Julie's Paper: Another Draft

[Julie362]

Being able to survive in the wilderness is the first thing that any species starts out with, and humans are the only ones that seem to have forgotten. However, we survive every day that we are alive, just in a different way. Many people are dethatched from the Great Outdoors, but I want to re forge the primordial bond that seems to have all but vanished. To do so, I plan to train myself so that I can survive for a few days in the forest.
The world is full of things that we claim we did not understand before the dawn of books and exploration, but if we were to be instinct-driven like many other animals, I think we'd find that we knew a lot about our surroundings all along. Sure, all of the luxuries of a world ruled by machines are nice, but I also believe that the natural world has just as much to offer. I began posting questions and details of my project on an online forum, Wilderness-Survival.Net, and I got a surprising number of responses. Many people, such as the website's administrator, Rick Stilley, said that nature is a very spiritual place. They feel that they are closer to God when they are out in the wilderness.
Unfortunately, primitive human instincts are so far gone that I cannot just go out in the woods and live like a wild animal. With the evolution of human intellect, we downgraded our senses because the brain needs so much energy. Without the knowledge needed to build tools and use them, I cannot possibly expect to do well in the wilderness, mankind just isn't born with fangs or claws or fur or any of that. I must learn how to compensate for my lack of physical prowess before I even consider roughing it in the woods.
Enter Tim Birmingham, School Program Coordinator at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. Tim has studied the techniques employed by Tom Brown, a guru of survival. Tim has agreed to guide me towards my goal of surviving for several days in the wilderness of Vermont. Tim started me off with a book written by Tom Brown, and also a few assignments.
The first and arguably the most important survival tool is a good attitude. Tim sent me this briefing: Read the first chapter of the Tom Brown Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. Awareness activity: Find a quiet spot in the woods that sticks out to you and sit still for an hour. Journal about what you saw, heard , felt. Why did you pick that spot?
My first task was to simply sit in the woods and write down everything I saw, heard, felt, and experienced. I did this twice for one hour each time, and I was surprised by how easily I became attuned to one spot on a tree stump or a lichen-covered boulder. Being an avid photographer, I felt I was already fairly aware of what was going on around me. But how would I react to a less familiar area? Time would have to tell.
The next attitude and awareness activity I did was one called "Fox Walking". Fox walking is pretty much what it sounds like: you walk like a fox. This means not dragging your feet, rolling the foot from the outer edge to the inner edge, looking forward, and remaining alert. (Brown) Fox Walking instilled a sense of balance in me, as well as helping me to be aware of my surroundings.
After I had learned to walk the walk, I had to adjust my vision. The next assignment was "Splatter Vision". Tim advised: Read page 168 in Tom Brown’s field guide on Fox Walking and practice the method until you are comfortable with it. Practice the Fox Walk with the Splatter Vision and focused hearing on the way to your spot, sit for an hour and journal about what you saw, heard and felt. What is different this time? Splatter vision isn't quite as fun as it sounds, though. What I had to do was try to unfocus my vision and concentrate on the big picture and my peripheral vision. By just avoiding singling out familiar objects and landmarks, one can detect things that they would otherwise be oblivious to. (Brown) However, Splatter Vision can also be inhibiting; many times I have stumbled and tripped and even gotten lost because I was not paying attention to landmarks I could use later. These skills are practiced to heighten awareness, which is vital in any survival situation.
I had no idea that these attitude skills would be tested like they were a few months ago. I was wandering in the woods, searching for sinews of dead trees to use as cordage and practicing Splatter Vision. I didn't think that this simple activity would turn into a full-fledged survival situation. This is an excerpt of something I wrote the day after I got terribly lost in the forest behind my house with my dogs:
I actually got really REALLY lost in the woods for four hours with my dogs on Saturday... I was in tears by the time I got to civilization because I was worried about poor Nemo's joints! (He [My dog] had hip dysplasia and has arthritis) It was the most terrifying time of my life to watch Nemo struggle. He's OK though, bouncing around as usual.
Wrigley [My other dog] looked at me when I got home like, "LET'S GO AGAIN!!!" The woman who saw me cutting through the cornfield behind her house said I looked, "Very distraught, then VERY relieved." I explained to her, covered in mud and tears and scratches, that I had been lost and followed a snowmobile trail out of the woods. Nemo and Wrigley were on a makeshift leash I'd made from the strap of my camera bag. So yeah, that was interesting, and I think it should count towards my Grad Challenge hours. Oh yeah, the next day my mom and dad bought me a GPS.
The details? I found my way out by first following some ridiculous and ancient path Wrigley led me to which was full of fallen logs, hills, pits, and most of all thorns. Once I got through that thorny hell, I wandered through this fairly flat (THANK GOD) area. I heard a vehicle in the distance and thought I saw one. After following where I thought the noise came from, I found a snowmobile trail. Trail = civilization, I thought; I was right!
I ended up by this overpass thing that I recognized from the few times I went snowmobiling. Problem: tunnel was blocked by a gate, so I followed the fence which appeared to have no end, so I tied the dogs to it, climbed it, and started waving and yelling at the cars on the highway... It didn't work... So eventually, after becoming infuriated with this fence, I lashed out and cursed at it, but that didn't work. SO we crossed through the stream... AGAIN... And I ran into a little barbed wire (Once again, hooray for tetanus shots!) There was no way under or over this fence, at least not with my dogs... SO I only had one option: opening the gate that was chained to the tunnel, which was surprisingly easy, and trespassing into a corn field.

