Building Fires

Having the ability and confidence to build a fire with or without matches and at any time of the year should be considered a great accomplishment by anyone. I strongly feel that fire is one of the most important skills to learn and become proficient at, especially if you enjoy being in the outdoors. Fire in many respects is necessary for every day life and survival when you least expect it for obtaining food, clean water to drink, warmth, and protection.

Over the years I have attended a lot of fire training and instructional seminars put on by my youth leaders, Scouts Canada, and other related hunting/survival courses. In Scouting this is one skill as a leader you should never cut corners on when teaching your young men. It gives your young men a sense of accomplishment, and believe me over the last 10 years in scouting it is nice to be able to sleep in a little bit without having to get up in -30 degree or pouring rain weather to start the fire.

I have made a number of changes over the years to my fire building seminar/field day of fire challenges and skill sets. I found that it is important to balance the training with skills, models, demonstrations, knowledge of natural environment, rewards, and competitions. The first part of the training includes a 5 page handout review 3 to 4 days before the field day which covers off everything. When the field day comes chocolate bars are awarded during the model demonstrations to the young men who can remember the info from the handout. I spend an entire day in the field for the training and competitions.

The location must be natural with trees and shrubs and have a water source close by. It is highly unlikely that you will find a 2x4. newspaper or nicely split wood in the bush just waiting for you. In fact these were the training courses that I despised, because you knew full well the instructor put it together at the last minute. Face it all young men are "Pyro Maniacs" when it comes to fires! I know I was. Take the time to plan correctly, it will save you so much pain and agony in the long run. The outcome you are seeking is an urgency and excitement for the young men to sharpen up on their skills on their own time and teach each other. This minimizes work on your part as the leader.

Fire Model set-up

The first step to the field day is to build all the model fires from the handout previously reviewed and to present and prepare a number of fire starters both man made and environmental based on their surroundings. Starting from the right and heading left the first is gas (Scout water). This is a controversial subject with some parents who feel that I may be giving their young men ideas of how to burn down their house. Every young man including myself at one point and time will experiment with gas while building a fire. If you demonstrate the effects but also outline the safety behind using gasoline at the activity the overall outcome and response is relatively low. Second gas-line-antifreeze (small, light weight, will not blow up in your face). The other fire starters consisted of tea lights, flint and steel, bow and string, matches, lighters, shredded paper, drier lint, fuel sticks, bark, squaw wood, fuzz sticks, cattail heads, weed tops, fox tail grass, cotton from cotton wood trees, and dry bunched up grass etc.

Next are your three piles of tinder, kindling, and fuel. 100% of the time this is where people miss the mark. If you ensure you have these three piles you will never fail at building your fire. I always laugh when the young men skip the first two in a panic and try to light their fuel with a match and then wonder why they cant get their fire going. It happens every year.

Then you get into your fire models and their uses. Basically you are repeating the handout, but instead of looking at a picture the young men are getting a demonstration of how to actually build the fire. Right to Left (Tepee fire lay, Criss Cross/Log cabin, Rock fireplace, Hunters fireplace). After going through all the models and their uses the young men are to choose a location to build their fires. They are responsible for choosing a safe location and to clear it of twigs, grass, leaves etc. based on what they have learned.

Their next task is to gather their (tinder, kindling, and fuel) into three separate piles. Once completed the leader will inspect the piles to make sure they have gathered enough. They will then proceed to build a Tepee fire. If they are successful in lighting their fire with one match they receive a chocolate bar. If their one match goes out they receive no prize and must continue until they have successfully built their fire.

Once completed they will safely put out their fire with water or soil and take all their half burnt sticks etc. and place them in the leaders fire. They will then return to their location and repeat the same steps for the Criss Cross/Log Cabin fire. Again having a chance to win another chocolate bar.

Right to Left (Rock fireplace, Hunters fireplace, Trench fireplace, Rock reflector)

Right to Left (Mud reflector and Ceremonial camp fire)

In September 2008 we had 8 boys participating in the field training. They were spread out underneath these aspens and populars.

