Coal Blowing with the Storm Wolves at Larrabee State Park

The Storm Wolves had a change from the norm as they arrived at Larrabee State Park to hunker down and work on the skill of “coal blowing” instead of head out on a hike to explore and play games. Although we were straying from the norm in terms of our outing, the Storm Wolves made sure to keep things in line by demonstrating their top notch abilities at free play while balancing things out with pointed focus when called upon. Of course we had to start things off with the usual opening circle where we discussed our plan for the day, chatted about the Art of Fire, and finally got into some basics of carving and coal-blowing spoons. 

Our initial circle ended up taking a bit of time to get started as there was just too much energy in the group. Clearly these guys are used to hiking in a bit before hunkering down and working on skills that require patience and focus, so we took some time to enjoy ourselves and catch up with fellow Storm Wolves before getting into things. Not surprisingly, the Storm Wolves were off searching out adventure and whether it was tossing Douglas-Fir cones over the sheltered area or working together as a team to retrieve a Frisbee from the other side of a fence, everyone was able to get their wiggles out and more importantly have a lot of fun doing so.

Sometimes the best team building activities are organic

Transitioning to our focused skills work, the Storm Wolves gathered up around the fire ring to review the basics of lighting a fire. Luckily they have had plenty of experience on their prior outings utilizing Western-Hemlock to make a kindling bundle that they were able to light with a single match, so this was a walk in the park… so to speak. However, Tim decided to switch things up and demonstrated how to use Western Red-Cedar bark to make a fuzzy tinder bundle that was lit with a ferrocerium rod (also known as fire steel, “flint and steel”, etc.). Not only is it important to know how to create your own flame from a simple spark, but honing these skills will aid us when we finally take on fire-by-friction and need to use the very same tinder in order to blow our bow-drill coals into flames.

Using a ferrocerium rod to start the fire

After getting a fire going and demonstrating the importance of preparation, intentionality, and anticipation to properly process and organize your fuel it was time to transition to coal-blowing. With our initial “spoons” taking shape due to some expansive carving time, we were ready to transition to making the concavity. Being careful with our coals and remembering to be aware of those around us, the mentors extracted coals from the fire for the Storm Wolves. Placing the red hot ember on the wood and using a stick to press down on the coal, the Storm Wolves each began blowing steadily on the coal to increase the heat and transfer the heat into the spoon. After a few seconds the wood of the spoon began to heat up and become an ember in itself. After exhausting their coals, each Storm Wolf took some time to scrape out the charcoal on the concavity of the spoon and before they knew it their spoon was taking shape. This process must then be repeated until your concavity is sufficiently shaped to the coal-blower’s specifications.

Transitioning to free time, some of the Storm Wolves continued to work on their spoons while others reverted back to games of tossing the Fir cone over the shelter or playing with the newly retrieved Frisbee. Only a few of us got to complete our spoons, but the mentors were grateful to hear the Storm Wolves each exclaim how cool it was to learn this skill. Despite the requirement for preparation, patience, and strong focus the group was able to ebb and flow between focus and play with impressive ability. Although there were a few times where some of the group members began transitioning to play during circle or while a mentor was talking, the other Storm Wolves kept them in line before the mentors needed to stop and ask for refocusing. Seeing this group mentor themselves, fluctuate between play and focus, and most of all get excited about an ancient skill made this a very rewarding day for mentors and Storm Wolves alike.

Make sure to check out the rest of the photos form our outing here!

Learning alongside a friend always makes things better!

 

Storm Wolves Navigate Cuckanut Ridge

Kicking off the fall season, the Storm Wolves reunited at the Lower Chuckanut Ridge Trailhead. With a few familiar faces not present, but a few new ones popping up during drop off, it was time to have an opening circle and get to some introductions. With a few members of the infamous Storm Wolves deciding not to return this season, or switching to a new group, we had the opportunity to bring in a few new members to the group. It was great getting to inject this old group with some new personalities that made this outing a fun time to re-establish the identity of the Storm Wolves. With many of the returning members making up the majority of the group there wasn’t much change, but there was definitely a lot of energy and excitement on our outing that was likely due to just seeing old friends and getting out in the woods, but it also made focusing a bit challenging.

