Pine Needle Tea

Pine needle tea has very high levels of vitamin C and A.  It can have more vitamin C than 6 lemons.  First you need to pick the newest green pine needles you can find, they are normally located at the end of the branch and are lighter green than the rest.  You should use about a 1/2 cup of needles to about 1.5 pints of water.  You can either chop them up or just put them into the cup whole.  It is recommend that you bring your water to a boil first then add the needles.  Boil for about 20 minutes and then allow it to cool for another 20 minutes or so.  The tea should be a reddish color with a mild pine taste and smell.  Remember boiling the needles too long will cause the vitamin C content to diminish.  The longer you allow the tea to sit after boiling the stronger the tea will be.  Stir and Enjoy!

WARNING!!!  Do not consume pine needle tea if you are pregnant or even think you might be pregnant.

Bow Drill

WOW!!!  I tried starting a fire with a bow drill yesterday with the intention of posting a "how-to video".  I was just using some wood that I have around the house, but upon further review the wood you use makes all the difference.  It looks so easy but after a few hours of trying and sweating my butt off I came back inside and did some more research.  The best wood to use for a bow drill is Cedar, Willow, Fir, Poplar, and Spruce and I didn't have any of those types of wood handy.  I need to reassess my situation and find some different wood and try again.  There are 5 different parts to the bow drill: Base board, Spindle, Bow, Spindle, and Hand block.  I will keep trying to improve on my design and try some different types of wood.  I will upload a video shortly.

Fire Starting Made Easy

Check out the quick video to the left about how adding a little vaseline to your tinder can help you start a fire faster and easier.  I always carry cotton balls and lint with me to help start fires but from now on I am going to throw in some vaseline as well.  Not only good for fires, vaseline is also good for protecting chapped skin, blisters, or any other cuts or scrapes you might get while on your outdoor adventures.

Humphreys Peak

Here are some pictures from camping last fall with my friends Kyle, Keith, and Jarid near Flagstaff and also climbing Humphreys Peak.  Humphreys Peak is the highest mountain in Arizona at 12,637 feet.  I had a nice case of altitude sickness, I won't bore you with the details but you can look up the symptoms if you want (not real pretty).

Mesa Grande Ruins

My sister brought this to my attention and I thought it was worth sharing.  Plus there is a free pancake breakfast!!!

The 2011 Open House of the Mesa Grande Ruins Interpretive Trail will be held Saturday, March 19 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The free event is the only day of the year this archaeological treasure is open to the public.

This self-guided tour of the ancient home of the Hohokam will give you the chance to tour this large prehistoric Hohokam temple mound, view prehistoric technology demonstrations and participate in ancient games at the archaeological site at the northwest corner of West 10^th Street and Date/Brown. Experts will be stationed throughout the site to answer questions. A free pancake breakfast, sponsored by the Mesa Grande Community Alliance, will be served from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

“Mesa Grande is a unique treasure for the City and the open house is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about what the Hohokam built and our efforts to preserve it,” Arizona Museum of Natural History Curator of Anthropology Dr. Jerry Howard said. The City of Mesa purchased the Mesa Grande ruins to preserve this cultural treasure with the goal of opening it to the public as an educational and recreational facility. Mesa Grande is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project. The City is building a new welcome center at Mesa Grande and the goal is to open it before the state centennial next February.

Lean-to Shelter

 

This is a lean-to I made while out camping the other day.  It took me about 20 minutes to gather all the materials and another 10 minutes or so to construct it.  If I would have been spending the night in this lean-to I would have kept adding materials throughout the day and continued to make the insulation better.  It is also a good idea to enclose the end where your feet are to keep the wind out.  Another good idea is to clear an area around the opening of the shelter so you can lite a small fire if you get too cold.

Basic Shelters

 In Arizona we have so many different landscapes that when it comes time to talk about shelters we have a multitude of choices.  In the winter in northern AZ we can build anything from a snow cave to a lean-to.  In the southern part of the state our choices are a little more limited and require us to be very resourceful.  I want to look deeper into making a shelter in the desert regions of the state.  If you have packed a good survival kit you should have the required materials available to set up a tarp lean-to or cuddle up under your space blanket.  But, if you failed to pack appropriately (shame on you) there are plenty of things we can use to build a shelter.  Our first concern in building a shelter is to get us out of the hot day time sun and second to keep us warm once the sun sets and the temperature plummets.

