The Pine Martens Navigate and Discover Fungus at Lookout Mountain

Look at all those smiles!

Last weekend when we met at Lookout Mountain, the Pine Martens were handed a group challenge! This season, the Pine Martens are learning the Art of Navigation and Lookout Mountain is a great spot for practicing our navigation skills.

For their navigation challenge, the Pine Martens were tasked with leading themselves through the network of trails to a high viewpoint about two miles away from the parking lot. The only tools that they were given were a few maps of the area. The mentors knew that the Pine Martens would need to utilize their collaboration and compromise skills to come to consensus about which way to go when the trail forked. In this sense, this challenge included an introduction to navigation while at the same time requiring strong group leadership and circular decision making.

Which way to go?

Lets consult the map

As it turns out the Pine Martens are becoming quite efficient decision makers. Today, the Leader of the Day did a good job of making sure all voices in the group were heard as he shepherded the group toward consensus on multiple occasions. The mentors enjoyed observing these circles from a few yards away and watching the Pine Martens put their skills (that we learned only last year!) into action.

Of course, it's about the journey, not the destination, and explorers live this motto on every outing. We enjoyed taking breaks to check out cool, out of the way creeks and large, interesting faces of exposed rock. Additionally, we discovered TONS of different kinds of fungi during our hike. Some of us noted that it seems that mushrooms pop up a lot in the fall and we hypothesized reasons for this as a group. We ended up agreeing that the main reason was that fall provided plenty of dead and down material for fungi to eat during a time that had the right temperatures and enough rain to make the forest damp so that mushrooms can thrive.

So

many

cool

fungi!

But wait...

...there's more!

Perched under some devils club

Green

Hidden cliffs

Upon, reaching our overlook, we took some time to celebrate our accomplishment and nourish our bodies with the rest of the food from our lunches. After taking some water, we headed back down the trail, looking for a good spot to hold our closing circle. Unfortunately, during our descent, one of the boys accidentally rolled their ankle. The mentors wrapped it up and we made our way out of the woods together. The mentors tried to illustrate for us the link between our rapid descent on the trail and this injury. Hopefully, more than just the one of us who got hurt heard this message.  

Celebrating at the top

More fungi! 

We eventually found a proper spot for closing circle. Because we were running short on time, the mentors tasked us with shrinking our gratitude into one word during our Attitude of Gratitude circle. It sounded almost poetic as we went around the circle sharing one word of thanks each.

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

The Pine Martens Reconnect and Discover at Clayton Beach

Pine Martens (Martes americana) have an extremely high metabolic rate. They are known for their fierce hunting instincts, a trait that allows them to eat enough calories to keep up their fast paced lifestyle. As the boys gathered for the first time of their 2017/18 season, they certainly embodied the excited and curious demeanor of their animal counterparts. After finally checking everyone in, we were able to sit down for our opening circle.

Warm, sunny weather on our first day together!

There was so much anticipation for a day of exploring that our opening circle took us a bit longer than usual. The mentors expected this; after a long summer apart, it can be hard to remember some of the culture that we had created together last season. After using some breathing to calm our bodies and minds, we were able to agree on a general plan for the day. After one last stop at the restroom, we took to the trail and headed into the trees and towards the beach.

One interesting section of the stream

“The Ravine”, as it has been come to be known by Explorers throughout Explorers Club, is a small arroyo that seems to be about as close as you can get to a ‘perfect’ spot for exploring. There is a small creek containing frogs and salamanders, steep hills covered in tall sword ferns and huckleberry, prominent rocks that afford good views (excellent vantage points for the Spider during a game of Spiders Web!), and even some fossils in the eroding stone at the head of the creek! We enjoyed time to reconnect with each other by exploring and getting lost in all of the natural wonders that this place holds.

Any salamanders in here?

       

We found one!

After we had satiated some of our curiosity for the natural history mysteries all around us, the group decided to set up a game of Spiders Web. This is certainly an Explorer favorite and we all enjoyed getting to play this game. One of the mentors was elected to be our spider and provided a challenging game for the flies. While playing this game, we got to revisit our motto Play with honor.

