"It's so comfy!" What do you suppose is being described here? Fluffy mattress, soft pillow and warm blankets? No...no...no. New pair of jeans? Not quite. Beloved family room sofa? Wrong again.
Get this: the comfortable accommodation being praised is an earth shelter. Made of sticks, cedar boughs, fern fronds and leaves, it can be comfy indeed. More important, a well-constructed earth shelter could just be the difference between a decent night's sleep and a miserable 6 to 8 hours.
Shelter building is a skill the Alevin are working on this fall, and judging by the reaction quoted above, it's fair to conclude that it is going well. To give you an idea of how well, consider the following evaluation: the boys built two shelters, and to test their strength, a mentor climbed ON TOP of each - both passed!
A proper location (safe from falling objects, effective water run off, etc.), access to the right materials, and the skill and knowledge to construct shelter are needed. The materials issue was satisfied when the Explorers found not one, but two partially built shelters on Galbraith Mountain. We had found our location for the day.
A little healthy competition tends to make a task more interesting. Therefore, two teams of six Explorers went to work after some instruction from Steve. As the two groups worked it became clear that Many hands make light work. Progress was steady on one team (lots of collaboration and compromise-a Boys Explorers Clubmotto) and sporadic on the other (those mountain bike jumps can prove to be a powerful draw!). Five and two minute warnings that the competition was coming to a close improved the focus from both teams, and each shelter, while not 100% complete, was in the words of another Explorer "really comfy"!
During our debrief and judging of the Earth Shelters, the mentors ask the boys what their goal was for the activity. To quote yet another Explorer, "to build a strong shelter we can be proud of". Mission accomplished. Both teams were well on their way to building a weather-worthy earth shelter, something to be proud of indeed! These Explorers are learning how to be leaders, delegate tasks amongst a group, create great working relationships and commitments. Although Mentors speculated that the competition could lead to unhealthy comparisons and a divided group in the end it was a great way to tool to get acquainted with this vital survival skill.
After all that work, the boys need some time and space to let their energy out. Again, the location provided everything we needed. First, they repurposed old mountain bike jumps to running jumps – that’s what you get when you schedule an outing following Halloween as well as daylights savings! There is something settling about boys freely running through the woods. The boys desire roam in wild spaces is intrinsic and there are so many essential lessons and opportunities in their rambles.
We spent the rest of the outing playing the time-honored game Spider’s Web. Just as the rain began to intensify, we called the game and had our closing meeting. Thanks were given for ready shelter materials and a place to feel at home, survival, friends to explore with, Halloween, pack saws and tools, and rain and wind. The Alevin left happy, dirty, and better prepared to handle a night in the woods.
For more pictures from the day please visit the Alevin photo gallery.
