“But this Wrangell camp-fire, my first in Alaska, I shall always remember for its triumphant storm-defying grandeur, and the wondrous beauty of the psalm-singing, lichen-painted trees which it brought to light.”

–John Muir, Travels in Alaska

In 1879 John Muir, the famous naturalist, writer, and founder of the Sierra Club, traveled to Alaska for the first time. Late one night, while in Wrangell, Alaska, he ventured out into a storm to build a fire, “to see how the Alaska trees behave in storms and hear the songs they sing.” Muir took only a box of matches and a candle. After a long, patient search he found a small dry piece of tinder. He collected twigs and bark which he dried and used to build a conical hut. With his body he shielded the hut from the driving rain. He lit his candle, placed it into the hut and began to feed the fire with wood shavings. As the light from the fire grew he was able to see larger dead branches and bark to add to the flame. As the light increased Muir found even larger pieces of dry wood to add to the flame, until the fire had “a strong hot heart and sent up a pillar of flame thirty or forty feet high, illuminating a wide circle in spite of the rain.” 

No one saw Muir build it, though a band of Indians spotted the fire around midnight. Unable to explain its origin they were sure it was an omen. The rushed to the town missionaries, hoping they would intercede on their behalf. White men in town chalked it up to St. Elmo’s Fire or spontaneous combustion. 

Next time you venture into the teen wilderness–whether to relate, teach or counsel–I encourage you to go forth in the spirit of Muir. Don’t take so much with you. With a candle, a match, and a vision of something beautiful, you can kindle a fire that inspires awe and wonder. As the fire builds and sheds light on greater insights, grab them! Add them to the fire. Everything you need to grow the fire is around you, in the hearts and minds of teens.