Our new Atuk tent!

[tear_knee]

Yayyyy, finally! We took our new canvas hot tent out this past weekend to Algonquin Provincial Park. It was rather chilly but we survived with fingers and toes intact.
Here's the report!
https://canoecrew.wordpress.com/2016/02/20/forty-below-zero/

 

[sweeper]

Nice set up and a lot of information in your blog. Camp grounds are a good testing area for new equipment.

Thanks for the Blackly reminder.

If it isn't a fir it might be a hemlock. Too close a pic to tell.

 

[tear_knee]

Thanks sweeper! If that's a hemlock it's a good thing I didn't eat it. Maybe I'll stick to calling everything "SPF" haha

 

[lowangle al]

Nice setup Tear Knee, but where are your skis?

 

[tear_knee]

No skis! We have snowshoes but since we were at the campground we only needed them to pack down our tent area. Soon I hope to get out with our new home-built freight toboggans.

 

[lowangle al]

I would like to see them when they are done

 

[tear_knee]

lowangle al I have part one of the build up on my blog and I'll post the second instalment soon. The only thing we have left to do is figure out our lashing system. Most of the rigging is finished except for the top bungee tie-down stuff.

 

[memaquay]

Excellent! I've been aching to get my Atuk tent out all winter, but so far my weekends have been booked. Looks like your tent performed admirably in the cold weather. I love those -40 mornings when there isn't even a breath of wind.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Thanks sweeper! If that's a hemlock it's a good thing I didn't eat it. Maybe I'll stick to calling everything "SPF" haha

No, that's a different hemlock! The trees are not poisonous.
Buy yourself a copy of Trees of Canada.
Easy to tell between Balsam Fir and Eastern Hemlock by the bark and by the shape of the mature tree. Similar needles though.

 

[Robin]

Again another fun read, you guys sure picked a cold weekend. Here in Connecticut we set records, -18F with some wind. I think you made a good decision to stay at the campground for your first trip with the tent.
Thanks for that report, I bet you will have some great times with your new tent and yes Andrew looked like a real Canadian to this Yank!

 

[tear_knee]

No, that's a different hemlock! The trees are not poisonous.
Buy yourself a copy of Trees of Canada.
Easy to tell between Balsam Fir and Eastern Hemlock by the bark and by the shape of the mature tree. Similar needles though.

Ahh! But it was a puny tree! I had no mature bark to go by! The needles were very similar to fir. I just learned about the "roll" test. Will edit blog of this grave error.
I have that book but I never seem to carry it with me when I'm in the forest. Perhaps I should start.
memaquay : it worked a treat! Once we remembered to stick the pipe thermometer on and built up the bed and fixed our saggy sides it was awesome and roomy and pretty excellent all around. Does yours have a separate vent? Ours doesn't which I thought was kind of weird, but then again, I don't see any in the pictures on the site either. Do you have the Kanguk or the Alaskan? I've forgotten.
Robin : Thanks! Once we had chosen the weekend a month ago we had to stick to our plan of taking out our new tent! Andrew really is a perfect model for the Canadian look. You have the authentic HBC wool point blanket though, if I'm not mistaken. Now THAT'S Canadian, even if you are a Yankee. Ours is a cheap fleece imitation. Losing at our own game, here.

 

[sweeper]

Don't change the name. Your pic is not a good one to ID which tree you have. My comment to you was ,'IF' it wasn't a fir it might be a hemlock. Looking at the needles for those two trees in the link below I would stick with fir with a good chance it is a Balsam, They don't attach to the branch the way a hemlock does and you can't tell the length. Also Eastern Hemlocks are about at their northern edge in Algonquin.

Most people would just call it a pine and think no more of it.

http://www.treeplantflowerid.com/Pineaceae.php

And because I know you like recipes

http://www.treeplantflowerid.com/Pineaceae.php

http://www.ediblewildfood.com/blog/2012/12/winter-teas/

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

It's a bit big to carry around and most of what's in there will be from somewhere else in Canada. I see that Freinds of Algonquin produces a cheap guide to the trees in the park. I haven't seen it but it does seem to include eastern hemlock in the trees discussed.
I think the immature bark will be different too.

 

[tear_knee]

Thanks sweeper, BV. I used the needle-rolling test and then smelled it and to me it smelled like a balsam, but I've never smelled a hemlock and maybe they smell similar? Hahahaha. I always thought hemlocks had bigger branches that swoop down and were kind of a darker colour. Or at least that's what the one in my local conservation area looks like (and it has a helpful identifying plaque).
I had a leaf-identifying app but it was stupid because it only worked with a wifi connection, and who has wifi in the bush?! Wish I could download field guides to my phone or something. I've read "Edible and Medicinal Plants of Canada" multiple times but it's impossible to retain all of that information. Occasionally I get things right. Usually flowers. Everything else I call a poison-berry.

 

[Canotrouge]

The needles on the Hemlock are shorter(20mm), darker and closer together usually. The cone are more open, and grow towards the ground the bark is rough... The balsam fir, have longer needles(25mm) that are "stiffer". The cones are tighter and grow towards the sky, the bark is "smooth" and covered in pitch blisters.
Trees of canada is a great book. I have the french version.

 

[memaquay]

Ya, don't bother with needles when identifying a balsam, just look at the bark, it's exactly as Canot says, smooth.

 

[snapper]

Great trip report. Thanks for sharing the maiden voyage of your new set-up. Looks like you're pretty dialed in already so all future trips should be a lot easier to manage. Best of luck on getting boots that meet your needs. Cold feet are a more than just an inconvenience when out for an extended period of time during the winter months.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[tear_knee]

Thanks for the SPF tips, everybody. I have a decent handle on the pines but gosh these balsam/hemlocks are tricky.
snapper thanks! Definitely need to work on the footwear situation. Blown winter camping budget. Boots before new sleeping system for sure, though. I thought the heavy ancient rectangular down sleeping bag overtop of everything else worked great. It's an old Woods down and feather that belonged to Andrew's grandfather who passed away almost six years ago. We gave it a wash with Nikwax down wash and dried it with felted wool balls and it puffed up good as new! It's so annoying that I slept perfectly warm at -42 but my feet were cold in Icelandic wool socks and -40 insulated boots.

 

[sweeper]

Thanks for the SPF tips, everybody. I have a decent handle on the pines but gosh these balsam/hemlocks are tricky.
[

And then you have to throw in the Spruces, soon you'll be out there looking for Old Growth Stands and Tall Trees.

To the end, last night while I looking for links for you I came across this one

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Peace

White Pines are my favorite (on the East Coast)

 

[tear_knee]

sweeper Jack Pines are my favourites, they're scrappy feisty little things. I like that they don't get too big and when they start to WHOOSH here comes a fire and they start all over.
We saw the old growth red pines on Wolf lake last year. This year the plan is the Obabika old growth. I like pointing out the odd White Pine in southern Ontario.. They always stand so much higher than the rest of a mixed forest. And they sound different in the wind, too.