The-Atlantic-thefemalesurvivalist

My Garcia Bear Canister weighs 2 pounds 11 ounces, and can hold 7 days of food, if done right.

In my new book, I have a list and the method on how to do this. I've used one of these things in Montana. My hiking partner and I called them "the gorilla" because of how heavy they were and how hard to just strap one on to a pack. I ended up using my external frame and placing it inside the pack itself.

This is a photo of me crossing Lyle Creek on the Pacific Crest Trail. It's being used for the book cover. Even E-Books need Covers!
Today the book is being uploaded to Kindle at Amazon.com.
Everything Except Corn Pasta


In the book I've included lots of trail recipes, recipes for making goodies at home, and tricks for making delicious food while backpacking. I use economical ingredients and have a whole chapter on dehydrating everything from fruits to meats and making "leathers".

Also included are tons of trail stories, photos, and how to make your own backpackers cook set.
These and many more tips all come in handy for the survivalist because it builds on skills and knowledge the creative and thrifty person wants to learn.

The ISBN number for this e-book is: 0-9728154-1-4

I finally built a small fire at the Cabin.
We've had a lot of rain, so everything was soaked. I pulled out the fire starter, a cotton ball impregnated with wax, and broke off some twigs from a dead branch suspended from a tree.

Easy does it. The ground beneath is damp, so I laid some dry twigs down first.
The fire starter was lit with a match, then placed carefully on my twigs.

I feed my fires slowly, keeping in mind that its easy to suffocate a newborn flame.

I visit my cabin regularly and add materials to it. Being 100% natural, it will decompose and collapse someday. For now, its part of my school.

Every morning, especially in the summer, I get an early hike in. Before coffee, before breakfast, before it gets so hot.
Now that our trail cameras are showing a lot of bears with cubs, wild hogs with piglets, and god knows what else out here, I'm making myself bring
The Sling.

And since it has a built in ditty bag, I'm adding some survival stuff, just in case I get off on a bushwhack.

A firestarter, matches, and cigaretter lighter all fit into a tiny plastic bag. This is dropped into the sling. I've placed a large white plastic bag, a watch and a small jack knife into the built in pouch. These simple tools would come in very handy if I had to spend the night alone in the forest.


I made this sling myself from some silnylon. Its just a large ditty bag, measuring 5.5 inches x 9 inches tall. I included a smaller ditty bag whose cord encircles the strap on the sling.

The safety clip on the bear spray has an elastic cord around it. I added this so the clip would never get lost. A small burst when the wind is at your back and the attacker is in close range is sufficent.



Every once in awhile, I practice removing the spray from the sling, sliding the clip off and aiming. I have never needed to use it yet.

By keeping it simple, I know I actually will grab The Sling before I head out the door.
This morning I saw a wonderfully healthy looking black bear. He ran from me, and I thanked him.

This mother bear and cubs were photographed with my boy friend's Bushnell Trophy Cam which is anchored to a tree on one of the many back trails we hike. She's quite large which tells us she's a good bear, knowing how to stay away from humans and out of "trouble".



A second camera is placed near the driveway. What a surprise to find a large bobcat using it for his travels. The camera records the time and temperature. This image was taken in the evening on a hot summer day.


A small wild hog, whose mother was later recorded feeding with a herd of about 15 near one of our many trails, seems quite intent on getting his picture taken.

The cameras are housed in a sturdy box which is anchored and locked to a chosen tree. There are settings for 5 or 8 mg pixels. You can also choose how often a snapshot is taken once motion sets it off.

To avoid thousands of photos during a windy day, sensitivity settings allow the owner to decide how much motion is required to initiate photographing.

My boyfriend bought his Trophy cams at Amazon.com.
I'm enjoying the adventure of seeing all the animals roaming these woods so close to home. Many animals are quiet and never seen in their natural settings.

The camera can also record video.

According to the June 2011 AARP Bulletin, 220,000 bariatric surgeries were performed in the United States last year.

The article is well written and gives the advantages of this drastic method for weight control.

So far, over one million surgeries have been done. The definitions for obesity and the loosening of guidelines have made this option for weight reduction more obtainable.

