My [Eli C.] Primitive Survival Trip

 On this trip I sent out to not only survive in the wilderness but somewhat thrive in the wilderness. My main goal was to create a stable shelter that could withstand the elements and be made in less than one day without any external help. But I also wanted to work on making a stronger bow, a basket, a clay bowl, fishing, cooking, fire making, and more. After using the first week to learn how to accomplish all of these things, I felt prepared and I believed it was possible to complete these tasks within the two-ish days we would be there.

On Tuesday, after making it to school, we loaded the mini-bus and set off at around 9:30. On the hour long trip to Sam Houston National Park we picked up some ice at a gas station and two chickens at a feed store. Once we made it to the National Park we found a good place to set up at, drop our stuff off, and have our bp&j tortillas for lunch. I began walking through the thick forest to find a suitable place to begin making my shelter. Around 30 minutes of exploring later, I found a spot I liked and I cleared the area in about 15 minutes. Then I went to a fallen down tree Trey had showed me to gather the thick wood I would use for my shelter. After around an hour or two (I lost track) I had gathered all my wood and when making my way back I found out my spot had been stolen. So I cleared out a different spot, which took a bit longer to clear out than the other one, and began to set up my amazing shelter. It took me a very long time to finish making my shelter, but I had finished it just before we started making dinner. My shelter was raised up in the air kind of like a hammock between two trees. I made it by making a wood frame, then using paracord to hold it together, and a tarp for the bedding and roof. I then went to the lit fire to relax for a little bit. Rose, Carson, and the two teachers made potatoes and cooked the chickens that we killed. It was a pretty chill dinner and afterwards we had s'more's. Everyone went to bed, only some of us stayed in our shelters, but I stayed up a bit longer making sure the fire went out, then went to my shelter.


(Before sleeping bag)

The next day I woke up quite early in my mostly water and wind proof shelter. It had been more comfortable than I expected, but I still slept less than usual. I went to the bus, changed into new clothes, and got out the container with the food. By the time I got it out, Trey arrived and we began to start a new fire. We were able to start the fire but not light the bigger logs because they were moist from the morning dew. So we used the mini gas cans to heat up some water for hot chocolate and oatmeal. One of the teachers gotten up by this time and worked with us on heating the water, but everyone else was asleep or still in their tents. Some came out 30-45 minutes later but the other two came out almost 1 1/2 hours later. After breakfast we fetched water from the nearby pond to filter, then I began one of my other interests: making a basket. I found some plants that might work so I tried but it didn’t work out, then I tried re-doing it using some thick vines but that also didn’t work so I moved on. I then went to the pond to dig for clay to make a clay pot, although this also didn’t turn out well because it was too sandy underground to find clay. In the afternoon I cooked quesadillas for lunch and returned to the pond to join others for fishing. Sadly we didn’t catch anything this time, in part because we ran out of bait from fishing in the morning. For dinner people cooked pasta while I whittled away at a long piece of wood for a bow. We ended out the day at the campfire having a good time, and I returned to my shelter to spend the night. In the morning we packed up everything, took down our shelters, got Waffle House on the drive back, and made it to school to take showers.


Overall I enjoyed the trip and had a good time. I am quite proud of how my shelter turned out, I liked the freedom of the outdoors, and I felt that I learned important things about surviving in the wild.

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