Tuesday, January 23, 2018

The Woodland Caribou Hone Their Camouflage Skills at Lake Padden

In the midst of some pretty foul winter weather, the Woodland Caribou hit a perfect window this week!  Rather than dealing with strong winds and soaking rain, we got lucky and had some great weather for exploring the woods around Lake Padden.  Our plan for the Explorers was to give them as many opportunities as we could in three hours to develop their Art of Camouflage skills and the boys didn't let us down.

Starting out in the big field at the park, we sat down together for our opening circle.  Coming straight from school, the Explorers were struggling a bit with staying focused, but we worked through it together well enough to have some good conversation around managing risks that we might encounter.  After that, a high-paced game of Fox Tails was definitely the thing we needed to burn of some energy!

Jack looks for people in a game of Hide

From there, we headed up into the forest for some exploring.  Along the way, as we walked by fallen branches among the alder trees, we talked a bit more about the risks of being in the woods on a windy day.  A day or two prior to our outing, the wind had been pretty strong and the evidence was all around us.  The Explorers also worked a bit on trail etiquette and keeping the group together while hiking.  We also managed to play quite a few games of Hide and the boys' progress was great to see!

Heavy-duty construction methods

Arriving at a small valley that a lot of groups visit, we set up a base camp and had some free exploration time.  A number of boys started construction on a fort while others preferred to play more games.  Along with Hide, another favorite game was Hungry Hungry Marten!  One Explorer plays the "Marten" who guards a tree while everyone else is a "Squirrel" who tries to tag the tree before the marten tags them.  We saw some good strategic planning, teamwork, and athletic maneuvers in those games along with a lot of laughter.

A hungry marten waits for the squirrels to make their move...

Getting close to sunset, but the boys wanted to keep playing!

What outing would be complete without some silly faces?

During out closing circle, the Woodland Caribou really impressed their mentors with their focus and respectful listening as everyone took their turn expressing their Attitude of Gratitude.  It was great to see how the boys started to get back into the groove as the outing went along and this was a strong finish!

To see the rest of the pictures from our day, click here! Sorry there weren't more this time - too much exploring going on!

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

The Woodland Caribou Search for Salmon at Chuckanut Creek

The Woodland Caribou met for their third outing of the year at N. Chuckanut Mtn Trailhead for a short, after school exploration. Because we meet after school on Thursdays, our outings start out long in the late summer, get shorter through the winter and then extend again in the spring. This meant that on this day together, we only had three hours to explore before it got dark!
The boys directing Steve in some stream de-clogging

To help direct our squirrelly energy (after having to sit down inside at school all day!) one of the mentors brought along some “Super Secret Spider Spray.” As we waited for all of the Woodland Caribou to arrive, we used our “Super Secret Spider Spray” to allow us to see the structure of various spider webs that we found. We had fun searching for and comparing many different types of webs!
The Super Secret Spider Spray works great for seeing spider webs in more detail

Once we were all there, we headed into the woods to find a proper spot for our opening circle. We had some trouble focusing at opening circle, which is to be expected (it is only our third outing ever!) as we orient to the culture at Explorers Club. With some patient reminders from our peers, we eventually calmed our bodies and focused our attention toward the circle. We took turns sharing what we knew about this place and the fall season as we oriented ourselves and anticipated what kinds of discoveries we may make together today. The big item on our agenda was heading down to Chuckanut Creek to see if we could spot some salmon! We knew that we were on the early side of the Chum run in Chuckanut Creek and we had heard reports of the first fish sightings of the year. Maybe we could see one too!

Salmon are an important and iconic part of our ecosystem, history and culture here in the Pacific Northwest. Their importance as a nutrient source in the forest ecosystem cannot be overstated and their life history is an awe inspiring story all on its own. We summarized our collective wisdom on salmon and shared theories to the yet unsolved scientific mystery; how do salmon navigate all the way back to that same stream from which they were born in after they have been out in the ocean for 1-5 years? Some of us thought that maybe the fish could smell their way home while others believed that salmon used the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate. Maybe one of the Woodland Caribou will become a fish biologist and figure it out once and for all!

