October 27, 2025 • 39 mins
The roof drums like a metronome while we sort the chaos of a wet northern camp into something that works. We’re counting paper plates, flipping pots to outsmart mice, and finding out the hundred-pound propane tank still has life—thanks to a quick hot-water trick on the steel. Five days of rain can’t stall a Chaga season, so we get practical: clean the carbon off a fouled plug, lean out a smoky two-stroke, and hunt down missing couplers for the old Gifford hand pump. When the seals slip, we switch tactics and haul lake water in pails, forty steps up and forty down.
The sauna becomes our reset button. We strip barcoded stickers from new pipe, seat a fresh damper, and build heat with cedar kindling, pine, then hardwood until the rocks sing. At 175 degrees we wash with a mug, breathe deep, and sleep like we earned it. Along the way we share the small bush hacks that keep a camp alive: a coffee-can bread toaster, a torch to convince a stubborn furnace valve, perked coffee with a hint of Kenyan instant and a scoop of Chaga, and breakfast leveled up by homemade pickled jalapeños. Even the boots get a second life—cut into dry camp slippers that laugh at soaked leaves.
Nature edits our plans with a wink. A perfect idea for wild hazelnut Chaga tea disappears when a black bear stands tall and cleans the bushes bare. We take the hint, shoulder gravel to mend the road, and lean on Starlink for a brief lifeline to forecasts and family. Between stories of decades on this land and fresh testimonials about Chaga’s impact on blood pressure, clarity, and resilience, a theme sticks: simple systems, steady hands, and respect for the bush go farther than fancy gear.
If you love practical outdoor knowledge, camp-tested fixes, and the calm that comes from real work under wet skies, press play and join us under the canopy. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs a breath of pine and woodsmoke, and leave a quick review to help others find their way here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_05 (00:02):
How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to
build one of Canada's mosticonic fishing lodges?
I'm your host, Steve Nitzwicky,and you'll find out about that
and a whole lot more on theOutdoor Journal Radio Network's
newest podcast, Diaries of aLodge Owner.
But this podcast will be morethan that.
(00:22):
Every week on Diaries of a LodgeOwner, I'm going to introduce
you to a ton of great people.
Share their stories of ourtrials, tribulations, and
inspirations.
Learn and have plenty of laughsalong the way.
SPEAKER_06 (00:36):
Meanwhile, we're sitting there bobbing along
trying to figure out how tocatch a bass.
And we both decided one day wewere going to be on television
doing a fishing show.
SPEAKER_08 (00:46):
My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in
all those bass in thesummertime, but that's might be
for more efficient than it waspunching.
SPEAKER_05 (00:53):
You so confidently you said, hey Pat, have you ever
eaten a drunk?
Find diaries of a lodge ownernow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get yourpodcast.
SPEAKER_04 (01:13):
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons
of our natural world becomeharder and harder to hear, but
they are still available tothose who know where to listen.
I'm Jerry Olette, and I washonored to serve as Ontario's
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.
(01:35):
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced to thebirch-hungry fungus known as
Chaga, a tree conch withcenturies of medicinal
applications used by indigenouspeoples all over the globe.
After nearly a decade ofharvest, use testimonials, and
(01:57):
research, my skepticism hasfaded to obsession.
And I now spend my lifededicated to improving the lives
of others through natural means.
But that's not what the show isabout.
My pursuit is a strangemushroom, and my passion for the
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.
(02:18):
On Outdoor Journal Radio's Underthe Canopy podcast, I'm going to
take you along with me to seethe places, meet the people that
will help you find your outdoorpassion and help you live a life
close to nature and under thecanopy.
So join me today for anothergreat episode, and hopefully, we
can inspire a few more people tolive their lives under the
(02:42):
canopy.
All right, as always, we want tothank all our listeners all
across Canada, states, allaround the world.
Great things are happening allaround.
Maybe we'll let you in on a few,but uh Josh and his girlfriend
(03:06):
Casey down in Florida.
And I'm stuck up here in ChagaTown.
So no updates on uh EnsignGunnar or Chocolate Lab and how
he's getting along with Bennyand and Jared's and Brittany's
Doberman.
(03:27):
But uh that sound in thebackground that you're hearing,
that's let me see.
Five days of rain.
Pouring rain.
Constant rain up here.
But a lot of things that we getinto uh into Chaga camp to make
(03:48):
sure everything's all set upbefore we get up to the pick.
But I gotta tell you, it's nofun picking Chag in the rain.
So we wait.
We wait.
So we got up here, got up to thecamp, and normally I get up a
about a month early to check andsee, you know, how much how many
paper plates are there becauseit's a lot easier with the camp
(04:09):
crew.
Nobody wants to do dishesanymore, so we use paper plates
and then put them in the sauna,burn them all out.
Same with uh the wooden spoonsand knives and forks and stuff
like that.
We got into camp and and um andI also normally, like I said, a
month earlier, check and see howmuch how much toilet paper
there, how many paper towels arethere, how many garbage bags are
(04:30):
there, how much propane is inthe tank, how much gas, the
generators running, the wholelist of things that I usually
get up for, but because the wayI changed the uh the way I was
operating through the summer, Ididn't have the opportunity to
take the uh extra time inSeptember to get up and take a
look, see what was in camp.
But we get here.
(04:51):
First thing we notice, all thepots are right side up.
And everybody's wondering, whatdifference does it make if the
pots are right side up or rights uh upside down?
Well, the difference is is whenyou get mice in a camp, when the
pots are right side up, yougotta wash them immensely
because they leave these littlemessages in each of the pots.
(05:13):
Oh, what's in this pot?
And then hop to the next one,and then they go in there.
So you gotta wash them all andscrub them all.
But if they're upside down, themice don't go in there, so it's
a huge benefit to cleaning, youknow, just to make sure that
they're uh you don't have asmany problems and as much
cleanup time as normal.
But I can't understand whypeople don't get it.
(05:35):
Whenever we leave the camp, it'spots upside down and everything
else, but it's not just me usingthis camp.
So and we appreciate the abilityto use the camp.
And the propane.
So we got the um propane and wehave a hundred-pound tank and
then a backup 30-pounder and a20-pounder as well.
(05:56):
No, no, 20-pounder we use for aturkey fryer to do chicken wings
and potato wedges usually, andthe um barbecue we put on the
the 20-pounder on the barbecueto to do um, oh, let me see.
Well, we had we had steaks andwe'll have ribs and stuff like
that.
So and things like that.
So we have the backup.
(06:17):
But the hundred-pounder, we thetemperature was a little bit
warm, so it was hard to tell.
We were gonna unhitch the100-pound tank, take it into
town, get it filled, but so whatwhat we did was we poured warm
water on the side of the tank.
Rolly's the kind of back guybehind that, to check and see
(06:39):
the level of propane in there.
And it seemed like there wasabout two-fifths of a tank left.
So we didn't change it, and herewe are, got there uh five days
later, and we're still gotpropane in the tank to run the
propane lights as well as thethe uh the propane furnace and
(07:00):
the propane stove, so we'restill doing good there.
But I think today we're gonnaunhook and head to town and fill
the propane tank because as Ikeep saying, that sounds that's
rain on the tin roof.
Now, the other thing, some ofthe other things that we have is
uh in camp that's a bit unusual,is uh we have a bread toaster, a
(07:22):
homemade bread toaster.
And it's kind of a littleingenious, it goes great on top
of the propane and propanestove.
It's an old coffee can cut inhalf, and the bottom half of it
has holes punched in it, andthen they take a coat hanger and
(07:42):
kind of punch a couple of holesin the top of the half of the
can, put them through the coathanger, and put a like a
doweling on the end for ahandle, and you put that on the
stove, and all these littleholes on the bottom of the the
coffee can will actually letheat through, and we toast our
bread with it on the on thepropane stove, and it works
(08:06):
spectacular.
It's it's kind of a littleingenious.
It's my uncle Ernie's, I thinkit was his brother who was who
made that, and he we've got acouple of them here, but the uh
two sizes, uh one was uhprobably a tomato juice can and
the other one a coffee can, andthey're cut in half, so there's
about four to five inches fromthe bottom of it where you you
(08:27):
punch a whole series of holes,like a oh, probably a I don't
know what a uh oh let me see, auh quarter inch hole, maybe a
little bit smaller than that.
And just take a uh put it on aboard, tap it through with a
that and a whole series of them,so it looks almost like a a huge
(08:50):
strainer, and that lets the heatthrough, and then we put the
toast on that 15 seconds on eachside, and we got toast in the
morning, and it works great.
Now, some of the other stuff aswell.
We have uh generators that wehad to get going.
