using deadly
force to protect their crop.
Marijuana plants are easy to identify because of their unique color and
five-leaved stalks. If you think you have come across a marijuana field,
get out of the area immediately and report its location to the nearest law
enforcement agency.
“The fire is the main comfort of
camp, whether in summer or winter.”
- Henry David Thoreau
Winter Camping
Many citizens of the snow-belt states, who find winter weather uncomfortable,
tend to think of winter camping as more of an emergency survival procedure and
not as something done voluntary for outdoor recreation. However, winter
camping can be an interesting, educational, and rewarding experience for those
who learn to cope with its special conditions.
There are three ways for a novice to break into winter camping.
First, in many areas, local outdoor recreation organizations have scheduled
programs for beginning winter campers. Also, colleges and community
schools offer winter camping classes for students as well as the general
public. These classes usually include at least a one-night camp out.
Second, you should always go winter camping with experienced winter campers. As a group of all novices will make basic
mistakes, putting their lives in danger; you need at least one responsible and
experienced winter camper in your group.
Third, it is also possible to learn winter camping on your own. First,
read at least five informative books and outdoor magazine articles on the
subject. Second, select (rent first) the equipment you think best meets
your needs. Then, try a shakedown overnight camp out in your backyard, or
at a municipal or a state park campground to test your gear and winter camping skills.
That way, if any problems develop, you will not be far from assistance.
“Earth and sky, woods and fields,
lakes and rivers, the mountains and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and
teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.”
— Sir John Lubbock
Clothing
The main thing to remember when winter camping is to STAY WARM, BUT DRY!
If you don’t stay dry, you may die. Stay warm, but avoid the overheating
that brings on perspiration. If you perspire heavily enough to dampen
your clothes, you cause a 90% drop in the fibers insulation values. As
often stated, wet clothing next to the skin conducts heat away from the body 25
times faster than dry clothing.
To stay dry and warm and avoid the problem of becoming too warm wear several
layers of thinner clothing. The warm air trapped between the clothing
layers provides insulation for warmth, while at the same time acts to prevent
overheating by allowing you to subtract layers as your body warms from
exertion. Historians say that this highly flexible clothing system was
first developed in ancient China, where it was found that wearing several
layers of clothing was vastly superior in coping with cold weather than wearing
only one thick garment. In China, a common way of expressing the degree
of cold was in the number of coats needed to be worn in order to maintain a
comfortable body temperature. For example, the Chinese might term a very
cold day a three coat day.
“Wake up. Be wonderful. Repeat.”
- Adrienne Posey
We know this is a restatement of other chapters. But, let’s review one more example of the
layering system designed for cold weather.
For cold weather outings, wear three layers of clothing. Your first
clothing layer next to the body should be a suit of polypropylene
underwear. Polypropylene was first developed as diaper material. It
is a fabric that absorbs very little moisture, while acting to wick
perspiration away from the skin.
The second layer and middle layer is the middle insulating layer and can be
made up of any hollow fiber fabric such as wool or polyester in the form of
shirts, vests, jackets, or pants.
The third and outer clothing layer protects the first two layers from the
effects of wind and precipitation. For your outer layer, wear wind pants along
with a hooded
parka both made of a Gore‑tex ® type material.
I
wouldn't be doing my duty as an outdoor instructor if I didn't pass along a
word of caution to you about down. Advertisements often tout it as the
ultimate in outdoor clothing insulation. However, once down becomes wet,
its fibers mat together forming clumps that lose more than 90% of its
insulating value. This makes a damp down garment, or sleeping bag
dangerous in cold weather camping. Every winter recreationists outfitted
in expensive down outerwear and sleeping bags suffer from the cold or even risk
death from hypothermia when their down clothing or sleeping bags become damp
from perspiration, snow, fog, rain, or immersion in water.
Leave your down sleeping bag for inside winterized cabins and your down parka
for watching football games outdoors during dry weather. A wiser choice
of insulating fibers for outdoor recreation would be one of the better quality
polyesters ‑ such as Hollofil ®, Polarguard ®, and Quallofil ®, as even when
damp these provide you with life-saving insulation.
“When you see someone putting on
his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”
- A. A. Milne
Footwear
The suffering caused by cold feet can wreck the pleasure of a winter
outing. When your feet are cold, the rest of your body also feels
cold. To help insure warm feet in a wide range of winter conditions, wear
snowmobile boots. For most people most of the time, snowmobile boots are
still the most practical versatile and available cold weather foot gear.
These are rubber‑bottomed boots with either leather or nylon tops; they are
insulated by Thinsulate ® liners. When damp, you can remove and replace
these liners with a dry pair. Removable inner soles provide additional
insulation, while providing a better fit of the boot. Some of the higher
nylon topped snowmobile boots reach almost up to the knee. And, buy and
then use boots topped with a draw string that helps keep snow out of the boot, which
functions much like snow gaiters.
When using this type of footwear for winter camping, make certain to have
several extra pairs of clean and dry socks, boot liners, and inner soles to
replace those which become damp from exertion caused perspiration.
“A
crude meal, no doubt, but the best of all sauces is hunger.”
- Edward Abbey
The Mug‑Up
The mug‑up is a trailside tea party, (traditionally hot tea and high calorie
donuts). In the past, the mug up was considered to be only a winter
season trail event. Present day recreationists are currently finding that
it is something that may be enjoyed on the trail any season of the year.
In the past, the mug‑up ritual started with the building of a small wood fire
to boil a pot of tea water. The modern nature-lover can now boil water
safer and more efficiently on a single burner stove or carry hot water, coffee,
or tea in an insulated container. Nevertheless, some of the more
traditional recreationists still consider the building of the wood fire, in
areas where open fires are permitted, to be an essential part of the mug-up
ritual. It is an opportunity to display and instruct others in outdoors
skills such as safe, efficient, and fun outdoor fire building as well as
getting first-hand experience with the tea brewing and serving, ceremony.
You should feel free to make your own tea serving ceremony to fit the occasion.
Mug‑ups serve several practical purposes for trail recreationalists.
First, hot tea served with food such as grilled cheese sandwiches is a source
of warmth and energy that reduces the possibility of hypothermia and
dehydration by replenishing energy and body fluid lost from hours of trail
exertion.
Second, the mug‑up is a time to rest. Rest is very important in outdoor
recreation because tired people are less observant, less able to reason from
cause to effect, and less able to imagine possible outcomes that can result in
mishaps. Stopping to rest also gives the body an opportunity to drain some
of the detrimental by-products which are created by the burning of muscle
sugars, such as lactic acid. Lactic acid, sometimes called “fatigue
poison,” contributes to muscle soreness and tension during and after exertion.
Third, the mug‑up can be a time to adjust and repair your gear, as well as look
for medical problems and treat such things as blisters and the early symptoms
of hypothermia.
Fourth, finally, the social benefits of mug‑ups are always enjoyable, and the
group interactions that take place during the mug‑ups or around the evening
campfire(s) may be seen, in retrospect to be some of the more memorable and
valuable experiences of the outing.
Note: Because caffeinated tea
is a diuretic and can lead to dehydration through increased urination, you
should drink it with an equal volume of plain water.
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