21 Days Alone in the Northern Wilderness

Hello friends! I'm Max and you're watching a video about my fifth year developing a small log cabin camp away from people and roads in Karelia. In the previous episodes, you may have seen how I was building my off-grid cabin from a typically large cabin. logs about 40 cm (16 inches) in diameter, it is obvious that it would have been easier and faster to build a cabin using medium-sized logs, but I decided not to cut down a single live tree, but instead used the available ancient pines felled by a heavy storm a few years ago compared to traditional 20cm diameter size logs, these 40cm logs are four times heavier I initially had no plans to build a log cabin, but I couldn't just look at this High quality construction with young pine trees rotting and becoming infected with pests and diseases, this post-apocalyptic landscape influenced me to take an ax and save at least some of the fallen pine trunks while clearing space for new trees in addition to building the cabin.

I entertained myself with other bushcraft projects this season. I did some food experimenting with a vertical grill and built another tarp hanger that is much larger than my old stretch film dome warehouse. I also modernized my swimming pond by raising the water level and carving granite steps to replace my old stepladder, as well as bracing. my bushcraft kayak before taking a long trip along the cascade of small local lakes I now have my own fleet hidden on the right side of the remote forest, also a slab cut for the back door of my cabin and experimented with baking a potato in spiral even though I was baking it on a traditional horizontal grill the result was very satisfactory.

I also fished a lot and cooked fish like this pike using a Polish recipe. I improved my earthen oven and learned to bake hearth bread, an excellent artisan food, delicious, easy to make and has a long shelf life to be able to make bread for the home. I had to make an irregularly shaped wooden door and seal the spaces between the rocks with clay. This small investment of time was worth it, although it is a pleasure to sit by my pond and eat fresh bread. loaf of bread baked in the middle of nowhere, another project I did this summer was this razor horse.

This contraption was widely used by barrel makers and woodworkers in the past. You may have seen why I decided to make a razor horse in the video above, although I spent almost two

days

to complete it. I never regretted the waste of time. It saved me time with my woodworking projects and then made the entire process safer. For example, it would have taken me two to three times as long to make this traditional pot holder without a razor horse. I made this craft tar distillery to produce tar and rosin and I used rosin to adhere the legs to this primitive cutting board, as you can see many of my projects interconnect with each other but the main reason I made tar and rose is to build a traditional Viking. boat I need tar and rosin to waterproof it I sculpted a primitive kitchen mortar for my culinary experiments I saw these traditional wooden mortars during my trip to Tanzania next season Meanwhile, I plan to make a mini mill powered by a water wheel a good kitchen mortar will do, In other words, there were many interesting adventures and projects during my three-week stay at the log cabin, but in this video I will focus on the first week of my vacation, as usual, it all started with the delivery of supplies from my boat to the camp further inland this year.

I brought a lot of equipment and other necessary supplies. If I hadn't cut a trail through hundreds of downed trees a few years ago, I wouldn't be able to carry heavy gear to my campsite, my new custom-made modular backpack made the moving process much easier this year. I got a new 3,000 watt generator to replace the one that broke last season if it wasn't for my friend coming to my rescue. with the temporary replacement generator you wouldn't have those drone shots you saw before. I made four trips to my ship and back, which made me pretty hungry, so it's time to start cooking at the start of an expedition.

It is best to cook as much as possible. First the perishable products, in my case they were eggplants and marinated meat that I just brought from the boat. I decided to cook them using a vertical grill method that you may have seen in one of my previous videos. This is an expanded version where you can grill. multiple plates skewered at once I'm sure many people will say that peeling eggplants is not the aesthetic way to do it. This is my reasoning because I will be grilling vertically. I can mix the flavor of eggplant and meat by placing the meat on top.

