Hiking Dude Blog

Heading into the mountains of Wyoming for a week of backpacking this afternoon. This is our campsite in Buffalo last night with the Bighorns in the background. A forest fire on the west side made us change route but weather should be great, so it's all good.

Our first day of hiking and camping was a great opportunity to get a rhythm going. We only covered about 3.5 miles from Hunter trailhead to Triangle Park, but we had a couple water crossings, tough trail, and dust. The crew found a very nice campsite secluded just in the trees with a nice view across the meadow. It's really hard to see that we are here.
Our first dinner and clean up could have gone better but it tasted great and Mrs. Dude and I did the dishes. That's Mrs. Dude crossing the stream, too.
Just a gorgeous day with a few puffy clouds, nice breeze, no humidity, and few mosquitoes this evening. A couple guys fished in a tiny creek. One guy helped fix my fly pole. :-)
Didn't see any animals except horse.
Early to bed and the temp is dropping so we should sleep well.

Our second day was great. I saw a couple elk near our campsite when I woke up. But before that I enjoyed a wonderful view of the big dipper over the mountains when I had to get up at 1:30am.
We got on the trail at 9:30 and had a few miles of pretty tough uphill to a beautiful lunch spot on the top of a pass. From there, it was a rocky but easy walk down to Elk Lake where we eventually found a decent spot to camp.
We saw moose in the lake and a herd of elk run by. The rocky mountains make for a wonderful backdrop across the lake.
Mac and cheese for dinner, but the chili ramen was spicy.
There was frost on the grass this morning but tonight seems much warmer even though we are 1000 feet higher at 9800 feet.

It managed to drop below freezing last night and get frost again. We're camping at the same spot tonight so there was no required hiking. One group hiked up a ridge for the views and I hiked to another valley for some fishing.
We hiked 1.5 miles to a mountain reservoir full of trout. We lost count of the fish we caught on flies and spinners over the 6 hours we fished. Mostly brook trout, but a few rainbows and cutthroat, too.
The group decided on an early dinner since storm clouds were building and rolling past. We never did get any rain, but it was nice to eat early.
Tonight, the mosquitos were pretty bad. We saw a fisher exploring our camp and a moose across the lake.

Our intrepid crew hiked from Elk Lake over a 10600 foot saddle behind Ant Hill then across a creek and up a hillside to the Seven Brothers area. This was our longest hiking day with the most elevation. On the trail, we passed both of our other groups going the other direction. Our new home is a VERY impacted site since this area gets heavy use. We had horrendous lightning last night.

We spent the morning fishing after another night of intense lightning and rain. The fish were off and we caught very few but the scenery was terrific. We packed up in the afternoon and hiked out to Soldier Park for our last night in the wild. It was a nice hike since it was almost all downhill. We left the official wilderness after our water crossing and then camped at a very overused spot. It was a strong contrast with the more beautiful wilderness settings.

A short, brisk hike down the mountain and we were back in civilization, taking showers in Buffalo, WY. We had the afternoon to explore the small town that just happened to be holding its 'Crazy Days' event - basically a sidewalk sale. My highlight was meeting this real, live, Wyoming cowboy selling lemonade with his little brother!
It was a super week with great weather having storms only at night, fun people, plenty of wildlife, and majestic views.

So, what's your favorite kind of cooking fuel out in the wilds - wood, alcohol, canister, white gas, fuel tabs, or something else? They all have pros and cons, including efficiency, cleanliness, smoke, carry weight, speed, cost, and impact. I've used them all and am always interested in new options that come along.



The Hot Ash stove came out last year and it's a new entry in the general wood-burning "rocket stove" category. While an open fire tends to be inefficient, slow, and smokey, a rocket stove harnesses the fuel's potential and converts more of it into usable heat. Small twigs are the fuel and a well-designed combustion area creates big heat. Feel free to google "rocket stove design" to find out how they are being used in kitchens, as home heaters, and for outdoor cooking.

