Girl Guides in the Great Outdoors

This weekend 10 Guides and 1 Guider took part in the Girl Guides in the Great Outdoors Event held at McMaster University in Hamilton, where our instructors for the day were the team from Altitude.

We started the day off with a whole group activity where everyone stands in a big circle and when something is called out, i.e. "I like Girl Guides', anyone who can also make that statement runs into the centre and cheers. All of the Units were then divided up between 6 groups, so girls weren't necessarily with any of their own Guiders. I was with Group #5, who chose the name "Mighty Blue Dragons". The first thing the girls did was to create a group cheer:

Here we come, see us soar,

Mighty Blue Dragons, hear us roar!

Our first station of the day was Navigation. Here we learned how to use a compass and followed an orienteering course.  First we learned the parts of a compass, how to read one and then we practiced using the compass to find directions. The remainder of the session was spent using our new skills to navigate an orienteering course to find hidden letters. 

Next up was Teambuilding and Initiative Tasks. The girls worked in pairs to complete a trust walk along a series of logs. One partner was blindfolded and the other person had to stay in contact with them and verbally guide them along the course, including balancing, climbing over logs, and stepping on and off platforms. We finished up this station with a communication activity where the girls had to stand on a log and place themselves into birthdate order without talking - or stepping off the log!
After our snack break, we headed for Fires. We discussed fire safety, clearing a space for your fire, choosing tinder, kindling and wood, and how to put out a fire before breaking up into teams to building our own group fires. Each group was challenged to lay and light a fire that would burn through a piece of twine strung about 2 feet above the fire. The girls gathered their own supplies, chose either a teepee or log cabin style fire, and built and lit their fires.
After lunch it was time for a hike to learn about Edible Wild Plants - and also some poisonous ones! Our guide, Tag, took us along a short part of the Ravine Road Trail towards Cootes Paradise and showed us a variety of different plants and trees, including Garlic Mustard, Dandelions, Stinging Nettles, Burdock, Plantain, Mayapple, White Oak, Birch, Poison Ivy, Shagbark Hickory and Wild Roses. 

	Garlic Mustard   An invasive species found throughout Southern Ontario Has a garlic-y flavour  Whole plant is edible Can be used to make a good pesto in place of basil Flowers and seed pods give the best flavour
Dandelions Whole plant is edible Those growing in the shade have a better flavour than those in full sun, which are more bitter Leaves may be rounded or lobed, hollow stem contains a milky sap Good source of Vitamins K and B, and Iron Plant picks up toxins from surrounding air, so do not eat those found on roadsides or lawns	Stinging Nettles Leaves have needles that inject histamine into the skin causing irritation and inflammation (a defense against animals) Pick with gloves and put in warm water to wilt needles, making the leaves safe to eat Can be brewed to make tea, or leaves can be cooked similar to spinach Source of Vitamins K and B, and Iron
Burdock   Looks like rhubarb Sap found in the stems can be used as an astringent to treat bug bites, stings and irritations First year plant has wide leaves, second year plant grows burrs Roots of the first year plant can be cooked as a potato substitute	Plantain   Looks like spinach Whole plant is edible Juices from leaves and stems can be used to treat bug bites and irritations if crushed or chewed
Mayapple (American Mandrake) VERY POISONOUS The only part that can be eaten is the fruit when it turns yellow at the end of the summer, but the seeds are still poisonous Rare annual, reseeds each year Roots look like arms and legs.	White Oak Tree White Oak leaves have rounded lobes, Red Oak leaves are pointed Acorns can be eaten, but need a lot of preparation: put any water and throw out any that float (they are rotten), remove the outer shell and boil the insides until the water is black, change the water and reboil, repeat until the water is clean. The results can be eaten or ground into flour. Good source of protein and fats Tea can be made from the leaves and bark to treat toothaches and sore throats White mold from a dead tree can be used on cuts to prevent infection The black water from the acorns contains tannin and in the past would have been used to soak skins and hides for tanning.
Birch Trees   Sap can be made into syrup, but it takes 80 L of sap to make 1 L of birch syrup! Bark is full of oil and good for starting fires even when wet  Polyps (fungi) were used as fire extenders - can be used to carry a live ember for a long time.	Poison Ivy Can grow up trees as a vine or a ground cover, leaves are found at the end of the stem Vines look furry When oil gets onto the skin it causes an allergic reaction - if you come in contact with the plant, wash the area with soap and water before symptoms appear! Contact causes a sensitivity - future reactions will be worse DO NOT BURN - smoke still contains the oils and gets into the lungs causing serious damage
Shagbark Hickory Tree   Identifiable by its 'shaggy' bark Nuts are edible - similar to walnuts and very good tasting! Wood is durable and resistant to rot Good fire wood and for smoking meats	Wild Rose Bush  Rosehips (flowers) are high in Vitamin C and can be used to make a tea, but it should be taken in small doses as it is hard on the liver

We then moved on to Knife and Axe Safety where we learned about the parts of a knife, how to use one safely, how to open and close a folding knife or multi-tool and how to pass knives from one person to another. For axes, we found out how dull blades are more dangerous than sharp blades and about the different types of axes - seeing a splitting maul (for splitting large logs), a regular axe (for chopping wood), and a hatchet (for making kindling, cutting small logs/branches). Our instructors demonstrated how to cut with the grain of the wood, how to safely use a hatchet by getting down on ones knees and placing a piece of wood in front of your knees so if the hatchet slips it will hit the ground of the wood and not your legs. Then it was the girls turn, they used plastic knives to try their hands at Soap Carving!
Following a snack it was time for our final session of the day - Shelter Building. Here we learned about the importance of shelter to protect you from the elements and keep you warm and dry. We found out that using a coniferous tree rather than a deciduous tree to build a shelter is better because the needles become part of your cover. When building a shelter, it should be just big enough and not lots of open space at the top in order to preserve heat. The girls worked together to make a teepee and then split up into groups to build A-Frame or Lean-To Shelters using tarps and rope. The groups were very creative and all managed to build a shelter in a short period of time.
We ended the day with a final group activity in the field before heading home. It was a very hot day and some of the activities were in the full sun, but everyone wore their hats and kept drinking water. It was a great day and we loved it!