The Barred Owls brush up on their shelter building at N. Galbraith

Two groups of five Explorers, each with the same assignment — build an earth shelter in which you could be warm and dry through the night. 

Our skill for the season is shelter building. As the Barred Owls reminded me, they’ve already worked on this skill (last year). Great then…should be easy, right?

The good news, as with most challenges in life, is that the quality of the final product, while important, is not the only measure of success. Your Explorers scored better on collaboration, creativity and effort, for instance, than they did on construction…or on selecting team members with useful skills…or on selecting an appropriate site for their shelter. Well, perhaps not that easy.

One group decided to capitalize on a rock overhang that provided a dry space, but had to abandon their effort because the “cave” was on the side of a hill, which called for many up and down trips gathering materials. Lessons learned? Calorie conservation is a key consideration in a survival situation, so avoid the extra work involved in climbing up and down a hill if at all possible. They also realized they were eroding the wet hillside, a reasonable tradeoff in a true survival scenario but not it a mock emergency such as ours.

The other group struggled to come together on a shared vision of what the shelter should look like. You can see from the photos that they worked through that, but took valuable time “sweating the small stuff” in the process. After 90 minutes of effort, they still had much work to do, a deal breaker when weather and nightfall bestow a real sense of urgency.

A section of Galbraith Mountain was recently logged for housing development. The view feels odd.

Decomposer in action!

To compensate for a curved ridge pole, this group decided to raise both ends of their shelter, which would make for more room but increase the complexity of ensuring a warm and dry environment.

Another look at the 'skeleton' of their shelter. Note the clean, flat surface. Their time might better have been spent completing the structure.

It's dirty work, but someone has to do it.

While others played Spider's Web, two Explorers decided to work on their carving skill.

Our closing meeting. A good example of the leadership transferred to our Tribal Elder (see below).

The Barred Owls have been together for several years now. They know the culture (see mottos); they’re in or approaching middle school. In a few years, they might be participating in multi-day backpack trips that require personal discipline and awareness of, and attention to, the needs of one’s trip companions and the group as a whole. It’s time for them to assume more responsibility on our outings. So, our Tribal Elder took on the task of distributing our jobs and leading our opening meeting as well as decision making during the outing. We’ve done this all along; we’re increasing the stakes now. Our tribal elder on Sunday accepted the opportunity to stretch his edge (Motto) and did a fine job.

Fortunately, we have another chance to work on their shelter building when we next meet - Saturday, December 10th, 10:00 - 4:00 for an exploration of Deming Homestead Eagle Park. Note the longer schedule. We meet at 10:00 as usual, but to allow for the ride out to Deming, we'll return at 4:00 pm.

Check here for the photo gallery. I guess we were too involved in our work to capture the moment on "film". Sorry about that; we'll be more aware next time.

The Barred Owlets learn to build an Earth Shelter

 When is it acceptable to take from the land?

We work diligently in Explorers Club to instill a respect for the land. We emphasize caring through action. For example, each outing has one or more “Earthkeeper” jobs (trash cleanup), and of course, each Fall and Spring we dedicate one outing to service to the land at Connelly Creek. So, when is it ok to take from the land?

The answer is nuanced as each of us constructs a relationship with our environment. One thing is clear, though. When our survival is on the line, we can feel empowered to respectfully call on the land to provide shelter and more. The boys learn the survival rule of 3’s: 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without SHELTER, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food (read more). When faced with hypothermia in just 3 hours in rough weather, the ability to construct a shelter from the resources around you can make all the difference. This fall, the Barred Owlets are working on shelter building and our work began on Saturday.

First things first, however. Our opening meeting was highlighted by the welcoming of a new member to our group and a review of summer fun. I was interested to learn that 4or 5 of the dozen Barred Owlets visited Canada this summer. Migrating owls? The mentors also tried to set the scene for our skills work by painting a picture of a group needing to spend an unplanned stormy night in the Cascades, creating the need for an earth shelter, or debris hut. Not sure the boys were transported to a place of urgent action by my scenario, but I’m hopeful something registered in the deep recesses of their minds that will come in handy some day….one can hope!

