Finding the Rhythm -10 Days, 10 Items; Alone on an Island in the Canadian Wilderness Ep. 3

Trolling now for about a half an hour, no luck. I'm making my way down to that creek that I was at before. I might portage into the next lake. I might fish the creek, we'll see what happens. I did get a pike in this little bay before too, one of the ones that got away from me. There's a nice big rock in front of me, I think I'm gonna fish the side of it. No luck on the rock wall, it's all super shallow by the, not even that it's shallow, but there's tons of rocks in the shallows, like it's not just a drop off anywhere, really on this lake it's very different than what I'm used to up here you used to very deep lakes this shallow and then very rocky near the shore fish on fish on oh it's a pike she's a good pike oh man that's a theme that is a theme here that's crazy that was a big pike bigger than the one yesterday this is that was the second time I've casted and caught one this trip the all the other times it's been trolling but as you all know I've only got the one pike in the boat and that sucker this is a good spot anyway oh it's an eagle an eagle he's going back for his food I bet you that's where the eagle was all this bird poop too oh look yeah it's having a feast look at this oh my goodness fish pieces everywhere look there are two, this is crazy Eagle smorgasbord, okay let's go down let's walk down the creek, see what we can see, i want to bring my fishing pole and my paddle on this trip through through the creek and then i'm going to see if i should go in there and fish in the other lake, there's all the suckers in there i can see them yeah oh there's another one there oh yeah yeah it's definitely the eagle look he's having a heyday turkey vulture man there's fish all along this shore i'm keeping my head on a swivel right now for bears i don't think it's necessary to be screaming the whole time but keeping your head on a swivel making a little bit of noise can't be a bad thing right this looks like somewhat of a trail i highly doubt people come back in here so it's probably a game trail, oh birch there's birch oh my goodness look at this bear poop look at the size that bear poop holy crap that's a big one boys and girls oldie oldie but a goodie all right there's moose poop or caribou Holy moose. I'm coming up to get some birch. Mr. Bear. Don't mind me. I'll be leaving in a minute So this whole time I've been using Lichen an old man's beard for fire starting which works fine, but it's nothing like birch I'm gonna load my pockets with this easily peeled birch bark I'm not gonna rip it off the tree damage the tree by any means just as easily peeled off stuff bonus bonus birch coming in for some birch mr. bear this is a pretty cool forest oh man very hilly it's nice look at the beaver chew on all the birch shoots here's a dead here's a dead down birch it's not gonna matter if I peel it off this one right oh yeah bud oh yeah bud look at that one there get a couple of those those will go a long way thanks for the birch Eagles up there Another fish, another fish, another fish, another fish, another fish. OK, this is like a spawning or something. Another fish. Oh, that's fresh. That's very fresh bear poop. That's from today. That's from today or yesterday at the very latest. Oh, it stinks. Oh, man, it stinks. OK, fresh bear, fresh bear, fresh bear. You can see the full circumference of the lake. It's pretty small and pretty low. Can't catch anything here from the shore and I don't want to bring my canoe down through that Creek So I'm gonna head back up into the the main lake I was in my lake. It sucks I thought for sure I was gonna catch something here. It's nice and deep like it drops off way better than the other lake That's alright, alright check this out big old bear print next to warm bear poo Okay Lots of bear in the area. It's a very very very bear area Okay, well no luck on the fish not here at least so I think it's safe to write this Creek off I can't get out of here. It seems like the suckers that were here are dying off moving out and I didn't have any luck catching any fish in that other lake if worse comes to worse I will portage my boat over here and try and fish that lake But not today. I still have options of pike in the other lake So had one on today like you saw we'll keep trying that Actually looks like there might be a clearing up over this hill my canoes back that way the streams back that way But let's go over here and see what this is. It's like a clearing almost and then just like a bog This is wild over here. This is a game trail for sure 100% this is a cool forest. Okay. I gotta go get back into my lake and and start fishing because it seems like the morning is my best time. Monster pike on. I'm letting him tire himself out this time. I already lost one since I talked to you last. Look at the size of this guy. Yup, got to get him in the boat now. I really don't want to screw this up but I really want to get it on film too. He's big. He's big. Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. In the boat. In the boat. Look at the size of that thing. That's three times the size of the other one. Bam, son. Bam, son. It's a good size pike. It's much bigger than the one I caught yesterday. I'm gonna get this guy filleted up. I saved that bag from yesterday, so put the fillets in the bag. I'll probably have some for lunch right now and then supper too. Cleaning the fish tank out of my boat. That pike had a little perch in his mouth. In the bank here, see I got a ton of meat off that fish. The best fillet, again, because it's difficult filleting them, the best fillet is this one by far, one on the bottom this is enough food for me for today maybe not for today and tomorrow but for sure if it's today so i'm gonna cook up some for lunch cook up some for supper today that's a good amount of meat guys that's a good amount of meat for one day like i like this whole catch a pike in the morning and don't worry about food for the rest of the day kind of thing if this keeps up i will be okay with that oh my birch bark get out from here so like i said i saved the bag from yesterday cleaned it out stashed it near my food at night time look at that man that's a couple that's like a pound oh money in the bank show me what you think the bush plane up there far away though very far well i'd say that morning was a success it's still only 9 30 i'm glad i got up early and went out and fished i don't feel an urgency to go fish anymore uh today at least so i gotta work on the shelter a bit i gotta fix my bed and maybe add a back wall i might go lay down for a little bit first i'm a little beat against that wind i was out there for a couple hours things are good things are good folks successful recon mission food in tow yeah very cool yeah not only did i get a fish but i got a good score on birch bark don't mind my butt wave i had a good score on birch bark too so everything's looking good easy fires stuff to cook on the fire that here is looking it's been better it's been better receding hairline old joe i'm happy i feel really content right now i'm really happy feeling good tired and thirsty that's what i need to do get some water it's all it's a constant thing like all day yesterday when i was just hanging out here reading whatever it's like boiled water boiled water drink it it takes a while makes me appreciate a water filter for sure what i thought i was gonna miss was the sleeping pad and it's really not the case. Last night was the worst night but it wasn't even bad at all. I only woke up a couple times. I'm still energized. It's a good feeling. It's a good feeling. So this was my bed last night. I got my boughs down, my sleeping bag, compression sack, and then my cross river bag and then I had my coat there too and laying all on top of that with the sleeping bag. It wasn't so bad but it was uneven. It was lumpy. It was a bit cold. I'm sliding down towards the the fire sliding down towards my feet and it's finally on my back but when i roll on my side it's really not comfortable at all and i'm a side sleeper so go back to my original idea yesterday i kept saying i was going to make my bed this way i don't know why i made it this way probably just because that's the way i was laying uh relaxing so i think now i'm going to move my bed put it on going sideways try and find an even spot if not i will prop it up with logs and stuff At least on the one side as of now. I'm looking here. It's not bad. No, that's not bad at all Actually, which way is better, but the other way, okay, so that's how it goes the head goes here Biko there everything's comfortable. Yeah, okay. That's it My head's here head goes there down to there lots of boughs lots of boughs and moss We'll call this a bed see if I can just kind of move this like a mat and then add on to it after yeah For sure I can most of it. Anyway. Yeah, that's not enough. That's not enough bows I want these big pieces of stick in there I thought I could adjust it so much so that they were off like away from me, but I kept feeling them Last night still I'll get double that or so tonight. See how she goes just in the morning again Trick is to like weave them in herringbone patterns So like the fat ends, the stalks are on the outside and stuck underneath the other ones in this case I can stick them underneath the moss and like them too, does it help? But like I said earlier even if there is a little bit of a fat stalk on it I almost feel it, I'm trying to get rid of those trying to do this the best I can have a good night's sleep tonight, fun times, I'm feeling I'm feeling beat though, like it's, I said earlier I had a lot of energy and I felt good and stuff and then I went and did that paddle and came back and I'm beat, like I think it's the lack of, I know I'm still I'm not, I'm not going without, you know, I mean there's fish every day now almost, but yeah, except for the first day, but there's not much in between that like I have oats for breakfast and then I had fish for lunch and fish for dinner yesterday but I am noticing like I'm getting very um winded very easily and I'm having to take my time and do things slow which isn't a bad thing, you know what i mean but i do notice the lack of calories i think i'm having jerky snacks here and there but i don't want to overdo that because that's like my my rations you know i mean if i can't catch fish then jerky is my my actual meal my actual meat