The Barred Owls "ambush" Lookout Mountain

Remember playing hide and seek with your friends? Did you have a place where you liked to lay in wait to surprise a sibling, friend or parent? Or a seemingly secluded place to create and enjoy a fantasy world? 

You’re connecting to your inner child when you think, wistfully, back to those carefree days. When I was a kid, I would visit my Aunt Marge and Uncle Frank in upstate New York during the summer with a few siblings. We’d explore the “swimming hole” down at  the local stream for hours on end.

Another great example of child passion - we held our opening
meeting in and around a tree!

Now, as Coyote mentors, we realize that what was happening was the expression of our child passions; of imagining, spying, climbing, joking, and many more. We watch for, and try to tap into, opportunities to capture those moments. Well, Sunday presented mentor Jedidiah and I with just such an opportunity. 

As we gathered at Lookout Mountain, we saw that another Boys Explorers Club (BEC) group was also exploring the Reserve that day. We talked with mentors Tim and Joey about possibly collaborating on a game or project, but they had a full plan for their day, so we headed off in search of a place to explore and carve (our skill for the spring). 

We would usually head up to the big waterfall and then down the hill to the creek bed, but the parks people have fenced off the hillside to restore it (a good idea!), so we chose to explore a different trail. We were quickly rewarded when we came upon a lovely place further downstream. 

This spot has it all - waterfall (see it on the right side of the picture), an open, flat space that was perfect for carving (see photo below), logs across the creek for crossing or lounging, and enough room to spread out for a Sit Spot.

We explored a while, then settled in for carving practice. The boys are choosing projects and getting a sense of what it’ll take to convert a block of wood to a useful tool. 

Ideas for carving projects ranged from chop sticks to......

Atl-Atls

It was soon time for a sit spot and some lunch. We then gathered the boys and asked if they were interested in trying to find the other group and “ambushing” them. That triggered a child passion as their faces lit up at the prospect of sneaking up on their peers. 

Boy in nature....need I say more?

We soon heard voices and immediately entered stealth mode (such as it was). The excitement was palpable as boys scattered into the ferns and berry bushes, sure of a surprise approach. Alas, it was not to be. We were quickly detected. All was not lost, however, as we learned a few important lessons:

• The adrenaline will flow…breathe! 
• Communication is key. Have a plan….walking into the enemy camp and saying ”Hi”, as one of our number did, doesn’t cut it…
• Set a place and time to meet should events warrant. 

Perhaps next time will produce more surprise, but we succeeded in tapping into a child passion on Sunday, our true measure. 

Connecting with the land with your whole being and preserving a natural setting is a constant balancing act...literally and figuratively.

We next meet on Saturday, April 22nd, from 10:30am-2:30pm for our spring service outing at Connelly Creek. In the meantime, check out the photo gallery for Sunday’s outing.

The Barred Owls vanquish N. Lake Samish 1/22/17

At a slight risk of hyperventilation, several of the Barred Owls and mentors spent more than a little time blowing on our nascent fire in a cold drizzle at N. Lake Samish on Sunday. Despite our efforts, there was, for some time, no spark. It didn’t look good for a warming blaze.

Not surprising, given the completely moisture-laden forest surrounding us. In fact, a cold drizzle was the prevailing weather on that hill. As a growing sense of discouragement enveloped us, mentor Joey led an effort to locate and harvest fat wood to get us to kindling temperature. Found in tree stumps, fat wood has a high concentration of resin which makes it very flammable. 

Even with the fat wood, it took us three tries to get the fire started. And once we finally got it going, we struggled to keep it alive. Call it modest; call it grudging — we called it welcome warmth! I guess it doesn’t have to roar into a raging bonfire to nourish us. 

In fact, the fire served as a metaphor for the day. Our numbers were small, the sky gray and the hill tall and steep. By the time we reached our “base camp” we were primed for a day that was marked more by wandering than focused energy. A good example: our skill for the winter/spring is carving. The Explorers have done some carving, but it’s time to take it up a notch with specific projects. Other explorers have worked on making chopsticks, butter knives and the like. On this day, we decided to whittle the wet outer layer off sticks to improve their chance of burning — a noble endeavor given our struggles with the fire, but not the effort I envisioned. 

The day was not without its highlights, to be sure. Top of the list — a waterfall that beckoned us off the trail on our ascent. This stream was as full as I’d seen it, delivering the backdrop for a fun, impromptu climbing challenge. I overheard one of the boys say, to no one in particular, “I love climbing!”

Less obvious were the softer tone and opportunities for deeper associations between Explorers that the slower pace enabled. In measured interaction and quiet conversation lie the chance to connect and reflect. As the Explorers Club motto points out, It’s All Part of It. 

This is the waterfall that drew us off the trail on the way up. More rocks than stream, actually, which made for a fun, challenging climb.

Seems easier than it was on that sloping rock - slippery!

Harvesting fat wood for our reluctant fire.

Here's a great example of the deeper connection that is possible when we slow down - a lesson in using a pack saw to get at the fat wood.

While warm, and certainly welcome, that's not much of a fire for the effort that went into creating it. Thanks to mentor Joey for his persistence and knowledge of the use of fat wood as an accelerant.

Here we scatter as we begin one of our Hungry Hungry Marten games.

There's peace to be found in the forest, if we just slow down and let it envelop us.

No reason for this picture other than to bring a smile to your face!

We managed to raise the energy level for a few games of Hungry Hungry Marten before gathering our packs and heading back down the hill. On the way up, I had asked one of the boys why we bother trudging up a mountain only to come back down again a few hours later. He replied, with profound simplicity, “Because it’s fun.” 

A wise lad. The restorative effect of stepping into nature’s nourishing landscape and letting go of the business of our daily endeavors cannot be overstated. Even, or perhaps especially, on days that are just kind of normal, it does a soul good.

We’re going to mix it up a bit on our next outing (March 4, Arroyo Park), when we start later and continue until after sundown. We’ll send details as we get closer; in the meantime, check out the rest of the photos from Sunday’s outing here.

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.