Who is the real Abo Dude? – A Comparative Study and Conclusion

Who is the real Abo Dude? – A Comparative Study and Conclusion

Skill/Ability - Ironclad stomach. The Abo Dude has been known to eat a variety of bugs, flora and fauna. One notable demonstration was when he ate Huhu Grubs while doing a New Zealand episode of Dual Survival (“tastes like peanut butter”).

Florida Abo Dude once ate chocolate covered ants while visiting Galloway Gardens in Georgia, and he routinely eats Chef Boyardee Ravioli and other canned foods unheated, straight out of the can.

Point to: Tie. Both dudes should really think about risks involved in this sort of behavior.





























Skill/Ability – Rappelling. The Abo Dude usually complains a lot every time he’s presented with an opportunity to climb or rappel by his cohort Dave. He does eventually go down the rope, but not without significant fretting and gnashing of teeth.







Florida Abo Dude seeks out opportunities to climb and rappel and freely jumps out of perfectly good helicopters, was a Distinguished Honor graduate of his Army Air Assault course.







Point to: Florida Abo Dude (no contest).



























Skill/Ability – Fire by Friction. Abo Dude is clearly a master at this.







Florida Abo Dude has lit fires with a magnifying glass, flint and steel, magnesium stick shavings, propane torch, and has produced lots of smoke doing different friction techniques, but has yet to create a fire by friction method.



Point to: Abo Dude (hands down).





Skill/Ability – Wilderness Shelter. Abo Dude can quickly create a shelter from the elements. Also lived in wickiup for 2 years while in college. Strong credentials for sure.







Florida Abo Dude hardly needs shelter at all, but when he does he can quickly construct something from materials at hand. Has made palmetto covered lean-to’s, poncho tents, hammocks, quinzees out of snow, snow trenches, out in the open with just a sleeping bag, and although not technically a wilderness shelter – did live out of an Army Jeep for 14 days during the coldest winter in Germany since the Battle of the Bulge. As a side note there have been times growing up and during 25+ years of marriage that he wishes he lived alone in a wickiup, but no points for that.







Point to: Tie. Both dudes have mad skills for at this.



Skill/Ability – Land Navigation. Abo Dude is good at reading signs from nature about general direction and bearing. Has demonstrated ability to read terrain well.



Florida Abo Dude is an Army trained, experienced, proven expert at Land Navigation/Orienteering, Map Reading and Dead Reckoning and an Orienteering Merit Badge Counselor.



Point to: Florida Abo Dude. Close call, but Florida Abo Dude has the benefit of formal technical training to back it up.



Skill/Ability – Traps and Snares. Abo Dude has shown he can quickly set a trap or snare and produce meat for his pal Dave on Dual Survival.



Florida Abo Dude has practiced and made working snares and traps, but has never caught anything with them to be able to enjoy a tasty high protein meal.



Point to: Abo Dude



After evaluating 6 skill criteria the score is: Tie – Too close to call. More evaluation required.

January 25-28 Ice Fishing-Camping, Lake Poygan, WI

Sunset on the lake
Ice shove
Blizzard-Whiteout on Sunday
Someone else having fun

Helluva good time -
Details and Weather: Went ice-fishing and winter camping on Lake Poygan west of Winneconne, Wisconsin. Weather was:
- Friday: high 21, low 11, sunny clear early on, then .09 inch of snow, very windy.
- Saturday: high 22, low 3, very windy early on, 31 mph max gust sometime between midnight and 3:00 a.m., then grew calmer into the day and evening.
- Sunday: high 34, low 23 - blizzard.
- Monday high 35, low 29.

13"-15" of ice, caught 1 perch. Inside the tent was warm with the wood stove going. Venison tenderloin hobo dinner Friday night, Saturday egg/cheese/bacon English muffins for breakfast then grazing the rest of the day. Saturday night hamburgers with grilled onions and Gorgonzola cheese, Sunday and Monday were grazing off supplies. Easy set-up with 3 people this time, pack-up was hard but better with the lag screws in the ice versus just the nails which are very difficult to get out.

Dangers: Ice was thick, but you never know.  On Tuesday a truck sank in 4 feet of water up in Green Bay after breaking through.  All of the sleet rain must have had an impact, I know I was worried about it on Sunday night. Had white-out conditions on Sunday which made driving on the ice difficult and dangerous. The floor of the tent was better with the plywood floor, but still slick and eventually we became one with the lake again. Improved the center pole so that is not an issue. Not much wind during the outing so that was ok.  Camp hygiene improved with the tent vestibule in place.

