The Perils of Over Inspiration: The Dilemma of Modern Wilderness Skills Instructors

Heading into the wild for the Hawk Circle
winter survival trek.

 I saw this article recently and I was both saddened for the man who succumbed to hypothermia, his family and for the instructors and wilderness school who taught him some of his initial skills, and for our wilderness education field in general.   It made me take stock yet again about the power and responsibility that we, as instructors of wilderness living skills, have, and for the ultimate impact our teachings can have on our students.

I have to add that there were many things missing in this article, including details about the types of gear he was carrying, his mental status, his family or relationship quality and other things that can come into play, like the weather at the time, and food choices or availability.   It doesn't go into whether he had practiced and trained for this outing, or what his level of experience was and many more questions we all could think of to ask about this person and the specific circumstances of this tragedy.

In the short of it, that stuff doesn't matter.   He died.  He died trying to live off the land, and practice the same skills that many of teach and share every day.   And that should sober us, and make us think long and hard about how we teach, how we practice, and how we prepare our students, who might someday try a similar sort of walkabout.

The Cherry Valley Creek: 
So Peaceful and Tranquil,
Yet Great Perils Lie for the Unwary!

It's easy to dodge our responsibility, if we choose.   "Hey, it's not one of my students.   My students would never do that."  I think it is natural for the first response to be one of defensiveness, to protect ourselves from any part of blame for this avoidable tragedy.   I know that some of that was running through my head at first.

However, it leads me to thinking about how we inspire our students.  I thought about how I was inspired, long ago, by my teachers, like Tom Brown, Jr, and John Stokes, and Jake Swamp.   I thought about the ways they inspired me, and, at the same time, balanced that with appropriate cautions and warnings in the right amounts too.   Tom used to say (and probably still does) that "the Earth will never hurt you, as long as you move and flow with it".   I believed this statement, and still do, to a degree.   But I also know that there are people who could take that statement and walk out the back door into the wilderness fully believing in it, and die a few hours later because they didn't really know what it meant, and they took that one statement out of context of a larger perspective and body of knowledge.

In other words, Tom spoke those words to us, as adults, and in the context of a full week of immersed learning and focused teachings.  He knew we weren't going out the door at the end of the day, or couple of days, and he had time to share the full spectrum.   I know, because while 20 percent of his teachings had this same type of beautiful, inspiring harmony, there was another 20-30 percent that lay in vivid stories and teaching that scared the crap out of me.   It balanced out.   It made it complete, and left me with days and nights lying in bed and going back and forth, always thinking things like:  "Am I ready to go into the woods yet on my own, to live this philosophy?"   "Have I practiced enough, to where it is reliable and a part of me?"   and "what the heck does that mean, 'the Earth will never hurt me as long as I move and flow with it?'  What is 'flow' anyway?"

Brian Sullivan heads into the wild 
for a spring survival test.

You can see, this topic is complex.   It has a lot of threads, and has few easy answers.   It is something I think about while working in our barn, mentally preparing for summer camp, or on the long drives through the rural New York countryside, heading to a meeting or after school program.   In the past few weeks, I have come up with a couple of ideas so I thought I would lay them on you and see what you think.

First, and easiest, is to Balance Inspiration with Hazard Awareness.  Give equal time to each area of your program, and tell stories on both ends.   Yes, it is great to share the wonder of seeing an early sunrise on the banks of a river, or hike in the moonlight, or whatever.   Those things are amazing and can help us feel like we are walking in the footsteps of the ancients.   But it is important to also share stories of hypothermia, of adequate nutrition and caloric intake on a wilderness trek, especially for teens and young adults.   You don't have to do it all at once, but make sure you do it.  Seriously.

Second, make sure You are Modeling Safe Behavior.   This means bringing a first aid kit on your treks and outings, and know how to use it.  Get certified for CPR and all that, so you are trained up and professional.   Wear warm clothing and gear when appropriate, and don't cut corners with safety in your programs.   Bring flashlights and headlamps, and make sure all staff carry them as well, even on short day hikes, just in case.   Bring warm clothes even on warm days, in case someone gets cold or immersed in cold water in an accident.   Don't model behavior that could be dangerous in front of kids that could easily begin mimicking your actions in unsafe ways.  