After an excited dialogue about some of our favorite salmon facts, we passed out jobs started our hike down to Chuckanut Creek.
On our way to the creek

Of course we found some mud!

We didn’t end up seeing any salmon today but we knew that some had been up already and that lots more were finishing their time in salt water and would head up Chuckanut Creek soon! With this in mind, we decided that we better not step in the creek this time of year. It would be a shame to disturb a redd full of salmon eggs, especially considering the immense adversity that salmon face during their lives! The boys did a good job of reminding each other to stay out of the creek and even worked together to make a bridge across a section that would have otherwise been impassable!

The conversation around staying out of the creek and our effect on the places we like to explore was rich with discussion and inquiry about one of our core mottos at Wild Whatcom, “Leave no Trace.” Some questions that we pondered were, “Is it possible to leave no trace?” “Why do we care about protecting salmon?” “Would it really make a difference if we accidentally stepped on one redd?” “How does our service work at Connelly Creek relate to our outings to other natural spaces in Bellingham?”

We spent the bulk of our time together engaging in free exploration. The mentors followed the boys and their curiosity as they explored the healthy, green and wet ravine. The general murmur of our group exploring was punctuated with sudden, excited outbursts of “woah! Check this out!” and “what is THIS slimy thing?!” along with various other remarks of the same theme. Both of the mentors agreed that this is just what this group needed; a day of excitement and fun off-trail in the woods after our admittedly scary first experience with yellow jackets on our first outing. It was fun as a mentor to ride the wave of high energy that the Woodland Caribou brought to our outing today.
Heading up the other bank


Lots of fungi in the woods this time of year

"Can we make it up this side of the creek?"

We finished our outing with a Sit Spot. Sit Spots allow you to “lose your mind and come to your senses”. It is a time that we spend alone with the woods being quiet and tuning into our senses. The five S’s of sit spot are: solo, still, safe, silent and senses. As this was our first time doing this activity, we kept it short. After our sit spot we had our closing circle (as we do at the end of every Boys Explorers Club outing) where we practiced our Attitude of Gratitude.

Even though it was just a three hour outing, we packed in lots of play and still saved time for a Sit Spot and our Attitude of Gratitude practice! The Woodland Caribou made it back to the trailhead much muddier than when we started, but with another day of exploring together under their belts. We are excited to watch the Woodland Caribou find their own character as they grow together as a group in their first season of Explorers Club.
The hike back to the parking lot

To see the rest of the pictures from our day, click here!

Friday, October 6, 2017

The Woodland Caribou Manage Adversity at Fairhaven Park

Starting out with some field games!

In Explorer’s Club, we have many mottos that we utilize in a variety of capacities.  We use them in the field with the kids, we use them internally at Wild Whatcom and we utilize them in blogs. Many of these mottos are ones that most people will be familiar with, others have come to fruition based on real experiences that some of our groups have had. On their first outing ever, the Woodland Caribou got the live our motto “The only way out is through.” The challenge we faced today was powerful and the story is rich, but if we are to capture a full picture of the day, we must start at the beginning.


The Woodland Caribou gathered for their first outing together after a half day of school. We met at Fairhaven Park, knowing that we had quick access from here to 100 Acre Wood, a classic Explorer’s Club stomping ground. As we arrived, we made connections with those faces that we recognized and introduced ourselves to those Woodland Caribou who we had not yet had a chance to meet. Once we were all accounted for, we headed to the field to get out some jitters that had built up inside of our bodies. At school, we are so often asked to hold still when all we want to do is move!
Fire...

...in the Forest!


After we had played a few rounds of Fire in the Forest, we transitioned to our opening circle where we would go over some important safety expectations and EC culture basics. We also discovered that our earth skills focus for this season would be the Art of Camouflage! We then passed out jobs and headed to the woods with expectations of playing many games and doing some exploring.
On the trail into 100 Acre Wood


We arrived at our first “base camp” for the day. We took our packs off and played a game called All My Friends that helped us to learn each other's names and also some fun facts about ourselves.  We then had an opportunity to explore the areas nearby.
Our base camp

What a cool maple tree!

