The Branch Hoppers make Char Cloth at Stewart Mountain

When an Explorer spends time in a natural environment they begin to recognize and anticipate the cyclical events by which the natural process follows.  The Branch Hopper’s outing at Stewart Mountain marked the revisiting of two such events. First, exactly one year ago the group explored the exact same location on the cusp of the Vernal Equinox. Second, it would be the third year in a row that the group had shared an exploration together on their consistent mentor’s birthday.

Circling up at the trailhead the boys were squirrely but managed to pull their focus together enough to formulate a plan for the day. The boys were anxious to head up into Stewart Mountain’s watershed and play a round of Spider’s Web. In keeping with our theme for the season the mentors had brought the materials to create Char Cloth so that the boys could add yet another tool to their fire making kits. Fire skills, along with a long sit spot, were the only two activities that the mentors were adamant about holding to.

With that we were off and the boys choose to hike directly up the logging road instead of using the engineered trail. The road was steep and soon the group was peeling off layers and guzzling water. In the early spring the fringes of the logging roads are a great place to track the seasonal changes that occur. Hiking along the boys ate the fresh Indian Plum leaves, noticed the nettle shoots popping up, and marveled at all the kinds of different buds sprouting on the trees and shrubs.

Just outside of Whatcom County Parks land the boys plopped down in the power line clearing and ate some lunch. Calling for the Tribal Elder the group choose to spend some time exploring the woods on the opposite side of the clearing to look for the ideal place to play Spider’s Web.

Crossing under the power lines the group noticed how many invasive species were growing. The mentors explained that anywhere the forest canopy was cleared left an opportunity for invasive plants like blackberries and Scotch Broom to capitalize. Across the clearing the group entered into the wood and quickly found a viewpoint that looked east into a valley that seemed rarely explored. Tracking the groups curiosity and desire to venture into uncharted territory the mentors could infer that these Explorers have truly internalized a wonder and interest for the natural world.

Back at our basecamp the group got to work creating Char Cloth for their fire kits. They did an excellent job being present for the process and holding their focus. As we worked the sun broke through the clouds and the group laid back in the grass and absorbed some much-needed vitamin D. Check out the steps to making Char cloth below, and don’t forget to share these with your Explorer.

Making Char Cloth

What is it?

• “Char cloth (also called char paper) is a swatch of fabric made from vegetable fiber (such as linen, cotton or jute) that has been converted via pyrolysis into a slow-burning fuel of very low ignition temperature.” — Basically, char cloth is created by combusting an organic material in a way that releases its gasses without burning it up completely.
• The resulting substance has a low ignition temperature — just a single spark or point of heat can start it burning. Once the char cloth has been set off, it will ignite your tinder easier than had you employed the original spark/heat source directly to it. Char cloth smolders longer than a match,

What do I make it out of?

• Make sure the fabric is 100% cotton, linen, or hemp. It needs to be a plant fiber for the pyrolysis reaction to work. A man made fiber will melt and a protein fiber like wool or silk won’t have the same chemical reaction.

How do I do it?

• Step 1: To ensure complete, uniform charring, cut your cotton material into strips/pieces that can be placed into your can without their being rolled or folded up.
• Step 2: Make a small hole in the top of your can with a nail or other tool. The hole will allow the smoke/gasses out of the can. You don’t want the hole too big, as this will let oxygen into the can, causing the cloth to burn.
• Step 3: Seal the container and place it on a small fire or a bed of coals. Smoke should escape from the hole in the can. If flames appear around it, that’s okay. Watch the can, and once it has stopped smoking, turn it over. It will begin to smoke again. Once this smoke has stopped, remove the can from the fire.
• Step 4: Inspect your char cloth. It should have turned black but not become ash, and feel semi-rigid without being brittle.

·       Step 5: Separate the pieces to give them a little air, and then either store them in the charred can (wipe off the soot and peeling paint) or in something more compact, like an old film canister (do they make those anymore either?).

As we packed up from our skills session a few boys ventured out to set up a game of Spider’s Web at a location they had scouted earlier. The course for the game proved to be quite challenging because the spider and the food source were situated on a knoll that gave the spider the perfect advantage for catching flies. This did not detour the flies and they put in a valiant effort. Calling the game early the mentors sent the boys out on a sit spot to do an activity called a sound map.

To make a sound map one needs to sit with their eyes closed and listen to the sounds of the landscape for five minutes. Then taking a piece of paper they draw themselves in the middle of the page and make a drawing in the direction that they hear a different sound. Spring is a great time to do this activity because of the abundance of bird language that fills the forest.