Hawk Circle Assistant Director Randy Charles 
teaches students about respect for the bush.

Third, Teach from Your Own Mistakes.   In other words, share your failures, your times where you forgot your rain coat, or got lost, or built your shelter poorly, etc.   If you don't have a lot of those, then you have to use other people's misfortunes or learning stories, changing the names if necessary so as to not embarrass anyone.   Doing this will help your students see that it is possible to make mistakes, and to fail, and to have to work at these skills, and that they don't come easy.   It helps to hear stories about how much practice it really takes to make a fire in the rain with one match, or skin a deer at -3ºF or whatever.

Fourth, Emphasize that there is Nothing Wrong with Using Back Up Gear while you are Learning.   I think this is pretty self explanatory, but hey, I have to say it.   And an addendum to this one is Watch out for The Crazy, Passionate, Over-Inspired Student!  This is where your mentoring really has to kick in.   You have to be willing to make sure that students are also modeling smart, safe behavior, and if they don't, then let them know they might not be able to stay in your program.   Not as punishment for being inspired, but as a safety issue for other students.   And for the safety issues for themselves.  

In  those situations, you have to find ways to get through to that person, not in front of the group where they might be embarrassed or feel self conscious, but at another time, discreetly, and have many as many conversations as necessary to help them value their own life, and others nearby.   What will help is if you have developed a bond of trust, and if you communicate through that trust, and really listen to what they are saying, and hearing whether or not you are getting through.   It takes time, and it isn't easy, but this is what we do.  This is what makes us good and real and awesome.

Ryan Smith cooks over an open fire on
his wilderness skills intensive.

It's all great to share about how the native people didn't have this or that, and could do these amazing things, but all of your great teaching will amount to nothing if you have a student get over-inspired and head out in bad weather and die.  Or fall off a cliff.  Or cut themselves with a hatchet or a knife doing something stupid.  So trust me on this, and tone it down a little.   Just be real.

Fifth, Be Sure to Praise Good Examples of Positive, Safe, Smart Behavior.   Give credit to your staff.   Give credit to the parents.   Give awards to kids who don't get cut, or forget their rain coats, or whatever.  I guess you can figure out what will work in your school or class, or camp or program.   But it is true that what we focus on will get attention and lead to positive change.

I do think that over inspiration can be a real problem in some learning cultures in various wilderness schools, and the problem sometimes comes about because we, as instructors, like to share what got us into these skills, or way of life, and we share the same stories because it worked for us.   However, we just sometimes forget about all of the other stories that were also shared at the same time as we were learning, or maybe our teachers never gave those to us in the first place.   So we can just go through our teaching routines, and find the balance, and tone things down, and make the adjustments.   It's not really all that hard, but the payoff is sweet.

I remember sharing some stories with a group of campers about one of my survival camp outs, telling them about the back up food I brought, and being huddled in a thick wool blanket in the early morning cold, leaning against a big pine tree and seeing the raccoons heading back to bed along the creek in the mist.   I remember sharing about my army poncho, and how it kept me warm and dry in a massive, two hour downpour in the back country on a cold November evening.   A year later, one of those same campers came back and shared her story, about how she remembered my wool blanket, and brought one along on her camping trip and was able to see deer pass within a few feet of her, on a morning where she would have had to leave early because it was just too cold for the clothing she had on.   Kids listen.   They understand, and they emulate.  And when they have a success, they will know your teaching helped them have that experience, and it will be good.   And those teachings will be passed down to the next generations, and so on.

Let's make sure we can pass on the best of our teachings to the kids of the future.   Doesn't every student of ours deserve our best?  And, if we do this, in a serious and deliberate way, the passing of this young Scottish man will not be for nothing.  It will matter.  It will make a difference.

Maybe his family would like that.

What do parents think?  

What do students of the wilderness feel about this post?

What do you think?

Insects and Debris Huts: An Earth Skills Question

And Now, a Question about Debris Shelters!

Dear Mr. Sierra,

Hi, I've been practicing debris hut making for a while and the past several times I've had a problem with spiders getting settled before I do. I've been trying to find out how to get rid of them and came across this quote in the posted comments over You Tube but I don't understand what the instructor is talking about.