I find this very disturbing. In a world where people are starving to death it seems obscene that we must resort to actual surgery to keep from Eating Our self to Death.
And that's what the article details as well, how very detrimental all this excess weight is. We won't even talk about the pain and emotional trauma a 40 BMI (body mass index) creates. I did some research before coming up with my solution at this Gastric Bypass Website, a consumer based website, for those needing some facts.

My solution is creative if not extreme.
Considering that surgery alone costs anywhere from $17,000 to $30,000 and involves learning a new eating style anyways, I say we institute a program whereby people needing this surgery can participate in the
Food For Everyone Program.
As volunteers, these candidates fly to a third world country and live with impoverished and malnourished children for six months. The money they would have spent on surgery is used to fund these six months of Food Rehabilitation. During this time they buy food, cook and teach children whatever skills they have to share. All the food for their host children is paid for out of the money that would have been spent on surgery.
After six months, I sincerely believe the volunteers, or candidates, will have lost at least 50 pounds, will have built muscle mass, and will have achieved a greater appreciation for their total beings.
They will address the food addiction, suffer withdrawal, find new friends and a cause: Solving World Hunger, one meal at a time.

It won't be easy. There would not be spas or hot tubs. No massages or iced beverages while watching American Idol.
It would be an experience of a lifetime. They would reclaim their bodies, minds and souls. They would be giving to those Way Less Fortunate.
Wouldn't we all profit from a world much less self centered, a world where we don't destroy ourselves by eating our self to death?

Now, I know there are those who say they don't even eat that much, they simply can't loose weight. Somehow a diet never works for them.
Please, do us all a favor and donate your self to science so the world can learn how bodies create calories from nothing and can subsist on little food. The study of real people defying physics would be very valuable information.
This would aid the whole planet in finding solutions to the energy crisis. As more crops get turned into bio fuel, food becoming more expensive and scarce, the ability to remain fat on little quantities of food will be important survival knowledge.

And that's my controversial post. It is insensitive. Sorry.

I got home last night around 7. After 2,589 miles in less than 72 hours, I was pretty tired. The mug shown above was my good friend. It holds one quart.

Every morning, bright and early I'd fill it full of hot coffee and hit the road. By the time that was drank, it would be time to fill the gas tank. My 1996 Geo gets nearly 45 miles to the gallon, so every four hours or so it would be time to stop.
After paying at the pump via credit card, I'd grab this mug and ask for ice. It was always free.After using the bathroom and washing up I'd head back to the car.

I carry at least two quarts of water with me and thats what goes in the mug now.

Black Jelly beans were my main food source the first day. I drove 994 miles.
The Motel 6 in Laramie was very friendly. I'll always remember its at exit 313. Do not take exit 311. Been there, done that. Lived to tell about it.

Next day I drove over sixty miles out of my way on a reroute around I-29 due to flooding. This was the Highway Departments official Detour and the result was a long scenic drive down US 2 in Iowa.It finally intersected with Hyw 71,which wasn't too shabby. Once in St. Joseph, we got back on I-29 Southbound.
Chocolate Animal crackers and taco chips fueled that day's drive. I got a Motel 6 in Columbia, MO. after a quick meal at McDonald's. This was Saturday night. Tomorow morning, early, I'd get through St. Louis.

The next day, according to plan, I made it home to North East Georgia. My car did a great job, and I survived in spite of the air conditioner biting the dust in Idaho. As I neared the Appalachian range, I had to choke back tears. There's no place like home, no place like those timeless mountains.

Road trips by yourself open up all kinds of possibilities. I wrote an entire novel in my head to break up the monotony of the same Mp3 play list. Singing out loud is fun, be all the star you can be, American Idol eat your heart out.
I smiled and cursed out semi truck drivers who seem to change lanes right behind me after I've passed. How do they know, or am I just lucky?

Today I unpacked and wondered why I bring so much stuff. I picked beans and summer squash from a flourishing mountain garden. Rainmaker showed me the photos taken by his automatic trail cameras and I have a greater appreciation for just how wild it is up here. A huge bobcat, mother bear and cubs, wild turkey with her brood, deer and wild hogs are abundant.

All told, I put on 6,135 miles going to visit all my family, work in the Tetons a month, and head home.

I never want to see another chocolate animal cracker. Black Jelly Beans are still good.