From a skewer in this way the sizzling fat will drain away, improving the flavor of the eggplants along with the charcoal smoke. That's why I peeled additional diagonal cuts and spread olive oil over the eggplants. I was so hungry I even added a couple of skewers. grilled hot dogs folks, look at this, they can light up smoke. I think it's called pyrolysis, as you can see my vertical grill is quite mobile and you can easily move it to a different location even while it's burning which is a pretty convenient feature for the vertical grilling method, these homemade metal log dogs They were useful although I normally use them for carpentry work.

Another advantage of vertical drilling is that fat does not drip onto hot coals, which would produce toxins when burned, so even people in good health do not have to give up delicious food cooked over an open fire. My vertical grill dishes don't smell like burnt fat or toxins, but rather pure charcoal smoke. Friends, it's a pity that the video can't give you any flavor. or odor samples. I would love to share its flavor with each of you. If you watched my previous videos, you probably know that I brought and planted hundreds of deciduous trees and shrubs around my log cabin camp, most of them grow in two nurseries, not far from the cabin, it is important to help them survive during the first few years in our harsh

northern

climate, since it often happens that you can do two different tasks at once during my long absence, the bottom of my pond accumulated a large amount of organic sludge, which is an excellent natural fertilizer for my young trees.

I needed to clean the pond anyway, but throwing away organic fertilizer would be a regrettable waste, so I decided to allocate a spot for it to compost. First I removed the weeds from the young trees. Fortunately, rare and exotic trees can be easily distinguished from native plants. then I placed a layer of weeds on the ground for my makeshift composter on which I dumped the sludge. I will use most of it next year when it turns to dark soil, in the meantime I used my reserve of organic sludge from last summer to fertilize my trees and bushes, dried organic sludge collected from the bottom of lakes or ponds looks a lot like peat, but it is much more valuable as a fertilizer.

While transporting this water-saturated mud, I came to the conclusion that my dam works as a filter that separates and accumulates this mud coming from the forest lake to the pond to prevent this from happening in the future. I'll have to add an overflow water pipe to my dam, but I'll do that a little later since it's time to change the activity. I harvested the grass and removed some grass and dirt to create a granite jetty in Karelia. Anywhere you stick a shovel into the ground, you'll hit a slab of granite. I'm going to carve steps into the granite pier to replace my old wooden ladder.

I cut the grass on one side of the pond and moved it to the dam to reinforce it and raise the water level of the pond. Please note that all my pond cleaning activities resulted in clogging the dam and raising the water level in it. The first step of my ladder is already submerged. Meanwhile, under the water, the fresh mud has dried a bit and I'm going to use some of it to plant trees now this year. I brought saplings of black walnut,

northern

catalpa, and walnut trees. The walnut saplings were a gift from one of my subscribers in about 20 years there will be a beautiful alley of walnut trees and northern catalpas leading to the log cabin.

I hope to see you then. Ok, I'm done with all the urgent tasks and now it's time to have fun. I decided to entertain myself. By making an overflow valve on my dam, the valve will help me quickly raise the water level in my pond as needed next year. I'm planning to build a water wheel and a mini windmill, on the other hand, when I leave my camp, I can leave. It opens preventing the dam from functioning as a mud filter by simply letting it float downstream. I purposely avoided using green wood because it swallows and can even break the pipe.

That's why I made the plug from a semi-rotten poplar branch, my new bi-metal bearded ax helped achieve a perfect fit. If you want to see how it was forged from a joint plate and an old metal file, I will leave a link below, in addition to the ax making process, the video has beautiful nature footage of the ax. Tested in real-world bushcraft activities, okay, the poplar plug is done and it's time to install the whole contraption on the dam wall. I recently found a clay source near my campsite, which means I'll soon be making some pottery while applying some blue clay.