"Insects and spiders are driven out by 'smudging' VERY carefully so as not to burn down your shelter with you in it. Maine has no venomous snakes and a few spiders that cause localized necrosis. Even so, follow normal snake protocols as if using a modern sleeing bag in the dessert south west in snake country. The walls, while strong enough to climb on after settling, are easily pushed out for a ginger or explosive escape."


What exactly is "smudging"? "Smudging" with what? If you could give me any other insights into how to get rid of unwanted campers in my huts (ie smoking them out??? or anything else) I'd really, really appreciate it very much. Thank you for all your help!!!
Sincerely,
Seriously Suspicious of Snakes & Spider Smudge

Dear SSSS,

First of all, thanks for your question. This is a good one and very important to earth skills students in many parts of the country where poisonous snakes and spiders are a real threat to your safety and health. It only takes one bad spider bite, or a close encounter with a rattler to make anyone run for the Red Roof Inn and stay the heck out of the woods! That being said, there are a few answers to your question that can help you with your situation and concern.

One thing I might add before I begin is to ask where you are located? That does play a factor in this in terms of materials that you typically use for your shelter. Do you use leaves or pine needles? Grasses and cattails? Forest or desert? In any event, you may have to modify these answers to fit your location and available materials.

While I live in the Northeast, which doesn't have many threatening snakes or spiders where I live, I have traveled through the Midwest, West, desert Southwest and the Pacific Northwest, where many of these hazards are real. When I go to an area I haven't been to before, I usually research how the native peoples lived there for thousands of years, studying their shelters carefully, either through books or in the local natural history and native culture museums. In many cases, there are important ways that these shelters protect their people from the local hazards. In the Southwest, many cultures lived in cliff dwellings with clay or sandstone floors which were swept clean, and bedding used was furs or woven rabbit skin blankets, which could be shaken out each day outside to remove spiders or scorpions. Food scraps would be kept to a minimum in these locations, to discourage mice and rats, which attract snakes as predators.

In the coastal foothills of California, tribes like the Tipai-Ipai, Chumash or Cahuilla lived in family dome shelters made from poles of saplings covered by woven palm fronds, mats of grasses, cattails or tules, with shade arbors of brush and sticks. They slept on grass or cattail or tule mats, which could also be shaken and kept clean.

The point I am trying to make is that debris shelters, from a survival point of view, were used in extreme cases, when there was no fur, gathered grasses, cattails or tules were available for long term bedding. They were used in emergencies only. In those environments, all of the available debris is home to insect and spider infestations, including scorpions, too. There just aren't that many options in the foothills and deserts for habitat, and the dangerous critters are predators hunting for food in those areas. Palm trees have lots of fibers, but in the dead fronds, that are clustered along the main trunk, they are loaded with all kinds of insects.

If you build a debris hut with those kinds of materials, it is going to be loaded with 'visitors'. It doesn't matter if you smudge or not. They are going to be there, or move right back in as soon as the smoke clears.

Smudging, by the way, is where you take a bowl, pot, clay pot, wooden bowl or a slab of bark, fill it with hot coals from the fire, then place green leaves, bark, sage, pine or cedar needles or grasses on top of the coals, where they will smolder with intense, thick smoke. Place that container in the shelter and let it fill with smoke so it will drive the insects away. This works very well with mosquitoes and smaller spiders up here in the Northeast.

You have to be very careful, as the coals can heat up the material and then spontaneously burst into flame when it gets dried out. That's when your shelter goes up in a hot, smoldering furnace blast of fire. Not good.

Most native shelters had fires in them, and the smoke from those fires kept the spiders and other insects at bay. It also helped preserve their hides, any food or gear stored there as well. It solved a lot of problems, as well as provided the usual warmth and cooking heat too.

In the wilderness, in an emergency, you might have to make a debris shelter, or a scout pit shelter, and sleep in it right away, and hope for the best. Think good thoughts and hope the spiders and scorpions and snakes don't feel hungry, and make it through the night. If you leave it for any length of time in those kinds of environments, you will have to pull all of the debris out and try to air it out and get the rest of the critters out or you will be unpleasantly surprised.

Native peoples generally had deer, wolf, bear, buffalo or other large animal skins that allowed them to sleep warm and not have to use infested debris.

