Taking the Kiddos to the Big Woods
We had our chance to explore again on November 2nd, 2018. This time, with some more time on our hands, we decided to head up to the Whitewater WMA so I could show the kiddos the places I had found back on October 23rd. It was a chilly 30 degree day, so we bundled up, grabbed our packs, and headed out.
As we started our hike, we talked about the differences between hiking to hike and hiking to hunt. The latter required some sense of stealth and silence, something we had done the complete opposite of on the 26th of October. That day had been full of laughter and singing and yelping at thorns and stickers and crunching loudly from place to place without really stopping.
Today we decided to try and improve our sneakiness. We practiced stopping from time to time to look around, listen and stand patiently to see if anything would pop out. I taught them some hand signals from my Marine days so we could communicate silently, and it took a lot longer to cover the same ground as I had on my first outing.
Our first stop was down at the river where we used our water filter pump to fill a couple of canteens. We had packed in some water, but I wanted to try my new pump, and I figured it couldn't hurt teaching the kiddos how to use it as well.
The kids insisted that they were seeing squirrels and rabbits everywhere... or at least hearing them as we snuck along... but I saw and heard nothing. Perhaps their senses are better than mine. Or their imaginations. Eventually we made our way to the top of a steep finger hill and decided to have some lunch.
I had acquired a Swedish military surplus solid fuel stove, and another solid fuel stove from Fleet Farm, both very inexpensive. The Fleet Farm stove set up nicely, and we soon had water heating over it for the freeze dried mac and cheese we'd be dining on. The Swedish stove was pretty useless. It was worth a shot for $5, but in the end just ended up back in the plastic bag and eventually the garbage.
The solid fuel didn't quite get the water to boiling, and the kiddos were getting restless and hungry, so I poured that water into the mac and cheese package per the instructions and set another pot on to heat up for Shaffer Mix hot chocolate, a favorite for us anytime, anywhere.
As the food 'cooked' and the water heated, we practiced staying still and quiet and hoped to see some wildlife emerge.
It was amazing to the kiddos how quiet it was. It was amazing to me how long they stayed silent and still! I asked if they were tired yet, but no. Not tired. Just enjoying the peaceful quiet of the woods.
After about fifteen minutes, lunch was ready. We learned that a hot meal on a chilly day can be truly invigorating. We learned that our filtered river water was tasty and good for cooking. We learned that we liked some quiet time.
On the down side, we also learned that going potty in the outdoors could be a challenge for girls. I hadn't given it much thought, as propping against a tree or finding a good, appropriate limb was a viable solution for me when going numero dos, so maybe she could do the same. It didn't quite work out that way, and she couldn't find a good way to go without hitting her clothing. So she opted to just hold it instead. Fortunately, this experiment was planned, so she wasn't feeling the urgent need to answer nature's call. But it did bring our plans of heading deeper into the woods to a close, as it just wasn't fair to make her suffer that way if her bladder kept filling. So we hiked the hills some more on our way back to the car. Both children lamenting that they still had so much energy and wanted to go so much further. The entire way back to the car they were throwing ideas out about finding a nearby toilet and heading back into the woods.
Once in the car and on the road, those ideas faded as the Boyo said his feet were getting cold, (still need to get that boy some boots) and Sweet Pea said she might be feeling more tired than she thought. The trip home showed that both of them were more tired than they thought...
I'm pretty sure the kids fell in love with Whitewater as quickly as I did, and they both wanted to come back again soon.
As we started our hike, we talked about the differences between hiking to hike and hiking to hunt. The latter required some sense of stealth and silence, something we had done the complete opposite of on the 26th of October. That day had been full of laughter and singing and yelping at thorns and stickers and crunching loudly from place to place without really stopping.
Blue jeans beat yoga pants every time. Boyo still loves his sneakers, though.
Today we decided to try and improve our sneakiness. We practiced stopping from time to time to look around, listen and stand patiently to see if anything would pop out. I taught them some hand signals from my Marine days so we could communicate silently, and it took a lot longer to cover the same ground as I had on my first outing.
Our first stop was down at the river where we used our water filter pump to fill a couple of canteens. We had packed in some water, but I wanted to try my new pump, and I figured it couldn't hurt teaching the kiddos how to use it as well.
The kids insisted that they were seeing squirrels and rabbits everywhere... or at least hearing them as we snuck along... but I saw and heard nothing. Perhaps their senses are better than mine. Or their imaginations. Eventually we made our way to the top of a steep finger hill and decided to have some lunch.
I had acquired a Swedish military surplus solid fuel stove, and another solid fuel stove from Fleet Farm, both very inexpensive. The Fleet Farm stove set up nicely, and we soon had water heating over it for the freeze dried mac and cheese we'd be dining on. The Swedish stove was pretty useless. It was worth a shot for $5, but in the end just ended up back in the plastic bag and eventually the garbage.
The solid fuel didn't quite get the water to boiling, and the kiddos were getting restless and hungry, so I poured that water into the mac and cheese package per the instructions and set another pot on to heat up for Shaffer Mix hot chocolate, a favorite for us anytime, anywhere.
As the food 'cooked' and the water heated, we practiced staying still and quiet and hoped to see some wildlife emerge.
Silence is GOLDEN!
It was amazing to the kiddos how quiet it was. It was amazing to me how long they stayed silent and still! I asked if they were tired yet, but no. Not tired. Just enjoying the peaceful quiet of the woods.
After about fifteen minutes, lunch was ready. We learned that a hot meal on a chilly day can be truly invigorating. We learned that our filtered river water was tasty and good for cooking. We learned that we liked some quiet time.
Hot chow!
On the down side, we also learned that going potty in the outdoors could be a challenge for girls. I hadn't given it much thought, as propping against a tree or finding a good, appropriate limb was a viable solution for me when going numero dos, so maybe she could do the same. It didn't quite work out that way, and she couldn't find a good way to go without hitting her clothing. So she opted to just hold it instead. Fortunately, this experiment was planned, so she wasn't feeling the urgent need to answer nature's call. But it did bring our plans of heading deeper into the woods to a close, as it just wasn't fair to make her suffer that way if her bladder kept filling. So we hiked the hills some more on our way back to the car. Both children lamenting that they still had so much energy and wanted to go so much further. The entire way back to the car they were throwing ideas out about finding a nearby toilet and heading back into the woods.
Wilderness Children
Once in the car and on the road, those ideas faded as the Boyo said his feet were getting cold, (still need to get that boy some boots) and Sweet Pea said she might be feeling more tired than she thought. The trip home showed that both of them were more tired than they thought...
I'm pretty sure the kids fell in love with Whitewater as quickly as I did, and they both wanted to come back again soon.
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