The folks at Hot Ash asked me to give their stove a try and let you all know what I thought of it. They provided me with a stove to test. So, the other day, I took a bag on my morning hike and picked up a bunch of twigs and sticks from the trail to burn. Then, I took the stove and sticks to a secluded area of the local park and got busy. Here's what I found out...



The Hot Ash is a sturdy, thick metal, hot burning, wood fueled camping stove. The design allows it to be disassembled and packed into a 3x3x9 inch box shape (that's about the size of a 16oz. jar of Planter's dry roasted peanuts). That's a pretty small and portable size. It comes in cool packaging with simple instructions and a cloth bag to carry the stove in to keep your other gear clean. The stove is completely stainless steel - and it's thick steel, too. It will withstand pretty much any abuse you want to throw at it, or throw it at. I even pounded it on some rocks a few times and the metal just scratched a bit, no dents.



I set up the stove by placing the pieces together and using two thumbscrews to hold on stabilizing feet and fuel chamber. It's very stable and low enough to the ground that there's not much danger of burns from spilled hot liquids. I think one design improvement could be to replace the thumbscrews with a sliding lock, something like a keyhole, so there are no small, loose screws. Other than that, assembly is easy and fast.



I shaved a few sticks for tinder and shoved the small bits of wood into the horizontal fuel chamber. The fuel chamber is above an elevated air chamber that pulls air in for efficient combustion, the key to a rocket stove design. My dry tinder lit easily and the twigs were burning in less than a minute.



One of the key benefits of a rocket stove is that it burns hot and with very little smoke. It took about 6 minutes from lighting to smokeless, hot fire. Once the air draw was going strong and the heat was roaring up the chimney, the stove burned hot and clean. With the fuel chamber full of small sticks, I let the stove burn to see how long it would last. With no additional fuel, it burned for about 10 minutes and took another 15 minutes to burn to ash and become cool enough to touch the support legs to move the stove.



Ten minutes is plenty of time to boil a pint of water. Using just a small handful of twigs, a quick meal can be prepared. For longer heat, it's easy to feed more fuel into the chamber as it burns down.


I had fun playing with the Hot Ash, and I expect it will be a useful stove for many campers. Like any piece of equipment, it must be compared to alternative items that perform the same task, and individuals need to determine how they plan to use it.

Pros

• Fuel is free - it just burns wood, actually just twigs.
• Clean burning - once burning, it produces little smoke.
• Sturdy - it won't dent, deform, or break when dropped.
• Made in USA
• Compact - doesn't take much space when packed up.
• Fun - feeding small sticks into the fuel chamber is not a bad way to relax for a few minutes. The feel of real fire is something special, rather than the blue flame of gas.

Cons

• It weighs 3.1 pounds. You can save 1/2 pound by leaving the support legs and cross-pieces at home. This is heavy to take backpacking since an alcohol stove, canister stove, or even white gas stove with over a week's fuel is lighter. (I feel the stove is actually much stronger than needed - a lighter gauge steel on the chimney and chamber would work well and cut the weight.)
• It is not fast. Gathering fuel, building the fire, and then cooking, take much longer than other stoves, but faster than an open fire.
• Success is reliant on the environment. If there is no fuel, or it is wet, then you have no heat. If there are open fire bans in place, you can't use it.
• Cost - the purchase price is more expensive than many other cooking options.

Who Would Use It?

• Car Campers - setting up camp for a couple days. No fuel to carry, small space, and real flames make it a good solution when weight is no concern.
• Preppers - in case of emergency, it will be ready when a catastrophe hits. Just use scrap wood or debris for fuel.
• Dinosaur Lovers - someone trying to conserve fossil fuels and consume renewable carbon fuel will prefer this over a gas stove.

Hike On

There's a small company in Colorado making some nice lightweight shelters. If you are ready to dump your 6-pound tent for something much lighter and just as protective, you really should check out Bear Paw Wilderness Designs. John owns the company, makes the gear, and even does his own youtube videos. He's ready and willing to customize any of his products for your specific needs. Let me tell you about my experience with BPWD shelters...