The first and most basic shelter is referred to as a cocoon.  You simply find as much debris and vegetation as you can find and cover your self with it.  The other option is to gather everything you can find make a large pile and slide into it like a snake.  Be sure to check for scorpions and big thorns when choosing material for your cocoon.

The second shelter I would recommend is a simple lean-to.  I like to use spines from dead saguaro cacti because they tend to be abundant, straight, and easy to break and stack.  All you need to do is find a boulder, tree, or overhang and start leaning the sticks against them at a 45 degree angle.  Note: the steeper the angle the better it will shed rain and water.  After you have a base layer of sticks stacked together you need to cover them with any type of vegetation or solid objects you can find.  This second layer is meant to help block the sun, wind, and rain.  Remember to make the shelter just big enough to fit yourself and your gear.

Other options you have for building shelters in the desert are tepee style and A-frame style.  Both of these are built just like the lean-to but instead of building only one side you have to have a center support and build your shelter on both sides.

Survival for the Rest of Us

Over the past few weeks I have read 4 different survival books, watched several videos, and read countless descriptions of how we are supposed to survive in the outdoors.  These "professional survivalists" throw around all these great ideas about how to survive, but my question is, do they really work?  Would the average person out lost in the wilderness really know how to use these techniques?  Under a stressful survival situation what techniques should the average person even attempt.  Over the next couple of months I am going to put all of these "techniques" into practice and see what really works.  Bear Grylls, making a wet suit out of a dead seal, come on!!!

Eating Scorpions

I wanted to add this to the post from yesterday.  Supposedly you can eat scorpions and some say they taste like shrimp.  All you have to do is catch them, cut off their tails and any poison sack and enjoy.  Out in the wild you can catch scorpions by finding their hiding spots and digging a steep sided hole right next to it.  Scorpions can't climb up steep banks so if you dig your hole steep enough it should trap the scorpions.  You can also bury a bottle or a can and use that as a trap.  One way of cooking them is to skewer and roast them over a fire until they are golden brown.  I would only recommend eating scorpions in a survival situation but if you are in to that kind of thing feel free to send me a video of your experience!  Next time I find one I am going to give this a try and I will post a video of it so you guys can make fun of my weak stomach.

Bark Scorpions

Since I found a scorpion in the garage the other day I figured this would be a good topic to talk about. I did a little research and found out that scorpion fossils have been found from over 430 million years ago.  There are a total of 1400 different species of scorpions in the world and a total of 40 to 60 different species that call Arizona home.  The species that is of most concern to us is the bark scorpion (officially known as Centruroides sculpturatus).  Bark scorpions are small, usually between 1 to 3 inches in length and are a light brown/tan color.  These scorpions can live to be 6 years old and prefer to live in bark, rocks, wood piles, or any dark crevice they can squeeze into.  In cities they are often found in the gaps of concrete block fences.  The reason they are found in homes because they are able to fit through gaps as small as 1/16 of an inch.  Bark scorpions ambush their prey normally at night and prefer to feed on crickets and roaches.

Bark scorpions are incredibly resilient.  Experiments have been done where they have frozen scorpions for weeks, and after thawing the scorpions emerge unharmed and unaffected. During nuclear testing scorpions, cockroaches, and lizards were found near ground zero with no recorded effects.

The bark scorpion is the most venomous scorpion in North America, and its venom can cause severe pain, numbness, and tingling.  The pain typically lasts between 24 to 72 hours. Temporary dysfunction of the sting area is common and the sting area can become immobilized or experience convulsions. It may also have an effect on breathing for a short period of time. Due to the pain many victims describe a feeling of electrical jolts after being stung.

Basic First Aid

Clean the sting site with soap and water

Apply a cool compress (cool damp cloth, no ice)

Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen to help with pain and swelling

Also rubbing the pulp from a prickly pear cactus on the sting site is said to help relieve the pain.

The best way to get rid of scorpions is to spray them with pesticides (it is better to spray at night when they are moving around).  Another popular way to find scorpion is at night with a black light.  Scorpions glow brightly under the UV light and are fairly easy to find.  Most stores carry UV flashlights and I am sure a trip around your backyard at night with a UV light will reveal just how many scorpions call Arizona home.

