You go buy your son an early birthday present of his own camel back, get yourself a late birthday present of a MSR ceramic water filter, and grab a ninja.
After training the boys on emergency survival policies, the appropriate actions if they encounter various wild animals (bear, mountain lion, coyote, scorpion, snake, spider, skunk), and checked their packs, we left home about 7:30.
Into the wild.
We hiked into the mountains and set up a little camp before it got dark. Along the way we worked on our tracking skills. Through the night we found mountain lion, coyote, and dog tracks.
Once we set up camp, we taught the boys how to build a fire pit. They did well. We shaved dead wood and taught them how to make a fire without matches using dryer lint in our go bags.
Success.
The fire smelled amazing, and the weather was perfect.
We chowed on Peanut M&Ms and life savers waiting for it to get completely dark so we could move to the next part of our sons' survival training (as this is just the practice round for many more to come this summer).
After eliminating the fire in the appropriate manner, and then burying the ashes we worked on Navigation with major landmarks, mountain ridge lines, and the stars.
Saturn appeared very bright near the waxing Gibbous moon. We were able to walk through the night without needing flashlights.
(My knife blends here, I'm not tossing Black Panther signs.)
We ended up taking them about four miles total and 1000 feet in elevation climb for the evening before returning home. They loved it, we loved it, and since we had to be up early for soccer, we slept in our comfy beds after a hot shower.
Wilderness survival is becoming a lost art. We intend to not let the skills be lost in the next generation. Plus, reviewing and learning them is awesome. And night hiking is the best.
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