General discription
This was a very good assignment because everybody could work on their own skill level and improve it. It was nice working with the risk analysis of the Norges klatreforbund. I have little experience writing these risk analysis so it was good to see a new and different system and use it.
After we had send in our trip general trip description we did change some features. We set new goals and not all of these goals were for everyone. We looked at skills group members had and if they would want to teach them and who would be interested in learning them. Sometimes we had different interests, for example some were not interested in sleeping under a tarp so they used a lavvu.
Our goals became: learning the basics of flyfishing, using a tarp, Lighting a fire with basic tools, camp cooking, woodcarving, camplife, get to know the area better, get to know one another, improve fitness, develop a stronger connection with the environment.
 

The trip
On the trip itself we were very lucky with the weather. It was sunny, warm and not windy. 3 persons would sleep in a lavvu and 6 under two tarps. We came together at my place and checked/divided the last things before setting out on our trip. We made a new route that we would like to follow and walked in a easy pase. We switched the person leading with map and compass, in this way everybody got the change to get some practice.

I can talk a long time about this trip because in my mind this was a near perfect self organized trip. We had tons of fun, everybody was open to new learning experiences and all the planned activities were set up out of self motivation and interest.

Food
Normally I would remember what I have eaten on a trip but this time there was so much food. So much good and tasty food! That I just lost track. The days after the trip I actually didn’t eat that much just because I was still full of the trip.

To keep all this fresh food cool we had collected some snow at our campsite and put all our spoilable food in it. We didn’t experience problems with animals but maybe it would have been a better idea to put the snow and food in a waterproof bag and hang it in a tree.

Goals
I already had hands on experience with a lot of the skills we were going to practice and learn. Because of this my individual goals were set to teaching my friends while not becoming there instructor. This is very difficult because I get very enthousiastic when people are willing to learn something that I can show them. In itself this is positive but when teaching or supporting someones learning this can take away some of the freedom they have. For example there need to struggle by themselves or let other people who just learned it teach it. This was a good challenge for me.

Navigation
In the beginning we had the plan to do a lot more navigation than we actually did. For example we had planned to do a leg offroad and trought the forest so we could practice following a bearing. The larger part of the group did not feel motivated to do this on the trip itself so we did not achieve this. What we did achieve was hands on experience with map and compass. And this eventually seemed to be the best for the skill level of most group members. For me as an individual it would have been nice practicing more offroad.

Teaching
I tried to show some of the skills I have learned and get people interested without asking for it. For example I started making bread and people who were interested asked how I would do it and how it worked. I did three different techniques divided over two days. This way everybody would get the change to see and learn.
The same goes for the pot hangers, I made one and people who were interested asked about it and then I could show them how it worked and how they can make it. In some cases I could use a second one and then they could get some hands on experience.
The most fun was lighting a fire with firesteel. Everybody took this challenge and practised it. they were so motivated! And in the end everybody managed to get a fire started with a firesteel and birchbark. This actually made me a bit jeaulous since I didn’t manage to do this for a long time when I was even a couple of years more younger…..
Flyfishing
Something that was new to me was flyfishing. This is also something that I have been wanting to learn for a long time now so I was very happy Nick was willing to teach us with his gear.

Difference:
The difference between lure fishing and flyfishing is that a spinner or lure has weight and a fly doesn’t. If you throw a spinner towards a fish in the water, it has mass and will drag the line with it. You can’t do this with a fish. Because of that the line itself has the mass, so your actually throwing the line instead of the lure.

Casting:
You hold the fishing rod with one hand. You are holding the cork very relaxed as if you are giving it a handshake with your thumb on top of the rod.
Before throwing now you create a bit of working line by pulling out about 3 meters of line. For the casting itself you use the strenght of your forearm and not your wrist. you have the tip of the rod pointing up and a bit out. You exelerate backwards and stop abrubtly and do the same forwards. With the false cast you go from 10am to 2pm on an invisable clock. The moment the tip of the line is unfolding you go the other direction. This way you maintain speed.
Your other hand is the control hand and decides how much line is given every cast. 

Tips:
– Wear glasses to protect your eyes
– Practice with a yarn istead of a hook
Because we did not have a goal that stated we had to hike as far as possible, we got time to enjoy ourselves, each other and the surroundings. We could stay at a spot for 2 nights and in this way we could improve our camp location, explore, cook food on fire and learn and practice skills in the area.

Teaching how to light a fire with firesteel was one of the best learning experiences on this trip. The will to achieve this skill was so high and everybody was involved! Another great thing was woodcarving. I had made a wooden spoon and some kitchen utensils in the past and my friends looked up to that. This was big compliment to me and a big suprise aswell since I am not that skillfull and the spoon I have is probably worlds most labor intensive spoon. If you would look at the spoon you would see that this is not a compliment.
But somehow this seemed to trigger the group and without anybody saying something everyone started making there own wooden tools. I found this incredibly enjoyable and was happy to see that everybody was motivated to do this by themselves. Nobody told them to.

Ending notes
The thing I really enjoyed about this group was that it was not a group by choiche. We were all individuals or pairs who were looking for a group. This gave the group a huge diversity!