Meeting at our new park and ride drop-off location the
Daredevil’s Club were finally all present for their last service outing as a
group. With plenty of sunshine to accompany us, we walked over to the service
site to take inventory of what had been done by previous groups, what was left
to do today, and how we would make the most of our time. We also talked about
the importance of setting a good precedent for the younger groups, and leading
by example and emphasizing safe tool usage, proper technique, and strong work
ethic. At first it took the group a little while to get going, but after taking
a quick snack break and drinking down some water the Daredevil’s kicked it into
gear and got down to business.
As the Daredevil’s Club finished constructing a make-shift
fence around a recently discovered bees nest the next group, the Storm Wolves,
arrived. After taking some time to walk through the service site with the
Daredevil’s Club the Storm Wolves had no hesitation and jumped right into
cutting back the blackberries and digging up root balls. It was great to see
these two groups get together after both groups found plenty of enjoyment
discovering one another’s shelters during previous explorations this season.
Each group continued developing the other’s shelter, one at Galbraith and the
other at Clayton Beach, and created some pretty impressive structures despite
having never met the other group (until now!). As the outing progressed the
groups intermingled and found that they actually had quite a bit in common.
Watching the Daredevil’s Club working alongside the Storm Wolves, the mentors
took note of their maturity and impressive role modeling. Coming from a group
that can sometimes get side-tracked with goofiness, these older Explorer’s
really stepped up today and were very impressive.
While the Daredevil’s Club and Storm Wolves were making
solid progress, everything was kicked up a notch when the Barred Owls showed
up. After getting a demonstration on proper tool usage from the Storm Wolves
they get right to work. Talk about a bunch of motivated Explorers! Half of the
group took on the extensive bramble of Himalayan Blackberry that has been
choking out a willow grove for years while the other half grabbed shovels,
began digging up blackberry root balls, and clearing out an old drainage ditch.
This by no means is easy work and the whole day the mentors never heard a peep
of complaining out of any of the Explorers. 
With lots of solid work getting done the service site began
to transform. The once tall Reed Canary Grass lay flat, stomped down by
Explorer’s feet. The ground churned from shovels digging up massive clumps of
blackberry root. The willow grove once choked out by blackberry finally
stretching out to absorb the sunshine that was previously getting all sucked up
by the broad leaves on the climbing vines of blackberry. Despite not having any
mulch today, the site has been prepped for the next group to get a thick layer
of mulch down. Vast tunnels have been slashed through the massive blackberry
bramble allowing the Explorers to divide and conquer the remaining patches the
formidable thorny plant. Not only did these boys fill numerous garbage bags
full of Himalayan Blackberry, but they did a great job of taking the next step
towards really establishing the natural stability of the Connelly Creek service
site. 
With the Padden Creek
Daylighting Project well underway downstream all of our hard work is
suddenly taking on a new perspective. Not only are we working towards
eradicating invasive species alongside Connelly Creek, creating natural habitat
with native species, and developing a
self-sustaining native habitat, but we are creating a piece to the proverbial
puzzle. With salmon able to swim up Padden Creek for the first time in in over
a century the Explorers are creating an optimum habitat for them to return to
Connelly Creek to spawn and continue their prolific and dynamic influence on
our region. For now it may seem like hacking at blackberry and shoveling mulch,
but the impact these boys are having on their community is one that will last
for years to come. One of the Explorers on this outing actually mentioned this
and said he dreams of one day being able to pull a salmon out of Connelly Creek
with his hands. Now that is a vision we can all appreciate and thanks to all
the hard work from the Daredevil’s Club, Storm Wolves, and Barred Owls that
dream may one day become a reality.
Make sure to check out the rest of the photos from our outing here!
