In short: After the storm came the calm, but the calm on this river is deceptive. The further I pushed down the Suwannee with River Dog, the older the place felt and the bigger its residents got. The one goal tonight was simple: find a safe place of sand to call home deep in gator country. This trip is a bushcraft fire from fat lighter and birch bark, cheap camp cooking that eats better than the expensive stuff, and picking a sandbar you can actually sleep on.
We got lucky at the first camp. There was a piece of fat lighter right there on a tree, so I chopped a piece off, pure yellow Georgia heart pine, full of resin. I stacked it around cotton balls soaked in Vaseline and let it catch, then added birch bark off the trees down this way. That birch bark burns better than fat lighter. It flamed up like I poured gas on it. Even after all the rain we paddled through that day, that is a fire you can count on. Fat lighter and birch bark are two of the best natural fire starters there are, and they are worth learning to find on the bank.
Supper was Ben's red beans and rice with a thick pork chop from the night before sliced into it. That pouch runs a couple dollars. You go buy the fancy freeze-dried camping meals and that is 12, 13, 15 dollars, and this eats just as good, probably a little better. That is the whole point. You do not have to spend big to eat well on the river. River Dog got the bone, and he was happy. He is a mini Australian Shepherd, five months old, and this was his first real time out. Instead of herding sheep he rides in the canoe.
The next day we pushed on down toward Turner, and the river kept changing on me, from cypress and tupelo to the first real limestone outcroppings once we crossed into Florida. Gators came off the banks the whole way, one big one that walked right in without any hurry at all. Come evening I started hunting a spot. The last thing you want is to turn over in gator-infested water, so I passed on the sketchy ones. I found a good flat sandbar a bin short of Turner Boat Ramp, right about where I wanted to be, with trees spaced right for the hammock and tarp. We landed, set camp before dark, cooked stir fry chicken and rice, and kept River Dog close on a short leash. That is the game deep in gator country: get up out of the water, camp set before dark, and eat good over your own fire.
Bushcraft fire craft, natural tinder, camp-site selection, and cheap resupply cooking. It is all in the Survival Masterclass.
Read the Survival MasterclassChop a piece of fat lighter, the resin-rich yellow heart pine, and stack it around a tinder like Vaseline cotton balls. Add birch bark, which burns even better, and it flames up fast. Then feed larger wood as it holds.
Find a flat sandbar with solid footing and trees spaced for a hammock and tarp. Get up out of the water, set camp before dark, and keep a dog close on a short leash.
You do not need the expensive freeze-dried meals. A couple-dollar pouch of red beans and rice with a sliced pork chop eats just as good and saves you money.
A multi-day paddle starting from Fargo, Georgia and crossing into Florida, camping on sandbars, with the river changing from cypress to limestone as you go.
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