that i can have so it's kind of important keep the jerky i need some substantial firewood i'm gonna cut down a tree i found over here near the shore it's windy but try and fall it into the onto the land you can see it's got to lean towards the water so i cut the notch on this side and i'm going to cut it with a saw on the outside there and it will with any luck fall inland this way on this way too so i'm gonna have to fight against that too made my notch down here i'm cutting above the knot dangerous it's going in water damn it i can't fight it it's going in the water it's not going in the water now it was a struggle it's hard to say some substantial firewood finally and twigs for a bit to come into play if it starts to rain any of these days i'll save this i'll bank all this wood hey i'll stack it in my in my shelter i'll burn a little bit at a time but even just these twigs for dance really good firewood so yeah if it ends up raining for a day i can just huddle hunker down there don't have to worry about shelter or fire more money in the bank right here what it's all about choppy again there's fatwood those limbs the ones right near the trunk obviously is not the ordinary but you can expect it so it's really good so i'm gonna make a couple shavings of this split up some firewood and get a fire going and cook lunch because i am famished right i made a little concoction uh birch bark flakes fatwood shavings and a little bit of old man's beard off the twigs i'm gonna try and spark it right in here and then just dump it on the fire and put twigs on top just having fun you know just playing around see how she goes Oh look at that, it worked All right, lunch pike backstrap I'm gonna cut it into little cubes the bites chunks even and I'm gonna fry it up with some lard in my, I'm gonna use the actual pot to do it not the pan not the insert pan that comes with it, there's a little bit more than will fit in there, I believe I left Backbone on here. Yummy. Pike spine. That's my lunch. Melt some lard in there. Moss in there. I think I'll put a little steak spice and lemon in there before it cooks up too much. Oh, that feels good in my cuts. Yummy. Smells good. Smells really good. I think I'll cook it for a minute longer. All right, guys. You know what? I licked my fingers after touching this, and it tasted so good. I got a good amount of meat. That was really good. The meat is nice and firm. It's so good. There's much for lunch, minus the piece I just ate. I think I'm going to savor all this must be a good lunch, thank you thank you pike creating a little bit of a wind break and a little bit of a barrier, my back is to the majority of the island so if anything comes at me from this side it's just an open shot, I don't necessarily need like a wall like a like a stopping wall just something to rustle to get my attention kind of thing or to deter from going on this side and come around anyways, all I'm doing is taking the tops of the trees that I've used already So I've got jack pine and spruce. I just bunched them up in there. It's working out okay. Yeah, it's not bad at all. That area is still open. I don't know if I'll put logs there or do the same thing, but I'm just working really slow. Everything I do, I feel like I can stretch out. You know what I mean? I think it's better that way. That way I'll always have something that I know I need to do. I'm not rushing to get things done. It gives me like an agenda, like always improving kind of thing. Why am I getting smoked out here? Sorry, always improving always improving my situation and not um beating myself up doing it quickly and exerting a lot of energy that fish was super good I feel re-energized already um i love the pike i love the pike something sturdy to actually wrap this around instead of just tying off the trees next to it and not the right uh direction I'm wrapping this good I'll tie it off I'm gonna do it on the bottom as well growing my own little forest and i I am just exhausted. I felt exactly like this yesterday after I ate my fish for lunch then too. I don't know why it would make me tired if it is. I'm not saying it is. I'm just trying to understand why. It happened yesterday after lunch too. I'll eat fish for lunch and see if there's a difference. I have to lay down. I honestly have zero energy at all. I'm sapped. I went and cut that wood and over by the water I just laid down and laid there for like a half an hour. i just laid there in the wind like i couldn't get up i don't know what's going on i felt this way after i ate a bunch of um fiddleheads the one spring i've passed out for like two hours this is how i feel same way i've never i'm not allergic to fish or anything like that i'm feeling much better after just laying here for a bit relaxing just dropping my knife doing that with the axe just fixed up my camera gear and stuff i found a couple of extra sd cards which is awesome some 32 gigs so i should be okay um but it's super windy and the waves are kicking up i think i'm gonna go paddle around the island it looks fun out there it looks uh fun i'm gonna i'm gonna leave the canoe pretty empty so i can get around pretty good and put on my life jacket boot around the island not really fish just go out and paddle