In 1986, I was living in the high desert plateau forests around Prescott, Arizona, while I was attending Prescott College, and I built a great scout pit in the woods behind our house. I filled it with soft grasses, pine needles and cottonwood leaves and covered it with soil so it was perfectly camouflaged. I built it planning to sleep in it that night, but something came up and I had to wait for about three days before I could head out.

I took a flashlight with me (thank you, backup gear!) and shone the light around inside before I went in. I saw the tell tale crazy webs of about three black widow spiders inside, very comfortable in the almost pitch black darkness. I pushed a stick in to try to hook my wool blanket and get it out, and as it came out, I heard the squeaks of some small mice in the grass, and the telltale sound of a rattlesnake warning. I was glad I checked before going in, and at the same time, I was bummed out that I built a great shelter for a bunch of mice, spiders and snakes! That was a lot of work, but lesson learned!

I hope this answers your question, SSSS, and helps you make a great shelter that you can use for your expeditions and adventures. I invite all readers to add their comments and ideas so we can all learn and grow! Good luck!

Changing Weather in Survival

In the past two weeks, the weather here has been crazy. Sunny, balmy and close to sixty degrees F for one or two days, then the temperature plummets to fifteen degrees, followed by two days of cold rain. Then, six inches of wet snow, high winds and cold damp air around thirty five degrees. Then, back up to fifty or sixty.

It has been like this for a while, and it is typical of the late winter/early spring weather in the northeast. Most of us just throw another log on the fire, complain about the mud or slush and go on about our business.

However, to a person studying the skills of survival, it makes you think. "There's some fresh snow on the ground, no leaves or debris, and the snow is wet and melting fast. What should I do for a shelter?"

How do you predict the weather, and how much firewood should you gather? What sort of insulation could you find that will keep you warm and alive should you need to make your own shelter under these extreme conditions?

I can't tell you any formula that will work every time, and I can also add that this season is definitely for advanced students! However, here is some advice that might help, should you need it.

One: Always make sure your shelter can withstand a heavy snow load. This means building a strong framework, extra strong, actually, and try to double or triple your debris layer. Have you ever tried to lift wet snow when shoveling? It is really really heavy. So don't fool around when making your frame thick and sturdy!

Two: Gather materials when the weather is good. This is obvious, but it does tend to go against human nature. When the weather breaks, it seems like we should play, have fun, wander and explore. But you really have to buckle down and remember that tomorrow it could be super cold and windy, and you need to get firewood, grass, leaves, branches, whatever, just in case. Plan for the worst and hope for the best, is a good policy at this time of the year. Or, pay the price later, and I'm not talking about charging up your credit cards, baby.

Wool shirt-$70
Lakota Knife$125
Spending a night in a wet shelter, losing three toes to hypothermia-Priceless!

Ha ha ha, yeah, it's not so funny, is it?!!!

Three: You might have to travel to find a good location for a shelter. One thing to remember is that it is sometimes better to build a shelter in a location with lots of materials for firewood, debris, than to try to transport those materials to your 'preferred location'. Look for natural shelters, fallen trees, rocky outcropping, whatever you can use to protect you from the wind, the wet snow, and stay high and dry against flooding and water.

Four: Wear wool! Your gear is going to get wet, dirty, muddy, frozen and trashed. Make sure you have lots of dry gear to change into if you get wet too. Remember that fires are a pain when the wind is really blowing hard, in terms of smoke, sparks, firewood flaring up and burning three times as fast, etc.

Five: Be Careful! Snow is slippery. Slush is slippery. Mud, underneath the snow, is slippery. Wet logs underneath the snow/slush are very slippery. Tons of trees blow down at this time of year, and it is easy to get hurt if you start to get careless in the woods. Stay safe and have plenty of good, high energy foods to go along with the right gear and you can actually learn to enjoy this crazy time of the year. If you are out there, remember that the robins and other birds arriving early are having the same experience, so at least you have company!

I will be working on a book on Primitive Winter Shelters and Survival in this coming year, and should be filming a number of unusual shelters that are especially awesome for this time of year, so stay tuned! If you want to get involved in helping to build or film any of them, please let me know. I'll let you know more come November next year.

Enjoy this crazy spring weather!