[Julie362]

By this point the dogs had ripped the "Leash" trying to get to me from the other side of the fence, so I just kept Wrigley on it since Nemo wasn't going to run off. I ended up in the backyard of the woman who owns "Pauket Full of Posies", where my mom buys flowers sometimes, and the woman saw me, offered me food (I was too freaked out to eat at that point) got my dogs water, and let me use her phone.
My mom came and got me and I took the most refreshing shower EVER. My dad, it turns out, was in the woods looking for me for a while... He says I had a very good "Oh God, don't kill me!" face. So yeah, that was pretty stressful, but also something to be proud of. The dogs still want to wander in the woods with me! So yeah, long story! Not bad for 4 action-packed hours, though. So yeah, that's how that happened.
Throughout that ordeal, I did the things I had to: I stayed fairly calm, focused, and confident in my abilities. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had let anything happen to my dogs, so it wasn't just myself I had to take care of. It's still difficult to talk about because it was so terrifying, but I survived it. Surviving is the essence of my project. I learned a lot about my own intuition and problem-solving skills.
My Community Consultant, Tim, told me the worst part of any of his survival adventures was being lost. "It's very humbling, and it's a feeling unlike any other." He says, and I would have to agree. However, most survivalists agree that staying focused and level-headed is the single most important thing to do in a situation like that. Staying calm can mean life or death in serious situations because freaking out wastes energy and makes it all but impossible to think rationally.
After getting myself mentally prepared, the rest should be much less emotionally taxing. After attitude comes shelter, and I have dedicated a lot of time to the teepee I built in the forest behind my house. I was watching "Man Vs. Wild" quite some time back and he built this lovely teepee out of branches and his belt. I couldn't use my belt because I needed it, but I did have a small bungee cord. That bungee cord, which held together the main tripod of small trees together, is the only part of the structure that is not from the woods.
After countless hours, the three dead trees have become part of a thatch of branches. It has a small window, a door, enough room for me and both of my Labrador Retrievers, and the beginning of a rock wall. By wrapping thorny plants around the conical structure, I was able to sort of Velcro moss to the sides for insulation.
A shelter not only protects against the elements, but it also provides a sense of safety and comfort. In making my own shelter, I made something purely my own. At the same time, my humble abode belongs to nature. There is more insulation to be added when the ground thaws. I plan to use a lot of the plentiful leaf litter to line the outside of the structure. A lean-to is my newest shelter project, which is meant solely for sleeping in. Shelter for rest is very important; ask Kat Coons, a School Program Manager at the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps. Kat told me, "We [Corps members] only had a tarp and some rope with which to make a shelter and the mosquitoes were horrendous that night. It rained for part of the time too, and I was miserable and barely slept. So I recommend that folks find a way to make their night-time portion as bug free as possible!"
In many cases, a roof overhead is not enough. If the weather is too cold or too dark, one should know how to make a fire. "The best experience? Making fire for the first time on my own with my own [Hand-made] kit." Birmingham told me. I am more than excited about this learning process. I will be creating my own bow drill kit from raw materials, and hopefully I will make a blazing fire with these tools.