Upon finishing our game of Spiders Web, we felt that it was time to have a snack and circle up to decide how best to spend the rest of our day. We all agreed that before our day ended, we wanted to get to the beach where we would be exposed to the warm sun and have a chance to investigate some interesting tide pools. So, we packed up our packs and descended through the forest toward the sandy beaches and impressive sandstone cliffs that give this stretch of coastline much of its character.

Getting ready to leave the ravine

Descending on steep trails to the beach

Some highlights from the beach include: finding a dead seal, discovering that thousands anemones can live in small cracks in the rock and watching red rock crabs scurry through some shallow, clear water. Of course, we had lots of fun climbing along the sandstone rocks that line this coastline and have been shaped into Dr. Seuss-esque formations by many years of wind and rain.

Checking out a dead harbor seal

The mystery below

Such an interesting place to explore!

At our closing circle, we had the opportunity to share our gratitude with each other for the first time since last spring. This practice of our motto Attitude of Gratitude helps us to remember that Our Cup Overflows while also continuing to build a strong sense of community. Many of us expressed specific gratitude for being able to spend a day together after a long summer apart. We made the short but steep hike back to the parking lot and met our rides. During the mentor debrief (after all of the boys had left), we shared our excitement for the coming year and for having the privilege to see how these boys will continue grow and learn together in their own, unique way.

Be sure to check out the rest of our photos from the day here!

Pine Martens Enjoy Sunshine and Discover Stinging Nettle at N. Galbraith

The Pine Martens met at N. Galbraith Mountain Trailhead for their second outing of the spring season. This is our second season together as a group and the mentors have happily noticed us getting much more comfortable with the culture and flow of Boys Explorers Club. We were lucky to have an outing on this day because this was the first sunny day in Bellingham in multiple weeks. We were excited to have a fun day of exploration and to continue our introduction to harvest.

Sun in the woods!

As we hiked through the regenerating forests of N. Galbraith, some of the sun's energy was able to sneak through the canopy and dappled the understory with patches of warm light. Not to far along the trail, we found some interesting downed trees, a spring, and even a cave (that was deeper than it initially appeared!) All of these cool things deserved our excited, curious investigation, so we took an hour or so to have some free exploration time.

A cave...

...that ended up going further than we first thought!

While we could have spent all day in this spot, the mentors reminded us that there were many more cool places to explore in this park so we packed up and hit the trail again.

We eventually broke out of the woods and into a clear cut area of this forest. This provided the opportunity for us to look at and talk about our earth skill (harvest) on a community wide scale. In addition to starting these discussions, this clear cut offered us another great learning opportunity.

While one of us was climbing over a downed log, they slipped and used their hand to catch their fall. They felt a serious stinging sensation in their hand and did the right thing by letting a mentor know right away. Upon reviewing the scene of the incident we discovered the culprit: a stinging nettle! We gathered around the plant and took a moment to listen to one our our mentors tell us more about this member of our forest community. We found that arming ourselves with information helped to alleviate our fears of getting stung from this delicious plant! We learned how to handle the leaves in a way that won't sting our hands or our mouths if we want a nutritious trailside snack. In an exhibition of bravery, the explorer who got stung by the nettle tasted it himself for the first time! While we are certainly excited to learn about more edible plants, we reminded ourselves of the rule about wild edibles: we always ask a mentor before we put anything in our mouths!

We meandered down through the clear cut and found a healthy patch of woods that surrounded a cool stream. It had been a long hike to this point, so many of us took a moment to eat some food and hydrate ourselves.

Having a snack

Some of us decided to take some time to do a little journaling

Of course we had to crawl up here

After some more exploration, it was time for a game. We got to play Meet-A-Tree, a game that helps us with our plant identification skills while also building trust among the members in our community. In this game, one of us was blindfolded and led to a tree by a fellow explorer. We then get to use all of our senses (minus taste!) to get to know this tree.

