Meeting at Lake Padden on an early March morning, we arrived in the presence of light rain and snow. However, even in these mixed conditions, the first signs of spring were apparent. Skunk Cabbage poked its head out of the depths, Indian Plum was leafing out, and a group of robins squabbled over some territorial dispute. In contrast, the last time we were here was in the torrential downpours of early October. As this group grows older we as mentors like to hand more of the group process and decision making over to the boys, and, with only four Salamander Efts on this outing, group decision making went quickly. We discussed our options and decided to head southeast along the trail for some tracking and exploration, meanwhile looking for a place to settle down and work on skills.
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| Heading out for the day |
We took a circuitous path through the woods, clambering over and across logs. We climbed down giant root balls and circumnavigated a swamp. Along the way we encountered a great diversity of sign as well as bird life. We encountered the sign of almost every woodpecker species native to our region, and were surprised to have close encounters with three of those species: Hairy, Downy, and Pileated. It is a great joy as a mentor to see these boys progress and how well they can make their way through the woods on their own when compared to some of our younger groups. After about an hour of exploration we decided it was about time to find somewhere flat and dry to settle in and practice our skills.
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| Red-breasted Sapsucker sign. These are rows of sap wells the bird has drilled into a living tree. |
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Sign of a Pileated Woodpecker. Notice the rectangular shape of the holes.
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Beginning with our last outing, the Salamander Efts have begun working on the Art of Fire by Friction. This skill is an almost perfect incarnation of our seasonal focus, the Art of Thriving, in that it is built upon a foundation of many other skills, and symbolic of their mastery. From awareness of fire conditions, to harvesting and carving the components, to coaxing the coal into life and blowing it into flame, the boys must draw upon almost every other skill we have previously practiced in Explorer's Club. It is also a skill that requires a great deal of patience, perseverance, and self-motivation for success. The Bow Drill challenges even those most skilled and experienced in the outdoors.
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| Setting up shop. |
We found someplace as dry and clear as we could and set up base camp. Our conditions were somewhat challenging to say the least. With a full night of rain and snow the forest was dripping wet and after just a few minutes of sitting down it started to feel rather cold. Starting a fire even by traditional methods would be difficult. However, something we know from the past is that when we need fire the most, conditions are often are often also the most challenging, even more so with Fire by Friction. These challenges were taken in stride as we moved out to collect materials. The Bow Drill has four major components: bow, spindle, fireboard, and handhold. We all collected these components and began shaping them to our basic needs.
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Firing up the Bow Drill in the rain.
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Once our sets were crafted we started putting them to use, burning the spindle into the handhold and fireboard. After learning the proper form, dealing with loose strings, wobbly spindles, and cracked fireboards, we realized this skill might not be as simple as it initially looks. Although none of us created a coal this day, we learned a lot about the physics and mechanics of the Bow Drill, which is the foundation of future success. We learned that this is a skill that very much relies on form over force, and that a well crafted and smoothly operated kit is the key to success. Our goal is for every one of the Salamander Efts to succesfully make fire with the Bow Drill by the end of this season and we will continue working on this skill each time we go out.
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| Crafting kits and working on form. |
We rounded out the day with a sit spot, spending around 15 minutes in silence and solitude contemplating our day and our time with Explorers Club. As this is the Salamander Efts last season with Boys Explorers Club we wanted the boys to think about what their time here and their experience with the natural world means to them, and what lies in store for them in the future. For our next outing we will be traversing Chuckanut Ridge and hopefully delving deeper into these subjects as well as continuing to perfect our Bow Drill technique.
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| Hairy Woodpecker lets us get a good look at him. |
Check out the rest of the photos from this outing
here.
