2 Nights in New York

[jloden]

Spent a couple nights this weekend with my good friend Matt (556mp) of MP Knives, and Alex (Adahy) of Adahy's Trading Post made a special guest appearance for the second night also.

Matt and I getting geared up to hit the trail. Almost ready to go...


Geared Up by jloden, on Flickr


On the trail. Since our chosen spot was a short hike in, Matt opted to bring a second pack just for his food


Hike In by jloden, on Flickr



Matt's latest creation went along for this trip so he could test it out - a traditional style Leuku blade with stacked antler/leather/wood handle. This was a really cool blade and we had fun messing with it for various camp tasks.


Leuku by jloden, on Flickr


Once we got our shelters all set up, first order of business was a fire to warm our frozen hands and get some coffee on. Here's Matt demonstrating his improvised pot lifter...


Improvised Pot Lifter by jloden, on Flickr

[jloden]

Obligatory campfire photo.


Fire by jloden, on Flickr


Matt doing some more work with the Leuku the next morning, splitting some kindling for the morning cook fire.


Leuku Testing by jloden, on Flickr


Nothing quite like the kettle on to boil!


Kettle on by jloden, on Flickr




Matt's friend CrazyH showed up for the second day and stopped in just in time for breakfast. Here he's demonstrating the Improvised Biscuit Holding Device.


Improvised Biscuit Holding Device by jloden, on Flickr

[jloden]

Since CrazyH brought an MP Knives blade, along with mine we were able to line up three generations of Matt's work which was pretty neat to see. That's one of Matt's very first bushcraft blades, my Hiker model which was Matt's first post-injury blade; he actually did it entirely with hand tools and used it as part of his physical therapy work to rehabilite his hand. Last is the new Leuku blade that was only 2 days old at this point.


Three Generations by jloden, on Flickr

After breakfast we went for a hike up to the lake and decided to leg it up even further to the top of the mountain where we got an eagle's eye view of the landscape.


On top of the rock 2 by jloden, on Flickr


Pochuck Panorama by jloden, on Flickr


Eagle Eye View by jloden, on Flickr


If we needed an indication of how weird weather's been this year, this is it - green ferns, the first 2 days of March, buried in snow from the last storm - ???


Untitled by jloden, on Flickr

[jloden]

Hiking back down


Untitled by jloden, on Flickr



Second night's sunset


Sunset #2 by jloden, on Flickr


Alex showed up for the second night and partook in fire, food and friendship - good times! And of course, he did some carving by headlamp and firelight.


Fire, Food, Friendship by jloden, on Flickr





Carving by Lamplight by jloden, on Flickr


Matt also did some carving, with an Otzi inspired wood spirit


Matt's Otzi Wood Spirit by jloden, on Flickr

[jloden]

And one last shot, Matt's wood spirit by firelight


Wood Spirit by Firelight by jloden, on Flickr

[Pawoodsman]

That looked like a really fun get together.

[HeadyBrew]

Looks like a great time. Thanks for the pics!

[dRobinson]

Alex showed up for the second night and partook in fire, food and friendship - good times! And of course, he did some carving by headlamp and firelight.

Thanks for sharing Jay. Adahy finally got his Mini, did he?

[jloden]

Thanks for sharing Jay. Adahy finally got his Mini, did he?

Yep, sure did. He brought it out to break it in a little this trip

[Adahy]

Thanks for sharing Jay. Adahy finally got his Mini, did he?

I did! So far so good. Takes a little getting used to since it's only around 10oz. But it doesn't act like a tiny axe.

Great photos Jay, Im glad I got to see you again.

...and this is a rare meetup...because I literally shot 0 photos!

But thats ok because you seemed to have nailed it here Jay 8)