On our way up Stewart Mountain, we played a few games of Hide! as the explorers were eager to return to our treasured activities after a few months away. Before long, we reached a place where a different explorers group had tried their hand at building a shelter. We reviewed their work as a way to examine the traits of a well-constructed shelter and put forward the group’s task for the fall - construct a shelter that can withstand an explorers weight.

Take a moment to reflect on what a humble shelter can do for you when you find yourself stranded (and likely panicked) in the backcountry. It can:

* warm you

* give you rest and comfort

* keep you grounded by reducing your tendency to wander

* help you slow down and plan, create tools, store food and water, etc.

* build your confidence and morale in a survival situation

For more detail on building an earth shelter, or debris hut, click here.

So, the boys had an example and instructions. It was time to get to work. The tendency at this point is to start gathering “Y” sticks, ridge poles, rib sticks and the like but, as we say in Explorers Club, fast is slow and slow is fast (more on Explorers Club mottoes here). So, we began by deciding on a good place to construct our shelter (free of “widowmakers”, close to resources, clear of water running off a hill, etc). Then off to collect those materials. 

For this first experience, we focused on building the framework of our shelter. The insulation will come later. We examined the materials the Barred Owlets collected for those that worked for the size shelter we needed and then struggled to interlock the “Y” sticks and ridge pole to provide the strongest frame possible. An explorer volunteered to lay under the ridge pole to help us size the structure as others set out to gather “ribs”. A few sticks failed in one way or another, necessitating an excursion to locate better materials. That accomplished, they moved on to lining each side of the ridge pole with ribs that would be needed to support an arm’s-length layer of leaves, fern fronds, cedar branches and the like in a finished shelter.

The boy’s efforts on Saturday put them a step closer to competence and the accompanying confidence. Our next outing is focused on service and our third outing is a challenging traverse, so we’ll revisit this skill on December 6, when we explore Galby Lane. 

Their work for the day complete, it was time for more games. We decided on Hungry, Hungry Martin, in which the martin needs to protect his food from several hungry squirrels. Picture boys dashing from the ferns and trees to try to reach the martin’s “food cache” without being eaten (tagged) by the martin. The game provided a nice balance to the earlier difficult skills work.

Time now to head down the mountain. Along the way, we stopped for a needed reflection on the wonders and gifts of our splendid natural environment in a sit spot. The Barred Owlets have matured past the point of the constant restlessness characteristic of sit spots with the younger groups, a satisfying development as their nature connection deepens. (Also nice for the mentors who get a more meaningful sit spot themselves, thanks to not having to monitor the group as much!)

It was great to be back out there with the Barred Owlets and to hear them giving thanks in closing circle once again. The mentors are looking forward to a year of growth and fun!

Check out other photos from our shelter-building outing here. 

Exploration at Lake Padden with the Barred Owlets

Often in life, it's when we begin to think we know what's best that we're ripe for getting taken down a notch. Such was the case during the Barred Owlets' Nov. 16 exploration outing at Lake Padden Park. And, in this instance, it was the mentors who were reminded to let go of "the plan" when nature or Explorers inspire.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. It was a cold, clear, beautiful day when we gathered at the dog run area of the park. We began with a game of Balance of Nature. Each Explorer began the game as a Barred Owl, a mouse or as grass. The owl preys on the mice, the mice eat the grass and the grass decomposes the owl when it dies. Cycle of life. So, the owls chased the mice, the mice chased the grass and the grass chased the owls. When an explorer was tagged, he became a member of the group that tagged him. After a few minutes, we called STOP and counted the owls, mice and grass. Interestingly, there was just one mouse! We talked about what happens in the wild when the population of mice (or other element of the cycle) diminishes. We then played again for a few more minutes. Amazingly, at the end of the second round, all 10 explorers were mice! Now we saw how dynamic the interplay can be.

