Wilderness camping day1

The boys and I did some hunting, hiking, and camping this past week.  We started our trip three miles from home in Loudon, NH.  There is a class six road that I found while hunting last year.  Off of that road there is a bivouac spot where people have partied and camped before.  So I thought it would be a good spot to do some wilderness activities. 

On Monday morning we packed hooked up the trailer to the four wheeler.  We loaded the trailer with canoe, paddles, tent, food, sleeping bags, and guns.  The food was prepared by Tracy and Elizabeth thankfully.  We said our goodbyes and the boys climbed into the back of the trailer.  Like I said it was only a few miles from home.  We followed Upper City Road until we reached Loudon and then turned onto this road Sanborn Road.  Sanborn road is very bumpy, so we had to keep stopping to check the load.

Arriving at our spot the boys setup the tent while I shot some video.  Setting up the canoe we launched out into the water.  The wind was blowing us around some and the water was fairly shallow.  We got frustrated not long after making our way out into the middle.  The boys wanted to do some hunting instead so we paddled our way back to the tent site with no fish in hand.

We setup some targets to do a little target practice.  Before long the boys wanted to kill something.  So we packed some provisions for a hike through the woods to find some game.  We traveled in a strict formation.  Shooter in front with round in chamber but barrel cracked open.  We lost a few rounds this way, but it is a safe way to travel provided everyone stays behind him.  Not long on the trail Joshua spotted a chipmunk which he thought would be good kill.  He looked to me for approval which I reluctantly gave because the chip was on a rock wall not far from us.  We moved back and Joshua took the shot.  The chipmunk appeared to have taken the shot, or at least shot into a hole.  We found no signs of a hit so we continued on.

We hiked for some time on the road and came to a trail that was closed to ATVs.  We traveled this road for a short distance and stumbled upon a clearing with some downed timber, two muffler pipes, and an unopened bottle of beer.  We set the items up for target practice.  Everyone wanted to shoot the bottle, so I let the boys go first.  They both missed so I had to take care of the job.  With one shot the bottle exploded to the joy of us all.  We shot a few more times at the shinny motorcycle muffler.  When we finished shooting we checked out the damage.  Most of the shots did not pass through the muffler, but got stuck inside.

From there we continued on this trail until it reached Sanborn Pond.  This pond has no public access, but is surrounded on two sides by preservation land and private land on the third side.  I really wanted to camp at this spot, but there really was no way in with all the equipment.  I had scoped the area out Sunday.  There were geese on this pond, but our license does not permit hunting geese.  The boys instead started collecting mussels and trying to crack them open.  They did this for some time and then we headed back to camp.  The return trip was Ben's chance to hunt game.  Ben was already tired from walking and did not see any game to kill.  We were hoping for some rabbit or squirrel.

When we got back to camp I wanted to try again at fishing.  I was hoping we could cook something on the campfire I was planning to start.  This time I made an anchor from a nice sized bolder.  The boys reluctantly decided to come along.  Good thing too, because this time we meet with good fortune.  We were catching yellow perch!  I was already making plans in my mind on how to clean and cook these fish on the fire when something caught my eye.

It ended up being a woman riding on a horse.  Not such good fortune!  She yelled to us in the boat "hey, what's going on here?"  We were fifty or so feet out in the water and I explained to her that we were camping out here.  She was not happy and said we could not have a fire here.  When I asked her if we needed to leave she said that we could fish, but we couldn't have a fire.  I think she was upset that there were beer cans laying around, and may have thought we were drinking.  Our food was also in a box that had some beer label on it.  She left without making it clear if we needed to go our not.  But not long after a man showed up telling us he didn't want us to come back.  When I questioned him about whether we needed to leave, he too would not make it clear if we needed to leave.  He did make it clear that he contacted the authorities.  All I could think of was my four wheeler.  I had not renewed the registration on it and would likely get some static for that.  Josh suggested we go, and I agreed. 

We packed everything up and went back home.  Upon arriving home we loaded the RV with our equipment, grabbed some pizza and hit the road.  We were headed for Umbagog Lake State Park.