Thoughts of a Modern-Day Mountain Man:A Field Guide to Leadership in the Great Outdoors Chapter 27

This is the twenty-seventh of a weekly blog series that will focus on leadership in the outdoors and how to get the most from the least. Even though the title is called, “Thoughts of a Modern-Day Mountain Man”, it will hopefully cover topics that are useful to everyone.

Chapter 27: Put your powder into lead barrels.

“Well, when it comes down to me against a situation, I don’t like the situation to win.”

- MacGyver

Being creative and inventive is one of the greatest gifts our Creator blessed mankind with. From the earliest times, man has come up with solutions to the problems of the world, what we now refer to as engineering. After the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, life was no longer perfect, effortless or without trials and tribulations, instead, it required humans to now solve problems throughout life. We can use what God has blessed us with in regard to intellect, logic, and creativeness to overcome many of the issues and problems that arrive during our time on earth. It is important to remember that we are not to put our faith solely in science, but rather utilize the gifts we are given to enhance our mission of spreading Christ’s message.

One of my favorite examples from history of creative problem solving during an outdoor expedition is the solution Meriwether Lewis came up with for being as compact and efficient as possible for storing and traveling with the Corps of Discovery’s much-needed supply of lead and gunpowder for their trip to the Pacific Ocean and back. Not knowing how long this journey would last certainly provided many logistical challenges, as going to the nearest store or trading post simply wasn’t an option. Meriwether Lewis requested and acquired supplies in enough quantities to sustain the group for an indefinite amount of time. It is the same on outdoor adventures now as it was in times past, space is always at a premium and hard decisions must be made on what to take and what to leave behind, as well as how much of each item to carry. The black powder that the Corps of Discovery would carry was one of their most important commodities for the duration of the trip. The powder would be used for protection, hunting and even signaling each other from great distances. The problem that needed to be solved was how to keep the powder dry and protected on their arduous journey. Lewis came up with an absolutely brilliant solution to the problem. He had the powder barrels cast out of solid lead. These barrels would have normally been made out of wood, which was highly prone to water leakage, rot, and shrinkage in dry mountain and desert environment, which would make the barrels fall apart and render the powder unusable. The lead barrels Lewis had constructed had a stopper placed into the fill hole, they then could be sealed heavily with wax which rendered the barrels completely waterproof. On many occasions during the trip, the barrels survived dunkings in overturned boats on the rivers and creeks and kept the powder dry during innumerable rain and snowstorms. As the powder was distributed and used, the empty barrels could be melted down into usable projectiles for the firearms. Also, by having the barrels cast out of shooting lead, it took up much less space than just bringing ingots of lead. It was a creative solution to an unavoidable problem.

In the outdoor education, camping and conference industry, the need for creative problem solving is an everyday opportunity to flex our mental muscles. Many times throughout the years I have been called upon to solve an immediate problem in an otherwise unconventional manner. This could be something as simple and mundane as figuring out how to quickly and efficiently deliver camper’s luggage to their cabin during a prolonged summer rainstorm, to something as complex and life-threatening as figuring out how to move a large group of students expeditiously as a raging forest fire quickly approached our location.

As the modern-day mountain person acquires more and valuable good experiences and knowledge, he or she will envision easier and more efficient methods for solving issues and problems, both the foreseeable and unpredictable, that will inevitably occur at their facility. This includes something along the lines of finding ways to make pieces and parts of a rope challenge course operate in a better manner, or making the property better for customer’s use, or finding new and creative ways to market to prospective customers or staff. In the outdoor world, it is truly a matter of necessity being the mother of all invention.

A Loaded Barrel.

We should also look to the example Christ set during His time on earth of solving problems using creative and available means to reach His audience. A great example of using the topography of a location as a tool to solve a problem is Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. Miracles aside, many of the solutions Christ implemented during His days used the same tools and resources that we have available to us now. Christ needed to find a place where he could be heard over great distances, which sets a great precedence for conducting programs in an area where the greatest benefit can be reaped. There was a very specific purpose and methodology to why Christ chose to climb a mountain to speak to a large group, symbolism aside, He needed elevation gain to literally spread the word to a large group. He utilized the very mountain as a problem-solving tool.

In conclusion, the modern-day mountain man should always look to be an engineer-of-sorts and confront life’s challenges and obstacles with a creative mind, willing to solve problems in a productive way. There are very few problems we are presented with that we cannot overcome with a little ingenuity, experience, and improvisation. It should be our goal as Christians to not see unsolvable problems, but instead, to see a myriad of solutions.