Adventure In Adventure Out
Nature Mystery Of The Week!
This is the first in a series of nature mysteries that we will be sharing with you!
Things to ponder:
Who left these marks?
Why were the marks made?
What type of tree are the marks on?
Good luck!
Using your knife – tips and tricks!
Proper knife use is something that can easily be taken for granted and this video demonstrates some excellent techniques that will help you learn how to safely and effectively use your knife in the field.
Beyond the obvious hazards of accidental injury, proper knife use is important in terms of the longevity of your blade as well as the energy expenditure of using the tool. In a survival situation, it is vital that you conserve energy and prevent unnecessary wear and tear on your body such as blisters and pulled or fatigued muscles.
One of the techniques used later in this video , known as ‘batoning’, is an exceptionally useful skill for accessing the dry, inner portions of smaller branches. Dry wood can be found hidden inside dead tree branches even after days of constant rain. Here is another video that demonstrates this skill in a different context:
An important safety note concerning batoning is that if it is done incorrectly the blade of the knife can easily snap off and go flying at you or a bystander. Make sure to give yourself plenty of space and use eye protection when possible while using this skill. This defiantly a task meant only for fixed blade, full tang knives!
Enjoy!
Adventures in the Valley – Pudding stone caves.
Nestled amongst the craggy sandstone rock formations on the North-West side of Mt. Toby is perhaps one of the most enchanting hidden places in the Pioneer Valley…
The “Pudding Stone” cave, named for the conglomeration of small stones glued together by a sandstone mortar that make up this rock formation, is one of the few caves in the Valley that is actually large enough to walk through. If you are looking for adventure, this is the place to go.
Consisting of two main chambers connected by a twisting rocky hallway this cave is refuge to many local animals in both the summer and winter months. In the summer you’ll find (and smell) the porcupines that call this cave their home, evidenced by large piles of cashew-shaped scat and the occasional discarded quill. In the winter this cave is refuge for many hibernating insects as well as a small population of little brown bats.
Sign of porcupine living in and near this cave indicate that it has been in use by these animals for decades, at the very least. Exploring this section of Mt. Toby you will find many freshly cut hemlock and oak (depending on the time of year) twigs littering the ground. Many of the hemlocks that you find near a porcupine den with have a ‘bushy’ look to them as a result of annual trimmings from the powerful beaver-like teeth of this animal.
Small secluded caves like this are incredibly important to local bat species due to the introduction of ‘white nose fungus’, a European disease that is affecting bats all throughout the United States and Canada.
Also of note is the large and charismatic fissure that splits the ground a little further uphill from the caves themselves. The ground above the caves is covered with many smaller fissures which give this cave a very well lit, non-claustrophobic feel.
The Northernmost section of the cave opens up on a narrow, cliff-side path that leads around both sides of the rock formation. The main chamber is accessible through this entrance and is what makes this cave the hidden gem that it is. In the winter, if you are lucky, the combination of a cold Northern breeze and water dripping through the ceiling creates the most beautiful columns of ice which grow up from the floor in some of the most surreal and fantastic of ways. Reminiscent of crystal, these ice formations are sometimes over eight feet tall and shaped like something from a Dr. Seuss storybook. Glow sticks or colored flashlights make this place absolutely magical.
Happy exploring!
Commonality and Difference: The Great Ecology
I was reflecting on an event that we recently facilitated as part of a staff retreat for an office at a local college. It was a fabulous group of individuals with a great energy about them. But there was a particular mement in the session that stirred some thoughts in me in regards to the interaction between commonality and difference. More specifically, it struck me ragarding the status of the uncommon, and how the uncommon tends to be undervalued and underestimated. See, the uncommon is mysterious. It is unknown, at least in part if not completely, by the very fact that it is not commonplace. It is not something that is regularly encountered or experienced. For some, there may be a faint recognition, many it will be completely foreign, and for few it will embody identity and experience.
But, for this reason then, for the majority of people, the role or function of the uncommon is itself unknown. This seems statement seems self-evident, but I found it to hold significant meaning as I reflected because what it really means is that the very potentiality of the uncommon is often completely overlooked. This makes sense. If I don’t know what a certain tool does and how to use it, it appears to be useless for nothing else but a paperweight. But when someone finally shows me how to use it, and I realize how much easier it make a particular task, I say, “Well why didn’t you tell me sooner!” The point is, the less that is common to me, the less I am able to perceive the worth and value that something, or someone holds. The more often this happens, the more often that the potentiality of that thing, the unique contribution that it can make goes untapped.
But why is that thing so uncommon? Because it is so different, not only from us, but from anything that we have experienced. But then, the question is, how do we make something uncommon? How do we increase commonality? With interaction. The more that we interact with things, the more that is within our experience. But the experience of one human is so finite. However, in our own interactions with each other, we also exchange experience and, in a way, complement the collected experience of each other. Thus, it is with greater interaction and genuine experience, and sharing of experience that perhaps we increase our commonality. And, as this interaction increases so does our ability to imagine outside of our own experience – to project into the uncommon with an understanding based on our ability to perceive beyond our own experience and understanding – because we become more increasingly receptive and aware of our encounters with the uncommon.
