The Pine Martens didn’t know it until we all met last Saturday, but they were the first group to ever do the Padden Gorge Traverse in BEC history! We would be accessing a different area of the park than we normally did when we met at Lake Padden; what would we find over on the west side of the park? Our earth skill for this season is the Art of Navigation and this new area would provide us a great place to learn about and practice our navigation skills.
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| Lots of English ivy on this Western Red Cedar |
Before we could even get to our opening circle, the Pine Martens spotted a nemesis of forests around the Pacific Northwest - English ivy! We decided that we should spend a few minutes doing what we could to help free a big cedar tree from a huge English ivy plant that wrapped its trunk and reached into its canopy. We have seen the damage that invasive plants had caused at our Connelly Creek Service Site and we decided to try to put a stop to this English ivy before it spread all over this forest. The mentors used the saw and the explorers used their hands as we worked together to help this big cedar tree find some room to grow again.
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| Conor uses a saw to cut one of the massive English ivy vines wrapping the trunk of this Western Red Cedar |
Feeling good about the work that we had just done with the English ivy and the cedar tree, we sat down for our opening circle. The mentors helped us remind ourselves about what our earth skill was for the season and what we did on our last outing. We remembered that on our last outing, at Lookout Mountain, we had completed a navigation challenge.
Today our challenge was similar, but with a twist. This was not a traditional ‘out and back’ outing, but rather a traverse. We reminded the Pine Martens that, since it was a traverse, we would not be retracing our footsteps. This meant that taking care of our gear and making sure that we kept all of our stuff organized in our packs was important. Another difference between our last navigation challenge and this one was that there was no real x on the map. We knew that we would need to be at the dog park for pick up at 3:00pm, but other than that we got to decide how we wanted to spend our day and where to go! With that, the mentors passed out the maps, stepped back, and followed the Pine Martens through the woods.
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| This is the same map that we handed to the Pine Martens |
The Pine Martens ended up meandering up the gorge to Lake Padden, exploring some interesting man made hydrological structures and then finding some cool off trail zones. Eventually, after lots of time hiking and decision making as a group, we decided that we wanted to sit down, eat lunch and get some much needed hydration.
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| Our first decision making circle of the day |
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| Hiking among moss covered cedar, maple and alder in Padden Gorge |
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| What could this be? Is there really a troll that lives in here? |
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| Is it somehow connected to this? |
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| Endless opportunities to observe fungi |
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| Unfortunately, a salamander crossed this path at the same time a bike came through. We helped the injured amphibian to the side of the trail but understood that it would not likely survive it's injuries. |
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| Finally, a spot for lunch! |
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| We cannot avoid climbing on such a cool, moss covered root wad. Nor would we want to, as long as it is safe to do so! |
After satisfying our food and water needs, we decided to organize a game of Spiders Web! We enjoyed the challenge that this relatively open forest floor provided for the flies as we played a couple of fun rounds together.
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| We utilized a muddy pit rather than a tree for our web for this game |
Before our closing circle, the mentors told us that we still had one more activity to do together. This activity is called a sound map. A sound map is just what it sounds like; a map of everything that you hear in the forest! Once we each found our own special place to sit and listen, about five minutes of silence passed before the birds began making noise. We strained our ears to hear as many different calls as we could and attempt to place them on our maps in relation to ourselves and the other birds that we heard. As we all gathered after this exercise, we shared how many/what kinds of birds/sounds we had heard. The Pine Martens expressed a desire to do this activity in spring or summer time when (they theorized) the birds would be even louder and more obvious with their calls.
Our closing circle held a bit more weight than it usually does. Today, Conor announced to the group that he will no longer be their Mentor at Wild Whatcom. Conor explained to the boys that another opportunity (working as a Montessori teacher in Spokane) had presented itself to him, and that he needed to take that opportunity. There was an initial wave of surprise and sadness that came over the group, that was followed by laughs and a couple of tears as we honored Conor’s time with us during our Attitude of Gratitude in our closing Circle of Thanks. The Pine Martens showed us their growing emotional intelligence as they shared their gratitude for Conor and the time we have spent together.
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| The Pine Martens receive one last native plant lesson from Conor as we make our way back to the parking lot. |
The Pine Martens are better for having had Conor as their mentor. His playful, curious spirit will live on in this group was we continue to explore together for the rest of this year and for many more to come!
To see the rest of the photos from our day together, click here!
