Practical Knowledge Before the Camping Trip
Student Presentations
How to start a fire: Make tinder nest, set up kindle, set fire to the tinder nest then place into the kindle. Do not smother the fire! Make sure it can obtain oxygen and then add fuel to the fire to maintain it burning. Make sure there is emergency water near, to put out the fire, in case it gets out of control or if you are done with it. Be sure to spread out the ashes to ensure it is not still burning or at risk of reigniting.
One of the fire starting techniques we showed was an easy do it yourself task with an egg carton, dryer lint and wax. As the class learnt dryer lint is extremely flammable, even when burning it alone, and covering it with wax helps to keep it dry.
The part I found most ironic about this presentation as it was lead by the exchange students, who nailed it!
I have found that Root Cellar Rocks offers a Picking: Wild Edible Plants workshop. This is a great way to inform yourself by talking with locals and experts of the area!
Another group's topic was Newfoundland Plants which crossed into the wild edible topic. This group utilized and awesome resource from the Kelligrews Ecological Enhancement Program called "A collection of visual field guides for the environment of Newfoundland and Labrador"which featured pictures on one side and information on the reverse. The Kelligrews Ecological Enhancement Program field guides would have also been excellent for the birds and animals presentation. The plant that stands out the most from this group was the Labrador Tea because it was spotted on the way out of camp.
The first day of class was the forming stage in which class members got to know one another. After weekly classes the group went to the storming and norming stages. Since attending the camping trip the class reached the performing stage, and it was this camping trip that created much closer bonds. The completion of class is the adjourning stage after which members will go separate ways.
Once back in class on Tuesday two more groups presented knots. One group did the "sheet bend" and another the "bowline".
Camping Trip Lessons From TA
Navigation Lesson Plan |
The second video shows cinnamon role, which the class baked except for the fact we had the ready to go ones from pillsbury. The video also shows using oats on the bottom of the pan to prevent the cinnamon roles from sticking.
The National Leadership Outdoor School has an awesome YouTube channel with plenty more baking and outdoor knowledge videos.
My Personal Reflection
The campsite was a heavily impacted area reminding me of the Seven Principle of Leave No Trace. There was durable surfaces for the tents, a campfire pit, trails, and trash left behind from others :(.
My personal favourite student presentation was wild edibles and Newfoundland plants. In particular the Labrador Tea because on the way out of camp this plant was spotted and pointed out, then along the remainder of the hike I continuously was able to spot it without any assistance! While trying to find additional information about how to prepare dandelions and other wild edibles plant of Newfoundland I found this great resource called "Wild About Wild Flowers". This resource has an excellent section called flowers as food mentioning dandelions and stinging nettle, along with a few I never heard of; orach, oysterleaf and fireweed.
Also while searching for wild edible plants of Newfoundland I found a great resource "Island Insect" which shows the insects in the province. The insect most commonly talked about on this trip was the black flies, and how the class was a tasty treat for them! I think it was the Girl Guide in me but with the black flies bothering everyone I really wanted to break out into the song "There Ain't No Flies On Us" as it is a true gem. This song brings back a lot of camping memories of spending time around a fire with friends while being silly, care free and making light of an annoying situation such as the flies, like in this video of scouts singing "There Ain't no Flies on Us".
This video of a various age co-ed group shows everyone having fun and just letting around the campfire in the woods which makes me think back to Tuckman stages along with the importance of of why kids and adults need time in the woods. ParticipACTION says kids benefit from the woods but adults do too! They say that "... regularly spending as little as two hours a week (it doesn’t have to be all in one go) in nature can improve cognition, relieve anxiety and depression, and even boost empathy, and that’s on top of lowering blood pressure and reducing stress felt in the body." This makes me think of the first night around the campfire we could not stop talking, preventing anything protective from happening, but we most definitely enjoyed some tasty marshmallow. The first night everyone was still in school studying mode or city mode which possibly could attribute to the anxious, or stress mode felt. Yet the second night everyone was able to remain calm and focus which was the result of spending time outdoors. The second night also had great trivia that accommodated a vast majority of the groups knowledge, thanks to that group for leading some awesome trivia!
Campfire is without a doubt my favourite time of day because it brings everyone together. Plus is always provides me with an opportunity to pull what I have always called "secret society" games out of my back pocket and have people around the campfire confused! The part I enjoyed most about playing the games was the fact one of the German students also knew many of them. This opened my eyes to how far around the globe these games are played! It was a good feelings knowing she could participate because it is always nice when at least one person around the campfire knows the secret to the game and is apart of the society. Having fellow class members trying to figure out the secret was a lot of fun and it was neat to see how some people would beg you to tell the trick while others would put a lot of thought into how it was done. In either circumstance it was a lot of fun when everyone became apart of the secret society and had a good laugh about how they had been confused or tricked.
Playing these games consistently made me think of the value camping provides. That how spending time outdoors can bring people closer together because of their shared experience. In the book Last Child in the Woods a single mother, Teri Konars, talks about her son, Adam, and his earliest memory of camping. The mother found an organization called Parents Without Partners were singles parents had the opportunity to go camping as a group. Adam no an adult still speaks highly of this camping expedition because of the things he encountered during it like seeing a coyote, how to make a needle and thread from yucca leafs, and seeing the stars. As a single mother Teri felt comfortable going on the trip with other single parents because of the fear of the unknown and lack of nature knowledge.
Camping as beneficial also made me recall Last Child in the Woods mentioning at risk youth and children with AIDS. The at risk youth found a place of solitude and wanted to change their lives for the better after spending time in Alaska. By spending this time in nature they realize the trajectory of their current life path and wanted to change it for the better. Wendigo Lake, Camp Widjiitiwin, Bear's Paw Retreat, The Bowery Mission, Anasazi Foundation, and Outward Bound are just a few example of at risk youth/adult camps, some require referrals whereas others do not.
Whereas the children with AIDS one had the opportunity to experience seeing the stars for the first time and it was the best connection with nature they had ever experienced. After seeing the stars the child became alive and had a deeper connection with nature afterwards. Camp Dreamcatcher is an example of a camp that children touched by HIV/AIDs can attend. Overall no matter the circumstance or conditions of children/youth/adult attending camp has been found to be beneficial.
Overall the camping experience was enjoyable, which was probably mostly due to the weather. Despite knowing the coming week included assignments and midterms it was nice to have an opportunity to unwind as well as be carefree. Below I have added some videos that are important in my opinion. The first one looks at dehydration. I have added this video because a lot of people mentioned having headaches during the camping trip and it was probably mostly due to the lack of hydration. Second is a video about blisters. While thankfully no one on the camping trip mentioned getting a hot spot or a blister I think knowing about bluster care is very important because your feet are very important on an expedition. Finally the last video is about usable ankle injury showing the proper techniques to wrapping an ankle. This video was added since someone did hurt their ankle during the hike in.
Journal article: The Effects of a Summer Camp Experience on Factors of Resilience in At-Risk Youth |