February 18, 2012 Holy Hill to Hartland, Wisconsin

Holy Hill

 Just south of Holy Hill

 Oconomowoc River

 Trail along old rail bed

Details & Weather:  Very nice weather, 19 in the morning then got up to 35, little wind, it was mostly sunny all day.  Started at 7:06 a.m. and finished a little after 5:00 p.m. - 10 hours.  Went from the trail pull-out on Hwy 167 to the Hartland Inn downtown.  Was ~15 IAT miles so a great day overall, but will pay for it later on.  My motto was to "walk completely off the map sheet!" (Ice Age Trail map 83f), and I did that and more.  Overdid it for sure, but the last 2 hours was really to get to downtown Hartland so I could find a place to sit, eat, warm up and wait for my ride.  It was so nice not having to worry about shuttling, completely changes the outlook on things.

Started out around Holy Hill and it was beautiful out there.  Took a few short breaks along the way, then one longer one in the afternoon when I just laid down on the thick grass in the sun and took it easy, it felt great.  Saw many more people on this outing, the most I've ever encountered. Joggers, dog walkers, kids, it was a lot different being this close to Milwaukee.  That said the majority of the hike I was still by myself.  Thought today about how few people are really outside anymore, everyone is inside for the most part nowadays, every day, every hour, not just in the winter either.  It would be an interesting thing to study and make connections.

Millie



Millie the Black Lab - I came on the south side of Holy Hill area and started walking east on Donegal when a happy black lab came up to me, she never barked, just started play bowing and running around near me, would run off then come back again.  She was a beautiful dog, with really orange eyes like Ruby.  She did this a few times, I got her to come up to me and I petted her, and she ran off again.  I remembered the missing dog sign that was put on one of the trail signs, so called her back to me, but she was Millie, not the lost dog on the sign (makes me sad to see all of these signs for lost pets, I've seen 3-5 of them now along the trail).  She ran off some more and I watched her, thinking anytime she would run into one of the driveways to go home, but she just kept on running down the road out ahead of me about 25 - 50 yards while I was walking.  After a bit I realized she wasn't going into any of the homes along the road, so I called her back to check her tags.  She came and but wouldn't sit still so I pulled a shoelace out of one of the running shoes in my backpack to make a leash, plus I offered her some of my Oatmeal Raisin Clif bar to get her to stay still while I read her tag.  The tag had a phone number (no address), so I called it the number and and the owner picked up, I told him where we were and he said he's come out to pick her up right away.  Millie and I sat down and I fed her some more Clif bar, the owner finally pulled up, an older guy in a small pick-up truck.  He said "the electric fence was broken" and gave me the impression it had been for a while, so I bit my lip and didn't say to him that this would be a perfect day to get it fixed.  Millie jumped into the truck, he said thanks and they rode off, hopefully to a soon-to-be fenced in yard.

Wildlife:  Crows, Geese, Mallards, Woodpeckers, Birds, A Robin looking bird (not a Robin); Horses, Squirrels, Millie the Black Lab plus about 6 other dogs, a Cat, Ded Possum, Raccoon, feline and canine tracks in the snow. Heard Sandhill Cranes, a Red Tailed Hawk, and a Peacock!(very cool).

Jan. 27-29, 2012 Winter Camping & Ice-fishing, Lake Poygan, WI

 Lake Poygan, Wisconsin

16" thick ice

Saturday sunset

 Saturday twilight

Details and Weather:  Went ice-fishing and winter camping on Lake Poygan west of Winneconne, Wisconsin. Weather was - Friday: high 35, low 24, sunny clear early on, then .09 inch of snow, very windy. Saturday: high 34, low 15, very windy early on, 31 mph max gust sometime between midnight and 3:00 a.m., then grew calmer into the day and evening. Sunday: high 23, low 8, clear, some wind.

13"-16" of ice, caught 5 fish, one of them was a nice walleye. Inside the tent was warm with the wood stove going. Venison tenderloin hobo dinner Friday night, Saturday egg/cheese/bacon English muffins for breakfast then grazing the rest of the day. Sunday was leftovers. No one ever goes hungry! Slept well on cots both nights. Easy set-up, pack-up was harder with all of the exercise getting the tent stakes out of the ice.

Dangers:  Ice was thick, but Sunday morning the Suburban did see some action when it went over a crack in the ice and had some water splash up. The floor of the tent was very slick due to the melting ice from the wood stove, need to try and insulate it better next time, plus get more ice cleats to use. The wind Friday night/early Saturday morning was very bad, tent and center pole held up though.  The usual hazards with Coleman lantern-white gas combination, falling in ice-fishing holes, and potential dysentery from my fellow camper!

Ice Age Trail, Sat. Jan. 7, 2012, south of Slinger, Wisconsin

Trail in Pike Lake State Park, Wisconsin

Young and Old Goldens in Slinger

Strange snowman along the trail in the woods

Another Survey Marker right on the trail

Details and Weather:  Started at 6:38, finished at 12:15 pm - 5.8 hours, 8 miles total.  Temperature was 30 degrees when I started in the dark and upper 30's and partly sunny at noon.  Went from the Slinger Community Park to Highway 167 just north of Holy Hill.