So one generator is workinggreat, it's spectacular.
Uh, and I'll tell you it's aHonda.
We don't have any problem.
And I got champions and I gotHondas and I got uh a couple of
(09:14):
other ones here, and we got uhthe Honda's, of course, a
four-stroke one.
So it runs lights and it runsthe radio.
So we listen to the to the Jaysmaking it to the World Series Go
Jays Go.
Glad to hear that.
And then another generator,because one of the guys in camp
here he stays in a trailer andit's a two-stroke engine.
(09:39):
Smokes a bit because the the gasmixture was a little bit high,
but uh runs all his lights andhis electric furnace in that big
trailer.
It's like a I don't know, a30-footer, and a big bed, table,
stove, heater, lights, all theaccompaniment, so he can sit and
read and get his space and worksout just great.
(10:02):
So we got a couple ofgenerators, but the uh
two-stroke generator wasn'tgoing when we got here.
Because so we had to take itinside because guess what?
Listen to that.
It's still raining.
Five days, and oh boy.
We had well, actually, Ishouldn't say it.
We had one good day, and we gotout and uh we we got a huge uh
(10:22):
deposit of jag in the one day,which is good, but all the other
days, and it's just teeming outthere right now, makes it
miserable in the bush, and youget drenched in soak.
Anyway, so the two-strokegenerator, which is a 950-watt
one, just enough to run lightsand charge a car battery to run
the trailer and all the rest ofthe stuff, and it works perfect.
(10:43):
Um we couldn't get it going.
So we had uh we had spark, butwe pulled the plug, and you
could see that it had beencarbon fouled pretty bad, which
made it tough to do anything.
So I had to take that, clean thecarbon out, clean the whole
thing out, and then put her backin, give her a little shot of
just one shot of a quick start,methanol.
(11:05):
Ether, sorry, ether.
Put the plug back in, give her acrank, a couple of cranks, and
away it went, and it's runninggood now, but it's starting to
foul a bit.
But so we changed the uh gasafter we burned through all the
two stroke gas, because to behonest, it's like it was at 108
kilometers to get to uh the gasstation here.
(11:26):
So we still use the gas up, butwe lighten the mix up a bit
because we bring in enough ofthe gas to mix up with it.
Then we had to get to the nextstage, which is guess what?
Hooking up the water because Iwasn't here a month ago to do
that.
Normally I get here a coupletimes a year, once uh around the
springtime, hook up the water,check the base camp, and then
(11:48):
come back in September, make alist of everything we need to
for all the guys and everything.
I didn't get here either in thespring or in September, but we
had to hook up the water.
And we use something called theGifford pump.
The reason it's called theGifford Pump is because it's an
old farm pump that that RayGifford found and brought into
(12:11):
the camp, and it draws up fromthe lake.
So and it was all taken apart,the couplers were missing, so
couldn't find them, checkedeverywhere.
We don't know why.
Somebody probably borrowed themand didn't replace them or put
them back after they borrowedthem.
So we were short two couplingsto run the line to the lake.
(12:33):
One goes outside the from theGifford pump outside through the
the camp, down underground tothe hill, and then there's
another connection there thattakes a long pipe down to the
lake so that we can with a footvalve on it.
Foot valve was there, but nocouplers to join the two
sections of pipe together.
(12:54):
So guess what?
Back to town we go to get aone-inch coupler to put a knot,
bring it all, put it all backtogether.
Then we started pumping likecrazy, but the uh seals on this
pump seem to be have worn out.
And that's some of the stuff,but it's uh it's now, as I said,
raining.
Hear that?
And five days later, and uh thethe because it's leather seals
(13:20):
inside this old hand pump.
And it's starting to wear, butthere must have been some rust
inside uh inside it because youcan see the rust coming out.
We're not getting any rustanymore, but uh they're getting
some slippage through the seals,so we need to take that apart
and rebuild that unit as well.
And so we got uh pump working tosome extent, but to be perfectly
(13:44):
honest, it's still easier totake the 40 steps down the hill
to get pails of water and bringit up for the sauna as well as
for cleaning uh because we boilwater and we wash everything
with that.
I gotta tell you, that'ssomething else.
And with some of the other stuffthat I check, you know, is there
dish soap there?
(14:05):
Is there towels to dry stuff?
Is there the racks?
Of course, there's always theracks here, towel racks to use,
but that's not a problem.
Anyways, we um get all the waterand uh we don't have any problem
with that, but it's stilllugging those fills up, up those
soaking wet stairs in the rain.
A little slippy, but I got my uhmy big rubber boots on, and it's
(14:29):
fine to make it to the outhouseand everything else without any
problems, but it's all part ofthe joy of being in camp, and
right now we're in just enjoyinga morning coffee recording, and
we'll continue to record andsend them through.
(14:51):
And now it's time for anothertestimonial for Chaga Health and
Wellness.
Okay, we're with Bev here inLindsay, and Bev, you've got
some experience with Chaga thatyou'd like to share with some
people.
Tell us uh two stories.
Start with your father's story.
SPEAKER_00 (15:08):
Hi, Jerry.
Um well, um, my dad hadmentioned to me that he was
struggling with his bloodpressure and he'd gone on meds
and it wasn't bringing it down.
He was running around 180, 185,and wasn't enjoying that at all.
And um and so I suggested thathe try the chaga tea because I
knew some other people that hadhad good experience with it, and
(15:30):
I knew my own experience withit.
He started doing the chaga teaevery day.
Um, he stuck it in with hiscoffee, so he only had to drink
one thing a day, and withinthree weeks he had dropped from
180 to 140, which he was reallyexcited about.
But what he was even moreexcited about was that about
three to four weeks after that,he had gone down to 125.
(15:51):
So we're really grateful for thedifference the chaka has made
with his blood pressure.
SPEAKER_04 (15:57):
And he wasn't doing there wasn't any other
medications or changes just todo the change?
SPEAKER_00 (16:01):
No, this was the actually the only shift.
He didn't shift anythingdiet-wise, physical
exercise-wise at all.
The only thing he added in thathe hadn't been doing before was
chaga.
SPEAKER_04 (16:10):
And put it in his coffee, I believe.
SPEAKER_00 (16:11):
And he put it in his coffee.
Very good.
SPEAKER_04 (16:13):
Okay, and you have your own story now.
I have my own story.
SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
So I I started on chaga when I um I met Jerry just
as I realized that I was goinginto a relapse of multiple
cirrhosis, that I I had notrelapsed for approximately 25
years, so I was a littlestartled about it and wanted to
get on it.
And um, so I was in the processof changing a lot of things so
(16:36):
that I could um go back intorelapse rather than dealing with
the MS symptoms.
And so I did change diet and Istopped physical exercise so
that my body would have morerest and I added the chaka in.
And within within I mean withinfive days, I noticed that the
nerve sensory issues I washaving in my legs was already
(17:00):
settling down, and within aboutthree weeks I had the strength
to walk unassisted again.
And I am about three months innow, and um I have um taken a
10-day break from it a couple oftimes just to, you know, you
know, just so that my body, youknow, can stay balanced, you
(17:22):
know, without it.
But every time I go back on it,I um I can feel the difference
in mental clarity and in the waymy nerves are communicating, and
I'm I'm walking very, very wellnow.
SPEAKER_04 (17:35):
Very good.
Well, thank you very much forsharing your story with.
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
No, thanks for thanks for hollering me and
asking me to try a free cup thatone farmer's market morning.
SPEAKER_04 (17:44):
Well, I'm glad it's working out for you.
Thanks, Jerry.
Okay.
We interrupt this program tobring you a special offer from
Chaga Health and Wellness.
If you've listened this far andyou're still wondering about
this strange mushroom that Ikeep talking about and whether
(18:08):
you would benefit from it ornot, I may have something of
interest to you.
To thank you for listening tothe show, I'm going to make
trying Chaga that much easier bygiving you a dollar off all our
Chaga products at checkout.
All you have to do is head overto our website, Chaga Health and
Wellness.com, place a few itemsin the cart, and check out with
(18:30):
the code CANAPY, C-A-N-O-P-Y.
If you're new to Chaga, I'dhighly recommend the regular
Chaga tea.
This comes with 15 tea bags perpackage, and each bag gives you
around five or six cups of tea.
Hey, thanks for listening.
Back to the episode.
(18:52):
Well, had to make a little bitof a break because nature was
calling.
And the outhouse here is verycomfortable.
We use these um uh a breadbasket, an old bread basket to
uh put uh the rolls of toiletpaper in, and then the sweetie
(19:12):
wipes, which we have for acleanup afterwards, and it's
just a pretty basic one holerand good deep pit.