Dutch Oven Cooking

My brother John had a Dutch oven cooking demonstration last Saturday in his backyard that turned out to be a very informative and delicious experience.  There was a turnout of about 50 people and everyone was given the task of creating their own dish to share with the group.  The dishes varied from chicken stuffed with rice to chili to dinner rolls to chicken-bacon-potato soup and even pineapple upside-down cake.  My sister even made some awesome chocolate cupcakes which was a first for her in the Dutch oven.  Some dishes came out a little over cooked, but at the end of the night everyone had a full stomach and had gained some new knowledge on Dutch oven cooking.  I want to thank John for having us all over to his house and also for being a very patient instructor.

Here is some useful information to get you started.  Dutch ovens can be used for frying, baking, boiling, and steaming.  The following instructions are for cooking using charcoal briquettes.  If you are planning on baking you need more heat on the top than on the bottom.  Put one charcoal briquette on the bottom for every 3 on the top of the lid.  For preparing stews use one on the top for every 4 on the bottom. When roasting put briquettes on the top and bottom evenly.  To understand the temperature and number of briquettes you will need we need to do a little math.  Each briquette adds about 25 degrees of heat.  A good starting temperature is 350 degrees.  To figure out how many briquettes to use, take the size of the oven in inches, and subtract three to get the number of briquettes for the bottom and add three to get the number of briquettes for the top.  Using this method is the best way to ensure even heat distribution like your oven at home.  I’ve found that every 15 minutes you should rotate the oven clock-wise a quarter of a turn and the lid counter clock-wise a quarter of a turn to make sure your dish cooks evenly.

Dutch ovens come in various sizes. They are measured by the size of the opening in inches.  The most popular Dutch oven is the 12 inch variety, which holds about 6 quarts and will serve as many as 12 to 14 people.  The 8 inch version is just right for two people and a 10 inch Dutch oven will serve 2-6 people.  Here is an excellent recipe we used this weekend.

 Chicken Bacon Potato Soup

8-10	boneless, skinless chicken breasts	1	cup sour cream
1/2	lb. bacon	3	cups grated cheddar cheese
2	medium yellow onions; diced	1 1/2	tsp. seasoning salt
1 1/2	cup fresh mushrooms; sliced	1 1/2	tsp. poultry seasoning
12-14	medium potatoes; peeled & sliced	1/2	tsp. garlic salt
(1)	10 ½ oz. can cream of chicken soup		salt and pepper to taste
(1)	10 ½ oz. can cream of mushroom soup

Heat a 12" deep Dutch oven using 18-20 briquettes bottom until hot. Cut bacon into 1 inch slices. Add to hot oven and fry until brown. Cut chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Add chicken, onions, mushrooms, and ½ tsp. of the seasoning salt to the bacon. Stir, then cover and cook until onions are translucent and chicken is tender. Add potatoes. Stir in soups, sour cream, and the remaining seasonings. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 45-60 minutes using 8-10 coals bottom, and 14-16 coals top heat. Stir every 10-15 minutes. When done, cover top with cheese and replace lid. Let stand until cheese is melted.  Serves: 8-10

Personal Survival Kit

We all have a backpack or fanny pack that we take with us when we go into the outdoors, but how much thought do we put into what we take.  Most people I know simply fill their packs with water, granola bars, and maybe a knife or multi-tool and head off on their adventures.  What should we really be taking in our outdoor packs?

This is a list of MINIMUM items that should be included in your outdoor packs: Bandana, Compass, Flashlight plus extra batteries, 2 Large garbage bags (preferably orange), Lighter, Matches, Magnesium flint striker, Metal cup, Multi-tool or Swiss army knife, Painkillers, 25 feet of parachute cord, Protein bars, Sharp knife, Solar or space blanket, Whistle, and Ziploc bags.

Like I said this is only a list of minimum requirements for your personal survival kit and items can always be added to suit your individual needs.  A more complete survival kit would include some of the following items in addition to the minimum items listed above: Candles, Dried food, Duct tape, Tinder for fire starting, First-aid kit, Fishing kit (hooks, sinkers and line), Flares, Hand held GPS, Map, Orange surveyor's tape, Money, Needle and thread, Pencil and notebook, Safety pins, Folding saw, Signal mirror, Snare wire, Personal location beacon or SPOT satellite messenger, Water purification tablets, Water purification pump, and Gloves.