I made my own lightweight shelter in 2012, and I'm proud of what I sewed together. It kept me comfortable over many nights and miles, but it wasn't really great when the weather got bad. John gave me one of his tarps and a 1-person bug nest to try out, but I put it off because it weighed a couple ounces more than my own shelter.

This January, my son and I hiked through the Florida Keys and then through the Everglades up to Lake Okeechobee where my son left to return to college and I continued on to Ocala. I used my home-made shelter while my son used the BPWD shelter. As soon as he left, I had him take my shelter home and I switched to the BPWD - wow! I was completely protected from rain and bugs, had plenty of room, and wasted no time in set-up and take-down each day.



Last month, I ordered a 2-person bug nest from John that would fit under the tarp I already had, replacing the 1-person nest. My wife and I were heading to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, leading a group of youth from our church. We spent 6 nights in the nest under the tarp while mosquitoes buzz bombed us outside, but had no chance in our spacious nest. We had 3 nights of torrential rain and intense lightning, but we stayed completely dry under the tarp that would not even budge when high winds hit it broadside. I'd like to think it was my excellent skill in pounding in stakes, but the shelter held up perfectly.

There was a small amount of very fine mist forced through the silnylon during the very, very worst of the storms but much less than other silnylon shelters I've used. The tarp extended over the sides of the bug nest enough that no rain blew underneath. The sidewalls of the bug nest kept all blown rain out while the mesh allowed complete air flow.

We set up on rocky ground, pine needles, and bare dirt. It was easy to get sturdy tension on the tie lines even though we had to place them at different distances and angles due to rocks and roots underground. The individually adjustable locks on each line worked nicely.



We left the bug nest connected to the tarp at the two ridge points and the four corners. This allowed us to throw down our plastic ground sheet, drop the nest and tarp on top, peg out the corners of the nest and quickly lift the tarp into position. My wife held the front support pole in place while I pounded the lightweight aluminum support stakes in. We repeated that process on the rear support post. It took us about 3 minutes to completely set up the shelter, and the nest was never exposed to rain doing it this way.

I was not able to achieve a perfectly tight ridgeline, but there was very little flapping or ruffling during the windiest storm. A couple inches of space between the internal mesh nest and outer tarp at the top ensured no condensation moisture got inside the nest, even when I bumped up against the mesh.

We were in arid conditions, so there was little condensation inside the tarp. I plan to use this shelter again for a week on the Superior Hiking Trail in Minnesota, starting this Friday. I will check for condensation in a more humid area. I'm taking the 2-person nest because it will give me tons of space, at the cost of only a couple ounces.

Bear Paw Wilderness Design Shelter Benefits:

• Roomy - Long enough inside the nest to have a little extra gear above my head, and wide enough for our two sleeping pads plus about 6 inches between. I can sit up easily without pressing against the mesh ceiling.
• Comfortable - protection from rain with lots of ventilation.
• Flexible - The tarp can be pitched high or low, depending on weather and air flow desired. The nest and tarp, tarp only, or nest only, can be pitched depending on what weather and insect concerns you expect.
• Lightweight - the tarp, nest, and lines weigh 36 ounces. Adding in 12 stakes and a ground sheet brings it up to 46 ounces. It packs into a very small bag, taking up little pack space.
• Unobtrusive - the grey color blends in nicely to nature. It just looks like another rock in the mountains.
• USA - designed, made, and sold locally.
• Customizable - John can create pretty much what you want with different styles, sizes, and materials available.

For pricing, and detailed specs, take a look at Bear Paw Wilderness Designs website. I have a Canopy 2 Tent, a Walled Net Tent 2, and a Minimalist 1 net option.

Pack is packed and ready at 23 pounds, including food. Superior Hiking Trail trip starts tomorrow! Driving to Cascade River and walking south as far as we can in a week. Weather WAS looking good, but now I guess I get to try my rain poncho the first day. My location will get tracked - Check out my current location on the map.