Report by: Collin, age 7
Pictures by: Mira, age 12

Today Mr. Rhys was with us. It was the first time some of us met him and we were all glad to have him there. 

We started the day by talking about our plan.  We were going to go across the stream but men were doing construction so we could not. We had to change our plans.
 
At the start, we played a game called Fire in the Forest. This is a game where everyone pretends to be an animal. The person who is "it" says things like "If you have a tail, come across" then they try to tag you. If they get you, you pretend to be a tree and try to tag the others who come by.  If the person who is "it" yells "Fire in the Forest" all the people (animals) run. It was fun.

We also had a race to see who could build the best shelter. We broke off into two teams and it ended up a tie. While we were building the shelters, Misha found a strange white and orange grub! It was curled up and might have been hibernating.

Soon after that we had lunch. Alden and others built a fire and we all sat around and ate. Misha and Reed both told stories during lunch. Reed told a spooky one! Reed also told us about Giardia and how to treat it (but I didn't really understand!)

After lunch some played games or played in the dirt. Nick found some wild grapes and most people liked them...especially the baby, Victor!

Then we hiked back and some played "Gaga Ball" where you try to hit someone else's feet. 

Then it was time to go home!

Summer is a great time to find cool caterpillars.  A few species in our area can sting or give you a rash though.
 
Read on to learn about the 3 species I've encountered, with links to more information.
 
1) Back to the saddleback again
​
At a summer camp some years back there was a boy who was prone to being obnoxiously loud, and rather careless.  Fortunately, Mother Nature is a wonderful teacher!
 
As students were doing fire challenges near a stream we found some stinging saddleback caterpillars on some of the spicebushes that surrounded us. 
 
When we moved on, I warned everyone to be alert while walking through the dense foliage, as there could be more in the area.
 
As we walked down a log, the muted calm of the forest was broken with an "Aaaaaaahhhhh!" -  like in the famous Home Alone aftershave scene.
 
That same boy had gotten stung in the face by a saddleback on a leaf he brushed against!
 
He recovered just fine, and believe it or not, I think it was a good experience for him.  He learned to be more cautious, and out of all the students there, he was the only one that returned the following year - for a week-long overnight program. He leveled up!
 
That's the only saddleback sting I've witnessed - a case of divine providence, arguably.  Saddleback is the species of stinging caterpillar I see most in the DC area - but rarely at that.

Closing thoughts:
 
From my brief research, the world's only potentially deadly caterpillar is found in Brazil - it looks like the buck moth caterpillar, but with longer spines.
 
The most painful local stinger is said to be the puss moth caterpillar.  I don't know that I've found any yet, but they do live around here.
 
To learn about the puss moth, and other stinging caterpillars I've not described, check out this article.
 
Stinging caterpillars are generally rare in our region.  This email summarizes literally all of the irritating encounters I've had.
 
But if you find one, expect there could be more of that species nearby and be wary.
 
And in general, I would use caution, especially in mid to late summer, when moving through dense foliage. 
 
A sting to the neck could hypothetically cause a dangerous airway swelling emergency - although in my experience these stings do not swell as much as wasp stings.  Climbers should also be careful on trees and rocks to avoid stings that might cause a fall.
 
Find a cool caterpillar?  Have a good story? Share it on our Facebook page or in the comments below.

​2 years ago, when I started a new homeschool program location and was first trying out our student-led format, there was one student in the group who was quite vocally anxious and negative about himself. 

I’ve seen many students in my career, and he was up there among the most anxious I’ve ever seen.  On our first day of fire challenges, he sat slumped by his twigs, berating his failure (it typically takes much trial and error before students start getting consistent success with fire-making).

To be honest, I was nervous about assigning him a role to lead in class – but as he started seeing the other students leading, he wanted to join in!

When he was Master of Games, it didn’t go that well – he had a hard time mobilizing his peers, and kept getting discouraged.  But he tried, and he got through the day. 

Then he was Storyteller.  According to his mother, he practiced his story all week and was super anxious about it. She even asked me if it might be possible to have students opt-in to leadership roles, and not have us assign them...

And when he got to class, for the longest time he just couldn’t bring himself to share the story, although the other boys in the group were very supportive and encouraging.  (I don’t remember anymore if he shared it that week, or the following week - but he did eventually share it!)

This was the day that Trevor first came to check out our program.  To be honest, I was kind of nervous – what would he think about this student-led format where the student storyteller can’t even share his story?

At the end of the day we gathered up for our debrief.  I explained that: courage is not fearlessness, but is acting in spite of one’s fear. That I was proud of the student for pushing into his fear, and that each of us are called to do so in our own lives.  If we are never terrified, it’s a sign of cowardice, not courage – of always playing it safe and not leaving our comfort zone.  

Trevor loved the program - and he soon replaced me as the group’s instructor.  As the months passed by, I would ask about this student, and would hear how he was doing better and better, how his confidence and attitude were improving. 

Then, in his second year of the program, I would hear about how he was taking younger students under his wing as a mentor in his own right!

This past spring when Trevor was doing film work in Italy, I subbed for him at our annual Spring Overnight and Field Day. 

I could hardly believe my eyes!

This very same student, now 11 years-old, coordinating and leading the event – confidently addressing and organizing our adult guests into groups without any direction, or Trevor even being there.

The transformation was remarkable, was this the same student?!

How did this happen?

There are 3 main factors that come to my mind:

1. Uncomfortable challenges – If the student had only self-selected challenges, he may never have dared take on what he found intimidating.  It was overcoming the intimidation of leading his peers that was key to his gradually developing courage and fortitude. 
2. A supportive community of staff and students – Trevor and I set the tone for a supportive group, and the students were able to develop a certain level of trust and support that helped everyone push personal limits and grow. 
3. Time and patience – I know it was very difficult for the parents (and at times for us) to watch the student struggle with his anxiety.  It was tempting to just back off, and lessen the challenge, perhaps to pull him out. But if he had left the program at the peak of his struggle, it could have reinforced and strengthened his self-doubt!  I'm so glad he and his family had the faith to persevere and make it through that forest of fears.

