He worked on identifying natural tinders such as milkweed seeds and cattail fluff and easily identified sumac for its red berries and wild rose hips for the tiny "apples" they presented, even in winter.
We worked on direction finding and some tree identification as well. He spotted some willow trees along side the trail and remembered an earlier trip we had made out there and how we had made a willow whistle and a small toy raft and used goose feathers for a sail.
He also used his firesteel to ignite the trangia alcohol stove and mixed up the hot chocolate for us both of us. I was very proud of him.
We happened upon a small herd of about ten whitetail deer just as we were about to reach our destination and we both just stood there in awe, as they looked at us and we looked back at them. It was inspiring and a good moment to share together.
I worked at getting fire with my flint and steel and using milkweed ovum instead of charred cloth. I had succeeded many times before with this combination, but I had never tried it in winter. It felt good to succeed with the milkweed ovum and felt even better to have gotten it done in the winter and the snow.
After a quick and delicious brew of hot chocolate, made on a recipe my bush buddy had concocted, we packed it up and headed home. It was a great day for a son and his father to enjoy some time together.
So here is the video of our afternoon adventure.
Bushcraft is such a good thing to practice with your kids and the adventure never stops. Going out to explore with a child, opens your eyes to see the world in a better way. I hope you get the chances to do so as often as I do. I am a very lucky guy to have such a good friend in my bush buddy. Until next time, Happy Exploring.
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