Once everyone has completed laying, lighting and extinguishing their fire (Tepee/Criss Cross) safely we move onto the flint and steel and bow and string demonstrations. The leaders will demonstrate it first and then the young men have the opportunity to do it themselves. When every one has completed it the competitions start.

The first competition is to lay, light and extinguish your fire safely using only flint and steel. The winner of this competition is awarded with something substantial (pocket knife, hatchet, flash light, multi tool etc.). This same style of competition is then repeated for the Bow and String.

This is Micheal trying to light his Tepee fire with Flint and steel.

The last challenge involves the first one to boil (1L) of water over the fire of their choice. The young men really enjoy this one and usually it is repeated several times but with limits as to what you can use to start the fire (Flint/Steel, Bow/String, Matches etc.) and in teams. Here Tyler was working on the second try to win a prize. At the end of the day have enough prizes to award for best attitude, team effort etc. so as to include every one.

Happy Team mates

*If you are interested in the handout or would like assistance with your fire training I would be more than willing to help out. Please email me at tim.stanford@hotmail.com

Beauvais Lake Provincial Park

During Labor day in 2008 I decided to head south towards Pincher Creek and go fishing at Beauvais Lake Provincial Park. When I was younger my Dad and Uncle Irel and I used to go fishing here. Beauvais Lake is stocked with Rainbow trout and is one of the best lakes for ice fishing and summer angling that I know of. I have never been disappointed. This year I decided to take my father in law Ken. Next time I will re-think that decision as he was pulling out fish left right and centre.

Beauvais lake isn't just known for its fishing, but also it's hiking trails and RV/camping facilities. We spent a lot of field time during school up here for (Rangeland Mgmt., Ecology, Zoology, Aquatics, Wetland Mgmt, and Forestry etc.)

We spent approximately 6 hrs. fishing and caught 14 Rainbow trout and kept 9 of them.

We found that the fish would hit our lines every half hour. Pickerel rigs and sparkly pink/orange/yellow marshmallows were the bait of choice. Initially in the morning till about noon the fish were fairly small. Early afternoon to 5:00pm the size of the fish caught kept increasing. We were positioned at the SE end of the lake just north of one of the tenting areas. I had never fished in this location before. Off the island and in the SW corner near the beaver pond areas are really good, but their is a lot of debris in the water.

Maybe the red rain poncho was the key to catching all the fish. Whatever the case Ken can go by himself next time. Oh and keep his comments to himself about being the mighty fisherman.

Just another hard day at work.

Mmmmmmmmmm............

Garnet Hunting

When I was attending college in Lethbridge, I had the opportunity during our Physical Geology & Hydrogeology class field season to explore a formation known as the Crowsnest Volcanics. The formation is located in the Crowsnest Pass off Hwy # 3, just west of Coleman. Here embedded in the formation were a number of black diamond shaped garnets surrounded by feldspar and other minerals.

Garnets in appearance look like a dark diamond and belong to the isometric crystal class producing symmetrical cube based crystals. They are a group of minerals relatively common in highly metamorphosed rocks and in some igneous formations. They form under high temperatures and/or pressures. Compared to gem stones garnets are typically not the most preferred choice and are not worth allot of money due to their relative abundance throughout the world.

This is an actual picture of the formation with some of my fellow classmates competing in the race to find the biggest garnet. The garnets in this formation are not very large, but are easy to get at and are very nicely shaped. The use of a pocket knife will help you find the perfect garnet in this formation.

Here are some of the garnets I found out of this formation.

This was the largest one I found. Christie found one approximately twice as large.

In August 2008 I accompanied some fellow colleagues from work on a Garnet hunt in the interior of BC. We encountered some deep red garnets which are their typical color. These garnets were a lot larger but had to be chisled out of a Muscovite/mica schist formation. The garnets were embedded in the mica schist and although they were relatively easy to obtain they were covered in a mica schist/Muscovite shell hiding their symmetrical edges. Currently I'm still trying to figure out how I can remove this coating without rounding off the edges and/or damaging the garnet. The picture above is of the formation that had the red garnets embedded in it.

Here you can see the red garnets embedded in the muscovite/mica schist. I also found that many of the garnets had been weathered quite badly.