Coming in from their sit spot the boys circled up and showed off their maps. It was fascinating to see the boy’s different approaches to the process. Our BEC mentors have identified the need to bring more intentional programming around journaling opportunities for our Explorers on sit spots. We feel that it will provide the space for the Explorers to process through writing prompts and interact with the landscape in new ways.

We shared our thanks together as we passed around Mint Chip Sugar Cookies that Steve’s wife Danielle had graciously baked for the boys on behalf of his birthday. A few of the Explorers liked the treat so much they asked for the recipe (which we have shared a link to above). Our mentors are grateful to share in the cyclical tradition of birthday celebrations and in welcoming the turning of winter into spring with these fine young men. What a pleasure it is to walk beside them as they grow and mature together. Each passing year our relationship as mentors/mentees grows deeper and more meaningful.

For more pictures from our outing please visit the Branch Hopper’s Photo Gallery from the day.

An Exploration into Human Impact and Fire at North Galbraith Mountain Trailhead

It had been two years since the Branch Hoppers explored North Galbraith Mountain Trailhead. In the spring of 2015 the Branch Hopper’s began their carving journey in a valley tucked just southwest of the Birch Street entrance. The boys stood at the trailhead greeting passing mountain bikers, excited to reconnect with the place and delve into the skill of fire making.

The group hiked back into the forest for about ten minutes until they found a desirable place for an opening meeting. With only seven Explorers present handing out jobs was a breeze and the boys worked well together to come up with a plan for the day. The mentors were anxious to teach the group the advanced skill of fire by friction and had purposefully picked the outing location due to the semi recent logging that occurred and the opportunity to harvest off of its timber piles.

Hiking down a fresh mountain biking trail the group came to the edge of the logging clearing only to find a Black-Tailed Deer. The group was quiet and still as they watched the deer grazing on the grass and saplings that had sprung up in the clearing. It was a great chance to talk with the Explorers about the animals that lived on the fringes of the forest. Deer, porcupines, squirrels, raccoons, and crows are just a few of the animals that have learned to thrive and adapt in landscapes where broken sections of the forest canopy exist.

Walking through the logging land the boys said they felt like they were in Mordor from Lord of the Rings and marveled at the massive piles of cedar, maple, alder, and Douglas fir. The mentors told the boys to be on the lookout for a piece of seasoned cedar and Red Alder that was small enough to cut with a pack saw. This was also a great time for the boys to learn how to harvest Cedar bark from downed trees and stumps. The mentors

cautioned the group that this was not something we wanted to take from any living Cedar trees. It was challenging for the boys to identify the Alder from the Maple in piles with the similarity of their bark patterns. It was also fascinating for them to look at the ring patterns in the clean chain saw cuts of large Cedar stumps.

We carful navigated the log piles which were slippery due the misty precipitation falling from the sky; it seemed to saturate and permeate everything including us! We soggily carried the resources to the forest edge while tracking this problematic landscape. The group found a wealth of invasive species which seemed to cover the entire landscape, not to mention the ground water run off that flowed brown with the mixture of mud and topsoil.

It was at that moment the group realized that the valley which they had learned to carve and played Spider’s Web in underneath the shade of Vine Maples and Sword Ferns was also in fact one and the same as the valley they were currently in. Although they didn’t express it in so many words the heaviness and uncertainty was palpable. This was a great time to talk with a few of the Explorers about turning problems into possibilities and recognize that just like the deer we were using the altered landscape to harvest in its temporary larder.

What could we learn from this? First to recognize that our society needs to harvest some wood to build infrastructure, but in applying our mottos slow is fast and fast slow and all things are connected understand that we need to do so much differently and with much more thought and consideration. Turning the problem of logging into a sustainable possibility lies with our future generations ability to help influence and change these practices as a caring and aware community.

Arriving at the clearing’s edge we lunched and began to process the wood in preparation for our fire making kits. Splitting the wood was arduous and the group, including the mentors, seemed to lack awareness for the saturating mist that engulfed the forest. Taking stock, we realized that everyone’s layers were soaked and the boys were beginning to look cold. It seemed as if we were starting to lose our focus. A few boys worked on a shelter with the branches of a toppled Douglas fir while others took shelter under the umbrella-like branches of a mature Cedar tree while working on making a tinder bundle.