We then learned the rules to Hide and went out into the woods to play our first game. Less than 30 seconds into our first game of Hide together, one of us accidentally stepped right on top of a yellow jacket nest! A few of us who were close by the nest felt a sharp sting and left the area promptly followed by Glen, one of the mentors, who immediately began removing yellow jackets from their bodies. The rest of us followed Joey (the other mentor) about 50 yards down the trail from where the nest was disrupted. Joey then told us to sit tight and try to remain calm as he went back to render aid to those few boys who had been stung.


The immediate response of the group was panic, which is completely natural and understandable. After we left the area where there were angry yellow jackets, and once the mentors were able to remove all of the yellow jackets from us (on shirts, under shirts, in hair) we just walked for about 15 minutes. Getting attacked by yellow jackets is a huge challenge for any Wild Whatcom group (indeed, anybody anywhere!) and this was the very first outing for this group! Adrenaline was coursing through our bodies and we needed a nice, long walk to calm ourselves down.
Lots of interesting fungus in the woods


In Explorer’s Club, we have another motto. Stretch Your Edge. It is a fundamental part of our programming and it aims to meet participants where they are comfortable and encourage them to stretch that comfortability edge a bit further. We often find that edge stretching yields personal and community growth and learning and because of this, we sometimes try to keep the boys out of their comfort zone. The flip side of this coin is that, once an Explorer or the group reaches the panic zone (well past their “Edge Stretching” zone) we find that not much learning and growth can happen. The boys reacted understandably to this event; they were scared and nervous and were definitely in the panic zone. Because of this, a major change was needed at this point in the outing, so the mentors made that change.
Glen shows some of the boys what a yellow jacket stinger looks like. Often times, information is the most effective cure for fear.


Instead of heading back to Fairhaven Park through the woods, we chose to venture around the perimeter of 100 Acre Woods on the interurban trail and eventually re-enter Fairhaven Park that way.  It felt safer in the immediate aftermath of our yellow jacket encounter rather than right back into the heart of the woods.
Observing a recovering Padden Creek from the new bridge


Once we made it back to the picnic tables, gravel paths, and fun, half-manicured bushes, they boys felt the need to take a big break and have some food and water. After a few minutes of hydration and nutrition, one of the boys found a creek flowing through the woods that began at the edge of the manicured park that we were existing in. He let the rest of the group know, and they were off like a shot scampering down the small but steep hill that led down to a few meandering bends of Padden Creek.


This development was especially encouraging to the mentors. It was only a couple of hours ago that some of us had been terrified of the woods for fear of yellow jacket attack, and here we were excitedly exploring an awesome creek together. It was more than the mentors could have hoped for.
Exploring Padden Creek as it winds through Fairhaven Park


We ended our day with about an hour of Foxtails, a high energy game of agility and speed that looks somewhat like a free-for-all flag football game. After Foxtails, we sat down for our closing circle.

At closing circle, we practice one of our mottos, Attitude of Gratitude. This is a special circle that helps to deepen the bonds of community between the boys as they get to share gratitude from and listen with their hearts. Some of the boys shared specific gratitude for the challenge that we faced together on this day. Indeed, we often find that groups who have the opportunity to weather difficult outings together bond deeply over those challenges.


The mentors are sensitive to the fact that our yellow jacket experience was traumatic for us, and that this group will require some extra gentle reintroduction to the woods. This understanding has colored and will continue to color the way that Glen and I plan our outings for the rest of our year. This kind of experience on a first outing provides a special kind of challenge for mentors and for that we are grateful. The courage and resiliency that these boys showed today was inspiring. Glen and I feel humbled and honored to call ourselves the Woodland Caribou’s mentors and we look forward to the rest of our explorations together this year, including all of the unforeseen moments that the woods will undoubtedly provide us.

To see the rest of the pictures from our day together, please click here! Sorry about the picture quality, we are using some new camera’s and we are still working out the settings!