Hitting the trail we hiked up towards the top of Chuckanut Ridge. Taking a few moments to appreciate the views from a lookout, we pressed on and eventually hit a juncture in the trail. But before we could get out our map and compass it was time for a game of HIDE! With that out of our systems we ate some food and got out the map to figure out where we were, where we came from, and where we wanted to go. Orienting the map with our compass, we tuned into the surrounding landscape taking clues from the terrain, trail signs, topography on the map, trail directions, and how the angle of the trails met at the juncture. There was plenty of evidence to allow us to find our location on the map. The mentors made the comparison to using the scientific method when using a map. You create a hypothesis for where you are on the map, then use a variety of clues and information you can gather from the map, your surroundings, and your compass, to support your hypothesis. With our location pinpointed on the map, we looked ahead along the trail to see what noticeable landmarks we would be keeping an eye out for to support our hypothesis of which trail we were on and which direction we were going. With a straight section of elevation loss leading to a 180 degree right hand turn in the trail that would drop us down onto a four trail junction, we had our landmarks to keep an eye out for.

Continuing down the trail along the ridgeline, we had numerous peek-a-boo views out to the east of the towards Raptor Ridge and the vast terrain of the Chuckanuts. Looking further north at one of the viewpoints we got a great view of south side Bellingham allowing us to calibrate our internal compasses. The boys were reminded to constantly take the opportunity to check your surroundings at these view points and notice changes in terrain and the ebb and flow of the landscape to keep our internal compasses on point. Pressing on down the descending ridgeline we soon hit the wide 180 degree turn and arrived at the trail junction. With even more evidence to support our trailside hypothesis, we felt good about our navigation thus far. Looking at a nice, new trail map, we were able to pick a route to follow out to Arroyo Park and eventually North Chuckanut Trailhead for  pickup.

Pressing on down the trail the boys were faced with a pop-quiz on plant ID. Not only is navigation about map and compass, but a lot can be determined by tracking the plants that are growing all around us. Additionally many of these plants can aid us in our travels; food, medicine, tools, even toilet paper, they can all be found in the forest if we know where to look. We identified Western Red Cedar, Sword Fern, Cottonwood, Big Leaf Maple, Salmon Berry, Thimble Berry, Vine Maple, and a variety of other plant species as we traveled down the trail. At each one we discussed identification properties and what uses each plant provides us. This was a great way to pass the time and revitalize our natural history knowledge as we get back into the groove of exploration and adventure.

Following our route we crossed through a few more junctions and finally made our way to Arroyo Park. Here we found a nice little place to dip off the side of the trail, set up camp under a lovely Western Red Cedar that sheltered us from the light sprinkle of rain that started up, and jump right into a game of Spider’s Web. This was something the Storm Wolves needed no help doing and were soon off sneaking through the Sword Fern in pursuit of the food source. After some trial and error, the Flies found a weakness in the Spider’s defenses and secured the food source. Flies win! This was a quick yet exciting game that got us back into the mindset of maneuvering off trail.

With just enough time for a closing circle, we gathered up and passed around the apple slices to share. One of the mentors reminded the Explorers of why it is important to give thanks, and why we need to respect one another especially while opening up and sharing gratitude. Our cups truly overflow with all that we have in our lives, our friends, family, clothing, food, homes, woods to explore, time to play games, and a community that supports us. There is so much to be thankful for that we often forget about it all and there is nothing like listening to others share what they are grateful for to remind us of those little things we sometimes forget about. With apples in our bellies and gratitude in our hearts we loaded up and hit the trail for a quick hike out to the trailhead. Dropping down to the parking lot we successfully navigated along Chuckanut Ridge, down to Arroyo Park and out to the North Chuckanut Trailhead. Quite an accomplishment for a pack of wild boys who despite appearing a bit unfocused, were able to utilize map and compass to navigate, and identify over a dozen plant species and discuss their various traits and uses. What a great way to kick off our fall season and welcome in a new chapter of exploration and adventure in the Pacific Northwest.

Make sure to check out the rest of the photos from our outing here!