As always use this list as a guideline for packing your survival kit and feel free to personalize your kit to suit your specific needs and the region you are traveling in.  Feel free to add comments about items you include in your personal survival kits.

Edible Desert Plants

I learned something new the other day that will help me in my never ending quest to find natural sources of nutrition while in the outdoors.  In Arizona we are "blessed" with an abundance of plants that are always trying to stab, stick and injure us, so now is the time we finally get to strike back!  One of the most edible plants we have throughout Arizona is the prickly pear cactus. The prickly pear cactus provides us with a few different parts we can eat.  First the fruit, the pinkish, purplish and sometime white part that grows out like a flower.  All you have to do to enjoy the fruit is remove the outer layer, taking special care to remove all the spines, especially the small hair like ones.  There are many ways to use the fruit from simply eating it, to turning it into jam, jelly, sorbet, or wine.  The other part of the plant we can eat is the pad or main part of the plant.  If you are in a survival situation I would recommend cleaning off all the thorns, peeling the outer layer back and enjoying.  If you are eating them at home or in a more controlled environment you can boil them, bake them, grill them or add them to other foods such as salads, omelets or tacos.  The pad of the prickly pear can also be a good source of much needed liquid while out hiking in the heat.

Tombstone Day Trip

Tombstone is located about 70 miles southeast of Tucson and about 180 miles from Phoenix.  Tombstone is now primarily a tourist trap, attracting around 400,000 visitors each year.  If you have never been to Tombstone it is a great place to take in some history from the 1800's.  The most popular attraction is the highly romanticized Gunfight at the O.K. Corral; by far the most famous gunfight of the old west.  The gun fight lasted about 30 seconds and only 3 men were killed, but this fight shows the eternal struggle of outlaws and legal authorities famous throughout the old west.

Boot Hill Graveyard just on the edge of town is also a popular tourist attraction.  Most people think that the Earps, Ike Clanton and Johnny Ringo are buried there, but none of them are.  There are actually very few "famous" people buried at Boot Hill graveyard.  Although, there seems to be a suspiciously high rate of people buried at Boot Hill graveyard that had been shot, "fallen" down wells, and attacked by Indians.  My two favorite quotes from the graveyard at Boot Hill are..."Here Lies Lester Moore Four Slugs From a 44 No Les No More" and "As You Pass By Remember That As You Are So Once Was I and As I Am You Soon Will Be-Remember Me."

There are also many great gift shops, saloons, gunfight shows, stagecoach and wagon tours, and city parks to explore.

http://www.cityoftombstone.com/

Places to Picnic in the Phoenix Area

Lost Dutchman State Park --
Apache Junction at the base of the Superstition Mountains

Papago Park --
Close proximity to the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Gardens

Freestone Park --
Ponds, walking paths, kids train ride; in Gilbert, Guadalupe Rd and Lindsey Rd

Cave Creek Recreation Area --
Almost 3,000 acres; Carefree Hwy and 32nd St.

Margaret T. Hance Park --
Downtown skyline views; Stretching from 3rd St. to 3rd Ave. on Culver St.

Sahuaro Ranch Park --
Peacocks stroll the 80 acre property; in Glendale, 59th Ave. and Mountain View Rd.

Blog Topics

I don't want this blog to be about one particular thing like hiking or shooting or mountain biking, I want it to be about every outdoor activity that is available to us.  My goal is to encourage people to get outside, have fun, gain some new knowledge and enjoy all the many outdoor activities this state has to offer.  Finally, I want to encourage everyone to submit their AZ adventure stories so we can all profit from each others experiences.

Pat Tillman Run

This is a fun event that I enjoy doing and it supports a good cause while also honoring a fallen American hero.

 

Saturday, April 16, 2011 – 7:00 a.m.

