SO I am back from a weekend camping out in Slide Creek area in Oregon, part of the Santiam State Forest/Willamette National Forest; a weekend with friends, and a test of the Bat Wing tarp and DIY hammock! I must say, I had a great time!
The view of the camp site; my hammock tarp is somewhere to the right in the woods;
Slide Creek from the camp site
My hammock tarp camp site; the trees are barely over 12 feet apart; and I only used two stakes; tied the corners of the ends to the trees
with vinyl ground cloth and my pack and Gilmour bow saw to process dead fall wood for fire
The view inside the tarp; that is my USGI Intermediate Cold weather sleeping bag; I have a blue camp pad inside to keep me insulated on the bottom.
looking out to the parking area and National Forest Road 4695; which leads to Brietenbush Road
a trail going into the woods; beautiful scenery!
the Sun shining through;
here be life and dead wood; such is beautiful woodland.
the natural bridge made by felled trees; these trees fell down from a windstorm a while back, a few have been cut in order to provide some firewood; but the majority are left alone
the root base of one of the bridging trees; it is a large base, and provides a good shelter for animals and critters; the ground is so very rocky
one of the Russula mushrooms; I am not sure which species of Russula this one is;
a Western Trillium that’s aged; it is a beautiful flowering plant
a Fairy Slipper; one of the native Orchids in the Oregon/Pacific NW woodlands
a small tree sprouting out of a large dead stump
further up Slide creek; there is evidence of rock slides and bank erosion from storms
A couple of Harlequin Ducks!
another shot of the Harlequin Ducks
Bushcrafting with my vintage Colonial Bowie
and again with the Buck 103 Skinner; making great curling chips
making a tinder stick with the Imperial Ireland small knife
making another tinder stick with the Imperial R.I. bowie knife; it carves pretty good on white pine
A cup of hot chocolate over an Esbit stove
the campground fire pit; modified a little bit so that there’s a draft and a way to feed the large logs into the fire; they are all dead fall/dead logs
The weather was a typical Oregon springtime weather; spots of sun and lots of showers, overnight temps went down to the 40s; and I was toasty warm in the USGI Intermediate Cold Mummy bag and pad; the tarp kept me and my gear dry!
Cascade Tactical 