Self-Organized Forest Field Trip in Southern Norway

Jeagersberg offers plenty of outdoor activities in every season. Our trip took place in the midst of the spring turnover, which means the weather was quite unpredictable from week

Hiking to our campsite in Jeagersberg

to week. Luckily enough we caught our trip on a very warm week. The geography of our route changed from location to location on our four hour trip to the site, but the most frequent terrain was steep rocky up hills and down hills with breaks of dense forest in-between. The desired location of our campsite was located on a peninsula consisting of mainly forest vegetation surrounded by birch trees. The ground floor was lumpy and bumpy making it difficult to find a flat sleeping area to lay our sleeping mats on but yet the ground was soft. The animals that we saw over the entire trip were mainly birds flying from tree to tree.

The learning outcomes for the trip were set in advance before we began our trip. The first and most important learning outcome was mountaineering with a map and compass to locate our campsite locations that were previously picked before our trip

Bush-Crafting

began. The next learning outcome was to learn about and practice bush-crafting techniques, which was lead by Arjen. For this outcome we used a slice of birch bark tree, from that slice we scraped off the thin film on the outside of the bark, which was very flammable. We then scrapped the pieces into a pile then used the flint fire starters to spark the flame. The next learning outcome was for me to teach fly-fishing to the group. We

Fly-Fishing Lessons

found a decent spot next to the lake were we camped and practiced one by one swishing the rod back and forth the find the correct motion for the flight of the lure. Next I showed the proper way to cast with the lure then observed and critiqued each person on what they needed to accomplish to fly-fishing correctly. After lessons were over, I talked about which flies are used in different times of the year and which water structures are best to fly-fish. The next learning outcome is wood-carving, which we did by learning and doing while sitting next to the fire and on our free time. I tried a spoon but as soon before I could finished, it ended up in the fire by mistake… my next masterpiece was a spork on a thinner piece of wood which ended up to be perfect! The last learning outcome was camp cooking utensil building, which consisted of a stick, which held up the stew pot over the fire.

At the end of our trip, we reflected as a group what we absorbed out of our self-organized trip with our projected learning outcomes. All of our learning objectives were achieved with everyone because we practiced each one with hands on experience. The first objective was to orientate our group with a map and compass to find our campsites. Each person took turns for a couple hundred meters with the map and compass to find the correct and fastest route to our desired location. Our bush-crafting segment was achieved because we all attempted (and succeeded) to create fire using a flint stick and birch bark. We attempted this activity until the entire group could succeed in this learning outcome. The next objective we did was wood carving, which was meant to be a relaxed and on-your-own time activity. This objective was perfect for me because I forgot to bring plates and utensils to the trip so it gave me a chance to solve half of my problem with the missing gear. The fly-fishing objective was a little more challenging because it requires many hours of practice but in the time that we had, I felt like the group was discovered a good foundation of fly-fishing and will hopefully be able to use what they learned in the future if they decided to use everything that I have taught them with the casting form and practical uses of where to present the lure and what to use for different kinds of seasons and different water bodies. The last learning objective of camping cooking utensil building was very practical and useful because we need to build different structures for cooking because we did not bring a storm kitchen. All of our learning objectives were achieved with everyone because we all worked together to share our knowledge and experience to make sure everyone was capable of effectively completing and enjoying the learning objectives.

Our dinners were some of the best camping dinners I have ever had. Each meal was different and amazing as the next. Each person was scheduled for a different meal adding up to 9 meals (plus snacks and desserts). The foods were simple and easy to put

Desserts

together but offered our bodies the sufficient nutrients that it needed. As a group we thought we would focus on carbohydrate foods due to the amount of hiking and stress that our body took on with the colder weather. The nutrients in our food was a sufficient energy supply throughout our trip and for me, I functioned normally with the food but some of the foods were spicy therefore made me drink a ton of water in the process. All and all it seemed like we were always eating and then some.. Starvation was definitely not an issue on this trip, but for me, my plate and eating utensils were left back at home so I had to make due with my self-made spork, and an extra bowl for a previous dinner to eat with, which ended up to be just fine with the meals that we had because they were made in bulk.

Lunch

For shelters, we brought two different types. The first type was a simple tarp that was tied above the sleeping area that was tied onto trees over flat ground. The other type was a teepee, which was very simple to put up and offered complete protection from the wind and the rain. The teepee was more challenging to find a spot because it was difficult to find a good area to put it up. The tarp shelter was more simple because it could be put up anywhere with the correct amount of rope. My equipment seemed to work very good throughout the trip but the one thing that seemed redundant for this trip was my extra rain gear. Although I always bring it, for this trip we had great weather and it was not needed and took up much needed space in my pack. If I were to do something different on my trip, I would have brought my bivvy bag for my sleeping bag for a little extra warmth during the night. Carrying all the equipment was difficult because I had 23 kg worth in my pack, but to make it fair, we all distributed the weight out so we all had the same heavy amount.

This self-organized trip for me was a great experience because I have never gotten an opportunity to completely plan out an outdoor trip like that. We got to pick and choose what we wanted to achieve out of the trip. For future trips, I think its extremely important to plan what outcomes you want to achieve during the trip to make it the best experience it can possibly be. It also gave me inspiration to be a leader for people that do not have experience with outdoor trips like this so I will competent on how to plan and how to lead groups for an extended period of time in the forest. Each person in our group had different experiences with different activities that we were able to learn from and take home with us.

Group Photo