 |
Then too, there's the revelation that sets in when you appreciate the fact that our predecessors had no GORE-TEX® rain jackets or boots, no battery operated flashlights, etc., and more importantly, never built a fire, went to sleep or woke up without wondering if there were hostile Indians nearby. Life was hard.
This narrative of putting in a canoe near the ruins of Fort Phantom Hill at Abilene and traveling over 230-miles by river to Possum Kingdom Lake holds little in the way of bass fishing, but like those who went before us there was seldom time to fish for pleasure. We did catch a bass in Hubbard Creek, which flows into the Clear Fork near Crystal Falls. Other than that one brief period of a couple of hours, our time spent fishing was in pursuit of catfish - for food. Drop-lines were used and baited with the hearts or livers from either bullfrogs or squirrels, the one meal almost guaranteeing another. While we didn't set out to make this a survival trip, we did limit our food supply to dried fruit and instant oatmeal for almost every breakfast, and the bulk of our other foodstuffs were in the form of freeze-dried vegetables to which we added various species of wild game. We did supplement our dietary needs with carbohydrate and protein bars to furnish ourselves with the needed energy to maintain the high level of exertion required to push and pull our boat through "skinny" water. We also carried several modern MRE'S (Meals, Ready to Eat) used by the military, to fall back on when game was scarce or more to the point, when we did not have the available time to hunt or fish. No different than a backpacking trip, weight taken in a canoe is weight that has to be carried during portages. We toted 355 pounds.  |