Originally the word "aerie" meant a nest of brushwood built by birds of prey. Today the word is also used to mean a lookout situated high in the treetops and used as an observation post. Because of its height, an aerie not only provides the observer with a fine view; it makes him hard to detect from the ground.
Building an aerie is a challenge to your pioneering ability, but it is an ideal vacation-time occupation. Your first concern is an appropriate site. You can put up your aerie in your own garden or back yard, or that of a friend. Don't erect it on anyone else's property without first obtaining permission.
The type of aerie you build depends on the group of trees that is available. The illustrations on these and the following pages show some different types.
Before you begin building, gather the necessary materials: ropes, cords, sticks, and so on. While you are still on the ground, practice making the knots that serve to connect the sticks securely. Never drive nails into a living tree. To make it easier to replenish your building materials when you are in the tree, attach a rope to the loads you leave on the ground. Never stand under a swaying load. If you can climb up to your treetop only with difficulty, put up a secure, professionally made rope ladder before you even begin to build. Incidentally, a rope ladder is easier to climb if it is drawn as taut as possible and anchored by two pegs in the ground.
The next step is to build a secure platform on which you can stand comfortably when you are completing the work on your aerie.
To keep strangers from noticing your tree house, it should blend into its surroundings as naturally as possible so it won't stick out like a sore thumb. This is particularly important if you want to use the aerie as a comfortable lookout for watching birds and wild animals. From the vantage point of a well-placed aerie, you can take pictures of wildlife that would be unavailable otherwise. You will want to record your observations in a notebook too, giving the date, time and weather conditions prevailing.
Square lashing—Use square lashing to fasten two poles crossing at right angles. First fasten the rope to one piece with a timber hitch, and lay the crosspiece over the loop. Then work the rope as follows: from the right, under the crosspiece, up over it in front, then down behind the vertical piece to the left and up again, over the top of the crosspiece toward you and down again under the vertical piece to the right, where you arrive at the starting point with the rope. You must repeat this four or five times so the lashing will hold securely. Pull the rope tight after every loop. As you wind the rope, have each successive loop come outside the last on the crosspiece, inside the last on the vertical piece.
The aerie on pulleys—If you have only a single tree in which to build your aerie, pulleys will be a help. Fasten three pulleys to limbs above your aerie site, and build a three-cornered frame around the base of the trunk. Attach ropes to the frame and thread them through the pulleys, and you can hoist the aerie up. You will have to proceed very carefully, for this can be dangerous, and you need strong friends to help you.
continue on to chapter 5: On the Trail