I use it as a pressure-absorbing sealant to prevent the plug from getting stuck or cracking the pipe. Now I can raise the dam wall even higher without the risk of it being destroyed by a flood in the spring. I need to raise the dam wall about 3 feet (1 meter) to create enough water flow for my waterwheel project next summer. It's been a dry summer, so I decided to cover my southern nursery with mulch to slow water evaporation. Here you can see young trees of Alegan birch, indigo trees, Amur velvet trees, white acacias, German loquats, redbud cercis, scarlet red maple, northern catalpa, black walnut, heart-shaped walnut and walnut.

Manchuria, as well as a few more names I forgot or their saplings didn't. Cut to the present day as you can see the water level raised to the second step of the pond ladder and it's time to cook. I've already used up all the perishables and need to start getting food supplies to supplement what I have. I brought with me cooking a fish soup is a good solution to start saving on my supplies. It is a simple and nutritious meal. An artisanal fast food. As I mentioned above, I brought an "electricity cube" to camp this year along with lots of batteries. electrical devices that I need to film this video the electronic devices filled a waterproof duffle bag that I brought on my boat you are looking at the charging process of steadicams flashlights a car battery an electric shaver smartphones and some power banks because the The most electrical outlet The nearest is many miles from here.

I always try to have enough backup in case of generator failure, mainly for my power-hungry video equipment like my drone cameras and laptop. I also brought a couple of my power tools, like a side grinder. to try them out with my new generator, you've probably already guessed that I'm carving steps for my pond to replace the old wooden ladder I made five years ago; It could still serve me another decade, while the granite staircase will rival the Great Pyramids of Egypt in By the way, its longevity here is a cool trick. If you wear gloves, you can quickly change the side grinder disc without using a wrench.

It takes two quick hits and the flange nut on the disc will loosen. You've probably noticed that I installed an XLR audio connector. as a substitute connector for the "plug-in" power cable DISCLAIMER: The XLR power cable trick would not pass electrical codes in most countries. Research this beforehand if you decide to use XLR connectors for your power tools. I'm not sure if it's necessary. I didn't want to have a dust cover on my side grinder, but since it felt hot to the touch, I continued to put it in a waterproof bag and cool it in my pond periodically during the grinding process.

Making granite steps for my pond was a spur-of-the-moment decision, so I don't have any mason chisels, no big deal, although if you have some tools and a burning desire to make something, you can always improvise the tools you need at home. I have a chainsaw attachment that accepts a 12-inch diameter cutting blade that allows for cuts four inches (10 cm) deep. I think I'll take the next step by using my chainsaw from time to time people ask me how I keep my clothes cleanwhile doing construction work. In my videos, here is the answer I use. An old trick is quick and easy to wash clothes with your legs this way your hands and back don't get tired your legs can easily perform this simple task plus my hands and back even appreciated the change in physical activity when I returned to During my job polishing steps I felt completely renewed, however, I wanted to mechanize the process and I built a water wheel that could function as a washing machine drum while being propelled by the flow of water from this stream and, of course, it is a handcrafted version of a Waterwheel made from local material using primitive tools The waterwheel could also power a mini mill, sharpening wheel, forge blower and maybe even an electric generator.

Please let me know what applications of a water wheel in my log cabin campground would be most interesting to you. I'll probably be surprised that there are a lot of baby toads around here this summer turned out to be atypically dry. All the grass, including the grass on the roof of my cabin, turned yellow. I suspect that's why the toads decided to migrate downstream and did so for five

days

. I must say that it was very inconvenient since you have to constantly check where you are stepping. Fortunately, at the end of the fifth day it started to rain and the amphibians must have changed their minds and stopped their migration if they were working with hand tools and surrounded by babies.

Toads were not a problem with power tools. I had to sweep them up first, which was a slight inconvenience to say the least. It is quite a boring activity to grind and polish rocks, so I decided to take a break and went fishing in the nearby lake. It doesn't take me long to catch some perch in the forest lake and then grind some freshly ground pepper. It's important for cooking. I added salt and pepper and pierced the fish into two curved sticks. Note that it is best to use curved sticks as this way the fish will cook horizontally preventing the juices from leaking out of your mouth.

