martin2007 wrote:
Thanks for sharing this, Robin. I enjoyed seeing how you laid out the camp. The hot tent concept is gaining a hold inside me.
Thanks, The hot tent really is a nice way to enjoy shoulder season canoe camping as I age.
canoetripper wrote:
Robin,
Just one look at that campsite and you could tell it would be a tough search for wood. Even on campfire trips where portaging is low I haul in a milk crate worth of wood. Nice hardwood that's cured for over a year. Split down to use as kindling to ignite damp wood one finds. Even if you make a specific trip back down a 200m portage for that crate its worth the effort as you'll never find that quality of hardwood and include sawing and splitting for that walk.
I agree, hauling in some nice aged split wood is a good plan. Unfortunately, NY doesn't allow importing firewood from other states (in my case, Connecticut) due to various invasive species. My wood stove is cut down to 12" deep, so buying camp wood locally that size is a problem also. Heck, I have 7 cords stacked in my shed, but I can;t bring any of it. To make matters worse, you can't cut dead standing wood, only wood laying on the ground which is a chore to find, and only with a hand saw no chainsaws.. Finally, after a summer of campers picking thru the campsites available wood, pickin's are slim, you called it right. I paddled along the shore, found an active beaver lodge and headed over to the shoerline where the prevailing wind blew any beaver wood into the high water bushes...lots of dried beaver sticks lodged up in the shoreline vegetation, but just not enough to keep me warm for any length of time.
My plan for next year is to make a trip in before the fall just to cut, split and stack some wood which I will hide in the bush till my fall trip.