Mid-Wis Maple, Day 17

We finally made it back into the woods, where the snow depth has decreased drastically, making the footing somewhat treacherous—you can't tell when you step onto that pristine patch of white whether there's solid ground underneath, or a thin sheet of ice covering a watery hole. Glad my boots are waterproof.

We gathered some sap, not a lot for the amount of time passed since the last time, and some of it was brown from the tannin washed in by the rain—we dump that. We added it to the cook pan and put a fire under it to keep it from spoiling—there still isn't enough to finish into syrup.







We also checked the box elders down at the old homestead, and gathered a bit over five gallons there, that also needed some cooking. Mike found some gasket rope; we used that to get a better seal between the stove and the pan.



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