I hope this story helps explain why we believe in a long-term mentoring journey, and that we will see your child in the field, growing with us, soon! 

It's the night before departure on NL's first ever Wilderness Survival Immersion, a 3-night teen intro to survival - and one of our bravest parents emails me:

"Sorry to be Nervous Nellie here, but the hourly forecast for Harrisonburg says 35 degrees on Tuesday at 7AM."

Yup, no doubt, it would be one cold April night!  And for shelter the students would have just a wool blanket, a disposable mylar one, and whatever they could craft in the woods.

I was nervous too.  We'd be 3 hours away from home. And we'd never done anything quite like this before. 

Sure, Rhys and Trevor had led many adults on extended survival trips out in Utah, but never teens... And not even all adults are able to handle the survival training.

On my own first few cold-weather attempts at survival shelter I only made it halfway through the night before bailing out, and making my way home, shivering in the lonely darkness.

Over the years I've seen a few students get homesick on much milder adventure camps. How would these students handle the discomfort of survival?  The cold, the hunger, the thirst - after a lifetime of easy 1st-world living standards?

But arrayed against my fears were reasons for optimism:

1. We had 2 highly experienced and outstanding instructors, plus the capable 16-yr old apprentice who had helped us develop this program to begin with.
2. After the first cold night, the weather would be mild.
3. Each of the students had trained at Natural Leaders and/or similar programs for multiple sessions, and in most cases, multiple years.  That had to count for something!

​To be honest, I was most worried about my 12-yr old daughter.  While I knew she was capable, and ostensibly well-trained after years in the field with me - she, like her dad, does not always handle hunger and exhaustion all that well on the home front.

And she was the youngest, and physically smallest, of the group.

But here they were on the edge of the wilderness - backpacks on, radios checked, and everyone raring to start up the mountain.  They took off, and after 4 hours of hiking, they reached the flat spot near a spring that we had identified on a topo map, and it proved excellent for a primitive camp.  Trevor radioed me a brief update.

Students spent the remaining few hours of light making leaf debris beds to sleep on, before turning in for the night on empty stomachs.   

Some of the more diligent and experienced students (and instructors) had piled leaves to form a thick mattress, and then added another thick layer above their wool blankets.  

Some were less thorough, and spent the night largely shivering, or huddled around a fire. Rhys even found some frost in the morning.

But they all made it through, and enjoyed a meager breakfast of unseasoned oatmeal and a special treat: a banana each!

My daughter vomited up her banana and oatmeal that morning - apparently a common reaction to a sudden decrease in food consumption.  But she soon bounced back.  

The group spent the day in recovery - napping and hydrating as needed - and basically sailed through the remainder of their adventure.

When they emerged victorious from the woods, 4 days later, I was thrilled to see and to feed them, and to celebrate their accomplishments.  Over the next few days my daughter told us about her adventures and gave us a virtual tour with the photos they had taken.

Trevor and Rhys assured me that my daughter and the other students had been stalwart and positive throughout the trip, that the group had proved quite hardy indeed.

I'd say that my daughter and I both gained a profound new respect and appreciation for what she is capable of. 

It's important to recognize that the power of the experience, of the victory and growth of each student, was largely proportional to the challenge that was endured.  It was precisely the cold, the hunger, the exhaustion, even the vomiting - and the ability to persevere and maintain composure and positivity despite them, that made the experience so powerful.

But how did they manage to endure all these hardships?  Without at all minimizing each student's significant personal fortitude, there are also 3 big factors I believe were key to the group's success.

1) Prior experience, good foundations.  The fact that the students had long experience with nature and survival skills already, meant they were comfortable with being in the woods, and were ready for a higher level of challenge.  They were excited to apply and test the skills they had learned over previous years. 

2) Great, confident mentors. In situations of uncertainty, kids look to adults to assess the situation by reading the grown-up's faces.  When I had encountered cold nights on my first teen solos, I was pushed past my comfort zone and lacked the confidence to continue on my own.  But these students had the benefit of great mentors to reassure them that all was normal and well - that the discomfort was just that, and would pass.

3) A strong group culture. All the students and instructors were in it together.  They were there for the challenge, and had a shared sense of adventure and commitment to showing up for each other in a positive way.

What's next?

More broadly, the instructors and I confirmed, yet again, that young people are more capable than we tend to think, and are hungry for challenges that help them to test and experience what they are made of.

In the wake of this pilot project, we feel like we've opened up a new world of possibility for our students and would like to raise the bar for our next expedition.

We would love to have more and longer expeditions, hopefully in areas that are more conducive to some basic hunting and gathering (these options were limited on the mountain we were on).  

Instructor Rhys Fontaine has a close friend with private land about 6 hours away that is loaded with biodiversity, and could prove perfect for a longer stay...

It is no small undertaking to organize a trek like this, though, so please let us know if you're interested, and we can keep you in the loop.  Your interest is our greatest encouragement.

We look forward to future adventures to come!

Written by a Natural Leaders Student

​Forest Aurora 
A miserable rain cries
beyond the children

Rocky embark on
A difficult day journey
Slippery leaves slide

Woeful timberland
Grey rains belting down, down, down
protecting our heads

A class of nature
The cloudy sky beats the drum 
Echoing near us

Slumberous forest
A story whispered through branches
Crackle of fire

Shivering, so cold
Stormy winds piercing our veil 
near the breaking point

Gasp, the rain won't stop 
Relief our carriage appears 
Wet, drip, cold farewell