 

Be Inspired | Give Back | Run Walk Honor

Pat’s Run is the signature fundraising event for the Pat Tillman Foundation. Held annually in April at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium, the event attracts over 30,000 participants, volunteers and spectators from across the country. Together, they Run, Walk and Honor Pat’s legacy while raising important funds to support the programs created to pay tribute to his commitment to leadership and service.
The 4.2 mile course winds through the streets of Tempe and is staged so that all participants finish on the 42-yard line on Frank Kush Field inside Sun Devil Stadium, symbolic of the #42 jersey that Pat wore while he was a Sun Devil.
Proceeds from Pat’s Run directly support the Tillman Military Scholars program.

http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/pats-run/

Water Sources

I'm currently reading a survival book named "Survive" written by Les Stroud, host of the popular TV show Survivorman.  This is going to be the first of many posts I write about this book because I am so impressed with all the great practical knowledge Les has acquired during his career.  The part that I am reading now and I feel is very important due to Arizona being located in the dry desert southwest, deals with finding water in survival situations.  I want to go into more detail later concerning secondary water collection and how to make ground and vegetation stills, but for now I think it is important to know that even in Arizona there are a lot of places to find primary sources of water.  Primary sources include springs, rivers, streams, lakes, and ponds.  A few ways to locate water according to the book include:
1. Walking downhill; water, especially in the desert tends to accumulate in the bottom of valleys and low lying areas
2. Observe changes in vegetation; vegetation that is darker green and denser than the areas surrounding it tends to indicate water...you may have to dig a little to find it
3. Follow animal trails; animals need water as much as we do, animal trails don't always indicate water but if you see multiple trails coming together there is a good chance they lead to water
4. Follow birds; birds tend to hang out near water, the direction of bird flight in the early morning or late afternoon may indicate a water source
5. Track insects; insects tend to congregate near water sources, also keep in mind that bees never live more than a few miles from water

Les Stroud. Survive, HarperCollins. p 69-94.

Top 10 Best Hikes in AZ

First, I would like to say that this is probably a highly debated topic and I'm sure everyone has their own favorites.  I would also point out that I have not ranked these hikes in any particular order. I have only hiked about half of this list so it is subject to change upon further review.  More detailed descriptions of these hikes will follow and of course your input and "opinions" are always welcome. 


Camelback Mountain -- Phoenix
Grand Canyon - North Rim -- Fredonia
Chicken Point - Oak Creek -- Sedona
Grand Canyon - South Rim -- Williams
Superstition Mountains -- Gold Canyon
Boynton Canyon -- Sedona
Picacho Peak State Park -- Picacho
Papago Park -- Tempe
Walnut Canyon -- Flagstaff
Brown Canyon -- Sierra Vista (also a good mountain bike trail)

Rio Salado Sportsman's Club

We went shooting at the Rio Salado Sportsman’s Club today only to be rained out after about an hour or so.  The gun club is a very nice outdoor shooting range.  It is clean and the staff are helpful, very friendly, knowledgeable and talkative.  The hour or so we spent shooting ended up being plenty of time because it was less than 50 degrees out and very windy.  With the rain starting to blow sideways we figured it might be time to call it a day and get out of there.  All in all the Rio Salado Sportsman's Club was a fun experience and a great way to be able to shoot outdoors without having to drive very far out of town.  The club is located directly under the white <PHOENIX sign painted on the mountain in north-east Mesa.  It costs $7 a day and the paper targets were only 25 cents a piece.  We will be going back to the club soon with hopes of some better weather. 

Desert Exploring

I went driving, exploring, shooting and sort of hiking with my brother today.  Well to be honest it was a lot of driving and looking at some new scenery with very little hiking or shooting.  We went to an area off of I-8 that we had found a few years ago.  It was about 30 miles from the intersection of I-8 and I-10 in the middle of nowhere.  We drove on a dirt road for about 10 miles until we came to some abandon buildings that were begging to be explored. Upon further exploration we determined that the old buildings seemed to be part of an animal feedlot maybe for chickens or pigs.  It was a huge complex in the shape of an X with most of it decaying and falling down but with the foundation of concrete still intact. There was also a little pond with a few water holding tanks scattered around.  There were plenty of birds and small wildlife surrounding the pond and in the nearby desert.  It was starting to rain so with the threat of flash floods we kept the exploring and hiking to a minimum.  All in all it was a fun place to explore with a good dirt road to drive on and plenty of desert landscape to take in.

Welcome

This is my first post on AZ Great Outdoors. My goal in publishing this blog is to talk about all the great outdoor activities there are in Arizona. I also encourage everyone that reads this to submit their own outdoor stories. My hope is that this blog will be a place to share stories as well as get information for planning your upcoming outdoor adventures.