And all occasionally throws somesauna ash into the outhouse to
keep it uh to keep it going, andplus all the um the other active
uh stuff that goes in outhousesor septic tanks to break down
(19:36):
the material in there.
Most people don't know this.
One of the key parts of umouthouses is the fact that
there's so much toilet paperdown there.
And if you can break that down,it just keeps the um keeps the
hole that much uh um lastingthat much longer.
But now one of the other thingsthat we had at the camp that
that we had to work on, whichwas inspiration, and as I
(19:58):
mentioned earlier, when I uh gotthe property in '99 in central
Ontario, the only thing that Iwanted was a sauna.
And I got the logs and I got therebar and I got the stuff, got
the stove and everything else,just ain't got no sauna.
But it's probably because of thesauna here in the northern camp
(20:21):
that inspired me to do that.
And we keep that going prettymuch 24-7, but we had to replace
all the piping.
So all the stovepipe, the blackstove pipe, and we use a single
wall here.
It's kind of hard to find in thestores a double wall black pipe,
which would be a lot betterbecause it lasts a lot longer.
And then it goes up through, andwe've got the insulated pipe to
(20:41):
go through the roof of it.
And it's pretty basic.
It's just basically a, uh, it'sprobably a what a 16 by 12 um
place that has a change room, anold shower in it that doesn't
work, where we store wood and abunch of stuff.
Just a very, very small basicone, almost the size of one you
find in a trailer.
(21:02):
And then a sauna in it with astove and a bench probably holds
two if you want, maybe three,possibly, but we use it one at a
time.
And we use pails of water towash and clean up and do any of
the cleanup to make sure we'reclean, and especially when we
have to put on our go-to-townclothes.
Anyway, so Rolly and Us, we uhreplaced the damper, put the
(21:27):
damper in, replaced all thepipe, and it's all good to go.
We first started though, and oneof the problems was that they
put these these darn uhbarcoding stickers on the sauna
pipe, and you kind of get haveto get that off.
And the stick is the stick is somuch to it, you can't get it all
off, and it burns just like justlike the the um you burn off all
(21:51):
the paint in the new one and itsmells for a bit.
But we got the the all the saunastove and burned off just great.
And you know, and and there'snot nothing quite like the smell
of old dry newspapers when theyfirst go in.
It's got this kind of weirdsmell to it.
(22:12):
But then after everything, we umget the temperature about to 175
degrees Fahrenheit, and we pourwater on the rocks to bring up
the temperature in the room.
And and I I don't know what kindof rocks are in there.
I don't think there's anythingspecial.
And I often wonder if there wasspecial rocks you could put in a
sauna that would make a bigdifference and much more
enjoyable, but it is what it is.
(22:34):
And and then the one thing is isthat I couldn't figure out why
the glasses I have my myeyeglasses, because I wear
glasses, they get these spots onit, and I could never figure out
why.
We thought it was just adefective material that was put
on the uh spots or that theywere cheap or whatever, but no,
(22:56):
actually, it was the excess heatwhen I wear my glasses in the
sauna that causes these problemsin my eyeglasses.
So I have to take my eyeglassesoff to uh to go into the sauna
to be able to stop them fromfrom um going spotty on me.
(23:19):
Now, some of the other stuff isis uh the uh the wood that we
burn, we start off with localpapers, and that's one thing.
The last one of the last thingsI buy is stop in at a variety
store.
I was quite surprised some ofthe gas stations don't sell
newspapers anymore.
But I stock up on a newspaper ofeach just to make sure we got
paper to light the sauna, andthen I use cedar kindling and
(23:39):
then a little bit of pine andthen uh small slivers of
hardwood using maple or yellowbirch to get it going.
Once it's gone, we keep hergoing and put pails on.
Uh we've got a number ofdifferent pails.
You've got to watch some of thepails because they're some of
the older pails are solderedtogether.
But Dan, when he was around,bless his soul, Dan donated a
(24:03):
couple of stainless steel,one-piece stainless steel pails
that we use in the sauna, andthey work spectacular.
I'll be honest.
Everybody says don't put thepails on the rocks, but if you
haven't got a heck of a lot oftime to get some water heated
up, we put the pails on therocks, so on top of the stove.
So you got to make sure it's alllevel and it works very well.
(24:23):
And then we'll uh kind of go inand use a, we used to use a
dipper in it to pour the wateron, but the dipper disappeared.
So now I got a large coffee mugthat we use.
And then not only do we put iton the stoves, but we'll wet
down with the water from thepails, and then soap down, and
(24:45):
then wet down, uh wash it offwith uh the the uh the coffee
cup with warm water.
And it works great, keeps younice and clean, refreshed, sure
makes you sleep at night.
I gotta tell you, we uh lastnight we got another load of um
now.
Rowley's got a dump box on histruck and a heavy-duty spring.
(25:06):
So we've now done two loads ofgravel and fixed the road on the
way in because there were somebig potholes, and guess what
they are filled with?
Water and all this rain, as youcan hear it probably in the
background, still on the uhtapping on the roof.
And after you work up a goodsweat doing that, it's nice to
(25:28):
wash off in the sauna and giveyou a nice sound sleep.
And plus, I also find that thesauna, when I breathe in the
deep water, it kind of clears mylungs and makes me uh feel
better when I'm doing that.
So good, good workout loading upthe uh the dump box on that.
There's lots of gravel up herewhere we are, just about
everywhere you go.
You clear the one inch of ofhalf inch of topsoil that's
(25:52):
there of that, or leaves, andyou're right down to gravel
here.
So lots of gravel around andclean cleared that up pretty
good.
Now, some of the other stuff isuh in camp as well.
We had um we always havedifficulty starting the propane
stove, not the cook stove, butthe furnace.
And it just drives me crazy.
(26:13):
So what I did was I got a coupleof things.
I got one of those littlehandheld butane torches, and I
think it just takes like a uhlittle lighter in there and it
kicks out the heat pretty good,but also those refillable
barbecue lighters that have kindof a torch on the end, not just
a lighter, but a torch.
And there's a little heat valveinside the propane furnace.
(26:37):
As a matter of fact, uh for theuh fireplaces, not the
fireplace, but the oven on theon the cook stove, you need to
heat that heat valve up and thenpress the pilot light and before
it kicks in.
And it takes a bit of time, andit's always the same.
Of course, the the colder it isor the damper it is, the longer
it takes to heat that littlevalve that bends in inside uh
(26:59):
where the pilot light is.
And but we got that going prettygood.
And once it gets going, the uhthe propane uh lights that we
have here.
We got a couple of propanelights, a propane furnace, and
the propane stove works justgreat.
So they're all running.
Takes a little bit of time, butit it it certainly worked out
(27:21):
great.
And I think that uh now uhthat's all done, and we are good
to go with a lot of stuff.
So and up here at camp, one ofthe other things is the uh
coffee.
We perk coffee up here, and ofcourse, guess what's in the
coffee?
I put cheg in the coffee, and Imix up a blend of decaf, and
(27:43):
then I got some.
I happen to have Father McCariusgive me a can of instant coffee
from Kenya, Dorman's.
And I mix a spoon of the instantcoffee with the perk stuff, and
everybody thinks it's justspectacular, and we really enjoy
that.
So coffee is good to go.
We got the sauna going, we gotthe the uh propane going, the
(28:05):
the sauna pipe replaced, the theroad fixed uh when it was a
little bit.
But there's always somethinggoing on in camp that makes it
uh interesting.
And of course, in camp now we'vegot Rolly and I showed up first,
and then Garrett showed up thenext day, and then the day after
that, Ron showed up, and then myother son, uh Josh, he'll be
(28:26):
showing up.
I'm not sure if it's tonight ortomorrow, but uh, and that
should be it about this time.
Pierre was supposed to come, butthat didn't pan out for you,
Pierre.
But we've got a few in camp andwe'll keep going and work on it.
SPEAKER_07 (28:46):
Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola.
And I'm Pete Bowman.
Now you might know us as thehosts of Canada's favorite
fishing show, but now we'rehosting a podcast.
That's right.
Every Thursday, Ang and I willbe right here in your ears,
bringing you a brand new episodeof Outdoor Journal Radio.
Hmm.
Now what are we gonna talk aboutfor two hours every week?
Well, you know there's gonna bea lot of fishing.
SPEAKER_08 (29:08):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
SPEAKER_07 (29:13):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
We're going to be talking topeople from all facets of the
outdoors.
SPEAKER_08 (29:18):
From athletes, all the other guys would go golfing,
me and Garchomp turkey, and allthe Russians would go fishing.
