Storm Wolves Finish Their Season at Racehorse Falls

For our final outing of the spring season we revisited a group favorite from last autumn: Racehorse Falls. This time around the weather was damp, but warm, and the creek bed was wreathed in verdant spring growth. The song of migrant birds filled the air. Familiarity was juxtaposed against change and freshness of the season. Upon arrival one of the first things we noticed was that the surrounding area had been cleaned up quite a bit. Over the fall and winter seasons this area had been used as a dump area several times, but a cleaning party came through in early spring and did some serious work. Tires, tents, carpets, garbage, and old space blankets, were removed, renewing much of the surrounding area's sense of natural serenity. The only thing left behind was a single mop wedged high and out of reach in an alder. Spring cleaning coupled with spring growth left Racehorse Falls looking pretty different, but on approaching the creek we found something immediately familiar: our fossil shop from last season was still in business on a log on the bank. Discovering this, we immediately set to improving its condition, gathering fossils and adding to our collection.

Hustling to get the best fossils.

Sometimes the best fossils are inside the rocks

With plenty of time to spare we spread out along the creek; hunting fossils, skipping rocks, and exploring. A light mist washed through, leaving the landscape damp. This spring the Storm Wolves have seen a lot of growth with fire lighting, having practiced in a multitude of environments and conditions. Although Racehorse is a great place to explore and relax it is also a perfect place to work with fire without ethical or legal restrictions and we wanted to make sure the season wrapped up with each of the boys getting another chance to practice this critical skill. So, after everyone had a chance to find best fossil and soak up the sights, we gathered back together to eat some lunch and discuss the Art of Fire. Everyone was in general agreement that the best place to look for fire starting materials would be downstream in a deeper patch of evergreen forest, so we grabbed out packs to look for place to settle in and have a fire. We settled in under a copse of Cedar within throwing distance of a ready made fire pit in the creek bed. We circled up, split the boys into arbitrary small groups, and set off with the goal of each group to gather a kindling bundle. This has been the basic routine on most of our outings over the course of the season. We have spent a lot of time learning about the different trees and the kindling they produce, especially the quality kindling produced by the Western Hemlock. For the most part we have let the boys learn through trial and error what worked well and what didn't, and today was no different, except that we had the luxury of an extended outing, and therefore much more time for additional trials. After about 20 minutes of gathering fuel, we had the boys circle up around the fire and our classic drill of distributing matches commenced. Each group of boys had a kindling bundle and we went around the fire each taking a turn at using a match to attempt to ignite our bundles.

First Attempts.

Each group of boys was given three attempts at lighting their bundle, and although we came close on several attempts, none of the bundles were quite there. After all the boys had gone we asked them what had happened with their bundles, why they thought they hadn't lit, and how they could be improved. As we discussed this we demonstrated lighting some of the materials they had used and talked about how well or poorly they burned. Moss, for example, had been used in a number of the boys' bundles, but didn't burn very well even though it seemed to be dry. We then demonstrated lighting the bundles that we as mentors had gathered ourselves and talked about some of the materials and techniques we had used to be successful. Because this was our last outing for our spring season and our last outing focused on the Art of Fire, we wanted to make sure the Storm Wolves left with a really solid understanding of fire lighting. So, after our discussion and demonstration, we headed back out into the forest to do some in depth exploration of what we are looking for when we gather fire starting materials, and to help the boys gather a second round of kindling bundles.

Looking for western hemlock with low hanging branches that create a dry area in the wet rain forest.

Refined bundles in hand, we returned to the fire pit. Once again we went around the circle using matches in attempt to ignite our bundles, and this time after several tries each group of boys was successful. As each group lit their bundle we laid them in the fire pit, adding each flaming bundle on in succession and taking some time to enjoy a small fire, reflecting on our growth this season. We wrapped up with a discussion of where we had been over the season and where we would like to go in the future. We talked about some of the highlights of the season, skills we had learned, progress at the service site, and skill we would like to explore in the coming seasons. With that we made on last scramble for our favorite fossils and returned to the bus, winding down our day and season with Explorer's Club. We look forward to seeing the Storm Wolves out over the summer!

Lighting our bundles in turn.

Be sure to go and check out the rest of the photos from this outing here.