December 12, 2014
Retreat and Resupply... And Rain
Running out of food and hitting a dead end with our scouting, we headed back to our food cache. Easier said than done of course since we were officially entering our 50th consecutive hour of rain.
What being dry feels like, I have no idea (except my feet - thank you wigwam).
But I have come to the stark realization that I like cold more than wet. But I'm sure you already knew that.
Since we had only planned on being in our camp one night we were almost out of both food and fuel. Therefore, we made the decision to backtrack to our food cache and potentially scout a different route tomorrow.
Wet tent, wet pack, the only thing keeping any of our gear dry is our Granite Gear stuff sacks. The return route was a wet mess of thick underbrush and, well, more wet underbrush. The only perspective we had on any of the surrounding landscape came from the many stream crossings and the last 200 meters we walked on the shore.
Through all this, Ryan has been steadfast (like always). As difficult as some of these decisions are to make, our dynamic is seamless. I find that our styles compliment one another in nearly every situation and there is a regular check and recheck, assess and reassess. There are consequences to what we do here and knowing I can count on Ryan no matter what is a huge boost.
Josiah, on the other hand, doesn't have any of the financial, logistical or expedition stresses underlying our time here and this adventure is more like a vacation than a work trip. Still, there are few others who could pull out a camera and video in the harshest of conditions. His energy has been a positive aspect of being here. I did nickname him the 'lithium battery' because he goes all out then stops immediately.
The problem with youth is that it is wasted on the youth.
We got to our food cache and promptly set up camp hoping to get in the tent as quickly as possible to avoid another soaking.
Later, I wowed both Ryan and Josiah by starting a fire in the rain. I found enough wind dried wood to have a decent sized fire. It felt good to be warm as we stood drying our gear and roasting slabs of meet cut from the cow Pekin and Louis had butchered before we left.
Image: drying out
What being dry feels like, I have no idea (except my feet - thank you wigwam).
But I have come to the stark realization that I like cold more than wet. But I'm sure you already knew that.
Since we had only planned on being in our camp one night we were almost out of both food and fuel. Therefore, we made the decision to backtrack to our food cache and potentially scout a different route tomorrow.
Wet tent, wet pack, the only thing keeping any of our gear dry is our Granite Gear stuff sacks. The return route was a wet mess of thick underbrush and, well, more wet underbrush. The only perspective we had on any of the surrounding landscape came from the many stream crossings and the last 200 meters we walked on the shore.
Through all this, Ryan has been steadfast (like always). As difficult as some of these decisions are to make, our dynamic is seamless. I find that our styles compliment one another in nearly every situation and there is a regular check and recheck, assess and reassess. There are consequences to what we do here and knowing I can count on Ryan no matter what is a huge boost.
Josiah, on the other hand, doesn't have any of the financial, logistical or expedition stresses underlying our time here and this adventure is more like a vacation than a work trip. Still, there are few others who could pull out a camera and video in the harshest of conditions. His energy has been a positive aspect of being here. I did nickname him the 'lithium battery' because he goes all out then stops immediately.
The problem with youth is that it is wasted on the youth.
We got to our food cache and promptly set up camp hoping to get in the tent as quickly as possible to avoid another soaking.
Later, I wowed both Ryan and Josiah by starting a fire in the rain. I found enough wind dried wood to have a decent sized fire. It felt good to be warm as we stood drying our gear and roasting slabs of meet cut from the cow Pekin and Louis had butchered before we left.
Image: drying out