Dropped the bike off in Slinger then parked the car at Pike Lake Unit.  Walked north on the snow/ice, started in the dark but quickly got light. Got back to the car and found my courtesy friendly reminder from the DNR to re-new my annual sticker, lovely.  Drove south and parked at the trailhead at Highway 167 just north of Holy Hill, then started walking north again.  This is a very nice section of trail especially around Holy Hill. Reminded me of hiking in Germany.  Survived on O.J. and eating my friend's gift of venison summer sausage, it was really good, a very good food item to have on a hike.

Wildlife:  Crows; Redtailed Hawk; lots of Doves; Birds; Geese; Cows; Horses; Squirrels; 2 Deer in the woods (might have been the same one twice); a Golden Retriever Puppy and an older one sitting at their house in Slinger; a barky German Shepherd and a Mix, then a barky Beagle and a Beagle Mix.

Dangers:  Slipped on ice a couple of times, went to the ground once - ouch! My Bike Helmet and 2 liter Mountain Dew bottle broke my fall, who says Mountain Dew is bad for you!?!  Red truck checking me out and probably giving me the stink-eye, maybe thought I was hunting since I had on my orange jacket. Got a warning ticket from the DNR for having an expired annual pass, for once I catch a break from them, they must not have realized who's van it was (I think I'm on the DNR's wanted list, we have a history, it's a long story).

Ice Age Trail, Friday December 16, 2011, South of West Bend, Wisconsin

Survey Marker south of West Bend











Slinger Speedway along the trail











Kame and trail just east of Slinger












Nice part of trail north-east of Slinger

Details and Weather:  Stayed in West Bend so I could get an early start.  Started hiking at 6:47 a.m and finished at 1:00 p.m. - 6.25 hours - 9.5 miles.  It was still dark when I started, just getting light.  Temperature was 26 degrees in the morning and mid 30's by the afternoon and party cloudy, almost no wind.  Went from the south end of Ridge Run County Park to the Community Park in Slinger.  Broke it up into 3 sections for shuttling.

The first part started out on roads which was a pain, especially around where they were doing some construction, but ended up nice being back on the trail going to Ridge Run.  Then lots of road walking, found some more trail gold in the form of a Hershey's chocolate bar and an Almond Joy bar, my best guess is some kid on Halloween dropped them (on a main road though ??).  They were intact, and delicious!  Then the last part around Slinger was also nice back on the trail.  I hate going over the bridges over the 41 though, walked across one and rode bike across the other - should go in the official Danger category.

Profound Thoughts:  I think I'm going to swap out my current bike for the blue 10-speed, I need the better ride and fit, plus I'll take better care of it and would rather have the old mountain bike lost/stolen/destroyed (it's inevitable...).

The "Held" meat & cheese store in Slinger along the 41 wasn't much. All these years driving by it, too rushed to stop but wishing I did. No comparison to Cedar Creek, Haen's or Nueske's, with Nueske's setting the standard.

Wildlife:  Crows; woodpeckers; Chickadees; birds; heard geese; flushed a turkey out of his roost in a very tall group of pine trees; horses a couple of different times; heard squirrels chattering; 3 deer running/walking through the big woods together; a really furry/scraggly looking mixed dog; a good looking black and white Border Collie.

Friday December 2, 2011, Ice Age Trail, West Bend, Wisconsin

Sunburst Ski Hill Bunny Slope













Kewaskum Trail Segment











View from trail along the powerlines

Hello





Details and Weather:  Friday morning, stayed in West Bend to be able and get an early start. Started hiking at 6:25 am, finished at 12:25 pm - 6 hours.  Still dark when I started, just starting to get a little light, was able to see the trail so went for it.  Temperature in the morning was around 26, got up to 37 and very sunny.  A very nice day.  Started at Sunburst Ski Hill in south Kewaskum and finished at the southern end of Ridge Run County Park parking lot.  7.75 miles total so a good day.  Was going for 10, but was just done for the day.

A really nice part of the trail, still in the Kettle Moraine, but you can tell you're close to a city in these county parks.  Shuttling bike rides weren't too bad, a little busy on Wildwood Road.  In the morning it was cool seeing them making snow at the ski hill, very cool literally and figuratively!

They opened up the section behind the ski hill, so parked at the lot there and hiked north.  Then kept going south from there to south West Bend.  Thought I could go for longer but needed to stop after 6 hours.  Need to keep getting in shape.

Wildlife:  Crows, around 20 squirrels (most ever seen), an old Chocolate Lab; a good looking black Border Collie with just a little tuft of white on his neck, horses, cows, a Red Tailed Hawk, heard a Pheasant, Birds, Tweety Birds, flocks of Doves especially in the cornfields.