The Novice Survivalist
A novice outdoorsmen learning camping, fishing, bushcraft and survival. "KNOWLEDGE IS A SURVIVAL SKILL"
Dealing with low Mojo 2- follow-up
Well campers and Novice outdoors people as promised with the results of my MOJO test. Here I am back from my MOJO booster outings. How did it go. Well to be honest….it was splendiferous to say the least. I learnt a couple of valuable lessons from these past couple days and will try to share with you my thoughts on this.
If you remember I was suffering from the dreaded low mojo. I needed a boost and got it from a you tube friend. It the form of a ALFA TOWEL.
I did what I promised and got off the couch, started feeling better about the situation and went outdoors. Something I should have done on my own mojo. Fortunately the TOWEL provided the needed BOOST.
I packed up my daypack. I decided to load it up as a 72 hour survival bag. As if I was going out for the walkabout and had the necessary “things” I would need if something unexpected would happen. Making a quick walkabout into an over nighter. I am a little too old for the absolute minimum, so did my best to be a setup that would be reasonably comfortable and still be light enough for my old back and legs to trudge over a couple miles without me collapsing from exhaustion.
So all packed up, I knew I had to break my fly-fishing skunk from my last Camp. You fishermen and women understand how this can get your goat. It bothers you forever until you break it. Nothing worse. No sleep, constantly thinking of how you are a failure, need to get out and fish in the hope of breaking this the worst SKUNK ever known to man. So headed out to my favorite fishing hole. The one that always producers, It never fails me, It a certain skunk breaker. No problem there…….. Well Ok so it failed me. I had to go to another hole to break the skunk.
It was nothing special just a couple small strippers and was enough to let me know I can still fish…. and catch. Feeling a little better of myself, While secretly rubbing the Alfa Towel on my arm I headed back home safe and secure in that I had completed one task of my challenges. It took me awhile to catch a fish , but hey I caught some. To late to go walkabout. so set a date and repacked my daypack…again.
Fast-forward…..July 2nd. Got my backpack and set off for Cannon River Wilderness Area. A favorite place for me to walkabout. Has all I need to get the Mojo going. A perfect day , 85deg, slight breeze and not a cloud in the blue sky. Decided to add some food to make a early dinner while on walkabout.
I normally will pack my military canteen pouch, it has a canteen, my folded up bush box and small side pockets where I keep my tea makings. I like to stop along the way and indulge in a cuppa tea when ever possible on my out and about’s. Adds to the walkabout. 
Something you should consider adding to your outings. Anyway added a quick easy to cook simple meal. It consisted of some vegetable pasta, some peas and chopped carrots, salsa and some parmesan cheese. All I needed to do was boil the Pasta and the peas and carrots and the other stuff and bingo, dinner is served.
I arrived at the CRWA and headed out on my walkabout. I wanted to check out another camp site I found on the map of the area and thought it would have some potential for a hammock camp over nighter.
15 minutes and 88 bug bites later, I realized that I had packed bug spray but had not put any on. Fortunately I had packed a hand spray in a easy accessible side pocket on my LL bean day backpack. 
Couple sprays later I was back on my way. The bugs were horrified and although I was totally surrounded by them They kept their distance, Well most of them. The woods were in full display. Wonderfully green all over.
There was a lot of standing water from recent rain and that accounted for the huge amount of hungry bugs about. Although the area is known for bugs in summer there were more than I expected. But I persisted. and it paid off in spades. What a day to be out in nature. Lots of birds ( bugs to eat) butterflies and even saw a couple dear.
After stopping at the camp site I used for my solo winter snow camp. (video)
I wanted to see how it looked in summer and there was quite a difference. I headed out to look for the other camp site. I did find it but was disappointed to find no place for hammocks. So headed back to the old camp and made some tea.
Looked around the area again and set about making dinner. I only had my military canteen cup and had to finish my tea before making the pasta.
But all was well and after a good dinner and relaxing a bit and enjoying the views of the cannon River I packed up and headed back. All in all a good walkabout. It was worth the effort, and a huge moral booster for my beaten down trodden ego.
What did I learn you ask? well here it is….
- When your MOJO is beaten up, look to friends to help you through the hard times. Whether its their intention or not their support can well be the turning point.
- Breaking a skunk can be a test of your metal. Persistence pays off.
- The outdoors offers a great moral booster.
- Don’t forget the bug spray…..
One thing I should mention. It was humid under the tree canopy. I lost 4lbs hiking that day. Sweated up a storm, Probably the best diet I’ve ever been on. So Ill add that to the list
- Found a great way to lose weight without dieting
The MOJO is back, feeling strong and energized again. Amazing what silly things can turn your bad times around. Even a simply red Alfa towel from a good friend.
Want to see the result. click here for the video from my you tube channel.
Remember, Knowledge is a survival skill. a good friends are a great resource when times are a little challenging.
Be Safe out there
The Novice survivalist
The Novice Survivalist 