When asked, most people will tell you that making fire can be frustrating, but in the end the feeling can be equated to Tom Hanks' reaction to his fire in "Castaway". Fortunately for me, I have plenty of time and patience to learn the art. Fire is vital to my project because I will need it for warmth, comfort, and even cooking food. In order to practice making fire, I have created my own bow drill kit. This consists of a willow bow, a silver birch drill, a pine plank, and a birch socket. The bow string spins the drill into the plank which makes fire while the socket is used for holding the drill in place. (Bow) I have to wait for the drill to dry out a bit more before I can test it out, but after a couple of hours of whittling, I am very excited to try it.
This brings me to the last portion of my intended course of study: Food and water. Living in the wilderness is physically taxing, and requires a lot of energy. Tim told me this, "After being alone, which is absolutely the hardest part of being out there, number two is hunger." Tim hiked the Long Trail over the course of 23 days, packing lightly. He says that the hunger could drive someone nuts if nothing else had. Christina Goodwin, another Program Manager at VYCC, says of her winter experience in the Lowell Range, "What could I have done differently? [When I was hungry, frustrated, and cold] Eaten a snickers bar to get me through that challenging moment." I think I'll have to take that into consideratin.
Food and water I plan to provide myself with at my teepee because I want to ease myself into survival. However, I will practice making tools and harmless traps for catching small game, such as the "Bottle Trap". This setup is simple: dig a hole that bottle necks at the top so that a small animal like a mouse can't climb out, then balance a flat stone on two branches above the hole. This will make what seems to be an ideal hiding place for little animals, and they will be unharmed. If I catch anything, I plan to release it. (Brown)
Again, I will provide myself with adequate water. I still need to practice collecting water, so I will do so by making a solar still. A solar still consists of a hole dug in the earth, a bucket, plastic wrap or a tarp, and a few stones. The bucket is placed in the center of the hole, which is filled with moss and watery plants. The hole is covered by the tarp, with a rock weighing it down in the middle over the bucket, and rocks holding down the edges. As the sun heats the plants, water will evaporate up to the bottom of the tarp. This condensation will drip down the weighted tarp into the bucket, giving me water.
Once I have all of the most important aspects of wilderness survival down, I will test my skills over a course of a few days. I have already learned so much about myself and my environment, but I know actually living in the forest will bring a vast amount of exploration. I am excited, nervous, and curious about what is to come, but mostly excited and curious. Of course there is a lot to worry about, but every survivalist I've talked to says that the benefits outweigh the risks.
Even though books and TV programs can make this task seem like a romantic and calming experience, it's not for everyone. It really depends on the personality of the person involved. An anxious, pessimistic, impatient, and/or careless person has slim chances of coming out of the woods unscathed, if they come out at all. By keeping yourself busy, one of Tim's favorite things to do, you can keep yourself amused and focused.
Hopefully I can continue to expand my knowledge of the natural world and of myself. This process has been amazing, and since I've gotten through a lot of the hardest parts, I hope the rest will be a lot of fun. In the summer I will hopefully be able to spend a longer time practicing my newly-learned survival tactics. I asked a few of my interviewees if more people should learn how to rough it in the woods; Kat Coons says, "I think so, but folks should always go with someone who knows what they’re doing first!" Tim replied very enthusiastically, "Yes. If it were up to me I'd teach everyone."

[hunter63]

Seems to be shaping up nicely, congrats, good job.

[Winnie]

Yup, what Hunter said!

[hunter63]

Just want to add, good attitude, as well, you are gonna make use proud.