Here is the end product. Now all I have to do is figure out how to remove the muscovite schist etc. and I will have some nice looking garnets.

This is what muscovite schist looks like. It is quite nice actually. Very shinny/silvery,smooth (soapy), soft, breaks in layers, and is very crumbly.

Camping in the Heart of the Rockies

Last year for our 6th Anniversary we decided to go camping in what I like to call the "Heart of the Rocky Mountains". The location chosen was an area familiar to me. My family used to go camping every summer when I was young and a few times we came through the "Whiskey Gap" to camp along one of the many watersheds in the area.

Here their are many Provincial Recreation Areas where you can bring RV's. No hook-ups but beautiful pads to park your RV. Outhouses and ground water wells and fire pits are available. If you don't want to camp in a camp ground you can pull up beside any creek or river and make yourself at home. ATV's and other recreational vehicles are allowed in this area. The fishing is fantastic! Literally every cast you will have a cutthroat trout on your line.

I know my scouts would give me a hard time about this because every time I have said this it ends up being quite the opposite. In 2007 we were scheduled to camp along the Lynx Creek watershed for our summer camp, but due to the forest fires and dry conditions we had to settle in Island park. This is one thing I still long for to have done with them, and that is to take them camping along the Racehorse, Lynx, and Lost Creek or Upper Oldman river watersheds.

Janay and I tried RV camping. Had her brother Josh not purchased one I probably would never had experienced it. It wasn't all bad but I missed sleeping on the ground in a shelter or tent. I might consider buying one, but only after I'm so old that I can barely walk. I really like camping along the Upper Oldaman river but it is heavily camped along and if you were to take a drive up the well maintained gravel roads you would see why. So we came down and camped along the Racehorse creek.

The fishing was awesome!! I absolutely love this area. The watersheds are fairly small and the water is cold, giving you lots of crystal clear pools to fish. When caught the cutthroat and bull trout put up a really big fight. Janay skunked me on this trip. It's really quite embarrassing actually. I don't know what it was but she kept pulling them out left right and center.

This is part of Racehorse creek approximately 1km up-stream from the Provincial Recreation Area. Below me were a fair number of good sized trout swimming around.

Here is a back shot from the picture above of the little draw under the cliff face. Absolutely breath taking scenery.

Most of the king fish from the pools in Racehorse creek that we (Janay) were catching were approximately the size of this one. Some were a little larger and others smaller. The upper Oldman gives you much larger fish.

Racehorse Creek Provincial Camp Ground

Even if you are not interested in camping and are looking for a day hike or an area to ride your ATV, these areas offer great trails.

Shortly after passing the camp kitchen in the Racehorse creek Provincial Camp Ground you will come to this bridge spanning across Vicary Creek. On the Northern side of the bridge is a large deep crystal pool (Racehorse Creek) full of large and small fish that will not bite your hook at any cost. This is an excellent area to go for a full day hike/backpacking trip up Racehorse creek.

Vicary Creek


This little creek also makes a really good hiking/fishing trip. It is about half the size of Racehorse Creek but offers some spectacular pools for swimming/fishing and areas to explore.

One of the pools approx. half a km up Vicary Creek from the wooden bridge. This little pool was really nice. It was approx. 9 feet deep in the center and had a cliff to jump from. Sandy beaches on both sides and plenty of sun. Not to mention it was also full of fish.

Here I'm trying to decide how I can strategically jump in and catch the king fish. This is the same pool shown in the picture above. I could have stayed at this pool all day in the hot sun.

While hiking up both the Racehorse and Vicary Creek watersheds I noticed allot of coniferous trees with "Witch's Brooms" in them. Witch's broom is a disease or deformity in a woody plant. It is comprised of a dense mass of shoots that grow from a single point resulting in a structure resembling a birds nest or broom. These broom like structures are a characteristic of fungi, insects or viruses etc. attacking the trees. The trees can eventually die and having a common occurrence of them in the forest can be an indicator that the stand of trees are not that healthy. They do however make great fire starters.

Close up view of a Witch's broom.