And now that we're reforestingand light things, it's the
perfect transmission environmentto find a chap if any game isn't
cooked properly.
You will taste it.
SPEAKER_07 (29:39):
And whoever else will pick up the phone.
Wherever you are, OutdoorJournal Radio seeks to answer
the questions and tell thestories of all those who enjoy
being outside.
Find us on Spotify, ApplePodcasts, or wherever you get
your podcast.
SPEAKER_04 (29:54):
Okay, well, back now, and and I have to tell you,
I've been coming to this campfor Since it was a little knee
high to a grasshopper, as theysay.
So it's been over 60 years.
And it used to be a road thatwas monitored or run, owned by
logging companies, and you hadto pay a fee to go on the road,
unless you own property downhere.
(30:15):
And the result was my my uncle'sfather bought uh the property,
and uh my uncle ended up withit, and lo and behold, I've been
coming here for over 60 years.
Now, I gotta tell this storyagain.
It's the wild hazelnuts.
I thought I'd come up with thisspectacular new Chaga tea.
It was Chaga wild hazelnut tea.
(30:36):
But uh, I'll let you know thatuh for those that haven't tried
wild hazelnuts, if you roastthem, and it was Pierre, uh
Pierre's been on a couple ofpodcasts with us, he's out
foliette.
The last one was an update onthe on what was happening with
the river, flooding them outthere, but uh they make it all
through and it's unorganized, asis where we are now.
(30:56):
And Pierre had these wildhazelnuts that were spectacular.
I had to tell him, take thoseaway from me, otherwise I'll eat
the whole thing.
And for anybody that's hadwhat's it called, Nutella, they
just taste like Nutella.
And I thought they would make aspectacular Chaga wild hazelnut
tea.
But so Diane and I, my wifeDiane and I came up to camp and
(31:19):
we went around to uh get a bunchof areas up here and looked, and
we found all kinds of wildhazelnut bushes everywhere
because I knew they were here.
So, and then the end of August,September is when they kind of
ripen.
So we came up to harvest them,and we pull into the camp and
everybody's there, and andgreat, and no hazelnuts.
(31:42):
Like, what's going on?
Like, where are the hazelnuts?
So I asked my cousin uh who wereup uh using the camp.
I said, uh are you picking allthe wild hazelnuts?
They said, Wild hazelnuts?
Where are they?
What are you talking about?
I said, Well, see that bushright there, and that bush over
there, and that bush there,those are all wild hazelnut wild
hazelnuts.
Really?
I said, Yeah, come here.
So I found some on there.
I showed them to them.
I have no idea.
(32:02):
Now, um, extremely smaller thanthe normal size.
So the tip of your pinky finger,well, that would be an extremely
large one.
Like a large pea size is uh thewild hazelnuts.
But anyways, and lo and behold,no hazelnuts anywhere.
Couldn't find anything.
So I'm checking all the spotsthat I'd uh picked out, and for
a wild hazelnut harvest to dothe the uh the experimental
(32:26):
chega wild hazelnut tea.
Nothing anywhere.
I can't find any anywhere.
I was like, what is going onhere?
I can't figure this out.
Then all of a sudden, uh Dianeand I are out, we come around
the corner, and there's a largeblack bear standing on his
hindquarters, grabbing ahazelnut bush, eating all the
(32:48):
wild hazelnuts.
Surprise, surprise, all gone.
So that ended the wild hazelnutuh jaggate potential
opportunity.
But uh, you know, you got tolook at different things to
figure out what works and whatdoesn't, if it was pretty good.
And some of the other stuff, youknow, in camp and you're getting
ready, and like I said, youknow, rain, rain, rain, and now
(33:09):
the forecast looks like it'spretty good.
And I'll mention this again.
We're using uh Josh picked up uhmy son Josh picked up a
Starlink, and we use that incamp and it works great.
We run it off the generator andit gives us internet service.
But some of the other stuff is,you know, um one of the last
things I do before I go to bed,I get the morning coffee ready
and we perk it here.
(33:30):
So I fill the percolator, putthe coffee in, and I just have
to turn it on in the morning.
Also, some of the other stuff isthat, you know, Rolly, and
Roly's a buddy of mine, uh, hepickled jalapeno peppers, and
they are spectacular.
And we put them on eggs and weput them on in the morning uh
for breakfast.
I usually don't eat breakfast,but up here I do because I skip
(33:52):
lunch when I get out.
Uh I'll take an apple and maybeum a can of uh sardines and a
bottle of water with us out intothe bush when we're when we're
doing our pick.
But we put so in the morning uhnormally there's uh toast, eggs,
as well as uh uh pan-friedpotatoes and beans or chili.
(34:12):
Well, he puts these pickledjalapeno peppers in there, and
they are spectacular.
Not too hot, just add a nice,nice uh bit of uh enjoyment to
the morning.
Some of the other things we havein the camp that uh we look at,
we have a what's a burn box.
So we have uh normally we have arecycle, a garbage, and a burn
box.
So the recycle is all theplastic bottles, et cetera, et
(34:34):
cetera.
The garbage is usual stuff thatgoes to waste, and then we have
a burn box that we guess what?
We burn it in the sauna.
Also, uh we have a seasoned uhfry pan.
So normally uh we use uh we'llhave a night where we do chicken
wings on a turkey fryer.
So we have a big pot, and wewill heat the pot, and and
(34:55):
normally we have uh chickenwings as well as potato wedges.
And uh we just use the greasefrom that as the cooking grease.
And you know, we uh Garrettshowed up, uh finally showed up
in camp.
So now we've got uh Garrett andRowley and Ron.
And tomorrow Josh is supposed tobe showing up, uh, so long as
everything goes okay, so he'scoming up, so we'll have a
(35:18):
that'll be it for this year'screw, as far as I know.
Um now 44 years ago was thefirst time I was in this camp in
a harvest, and it was the firstweek of November, and there were
12 guys in it.
There's a bunk room with two uhfour double beds.
(35:38):
There was two guys in every bed,two guys in the main one, and
two guys on the pull-out couch.
And mostly um they were allpretty much active police
officers, such as uh my dad andand Doug, who was the deputy
chief, and Bill Mills, and oh,the whole gang of them were all
there.
And the one of the first thingsthat happened on the first day
(35:59):
here in the first week ofNovember.
Remember, I'm uh quite a few uhhours north of Toronto, like
eight, ten hours north ofToronto, in November.
Um, I look out and they're allswimming in the lake in the
first week of November.
And it was just uh some of thecrazy stuff that happens in
camp, you know?
So the um I mentioned I probablymentioned about the eyeglasses
(36:25):
in the sun, and you want to makesure that you you don't take
your eyeglasses in because it uhit takes away the um coating on
there and puts spots on youreyeglasses.
And one of the other things thathappened was uh by the uh the
stove we have uh old coathangers hanging from the ceiling
where everybody dries theirboots and puts their boats
around boots around the aroundthe uh propane stove.
(36:49):
And I had an old pair of bootsthat were worn where they where
they were brought together.
So Rolly and Ron cut the bootsout, and now I use them as
slippers.
And I gotta tell you, when it'sraining like that, when you're
walking in the wet grass, it'snot really a grass, it's kind of
(37:10):
like uh, you know, in the yard,you're walking in the wet leaves
and all that, your shoes come inabsolutely soaked, but with
these old rubber boots that arecut down like a uh a camp
slipper now, they workspectacular, and thank you,
Rolly, for doing that.
Um, one of the other things isthat uh in when we're out in the
uh bush, we all use uh radios inorder to be in touch with
(37:32):
everybody.
And that way we're in constantcommunication and we know
exactly what's happening.
And next time I record, nextweek, we will do a show of
harvesting chaga.
All right.
Now, just before we end today'spodcast, I want to do a big
(37:52):
shout out to listeners of thepodcast and the consumers of the
Chaga product, uh, BonjourBakery in Edmonton.
The crew there, we thank you andappreciate you listening to us
and enjoying our product.
And if anybody has any questionsor comments or needs some
information, as always, don't beafraid to reach out to us.
And this is just another segmentof how we do things out there
(38:15):
under the canopy, getting readyfor the Chaga harvest and be
able to pick.
Now we've spotted some and we'regonna start harvesting.
We got a little bit, but nowthat the rain looks like it's
cleared up, we're good to go andbe enjoying a lot more fun and
times out there under thecanopy.
SPEAKER_03 (38:51):
To amass the single largest database of muskie
angling education materialanywhere in the world.
SPEAKER_01 (38:57):
Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this
amazing community and share itwith passionate anglers just
like you.