Following the game, we held our opening meeting. It was a short meeting this day due to the fact that some of the materials for jobs were unavailable to us. Originally, we were going to skip having jobs for this outing, but the boys suggested we could do several of the jobs without the missing materials. It was great to see their interest in contributing to the well being of the group. So those jobs that were available were assigned and we headed off to check out the trail map. 

A few of the boys were excited to visit a "fort" they knew of. A look at the map revealed that said "fort" was in the opposite direction to the mentor's planned route. So we had a decision to make. The boys talked it over and decided to check out the "fort", to the consternation of "they who knew" (mentors). If you listened with all your senses, you probably would've sensed a silent "but, but…" from both mentors. Luckily, the coyote spirit took over just in time and the mentors followed the boys along the stream to a thicket of salmonberry bushes (the "fort", I think) and, to everyone's surprise, ice on the stream! 15 fun-filled minutes later, and to our relief, no immersions in the icy water, and the Barred Owlets had a true Explorer's Club experience to remember and retell at future gatherings. For their part, the mentors were reminded to stay humble and trust the boy's instincts.

Now the time was right to hike into the trees and hike we did. On the way, we played a few games of HIDE! and explored the cavity at the base of a fallen tree. Coyote den? Probably not - too big. Further along the trail, we had another decision to make; this way to a promising Spider's Web location or that way to search for an earth shelter that had been constructed by an older Explorer's Club group.The boys decided we had time to do both and to begin by looking for the shelter. 

Up and over a ridge we climbed in search mode, with our efforts quickly rewarded. The shelter was well-constructed, but incomplete. So, while some ate lunch, others piled leaves on and tossed leaves into the shelter to provide a dry, warm place to spend a night or ride out a storm.

This operation soon morphed into multiple activities: shelter building, lunch, exploration and "hanging out". Before long, it was time to engage in that time-honored Explorer's Club game - Spider's Web. In this game, the designated spider guards the food source while the rest of the Explorers, or "flies", try to capture it and return it to its home base. Stealth and camouflage are key strategies for the flies, while constant attention serves the spider well. We had interesting terrain for the game, with the earlier summited hill on one side and a gradual drop off on the other. In the middle - many fallen trees to provide cover but also present obstacles. The spider chose to stay in the middle. I can only speak for myself, but this was challenging for the flies (of which I was a proud, but ineffectual member). I tried going down the incline and around behind to no avail. I tried climbing the hill and circling around that way…caught again. I was trying to navigate down the center when the game ended. 

The sun, already low in the sky, was now dipping toward the horizon. Time for our closing meeting, which was delayed briefly as Steve demonstrated fire by friction, much to the fascination of a band of young boys eager to learn more and try it themselves. In due time.

Our closing meeting, a time to give thanks and share apples, was also a time to reflect on the group's first season together. Our thoughts ranged from our first outing at Whatcom Falls Park, where the boys first played HIDE! and Spider's Web and finished the outing swimming in Whatcom Creek, to our service outing at Connelly Creek, spent beating back Canary grass and uprooting blackberry bushes, to the heaviest rain of the season at the start of our exploration of the 100 Aker Wood, to the joy of discovering the icy stream at Lake Padden. Through it all, the boys got to know each other and the mentors, learned about Explorer's Club traditions and values, connected with the land, and contemplated all they had to be thankful for.

As with any group, it hasn't always been smooth sailing. Eight and nine year old boys overflow with physical energy that at time is poorly directed. Feeling, and sometimes bodies, are hurt. But the Barred Owlets are game to improve and surely embraced this opportunity enthusiastically. They're forming into a group with shared values, goals, experiences and memories. Steve and Brian are eager to pick up with these boys in the Spring to continue their journey of growth, maturation and connection.

For more pictures from the outing please visit the Barred Owlets photo gallery.