Another Day In The Hyland Lake Park Reserve

   On June 30th, I once again made my way north to the Twin Cities and the Hyland Lake Park Reserve to meet with my friend Shonuff' for his regular 10AM meetup and skills practice.
   The weather was perfect to begin with, but I could tell it was going to be a warm day eventually and we would be thankful to be in the shade and in the picnic area on the hill, where the wind would keep us cool.
   As we hiked the trails, we worked on edible and medicinal plant ID, tree ID, some navigation and also some direction finding techniques.
   We eventually arrived at the Nature Center where we explored some debris shelters and their construction.
   Here is a list of most of the days activities in a nutshell:

•Land Nav- used park maps
•Direction Finding- used daytime moon to find "South"
•Worked on Medicinal Plant ID- white yarrow, greater plantain
•Worked on Edible PLant ID- wild strawberries, cattail, basswood leaves
•Observed wildlife- wild turkeys, osprey, various chipmunks, squirrels and rabbits
•Visited debris shelters and studied construction and visited 2 year old winter shelter
•Worked on Tree ID- Basswood, Willow, Red and White Oaks, Elm, Ash, Box Elder, Maples, Birch
•Practiced Friction Fire- bowdrill: basswood on basswood, 2 stick hearth board, natural and man-made tinders, false tinder fungus
•Practiced Fire by Magnification- sun to false tinder fungus to cedar bark tinder to flame

   Towards the end of the day, we were able to give several demonstrations of firecraft to a group of kids that were attending a birthday party celebration in the picnic area adjacent to ours. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time trying out the bowdrill and using flint and steel. Three of the boys worked together to get an ember with a bowdrill which Sho' was happy to help bring to flame for them.
    Here is the video of that days great adventure.

 
   As I did not have permission to be taking video of the kids, I was not able to capture their surprise and amazement on camera, but all around they were smiling and having a good time with learning about bushcraft. We shared the contents of our kits and talked also about the essentials and important skills to practice and also about the "rule of threes" and the sacred order.
   I have to call that outing and adventure a complete success and I look forward to going up there again. Hopefully we will begin to have some regular attendance and get to meet a few more Minnesota BushcraftUSA members so that we can begin to plan a multi-day event in the future.
   Thank you my friends for following along on my adventures and I hope you enjoyed the video. Until next time, Happy Exploring.

Fun With The Summer Sun

   I always enjoy playing with different methods of starting fire and today I decided to experiment a little with the magnifying glass I have in my kit.
   First I found a piece of "false tinder fungus" or "horse's hoof fungus". Ideally it should be as dry as possible. I have found and used some in the past that was too moist and it would take a spark, but would not grow a coal. But today what I found was good and dry.
   Next I created a coal with a focused beam of sunlight with the magnifying glass. Next, after the coal had grown, I used some eastern red cedar bark as tinder and used it by pressing it gently against the growing coal. With a little coaxing from short breaths, it eventually caught a flame. Success! and a lot of fun.
   So here is the video of the process and I hope you enjoy it.

   A good reason for playing with false tinder fungus is to learn just how it will react and what are the ideal conditions for using it and for transporting a coal. It was not necessary to cut out the coal to put it in the tinder. This kept the fungus intact and this would allow easy transport and use later if needed.
   Be sure to give it a try. Until next time, Happy Exploring.