SPEAKER_03 (39:03):
Thus, the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly
grew to become one of the topfishing podcasts in North
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SPEAKER_01 (39:10):
Step into the world of angling adventures and
embrace the thrill of the catchwith the Ugly Pike Podcast.
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SPEAKER_03 (39:24):
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Through laughter, throughcamaraderie, and an unwavering
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Subscribe now and never miss amoment of our angling
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SPEAKER_01 (39:42):
Tight lines, everyone.
SPEAKER_03 (39:44):
Find UglyPike now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.
How did a small-town sheet metal mechanic come to
build one of Canada's mosticonic fishing lodges?
I'm your host, Steve Nitzwicky,and you'll find out about that
and a whole lot more on theOutdoor Journal Radio Network's
newest podcast, Diaries of aLodge Owner.
But this podcast will be morethan that.
(00:22):
Every week on Diaries of a LodgeOwner, I'm going to introduce
you to a ton of great people.
Share their stories of ourtrials, tribulations, and
inspirations.
Learn and have plenty of laughsalong the way.
SPEAKER_06 (00:36):
Meanwhile, we're sitting there bobbing along
trying to figure out how tocatch a bass.
And we both decided one day wewere going to be on television
doing a fishing show.
SPEAKER_08 (00:46):
My hands get sore a little bit when I'm reeling in
all those bass in thesummertime, but that's might be
for more efficient than it waspunching.
SPEAKER_05 (00:53):
You so confidently you said, hey Pat, have you ever
eaten a drunk?
Find diaries of a lodge ownernow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get yourpodcast.
SPEAKER_04 (01:13):
As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons
of our natural world becomeharder and harder to hear, but
they are still available tothose who know where to listen.
I'm Jerry Olette, and I washonored to serve as Ontario's
Minister of Natural Resources.
However, my journey into thewoods didn't come from politics.
(01:35):
Rather, it came from my time inthe bush and a mushroom.
In 2015, I was introduced to thebirch-hungry fungus known as
Chaga, a tree conch withcenturies of medicinal
applications used by indigenouspeoples all over the globe.
After nearly a decade ofharvest, use testimonials, and
(01:57):
research, my skepticism hasfaded to obsession.
And I now spend my lifededicated to improving the lives
of others through natural means.
But that's not what the show isabout.
My pursuit is a strangemushroom, and my passion for the
outdoors has brought me to theplaces and around the people
that are shaped by our naturalworld.
(02:18):
On Outdoor Journal Radio's Underthe Canopy podcast, I'm going to
take you along with me to seethe places, meet the people that
will help you find your outdoorpassion and help you live a life
close to nature and under thecanopy.
So join me today for anothergreat episode, and hopefully, we
can inspire a few more people tolive their lives under the
(02:42):
canopy.
All right, as always, we want tothank all our listeners all
across Canada, states, allaround the world.
Great things are happening allaround.
Maybe we'll let you in on a few,but uh Josh and his girlfriend
(03:06):
Casey down in Florida.
And I'm stuck up here in ChagaTown.
So no updates on uh EnsignGunnar or Chocolate Lab and how
he's getting along with Bennyand and Jared's and Brittany's
Doberman.
(03:27):
But uh that sound in thebackground that you're hearing,
that's let me see.
Five days of rain.
Pouring rain.
Constant rain up here.
But a lot of things that we getinto uh into Chaga camp to make
(03:48):
sure everything's all set upbefore we get up to the pick.
But I gotta tell you, it's nofun picking Chag in the rain.
So we wait.
We wait.
So we got up here, got up to thecamp, and normally I get up a
about a month early to check andsee, you know, how much how many
paper plates are there becauseit's a lot easier with the camp
(04:09):
crew.
Nobody wants to do dishesanymore, so we use paper plates
and then put them in the sauna,burn them all out.
Same with uh the wooden spoonsand knives and forks and stuff
like that.
We got into camp and and um andI also normally, like I said, a
month earlier, check and see howmuch how much toilet paper
there, how many paper towels arethere, how many garbage bags are
(04:30):
there, how much propane is inthe tank, how much gas, the
generators running, the wholelist of things that I usually
get up for, but because the wayI changed the uh the way I was
operating through the summer, Ididn't have the opportunity to
take the uh extra time inSeptember to get up and take a
look, see what was in camp.
But we get here.
(04:51):
First thing we notice, all thepots are right side up.
And everybody's wondering, whatdifference does it make if the
pots are right side up or rights uh upside down?
Well, the difference is is whenyou get mice in a camp, when the
pots are right side up, yougotta wash them immensely
because they leave these littlemessages in each of the pots.
(05:13):
Oh, what's in this pot?
And then hop to the next one,and then they go in there.
So you gotta wash them all andscrub them all.
But if they're upside down, themice don't go in there, so it's
a huge benefit to cleaning, youknow, just to make sure that
they're uh you don't have asmany problems and as much
cleanup time as normal.
But I can't understand whypeople don't get it.
(05:35):
Whenever we leave the camp, it'spots upside down and everything
else, but it's not just me usingthis camp.
So and we appreciate the abilityto use the camp.
And the propane.
So we got the um propane and wehave a hundred-pound tank and
then a backup 30-pounder and a20-pounder as well.
(05:56):
No, no, 20-pounder we use for aturkey fryer to do chicken wings
and potato wedges usually, andthe um barbecue we put on the
the 20-pounder on the barbecueto to do um, oh, let me see.
Well, we had we had steaks andwe'll have ribs and stuff like
that.
So and things like that.
So we have the backup.
(06:17):
But the hundred-pounder, we thetemperature was a little bit
warm, so it was hard to tell.
We were gonna unhitch the100-pound tank, take it into
town, get it filled, but so whatwhat we did was we poured warm
water on the side of the tank.
Rolly's the kind of back guybehind that, to check and see
(06:39):
the level of propane in there.
And it seemed like there wasabout two-fifths of a tank left.
So we didn't change it, and herewe are, got there uh five days
later, and we're still gotpropane in the tank to run the
propane lights as well as thethe uh the propane furnace and
(07:00):
the propane stove, so we'restill doing good there.
But I think today we're gonnaunhook and head to town and fill
the propane tank because as Ikeep saying, that sounds that's
rain on the tin roof.
Now, the other thing, some ofthe other things that we have is
uh in camp that's a bit unusual,is uh we have a bread toaster, a
(07:22):
homemade bread toaster.
And it's kind of a littleingenious, it goes great on top
of the propane and propanestove.
It's an old coffee can cut inhalf, and the bottom half of it
has holes punched in it, andthen they take a coat hanger and
(07:42):
kind of punch a couple of holesin the top of the half of the
can, put them through the coathanger, and put a like a
doweling on the end for ahandle, and you put that on the
stove, and all these littleholes on the bottom of the the
coffee can will actually letheat through, and we toast our
bread with it on the on thepropane stove, and it works
(08:06):
spectacular.
It's it's kind of a littleingenious.
It's my uncle Ernie's, I thinkit was his brother who was who
made that, and he we've got acouple of them here, but the uh
two sizes, uh one was uhprobably a tomato juice can and
the other one a coffee can, andthey're cut in half, so there's
about four to five inches fromthe bottom of it where you you
(08:27):
punch a whole series of holes,like a oh, probably a I don't
know what a uh oh let me see, auh quarter inch hole, maybe a
little bit smaller than that.
And just take a uh put it on aboard, tap it through with a
that and a whole series of them,so it looks almost like a a huge
(08:50):
strainer, and that lets the heatthrough, and then we put the
toast on that 15 seconds on eachside, and we got toast in the
morning, and it works great.
Now, some of the other stuff aswell.
We have uh generators that wehad to get going.
So one generator is workinggreat, it's spectacular.
Uh, and I'll tell you it's aHonda.
We don't have any problem.
And I got champions and I gotHondas and I got uh a couple of
(09:14):
other ones here, and we got uhthe Honda's, of course, a
four-stroke one.
So it runs lights and it runsthe radio.
So we listen to the to the Jaysmaking it to the World Series Go
Jays Go.
Glad to hear that.
And then another generator,because one of the guys in camp
here he stays in a trailer andit's a two-stroke engine.
(09:39):
Smokes a bit because the the gasmixture was a little bit high,
but uh runs all his lights andhis electric furnace in that big
trailer.
It's like a I don't know, a30-footer, and a big bed, table,
stove, heater, lights, all theaccompaniment, so he can sit and
read and get his space and worksout just great.
(10:02):
So we got a couple ofgenerators, but the uh
two-stroke generator wasn'tgoing when we got here.
Because so we had to take itinside because guess what?
Listen to that.
It's still raining.
Five days, and oh boy.
