On a chilly Saturday morning the Four Shielders met up at
Larrabee State Park for an aptly timed skills outing. As the boys arrived one
by one we chatted about what we had on the docket for our outing. The flow of
the day was easily decided by this group of veteran decision makers. We decided
to trek down to the beach to warm up a bit, search for carving supplies amongst
the driftwood, and see what else we could find. Reverting back to their
Explorers Club days, the Four Shielders scurried over to the sandstone and
climbed up to find a perch. The mentors walked up and down the beach which was
lacking much driftwood, but made up for its diverse natural history; various
shore birds and diving ducks, a Dungeness Crab that likely been munched on by an
otter, icicles lingering on the seeping sandstone from the frigid temperatures
the night before. So much to discover, yet we had to head back to get started
on our skills work. On the way back, however, we had one last natural history
moment when we found a Varied Thrush that had met its demise when it didn’t see
the window of one of the shelters. Although it was unfortunate that this
beautiful bird could no longer bring in the dawn and dusk with its
buzzing-whistle-esque call, we were afforded the rare opportunity to examine
the intricacies of this species feathers, patterning, beak, and clawed feet. (Forgot to bring the camera to the beach so no pictures from our hike, sorry!)
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| Working on making tinder bundles (aka bird nests) |
Moving back to our base camp at the central day use shelter,
we gathered up to practice making tinder bundles out of Western Red Cedar bark.
The process of breaking the thicker strips of bark down into the finer fibers
that are great for catching a spark or ember can be a bit tedious but everyone
caught on and gathered a better understanding of the basics of this process.
Next we transitioned to processing our firewood. Needing match stick think
kindling, finger thick, wrist thick, and leg thick pieces of wood to prepare us
for starting the fire, the Four Shielders were introduced to a shingle froe.
This is an old friend to any wood worker and is a great, safer, alternative to
using an axe to split wood. Everyone got a chance to utilize this unique tool
to split up the bigger logs to the necessary sizes. With our firewood processed
it was time to begin the ignition process. First getting out one of the Four
Shielders bow-drill kits we took a few minutes practicing this ancient friction
fire technique reviewing the intricacies of form that are often overlooked. But
with the cold weather eating away at our morale it was time to get the fire
going. Leaping ahead in the technological timeframe we busted out a ferrocerium
rod (aka metal match) and scraped a molten spark of metal off into a fluffy
cedar tinder bundle to ignite our fire. Carefully adding on the wood starting
from the matchstick thick pieces and working up through the finger, arm and
eventually leg thick logs we had a hearty fire that breathed warmth back into
our bodies.
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| Using a froe to split the wood |
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| Practicing with the bow drill |
Setting up the kettle over the fire to boil water, we
transitioned once more to working on skills. Although the warmth of the
mesmerizing fire was hard to pull ourselves away from, we split up some Western
Red Cedar and Cherry to be used for carving projects. The cedar was to be used
for creating a spindle and fire board for a bow drill kit while the cherry was
to be used for carving spoons, spreaders, or whatever else caught our fancy.
Picking up a bit of momentum we worked on carving for a bit, but the cold and
dampness kept eating away at our morale. Luckily, the mentors had something up
their sleeve (rather in a grocery bag); stew meat and seasoning along with all
the fixings for s’mores. Not wanting to get too carried away we decided to
start with the stew meat. Nothing can beat roasting meat over the fire to get
the morale of the group back up. The delicious aroma, savory flavors, and
simplicity all make this a great go to while sitting around the fire… and something
people have been doing for thousands upon thousands of years!
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| Starting and tending the fire |
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| Heating up water with the kettle over the fire |
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| Cooking the stew meat over the fire |
With our morale back up, we took some time to warm ourselves
by the fire and talk about our season in addition to looking forward to what
next year has to offer. Each Four Shielder took some time to share what they
enjoyed about the Four Shields program and what they wanted to get out of it in
the future. We discussed possibilities for future outings, skills we wanted to
focus on, and the ever approaching summer backpacking trip that all the Four
Shileders are encouraged to go on. Additionally, this summer we will try and
implement a new Four Shields Summer Camp that will be five days culminating in
an overnight out off of Hwy 542. Everyone seemed to perk up after getting some
warm food in our bellies and god conversation to stimulate our minds. Finally
it was time for closing circle, and what could be Attitude of Gratitude first;
s’mores instead of apples! Hopefully no one tells the other groups or else the
mentors will never hear the end of it. As we finished up our closing circle we
had just enough time to clean up before parents whisked everyone away to get
out of the cold and back to the comforts of a warm home. This was a great
multi-faceted outing filled with natural history moments at the beach, lots of
time to work on skills, and the ever important fire that boils our water, cooks
our food, warms our bodies, and enlivens our spirits. The Four Shields is a
unique program that is still in its infancy, but with this group of guys and
the limitless possibilities that lay before us, we can’t wait to see what will
happen next.
Check out the rest of the photos from our outing
here!
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| Relaxing around the fire and talking about next season |
