Tomorrow I'll go out and test some of my skills and equipment.

Plan: Sunset departure, midday siesta, twilight return.
Not plan: Die on a mountain


Peace,

kowalski

Gonna be annoying you all with lots of this type of stuff starting now. The view from my hammock this morning.




Peace,

kowalski

Peace,

kowalski

Fuckin' A!

So far most of my difficulties in the Spanish wilderness have come from out of date maps, marked trails blocked by private property, private property with a fence only on 3 sides and so on. As I'm trying to travel between water sources this can be problematic.

The maps are at least accurate about which streams dry up in the summer and which keep flowing but due to the reasons stated above you often can't get to them without serious bushwhacking + lawbreaking and the thick undergrowth is home to poisonous spiders and snakes minding their own business.

I carry 2 days of water at a time. So that stuff is frustrating but not really dangerous.

I'm still struggling to eat whilst moving though, so am testing different foodstuffs. This has effected my energy on return hikes.

Brian still hasn't stayed out over night. I expect complications. So want to take him where I already know the route well and have already slept, etc.


Peace,

kowalski

My friend Belgian Tom came to visit recently and at the weekend, just now, English Alex (we have an ongoing thing whenever we are in the same place) was in town. It was my birthday and the anniversary of luring Brian with jamón from a hole under a tree near the train station.


Peace,

kowalski

Happy Birthday / Anniversary with Brian. I hope you managed to find a cake or beer out there in the wild

I'm out of this house at the latest on August 10th.

This week I've been slowly, too slowly, going through the last things around and deciding what to do with them. Next I have some cleaning to do.

There's a lot to be scared of.

What I'm really looking forward to though is being happy or grateful or appreciative of seeing or talking to or touching a human. There's so many fucking humans I don't even know how to treat them well. I'd like to miss them well enough to love them. I expect that to happen pretty quickly.


Peace,

kowalski

I just watched many episodes of I Shouldn't Be Alive and made notes of the decisions that lead to their near death in the wild. There's definitely memes there, the same type of mistake made repeatedly... like in horror movies where after you've seen a few you know what bad decisions the characters are about to make before they even make them. They never tell anyone where they are going, it gets crazy hot in the day and cold as fuck at night, they don't have or know how to get water, a search plane comes and they don't have any method of signalling it, etc.

Even knowing the common mistakes, I may still make them. Here is the information I distilled from those hours of watching people recount their mistakes, with recreations performed by flatteringly good looking actors:

Basic rules:
- Tell someone where you are going and when you'll be back.
- Carry double the required water and food.
- Rest a minimum of 3 in every 30 minutes.
- Mark your trail.
- Don't go down what you can't get back up.
- Don't leave kit behind.

Attach to your body:
- Sinaling devices (whistle, mirror, fire steel)
- Space blanket
- Knife
- Compass
- Large plastic bag
- Water filter
- phone / gps
- Basic first aid kit
- Map
- Light

When you acknowledge you are in a survival situation:
- Start collecting your piss before you dehydrate #beargryls
- Never pass up anything edible or potable.

Contingencies:
- If a search is in progress, stay put and be visible.

Not by chance it runs closely alongside the various versions of "The 10 essentials" - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Essentials


Peace,

kowalski

But how does one know what one can't get back up out of unless one goes down it in the first place and realises one is stuck?

Seriously though, although all this caveman shit is quite interesting, it was a 600% u-turn in regards to what the original plan was - a new job.

Also, add a journal to your arsenal, so you can document your trials and tribulations and write the sequel to 127 hours when an under-malnourished Kowalski is found in 3 years.