We had well, actually, Ishouldn't say it.
We had one good day, and we gotout and uh we we got a huge uh
(10:22):
deposit of jag in the one day,which is good, but all the other
days, and it's just teeming outthere right now, makes it
miserable in the bush, and youget drenched in soak.
Anyway, so the two-strokegenerator, which is a 950-watt
one, just enough to run lightsand charge a car battery to run
the trailer and all the rest ofthe stuff, and it works perfect.
(10:43):
Um we couldn't get it going.
So we had uh we had spark, butwe pulled the plug, and you
could see that it had beencarbon fouled pretty bad, which
made it tough to do anything.
So I had to take that, clean thecarbon out, clean the whole
thing out, and then put her backin, give her a little shot of
just one shot of a quick start,methanol.
(11:05):
Ether, sorry, ether.
Put the plug back in, give her acrank, a couple of cranks, and
away it went, and it's runninggood now, but it's starting to
foul a bit.
But so we changed the uh gasafter we burned through all the
two stroke gas, because to behonest, it's like it was at 108
kilometers to get to uh the gasstation here.
(11:26):
So we still use the gas up, butwe lighten the mix up a bit
because we bring in enough ofthe gas to mix up with it.
Then we had to get to the nextstage, which is guess what?
Hooking up the water because Iwasn't here a month ago to do
that.
Normally I get here a coupletimes a year, once uh around the
springtime, hook up the water,check the base camp, and then
(11:48):
come back in September, make alist of everything we need to
for all the guys and everything.
I didn't get here either in thespring or in September, but we
had to hook up the water.
And we use something called theGifford pump.
The reason it's called theGifford Pump is because it's an
old farm pump that that RayGifford found and brought into
(12:11):
the camp, and it draws up fromthe lake.
So and it was all taken apart,the couplers were missing, so
couldn't find them, checkedeverywhere.
We don't know why.
Somebody probably borrowed themand didn't replace them or put
them back after they borrowedthem.
So we were short two couplingsto run the line to the lake.
(12:33):
One goes outside the from theGifford pump outside through the
the camp, down underground tothe hill, and then there's
another connection there thattakes a long pipe down to the
lake so that we can with a footvalve on it.
Foot valve was there, but nocouplers to join the two
sections of pipe together.
(12:54):
So guess what?
Back to town we go to get aone-inch coupler to put a knot,
bring it all, put it all backtogether.
Then we started pumping likecrazy, but the uh seals on this
pump seem to be have worn out.
And that's some of the stuff,but it's uh it's now, as I said,
raining.
Hear that?
And five days later, and uh thethe because it's leather seals
(13:20):
inside this old hand pump.
And it's starting to wear, butthere must have been some rust
inside uh inside it because youcan see the rust coming out.
We're not getting any rustanymore, but uh they're getting
some slippage through the seals,so we need to take that apart
and rebuild that unit as well.
And so we got uh pump working tosome extent, but to be perfectly
(13:44):
honest, it's still easier totake the 40 steps down the hill
to get pails of water and bringit up for the sauna as well as
for cleaning uh because we boilwater and we wash everything
with that.
I gotta tell you, that'ssomething else.
And with some of the other stuffthat I check, you know, is there
dish soap there?
(14:05):
Is there towels to dry stuff?
Is there the racks?
Of course, there's always theracks here, towel racks to use,
but that's not a problem.
Anyways, we um get all the waterand uh we don't have any problem
with that, but it's stilllugging those fills up, up those
soaking wet stairs in the rain.
A little slippy, but I got my uhmy big rubber boots on, and it's
(14:29):
fine to make it to the outhouseand everything else without any
problems, but it's all part ofthe joy of being in camp, and
right now we're in just enjoyinga morning coffee recording, and
we'll continue to record andsend them through.
(14:51):
And now it's time for anothertestimonial for Chaga Health and
Wellness.
Okay, we're with Bev here inLindsay, and Bev, you've got
some experience with Chaga thatyou'd like to share with some
people.
Tell us uh two stories.
Start with your father's story.
SPEAKER_00 (15:08):
Hi, Jerry.
Um well, um, my dad hadmentioned to me that he was
struggling with his bloodpressure and he'd gone on meds
and it wasn't bringing it down.
He was running around 180, 185,and wasn't enjoying that at all.
And um and so I suggested thathe try the chaga tea because I
knew some other people that hadhad good experience with it, and
(15:30):
I knew my own experience withit.
He started doing the chaga teaevery day.
Um, he stuck it in with hiscoffee, so he only had to drink
one thing a day, and withinthree weeks he had dropped from
180 to 140, which he was reallyexcited about.
But what he was even moreexcited about was that about
three to four weeks after that,he had gone down to 125.
(15:51):
So we're really grateful for thedifference the chaka has made
with his blood pressure.
SPEAKER_04 (15:57):
And he wasn't doing there wasn't any other
medications or changes just todo the change?
SPEAKER_00 (16:01):
No, this was the actually the only shift.
He didn't shift anythingdiet-wise, physical
exercise-wise at all.
The only thing he added in thathe hadn't been doing before was
chaga.
SPEAKER_04 (16:10):
And put it in his coffee, I believe.
SPEAKER_00 (16:11):
And he put it in his coffee.
Very good.
SPEAKER_04 (16:13):
Okay, and you have your own story now.
I have my own story.
SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
So I I started on chaga when I um I met Jerry just
as I realized that I was goinginto a relapse of multiple
cirrhosis, that I I had notrelapsed for approximately 25
years, so I was a littlestartled about it and wanted to
get on it.
And um, so I was in the processof changing a lot of things so
(16:36):
that I could um go back intorelapse rather than dealing with
the MS symptoms.
And so I did change diet and Istopped physical exercise so
that my body would have morerest and I added the chaka in.
And within within I mean withinfive days, I noticed that the
nerve sensory issues I washaving in my legs was already
(17:00):
settling down, and within aboutthree weeks I had the strength
to walk unassisted again.
And I am about three months innow, and um I have um taken a
10-day break from it a couple oftimes just to, you know, you
know, just so that my body, youknow, can stay balanced, you
(17:22):
know, without it.
But every time I go back on it,I um I can feel the difference
in mental clarity and in the waymy nerves are communicating, and
I'm I'm walking very, very wellnow.
SPEAKER_04 (17:35):
Very good.
Well, thank you very much forsharing your story with.
SPEAKER_00 (17:38):
No, thanks for thanks for hollering me and
asking me to try a free cup thatone farmer's market morning.
SPEAKER_04 (17:44):
Well, I'm glad it's working out for you.
Thanks, Jerry.
Okay.
We interrupt this program tobring you a special offer from
Chaga Health and Wellness.
If you've listened this far andyou're still wondering about
this strange mushroom that Ikeep talking about and whether
(18:08):
you would benefit from it ornot, I may have something of
interest to you.
To thank you for listening tothe show, I'm going to make
trying Chaga that much easier bygiving you a dollar off all our
Chaga products at checkout.
All you have to do is head overto our website, Chaga Health and
Wellness.com, place a few itemsin the cart, and check out with
(18:30):
the code CANAPY, C-A-N-O-P-Y.
If you're new to Chaga, I'dhighly recommend the regular
Chaga tea.
This comes with 15 tea bags perpackage, and each bag gives you
around five or six cups of tea.
Hey, thanks for listening.
Back to the episode.
(18:52):
Well, had to make a little bitof a break because nature was
calling.
And the outhouse here is verycomfortable.
We use these um uh a breadbasket, an old bread basket to
uh put uh the rolls of toiletpaper in, and then the sweetie
(19:12):
wipes, which we have for acleanup afterwards, and it's
just a pretty basic one holerand good deep pit.
And all occasionally throws somesauna ash into the outhouse to
keep it uh to keep it going, andplus all the um the other active
uh stuff that goes in outhousesor septic tanks to break down
(19:36):
the material in there.
Most people don't know this.
One of the key parts of umouthouses is the fact that
there's so much toilet paperdown there.
And if you can break that down,it just keeps the um keeps the
hole that much uh um lastingthat much longer.
But now one of the other thingsthat we had at the camp that
that we had to work on, whichwas inspiration, and as I
(19:58):
mentioned earlier, when I uh gotthe property in '99 in central
Ontario, the only thing that Iwanted was a sauna.
And I got the logs and I got therebar and I got the stuff, got
the stove and everything else,just ain't got no sauna.
But it's probably because of thesauna here in the northern camp
(20:21):
that inspired me to do that.
And we keep that going prettymuch 24-7, but we had to replace
all the piping.
So all the stovepipe, the blackstove pipe, and we use a single
wall here.