In some spheres one thing that is commonplace is completely and wholey out-of-place in another. A contractor’s jackhammer, while completely commonplace and understood in constructing a house, would be completely foreign and seemingly lacking in utility during a symphonic concert. But is there a way that a jackhammer could contribute to the symphony. Check out a group called Recyled Percussion if you want to know the answer to this question. The point that was reinforced to me was simply that, in order to recognize the value of something that is different or uncommon, you need only to look for the moments where your assumptions, based on what is common to you, are turned on their head, and lavish them!
Outdoor Adventure Programming and the College Experience
There have been many studies over the last few years linking student success and development at college to the extra-curricular activities and roles of students. These studies confirm something that may already seem intuitive – that learning does not only take place in the classroom. Take a look at the above article to learn more about the specific interaction between outdoor adventure programming and its impact on the college experience.
So why is this? And what is learning? Certainly, we could come up with a variety of definition and ideas that describe learning. What if we thought of learning as simply encountering something new? See, the known is simply that – it is known. It is already acquired and possessed. It already holds a space in our experience. But, the unknown, that is where we hold a void in our understanding. That is where the great potential is stored. It has the potential to fill something within us – to leave impact and impression. It’s like the apple being held from the top of a tower waiting to be dropped. But is it enough to simply have potential? Is it enough to simply bump into the unknown? If you bumped into the unknown with a blindfold on, would you have any idea what it was other than the fact that it existed?
So, perhaps learning is not only the encounter of something new but truly engaging what you have encountered. Perhaps it is in the inspecting of the thing encountered. Perhaps it is in the reflection on what is observed. Perhaps it is allowing that thing to leave the impression on you – to come into full contact with it and let it actually influence and change you. It is the rubbing up against things inside yourself and in the world around you, things that you never saw before, that actually allows those things to stay with you. It’s like the stain on my shirt that I got from brushing up against my cup of coffee this morning.
But this might imply a real vulnerability, exposing yourself to something new, something unknown where you cannot predict the outcome. It could be the potential of a new idea, a new thought that doesn’t seem to fit with all that you knew before it. Or maybe it is the potential for a new ability, a new skill, one that requires you to try something you have never done before. But in both cases, you are really engaging that new thing and letting it leave its mark on you. And you are doing things to make it known to you, to possess it for yourself. Thus, you will walk away from that encounter with something. Whatever the outcome, you will walk away with new knowledge and understanding because you engaged something unknown.
Perhaps some would call this experiential learning. But, in this light, isn’t all learning experiential? Whatever the case, academic institutions are seeing more and more the benefit of connecting the academic experience with students’ everyday encounters and interactions. Why? Because there is such great power in connecting what is being learned and the ability to see the impact that knowledge can have on the world. And what better way than to experience that impact?
For outdoor education, there seems to be a very special potential because it provides a very organic setting, one that illustrates so well progress through continuous growth and movement. Nature consistently demonstrates how one thing grows in connection and relation to another to create a continuous network that sustains the health and vitality of the whole. It seems to be the ideal place to be able to reflect on encounters and the influence they have had, to slow down and observe the new things we see both inside us and around us and how they nourish and sustain each other. Certainly this does not make the outdoors the exclusive setting for such encounters. But it is one such avenue to utilize surroundings in demonstrating new abilities and new encounters that will help, not only college students but people in general, to see ideas, knowledge, and skill come to life as they encounter it and actualize it. Whether it be the accomplishment of working together as a team, communicating with one another to accomplish the repair of a stone staircase on a trail that will be used by hundreds of people in just one year, or it is simply observing the network of ecology and interdependence of different species as you kayak along a river, there are endless personal discoveries to make in the outdoors as you put ideas into practice and see their impact on your surroundings. These and many others are the ones the encounters that can help enrich the learning experience and bring about a fullness and ownership in understanding.
What are your thoughts?
How to Use Your New GPS Receiver: Expert Advice from REI
Have a GPS but never quite understood how to use it for? Here’s a great article on GPS use basics.
About Phenology | USA National Phenology Network
Phenology is the study of nature’s timing. Natural events occur in synchronicity with other events on which they depend, to a miraculous degree. You can help track natural events and how timing is changing due to climate change, through the National Phenology Network.
Search – LocalHarvest
A listing to help you eat locally – organic farms, farmer’s markets, and CSAs in your area.
Nature Essential for the Brain, Scientists Report – Children & Nature Network (C&NN)
New research shows that exposure to nature is important for your brain’s health and functioning, and that life in urban environments can be improved with greener design.
Nature Essential for the Brain, Scientists Report – Children & Nature Network (C&NN).
Date with a Lichen | Orion Magazine
Orion author Richard Fortay shows us how to track environmental change in the landscape by watching lichens.
Getting into Bicycling : Expert Advice from REI
Time to drag your bike out of the garage and get it ready for spring! Cycling is a great way to get around and get in shape at the same time. Check out these ideas for how to be a better road biker, including great video clips on basic maintenance, helmet fitting, and road rules.
SOLO Wilderness Medicine – The leader in wilderness medicine training in the United States
Wilderness First Responder Course (WFR) coming up soon at SOLO in Conway, NH. Become certified to manage emergencies in primitive setting. SOLO uses hand on learning techniques including many realistic scenarios, to build decision making skills as well as technical knowledge.
NEXT WFR courses at the SOLO campus: April 6-16, 2010, May 1-18, 2010
SOLO Wilderness Medicine – The leader in wilderness medicine training in the United States.