This is a simple, river bottoms camp out and fire. The camp just makes more of a Friday and make the weekend feel twice as big. All of the common crew have expert camping skills and even better campfire skills so I go deep in to the freezer and pull out an old game hen that never got it's place on the grill that summer and was 'nesting' in the bottom of the freeze. Doomed to frost burn I pull her out for a good laugh. I hide it in my frame bag, but no stranger to raw poultry, I have gloves and all the gear to deal with raw meat in the woods. I carve out a stick and spear that bird.
I sneak up behind the guys. {I've set my camp and intentionally fell out of the communication chain so nobody would miss me and I could set up for the reveal} I find Pete and Josh standing close cooking their dinner, I barge in and thrust my bird into the fire. Everyone explodes with laughs and comments. I stake it in with a few sticks so it hovers over the fire.
I have no plans to eat that bird. It's old and frankly it's still raw and I'm not sure I care to spend the time and energy to make sure it's cook as I DO NOT WANT TO GET UP THAT NIGHT. I have a second dinner that is safe for a remote camp with no indoor plumbing.
It isn't long before Best In Show (aka Pete) gets to moving my bird around. See, He's a bit of a chef at heart and starts asking about my spice rub and my marinade. I tell him, Sir, it's right out of the bag. It's a naked chicken I used to get a laugh and it did that. From now on, it's just meat on a stick. So, he takes over and coaches me to turn it. He's in the overall conversation but you can see, the bird is on his brain more than the conversations. Well, Best in Show was correct. When he called it cooked, the forks came out and we striped that bird like it was a stolen car.
Speaking of skills, I really like this tarp tent, it's easy to pack, small, light and cheap. I don't have to add wear and tear to my good tents and I pick up a ton of experience on tarping. Winter doesn't require a tent but a shelter from wind and a place out of the snow to get in and out of a sleeping bag is nice so I train here and use there.
We are the last to leave after a small warming fire as it's November and the morning are cold. The river bottoms are such a great resource so long as you take care of them. Like any public space, leave no trace, only burn dead wood and pack out your poultry gloves and bones in the two zip lock bags you packed the day before (double bag the nasty stuff). And on that note, Pack it Out!