that's so weird you can't not bring the fishing ride that would be dumb i'm doing this fun to have fun but as soon as i went to go it just picked up like that's fine man that was nuts crazy i couldn't get out of here if i wanted to i mean i could but holy it'd be some big time work i'd have to dodge dart from island to island the heavy heavy boat full of stuff, it's just crazy. Hope tomorrow is a little more calm if tomorrow's Tuesday it was supposed to rain on Tuesday, and I think tomorrow is Tuesday. I can't really tell I just know this is the fourth day right now Seeing as how I'm not going canoeing, I figured I'd make myself a permanent eating utensil I've said this probably three or four times now I got this super dense like the ideal wood around here to use for it so I'm gonna split this down with my knife and Carve her up. Now I'm not a real real good carver kind of guy You know I never really got into it, but I can make myself a usable eating utensil That's why I want to use this for my permanent. So, you know, I can take stuff off of it to clean it off. I can just shave it off a bit after I eat. I'll leave it a little fat to begin with. Nice and dense wood. It's not going to get all rotted being used. Okay, cool. And this is my beating stick. I'm going to keep this too. So if I need to batter up. Out of the park, bro. Out of the park. See, look how clean this wood is on the inside. That's why I want to use it. Look at this. It's nice. Nice and smooth. Being weathered forever. This is probably a super old tree hard as a rock petrified wood almost my knife seems a lot sharper full like I'm forcing this down. I just boiled up the fish, threw like a touch of vegetables in there like minimal No rice at all a little fish soup. Yeah, like I said, it's uh, it's filling I'm I'm very full. I'm not hungry at all at all, but I'm putting it down still oh my scoop is working well happy to report look it's even got a little bend to it look at that the best work i've ever done i'm so full honestly like this was perfect i get to ration my rice now no rice eaten tonight i only ate a little bit of rice last night so i'm already up perfect i'm staying here tonight there's no paddling around it's finally died down the wind's done finally it's 10 after 9 there was a lot of wind today for a long time my firewood stacked up here underneath my tarp next to the fire it's not gonna rain tonight there's no clouds at all now there's clouds all day and that wind just pushed them right through i don't know if it'll rain tomorrow after all tomorrow is tuesday i worked it out i got in on saturday friday so it was friday saturday sunday exactly but tomorrow's tuesday was day five so on the radar before i came out that was as far as i could see and they said chance of rain or something chance of rain Pine needles in my mouth So we'll see we change the things that's for sure if I can tomorrow I'd like to go explore the lake more if this if this wind lets up It just is not even fun at all to paddle around in this wind I went earlier like you saw earlier tonight, and this is just like can't do nothing the morning So in my only time with the paddle actually I know sorry at night every other night I could tell too but the mornings were the fishing the best fish I feel hungry after I ate that what's going on There's not enough in the pipe be supplementing those little bit of vegetables and rice and stuff Much really I am working a lot. So i'm expending energy I'm, probably not drinking enough water in the daytime. I like after I eat lunch I've been feeling like really really tired just kind of like laying around again I can't sound like you can go paddle around or anything I'm sure all that will change being here for 10 days You mean you're going to experience all every type of weather cold jack pine tea There's no shortage of loons All right guys, I think I'm gonna call it. All right. I think that's it for tonight I'm gonna try and conserve battery and SD cards. So unless something interesting happens. I will see you guys in the morning Slept pretty good Slept real good. Look what I did kind of barricaded myself in here a big pack in front Light jacket supporting my pillow, everything just blocked inside. My pillow doesn't go anywhere. I got a nice comfortable bed That was a good sleep. I woke up to a very little breeze but it's blowing, sorry about that, another SD card down. I woke up to very little wind that's blowing the exact opposite direction this whole trip it's been hard this way, today it's soft this way, barely any breeze but it's going to rain, like I can tell it's cold, it's very chilly and it's gray, gray day last night's tea, Jack pine when I went to bed last night the wind kicked up again so bad, I went to bed like 10 o'clock or something super early, the wind kicked up so bad, it was worse than in the day I thought my shelter was going to blow over, like it was a general genuine concern, I fell asleep, woke up to, woke up to this, a great day, completely gray today, that's okay though, totally fine with that, get some water on, get a breakfast, maybe go for a paddle if it stays dry, if not work on some camp furniture, I've been sitting on the ground for way too long. I need a chair.