Lastly, I usually stuff the perch with chopped onion. I add wild chanterelles to my stuffing but there were no mushrooms in the dry forest at that time. I get a lot of questions about how I managed to finish so many projects in one month of my summer vacation. The answer is simple. I always try to work. on a couple of projects at a time, here's an example. I'm cooking fish, making tea, and distilling tar from pine roots all at the same time. Well, lunch time is over and I'm going to finish polishing the granite step. Once finished, I started cleaning. a place located downstream from the pond, this is where I plan to make an aqueduct that would feed a water clock (a water timer) and a sink made of granite or wood, at least it will be easy to wash the dishes a little later.

I even made a water heater using a couple of copper pipes. Four summers ago I made another dam with a drainage pipe a little upstream. The second dam was supposed to help stabilize the flow of water. I guess I inspired a local beaver with my efforts and he built. his own dam on top of mine, the beaver also clogged the drainage pipe. As soon as I unclogged the drain pipe, the water flow became noticeably stronger, so now I know there is enough head and waterfall potential for my mechanical projects in the pond with 6 feet. (2 meters) height difference I will be able to direct water into a wooden conduit creating an artificial waterfall that could turn a waterwheel the waterwheel will mechanically drive a mini mill I even plan to grow wheat and rye next year so I can make flour in the mini mill and then I bake bread in my earthen oven.

That bread could be considered 100% homemade, as you can see the local amphibians are not afraid of me at all, although I kept chasing this frog away, she kept stubbornly coming back to the granite walk maybe it's because she liked to sit on the hot granite. I have to say, it feels really good to be barefoot on a polished granite step warmed by the sun. In the future I plan to raise the water level of the pond and add rustic furniture. the granite walk should improve the look of the pond here is an interesting observation a ripe raspberry does not sink or get wet in the water there are raspberry bushes upstream and if you throw something into the bush while sitting in the pond the water will deliver to you delicious ripe berries while I was enjoying the wild berries, the frog returned and seems to be making his own plans to beautify the pond.

In conclusion, I will show you how to drain the pond to prevent mud buildup. on it during the off season I had to use my aluminum mallet to remove the plug, finally I decided to plug the drain in the upstream dam so as not to disturb my neighbor the beaver, but I will have to make a bigger plug because I forgot that the drainage pipe here has a slightly larger diameter and the plug I brought from the dam downstream is too small, as you can see, in addition to working on the granite step, tending to the young trees and planting new ones, I passed the first week mainly in When modernizing the dam and pond, the only additional project I managed to finish was making a primitive tarp hanger.

I'm not going to go into details because there is a separate video where I showed how to make a dome and hanger using branches and canvas. I must say that this summer I was not able to use the hangar because it barely rained during my three-week stay at the log cabin camp. This pile of sticks is what was left of my stretch film dome. The new hangar is standing. right where the plastic dome used to be I'm quite happy with the design of the hangar, it efficiently protects from the sun and rain the blue tarp that has a straight cut is the same tarp that was presumably torn by the Yeti this story comes from a Mysterious Incident of bushcraft described in one of the videos of my log cabin.

I'll bring my woodworking tools here to work on projects during rainy days again. This is the "mystery tear" and you may have seen this green tarp in the video about my bushcraft kayak and catamaran. Well, this video has gotten long and it's time to say goodbye. I'll just add that during my three-week stay I filmed enough footage to put together a couple more videos of this length. This is Max Egorov from St. Petersburg, Russia, if you liked this video. maybe you could share it with your friends and let good people watch good videos. P.S. I only produce one or two videos at most per month and if you don't want to miss out on new content like this, please subscribe and click the notification bell to stay up to date with the latest content due to YouTube's recommendation algorithm, their notifications have become further. erratic and unstable, otherwise I hope to see you again on Advoko MAKES p.p.s.

For your convenience, I'll leave a link to my playlist of other bushcraft videos in the description below...