It's kind of hard to find in thestores a double wall black pipe,
which would be a lot betterbecause it lasts a lot longer.
And then it goes up through, andwe've got the insulated pipe to
(20:41):
go through the roof of it.
And it's pretty basic.
It's just basically a, uh, it'sprobably a what a 16 by 12 um
place that has a change room, anold shower in it that doesn't
work, where we store wood and abunch of stuff.
Just a very, very small basicone, almost the size of one you
find in a trailer.
(21:02):
And then a sauna in it with astove and a bench probably holds
two if you want, maybe three,possibly, but we use it one at a
time.
And we use pails of water towash and clean up and do any of
the cleanup to make sure we'reclean, and especially when we
have to put on our go-to-townclothes.
Anyway, so Rolly and Us, we uhreplaced the damper, put the
(21:27):
damper in, replaced all thepipe, and it's all good to go.
We first started though, and oneof the problems was that they
put these these darn uhbarcoding stickers on the sauna
pipe, and you kind of get haveto get that off.
And the stick is the stick is somuch to it, you can't get it all
off, and it burns just like justlike the the um you burn off all
(21:51):
the paint in the new one and itsmells for a bit.
But we got the the all the saunastove and burned off just great.
And you know, and and there'snot nothing quite like the smell
of old dry newspapers when theyfirst go in.
It's got this kind of weirdsmell to it.
(22:12):
But then after everything, we umget the temperature about to 175
degrees Fahrenheit, and we pourwater on the rocks to bring up
the temperature in the room.
And and I I don't know what kindof rocks are in there.
I don't think there's anythingspecial.
And I often wonder if there wasspecial rocks you could put in a
sauna that would make a bigdifference and much more
enjoyable, but it is what it is.
(22:34):
And and then the one thing is isthat I couldn't figure out why
the glasses I have my myeyeglasses, because I wear
glasses, they get these spots onit, and I could never figure out
why.
We thought it was just adefective material that was put
on the uh spots or that theywere cheap or whatever, but no,
(22:56):
actually, it was the excess heatwhen I wear my glasses in the
sauna that causes these problemsin my eyeglasses.
So I have to take my eyeglassesoff to uh to go into the sauna
to be able to stop them fromfrom um going spotty on me.
(23:19):
Now, some of the other stuff isis uh the uh the wood that we
burn, we start off with localpapers, and that's one thing.
The last one of the last thingsI buy is stop in at a variety
store.
I was quite surprised some ofthe gas stations don't sell
newspapers anymore.
But I stock up on a newspaper ofeach just to make sure we got
paper to light the sauna, andthen I use cedar kindling and
(23:39):
then a little bit of pine andthen uh small slivers of
hardwood using maple or yellowbirch to get it going.
Once it's gone, we keep hergoing and put pails on.
Uh we've got a number ofdifferent pails.
You've got to watch some of thepails because they're some of
the older pails are solderedtogether.
But Dan, when he was around,bless his soul, Dan donated a
(24:03):
couple of stainless steel,one-piece stainless steel pails
that we use in the sauna, andthey work spectacular.
I'll be honest.
Everybody says don't put thepails on the rocks, but if you
haven't got a heck of a lot oftime to get some water heated
up, we put the pails on therocks, so on top of the stove.
So you got to make sure it's alllevel and it works very well.
(24:23):
And then we'll uh kind of go inand use a, we used to use a
dipper in it to pour the wateron, but the dipper disappeared.
So now I got a large coffee mugthat we use.
And then not only do we put iton the stoves, but we'll wet
down with the water from thepails, and then soap down, and
(24:45):
then wet down, uh wash it offwith uh the the uh the coffee
cup with warm water.
And it works great, keeps younice and clean, refreshed, sure
makes you sleep at night.
I gotta tell you, we uh lastnight we got another load of um
now.
Rowley's got a dump box on histruck and a heavy-duty spring.
(25:06):
So we've now done two loads ofgravel and fixed the road on the
way in because there were somebig potholes, and guess what
they are filled with?
Water and all this rain, as youcan hear it probably in the
background, still on the uhtapping on the roof.
And after you work up a goodsweat doing that, it's nice to
(25:28):
wash off in the sauna and giveyou a nice sound sleep.
And plus, I also find that thesauna, when I breathe in the
deep water, it kind of clears mylungs and makes me uh feel
better when I'm doing that.
So good, good workout loading upthe uh the dump box on that.
There's lots of gravel up herewhere we are, just about
everywhere you go.
You clear the one inch of ofhalf inch of topsoil that's
(25:52):
there of that, or leaves, andyou're right down to gravel
here.
So lots of gravel around andclean cleared that up pretty
good.
Now, some of the other stuff isuh in camp as well.
We had um we always havedifficulty starting the propane
stove, not the cook stove, butthe furnace.
And it just drives me crazy.
(26:13):
So what I did was I got a coupleof things.
I got one of those littlehandheld butane torches, and I
think it just takes like a uhlittle lighter in there and it
kicks out the heat pretty good,but also those refillable
barbecue lighters that have kindof a torch on the end, not just
a lighter, but a torch.
And there's a little heat valveinside the propane furnace.
(26:37):
As a matter of fact, uh for theuh fireplaces, not the
fireplace, but the oven on theon the cook stove, you need to
heat that heat valve up and thenpress the pilot light and before
it kicks in.
And it takes a bit of time, andit's always the same.
Of course, the the colder it isor the damper it is, the longer
it takes to heat that littlevalve that bends in inside uh
(26:59):
where the pilot light is.
And but we got that going prettygood.
And once it gets going, the uhthe propane uh lights that we
have here.
We got a couple of propanelights, a propane furnace, and
the propane stove works justgreat.
So they're all running.
Takes a little bit of time, butit it it certainly worked out
(27:21):
great.
And I think that uh now uhthat's all done, and we are good
to go with a lot of stuff.
So and up here at camp, one ofthe other things is the uh
coffee.
We perk coffee up here, and ofcourse, guess what's in the
coffee?
I put cheg in the coffee, and Imix up a blend of decaf, and
(27:43):
then I got some.
I happen to have Father McCariusgive me a can of instant coffee
from Kenya, Dorman's.
And I mix a spoon of the instantcoffee with the perk stuff, and
everybody thinks it's justspectacular, and we really enjoy
that.
So coffee is good to go.
We got the sauna going, we gotthe the uh propane going, the
(28:05):
the sauna pipe replaced, the theroad fixed uh when it was a
little bit.
But there's always somethinggoing on in camp that makes it
uh interesting.
And of course, in camp now we'vegot Rolly and I showed up first,
and then Garrett showed up thenext day, and then the day after
that, Ron showed up, and then myother son, uh Josh, he'll be
(28:26):
showing up.
I'm not sure if it's tonight ortomorrow, but uh, and that
should be it about this time.
Pierre was supposed to come, butthat didn't pan out for you,
Pierre.
But we've got a few in camp andwe'll keep going and work on it.
SPEAKER_07 (28:46):
Hi everybody, I'm Angelo Viola.
And I'm Pete Bowman.
Now you might know us as thehosts of Canada's favorite
fishing show, but now we'rehosting a podcast.
That's right.
Every Thursday, Ang and I willbe right here in your ears,
bringing you a brand new episodeof Outdoor Journal Radio.
Hmm.
Now what are we gonna talk aboutfor two hours every week?
Well, you know there's gonna bea lot of fishing.
SPEAKER_08 (29:08):
I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and
how to catch them, and they wereeasy to catch.
SPEAKER_07 (29:13):
Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show.
We're going to be talking topeople from all facets of the
outdoors.
SPEAKER_08 (29:18):
From athletes, all the other guys would go golfing,
me and Garchomp turkey, and allthe Russians would go fishing.
And now that we're reforestingand light things, it's the
perfect transmission environmentto find a chap if any game isn't
cooked properly.
You will taste it.
SPEAKER_07 (29:39):
And whoever else will pick up the phone.
Wherever you are, OutdoorJournal Radio seeks to answer
the questions and tell thestories of all those who enjoy
being outside.
Find us on Spotify, ApplePodcasts, or wherever you get
your podcast.
SPEAKER_04 (29:54):
Okay, well, back now, and and I have to tell you,
I've been coming to this campfor Since it was a little knee
high to a grasshopper, as theysay.
So it's been over 60 years.
And it used to be a road thatwas monitored or run, owned by
logging companies, and you hadto pay a fee to go on the road,
unless you own property downhere.
(30:15):
And the result was my my uncle'sfather bought uh the property,
and uh my uncle ended up withit, and lo and behold, I've been
coming here for over 60 years.
