Arriving at Stewart Mountain after a day of school, the
Mountain Goats were ready to cut loose and romp in the woods. After taking some
time to check in with the group in opening circle, the mentors had a pop quiz
for the group; in the next five minutes find a natural shelter that would keep
you (relatively) warm and dry if a rain was coming and night was falling. The
group spread out throughout the forest and nestled up under ferns, in the nooks
of trees and under the thick canopy of a young Western Hemlock. We took tours
of everyone’s locations and had time to refresh our minds about what to look
for when searching for shelter.
 |
| Option 1: Under a rotten log |
 |
| Option 2: Sword Ferns + Tree Stump |
 |
| Option 3: Sword Ferns + Rain Jacket Roof |
Transitioning to the rest of our outing we hiked up the
Chanterelle Trail to find a place to continue developing our shelter building
skills. Along the way we passed by a structure constructed by one of our group
members while they were on a family outing with some friends. After taking some
time to appreciate the fort we pushed on further and found an area full of
natural materials cleared away during the trail work. Finding an abundance of
building resources nearby your shelter location is a must, so we settled in,
split up into two groups and got to work.
 |
| Always fun to find a shelter to share with friends! |
Re-calling the basics of a debris shelter the groups quickly
identified (2) Y-Sticks, (1) Backbone, a number of Ribs, and sources to gather
plenty of insulating Debris. Each group put their own personal twist on their
shelters and after spending a good amount of time we decided to pause to share
our structures with one another. After debriefing the strengths and weaknesses
of each design we had just enough time for a game or two of Spider’s Web.
 |
| Finishing up the ribs on Shelter 1 |
 |
| Finishing the debris layer on Shelter 2 |
 |
| Getting ready for closing circle |
Showing off their growth as a group, the Mountain Goats set
up the playing course and picked out a Spider with minimal help from the mentors.
Everyone enjoyed a time to get lost in play and before we knew it the daylight
was fading and it was time for closing circle. One of the mentors had takin
some time to create a Bow Drill Kit out of gathered materials while the groups
were building their shelters. After talking to the group about the need for
strong focus and quiet concentration from everyone in order to get an ember we
attempted to create fire with friction. After a few moments the group began to
lose focus, get squirrelly and let their energy get out of control. Without a
group effort focusing on creating the coal the mentors got plenty of smoke but
after stopping to examine their product, the elusive coal wasn’t there. Failing
to get a coal was the perfect medicine for this group. Without everyone calm
and focused it is difficult for the person attempting to get the coal to put
their entire focus into the process. Having to scrap our friction fire attempt
we debriefed how we will have another opportunity in the future to get a coal
and reminded the group it will take everyone’s combine focus to be successful.
Finishing our circle we shared some thanks and ate some apple slices before
packing up and trucking down the hill back to the parents waiting at the
parking lot. With so much progress made in the Mountain Goats ability to build
shelters, and the failure of getting a coal we had a perfect balance of success
to hang our hats on and failure to keep us hungry to improve on our next
outing. This group continues to grow closer and demonstrate a higher level of
performance each outing. The mentors continue to greatly enjoy witnessing the
growth of this group and can’t wait to see what is in store on our next outing.
Make sure to check out the rest of the photos from our
outing
here!
No comments:
Post a Comment