Never have I slept more soundly. I lay in my bed, the bed I spent 3 hrs making. Layers of ponderosa needles, white oak leaves and small bits of mountain mahogany leaf. The smells are intoxicating, the blackness void of any light. If you have never slept in a pine needle cocoon, well you have never had the sweetest smelling bedroom ever!
It took me about an hour to hike on trail and through the bush to get to my destination. A destination without agenda, goal or purpose. I just wanted to reach the deepest part of the mountain and enjoy the quiet and solitude. But before I can relax, I have to make camp for the day will eventually turn to night.
I chose a spot with about a dozen mature Ponderous pines because the depth of the needles on the ground were plentiful. So I found a good long downed branch about 3 meters long and layed it up onto a down tree about two feet off the ground. Using a branch like a rake I began to rake up the surrounding needles and oak leaves. I could just crawl into that massive pile and call it a night if I wanted, but I wanted to be sure to stay cozy warm in the temperatures that will definitely drop below 0 Celsius.
So I need to collect a number of good support branches that look like your ribs and lay them up against that long branch. Just like the ribs in your chest, these (ribs) ran the whole length of the log just waiting for the warming insulation of those pine needles.
It took about another hour, but now I have enough. They are a meter thick over the entire shelter. Now I am ready for a little wander. Down to the stream where the spring comes forth out of mother for a good long drink... now it is off to play.
Not more than 50 meters away from my new home was a giant pile of pine nut shells and juniper berries. Black bear came by. Not real fresh but a great sign of bear activity getting ready for the oncoming winter. A Coopers hawk comes whizzing past my head, I must be close to her nest. Coyotes calls in the distance. Night is coming soon.
I collected two pocket fulls of pinon pine nuts and two flat rocks and proceeded to make a nutty mash for dinner. After finishing my absolutely favorite nut I whipped out the bow drill and had me a nice fire to enjoy the transition to night.
Now the night is overcoming the day. Cicada's give way to Crickets. Bluejay's give way to horned owls. I love that one hour transition of life that takes place around sunset. Now I will let the fire die and retire to my pine needle cocoon.
I wake to, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff. It is all around me. I am still half asleep but wake quickly. What am I surrounded by. Hungary Coyotes, BEARS! Lay there quietly Mike. About 5 minutes go by and it is quiet, so I remove my shelter door and slowly peak out. There in the morning dusk was no less than 15 beautiful deer. They must have been confused by my shelter and smells as much as I was confused waking to that strange sound. I laid there for ten minutes and we watched each other. Enjoying each others company, what a great start to the day.
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