Now, I gotta tell this storyagain.
It's the wild hazelnuts.
I thought I'd come up with thisspectacular new Chaga tea.
It was Chaga wild hazelnut tea.
(30:36):
But uh, I'll let you know thatuh for those that haven't tried
wild hazelnuts, if you roastthem, and it was Pierre, uh
Pierre's been on a couple ofpodcasts with us, he's out
foliette.
The last one was an update onthe on what was happening with
the river, flooding them outthere, but uh they make it all
through and it's unorganized, asis where we are now.
(30:56):
And Pierre had these wildhazelnuts that were spectacular.
I had to tell him, take thoseaway from me, otherwise I'll eat
the whole thing.
And for anybody that's hadwhat's it called, Nutella, they
just taste like Nutella.
And I thought they would make aspectacular Chaga wild hazelnut
tea.
But so Diane and I, my wifeDiane and I came up to camp and
(31:19):
we went around to uh get a bunchof areas up here and looked, and
we found all kinds of wildhazelnut bushes everywhere
because I knew they were here.
So, and then the end of August,September is when they kind of
ripen.
So we came up to harvest them,and we pull into the camp and
everybody's there, and andgreat, and no hazelnuts.
(31:42):
Like, what's going on?
Like, where are the hazelnuts?
So I asked my cousin uh who wereup uh using the camp.
I said, uh are you picking allthe wild hazelnuts?
They said, Wild hazelnuts?
Where are they?
What are you talking about?
I said, Well, see that bushright there, and that bush over
there, and that bush there,those are all wild hazelnut wild
hazelnuts.
Really?
I said, Yeah, come here.
So I found some on there.
I showed them to them.
I have no idea.
(32:02):
Now, um, extremely smaller thanthe normal size.
So the tip of your pinky finger,well, that would be an extremely
large one.
Like a large pea size is uh thewild hazelnuts.
But anyways, and lo and behold,no hazelnuts anywhere.
Couldn't find anything.
So I'm checking all the spotsthat I'd uh picked out, and for
a wild hazelnut harvest to dothe the uh the experimental
(32:26):
chega wild hazelnut tea.
Nothing anywhere.
I can't find any anywhere.
I was like, what is going onhere?
I can't figure this out.
Then all of a sudden, uh Dianeand I are out, we come around
the corner, and there's a largeblack bear standing on his
hindquarters, grabbing ahazelnut bush, eating all the
(32:48):
wild hazelnuts.
Surprise, surprise, all gone.
So that ended the wild hazelnutuh jaggate potential
opportunity.
But uh, you know, you got tolook at different things to
figure out what works and whatdoesn't, if it was pretty good.
And some of the other stuff, youknow, in camp and you're getting
ready, and like I said, youknow, rain, rain, rain, and now
(33:09):
the forecast looks like it'spretty good.
And I'll mention this again.
We're using uh Josh picked up uhmy son Josh picked up a
Starlink, and we use that incamp and it works great.
We run it off the generator andit gives us internet service.
But some of the other stuff is,you know, um one of the last
things I do before I go to bed,I get the morning coffee ready
and we perk it here.
(33:30):
So I fill the percolator, putthe coffee in, and I just have
to turn it on in the morning.
Also, some of the other stuff isthat, you know, Rolly, and
Roly's a buddy of mine, uh, hepickled jalapeno peppers, and
they are spectacular.
And we put them on eggs and weput them on in the morning uh
for breakfast.
I usually don't eat breakfast,but up here I do because I skip
(33:52):
lunch when I get out.
Uh I'll take an apple and maybeum a can of uh sardines and a
bottle of water with us out intothe bush when we're when we're
doing our pick.
But we put so in the morning uhnormally there's uh toast, eggs,
as well as uh uh pan-friedpotatoes and beans or chili.
(34:12):
Well, he puts these pickledjalapeno peppers in there, and
they are spectacular.
Not too hot, just add a nice,nice uh bit of uh enjoyment to
the morning.
Some of the other things we havein the camp that uh we look at,
we have a what's a burn box.
So we have uh normally we have arecycle, a garbage, and a burn
box.
So the recycle is all theplastic bottles, et cetera, et
(34:34):
cetera.
The garbage is usual stuff thatgoes to waste, and then we have
a burn box that we guess what?
We burn it in the sauna.
Also, uh we have a seasoned uhfry pan.
So normally uh we use uh we'llhave a night where we do chicken
wings on a turkey fryer.
So we have a big pot, and wewill heat the pot, and and
(34:55):
normally we have uh chickenwings as well as potato wedges.
And uh we just use the greasefrom that as the cooking grease.
And you know, we uh Garrettshowed up, uh finally showed up
in camp.
So now we've got uh Garrett andRowley and Ron.
And tomorrow Josh is supposed tobe showing up, uh, so long as
everything goes okay, so he'scoming up, so we'll have a
(35:18):
that'll be it for this year'screw, as far as I know.
Um now 44 years ago was thefirst time I was in this camp in
a harvest, and it was the firstweek of November, and there were
12 guys in it.
There's a bunk room with two uhfour double beds.
(35:38):
There was two guys in every bed,two guys in the main one, and
two guys on the pull-out couch.
And mostly um they were allpretty much active police
officers, such as uh my dad andand Doug, who was the deputy
chief, and Bill Mills, and oh,the whole gang of them were all
there.
And the one of the first thingsthat happened on the first day
(35:59):
here in the first week ofNovember.
Remember, I'm uh quite a few uhhours north of Toronto, like
eight, ten hours north ofToronto, in November.
Um, I look out and they're allswimming in the lake in the
first week of November.
And it was just uh some of thecrazy stuff that happens in
camp, you know?
So the um I mentioned I probablymentioned about the eyeglasses
(36:25):
in the sun, and you want to makesure that you you don't take
your eyeglasses in because it uhit takes away the um coating on
there and puts spots on youreyeglasses.
And one of the other things thathappened was uh by the uh the
stove we have uh old coathangers hanging from the ceiling
where everybody dries theirboots and puts their boats
around boots around the aroundthe uh propane stove.
(36:49):
And I had an old pair of bootsthat were worn where they where
they were brought together.
So Rolly and Ron cut the bootsout, and now I use them as
slippers.
And I gotta tell you, when it'sraining like that, when you're
walking in the wet grass, it'snot really a grass, it's kind of
(37:10):
like uh, you know, in the yard,you're walking in the wet leaves
and all that, your shoes come inabsolutely soaked, but with
these old rubber boots that arecut down like a uh a camp
slipper now, they workspectacular, and thank you,
Rolly, for doing that.
Um, one of the other things isthat uh in when we're out in the
uh bush, we all use uh radios inorder to be in touch with
(37:32):
everybody.
And that way we're in constantcommunication and we know
exactly what's happening.
And next time I record, nextweek, we will do a show of
harvesting chaga.
All right.
Now, just before we end today'spodcast, I want to do a big
(37:52):
shout out to listeners of thepodcast and the consumers of the
Chaga product, uh, BonjourBakery in Edmonton.
The crew there, we thank you andappreciate you listening to us
and enjoying our product.
And if anybody has any questionsor comments or needs some
information, as always, don't beafraid to reach out to us.
And this is just another segmentof how we do things out there
(38:15):
under the canopy, getting readyfor the Chaga harvest and be
able to pick.
Now we've spotted some and we'regonna start harvesting.
We got a little bit, but nowthat the rain looks like it's
cleared up, we're good to go andbe enjoying a lot more fun and
times out there under thecanopy.
SPEAKER_03 (38:51):
To amass the single largest database of muskie
angling education materialanywhere in the world.
SPEAKER_01 (38:57):
Our dream was to harness the knowledge of this
amazing community and share itwith passionate anglers just
like you.
SPEAKER_03 (39:03):
Thus, the Ugly Pike Podcast was born and quickly
grew to become one of the topfishing podcasts in North
America.
SPEAKER_01 (39:10):
Step into the world of angling adventures and
embrace the thrill of the catchwith the Ugly Pike Podcast.
Join us on our quest tounderstand what makes us
different as anglers and touncover what it takes to go
after the infamous fish of10,000 casts.
SPEAKER_03 (39:24):
The Ugly Pike Podcast isn't just about
fishing, it's about creating atight-knit community of
passionate anglers who share thesame love for the sport.
Through laughter, throughcamaraderie, and an unwavering
spirit of adventure, thispodcast will bring people
together.
Subscribe now and never miss amoment of our angling
adventures.
SPEAKER_01 (39:42):
Tight lines, everyone.
SPEAKER_03 (39:44):
Find UglyPike now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever else you get yourpodcasts.
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