It was at this moment that the mentor had a revelation! Rather than persuading the boys to all work on fire by friction kits, allowing them to follow their own method in fire making would give them the focus and motivation to learn. Just like the BEC staff has preferred methods for making fire, so do the boys. It is our role to support and nourish those passions as mentors.

Our goal over the course of the next few outings will be to get the Explorers set up with their personalized fire making kits so that they can become proficient with them. It is far less important that the boys know every technique to making fire than it is that they internalize one method which could end up saving their lives in a survival scenario.

Holding to our commitment to have a sit spot we walked up the trail to the location where we held our opening meeting and spread out. Circling up after our solo time we went around the circle and shared our thanks and stated our intention to pursue a preferred method of making fire.

The Branch Hoppers have really been performing these last few outings. After five year in the program they have hit their stride as a group. They are working collaboratively and making an effort to including one another. Furthermore, they are vocalizing an internalized ethic for the natural environment that seems to contrast with their understanding and accepting of our impact and resource needs as humans. Our hope for the Branch Hopper is that this internal struggle will empower them to become stewards of the natural environmental and community members that will be better equipped to examine our current resource needs and the challenges that lie ahead with the tools awareness, balance, humility, knowledge of place and connection, and environmental and social justice.

For more pictures from our outing please visit the Branch Hoppers’ photo album from the day. Thanks!

Art of Snow Cave Building with the Branch Hoppers

The Branch Hoppers Explorers arrived at Cascades Montessori full of energy and excitement about the extended outing in the Mt. Baker Wilderness. Driving out the 542 the boys spotted Bald Eagles along the North fork of the Nooksack River and marveled at snow walls that started in Deming and grew ever deeper as we slowly gained elevation. The mentors pointed out the significance and importance of the low elevation snow pack for our glaciers, salmon, fire season, and drinking water.

Arriving at the upper parking lot of the boys geared up and we headed towards the backcountry gate. In our opening meeting the mentors let the group know that backcountry travel in the winter is a lot different than an outing in the front country, and although we wouldn’t be venturing out too far from the parking lot it doesn’t take long to be out in the deep winter wilderness.

The mentors went on to explain that knowing the snow pack was of the upmost importance, and that it was another form of tracking. Last weekend it had snowed three to five feet, but on the following Thursday it had rained over four inches, consolidating the layers in the snow pack. However, on Friday it snowed fourteen inches with thirty-five mph winds which added storm slab and wind loading on North to South aspects with subpar bonding to the previous layer.

One mentor passed around a special compass rose that modeled the three different elevation levels and the danger each directional aspect presented. Together we discussed: winter backcountry travel and etiquette, avalanche prone slopes and terrain traps, defined wind loading and storm slab, and located and identified tree wells.

Feeling oriented we headed out in search of the ideal location to build a snow cave. Trudging along the mentors pointed of some of the prominent peaks and backcountry ski runs in the area. Those who were not wearing snowshoes post-holed up to their waists in the snow. This was a challenge for both the Explorers and the mentors!

Arriving at a Northwestern-facing slope we pulled out an avalanche probe and found snow depth at roughly 240cm or 7.8 feet.  This was as far as our probed reached, but from the NWAC meter data at 5,100 feet elevation the snow depth was most likely 16 to 20 feet! Being careful not to compact the snow the group excavated a four by four foot section down five feet before making an entrance to their cave.

The shoveling was difficult with the recent consolidation and the going was slow, but the group persisted. Our goal was to dig into the bottom of the well about three feet then dig slightly upward before we started to excavate out the sleeping area. Having a stair like entry inside the start of the snow cave traps heat within in the structure’s insulating walls. One of the mentors gave an example to the group of sleeping in a snow cave and lighting one emergency candle which brought the temperature up to sixty-five degrees!

Our mentors would like to commend the Explorers for working well together and for their engagement with the place and skill. The boys traded off with the limited amount of shovels and collaborated on each step in the snow cave process. If they were not working on the snow cave they were digging tunnels, side shelters, or creating a sledding track. Over the last few outing the group has really been harmonizing and collaborating, treating each other with respect and care, and listening and being present in the explorations.

The group spent the last part of the day learning the art of shovel sledding, making snow cones with red Power Aid, soaking up Vitamin D and spectacular mountain views, and rejoicing with their peers in the moment. It was truly a pleasure to spend a day in the mountains with the Branch Hoppers. We live in an amazing place and this day was a great way to reinforce this truth. Before heading out we gave some thanks and each Explorer shared about what he had learned and what had challenged him about the process.

For more photos of our winter exploration please visit the Branch Hoppers’ photo album from the day.