Leading each other over branches and around sword ferns

Smelling, touching....

...even listening to our trees!

Getting to know a tree like this implants the tree into our memory in a way that simply reading a field guide could not do.  

We were happy to have had a warm, dry day in what seems like an endless parade of gray skies and rain in the Pacific Northwest this year. We continued our study of the Art of Harvest by playing Meet-A-Tree and discovering the goods (delicious, nutritious) and the bads (stings) of nettles. Be sure to check out the pictures from the rest of our outing here.

Not a bad spot

The Pine Martens Drink Tea and Work Together at Whatcom Falls Park

Water, and lots of it, is arguably what the Pacific Northwest is most famous for and it defines many of the unique ecosystems that exist here.  Today, we Pine Martens got to see and experience this first hand as we explored together at Whatcom Falls.

As soon as we left the parking lot, we got to see a great example of how much water has fallen on our region recently.  As we peered over the edge of the bridge and looked down at the raging Whatcom Creek, we all discussed how fun it may be to raft down a river this fast! In the end, we decided it was definitely to risky to try ourselves.

We let our inner vision guide us and the mentors followed us to a great spot for opening circle.  We passed out our jobs and set the intention for the day, which included doing some learning about key plants in our area as well as making sure that we had enough time for free play and all of the wonderful lessons and experiences that grow organically from this kind of exploration.

Whatcom Creek was quite full

Getting a more close up view of the falls

This hill was steep enough to require the use of all four of our limbs!

Working together to build a fort

Getting to know some of the fundamental harvestable plants in Whatcom County

Making cedar-hemlock-licorice root fern tea!

Tea is a nice warm-up on a cold, wet day

Some martens guard a tree from a squirrel

We are one of the youngest groups in explorers club and are still learning about BEC culture and how to work together as a group.  A big part of group development in BEC is learning to respectfully listen to each other in order to work best as a group.  As young boys, we often struggle (understandably!) to hold our focus or listen to others.  Some of us, at various points throughout the day, became frustrated by the fact that, as a group, we are challenged by respectfully listening to each other.  If we continue to hold each other accountable, explore and play games together, and recognize that many of us are only just beginning to think in terms of group needs (rather than personal needs), we will be set up for success in our BEC journey as Pine Martens.

Today we got to practice working together while building an amazing fort.  We also learned the names of a few of the key plant species that populate our forests in Whatcom County.  Beyond the names, we even learned how to use a few of these plants to make ourselves a tasty, warm, and nutritious tea!  Having a full season of experience under our belt has allowed us to strengthen our sense of community, learn lots of fun games, and become more familiar with the BEC culture that lays the foundation for our progression through the program.  We are excited to keep growing closer to each other and the forest as we venture onward this season and continue to learn more about the Art of Harvest!

Make sure to check out the rest of the photos from this outing here!

PM Explore N. Chuckanut Mountain Trailhead 11/13/2016

Rain poured steadily from the low grey sky, dripping insidiously off the tips of cedar boughs and sword ferns. The water trickled between flat piles of soggy yellow alder leaves, and pooled on the edges of the gravel trail that faded up into the misty Chuckanuts. The boys, bundled in rubber boots and raincoats, were ready to trek into the sandstone mountains. It was raining and pouring, and we were ready to go exploring!

In Explorer’s Club, we love games that we can play on the go - trail games. One of our favorites is called “Hide!”, and we took every opportunity along the trail to pause for a round or two. If you don’t already know how to play, ask your explorer to tell you the rules.

As we got higher into the wet fog, the whole forest seemed to glow green. Bright green moss crawled up dusty grey trees, and one boy noticed a familiar plant poking out from the spongy moss mats: Licorice Fern. This is a plant whose rhizome (a type of root) contains an especially high concentration of sugary starch and, you guessed it, a licorice-like flavor. Historically, indigenous peoples in the Northwest would snack on this easily-accessible root as a quick pick-me-up on the go. It could also be dried and ground into a flour-like powder and used for baking. We encourage our explorers to use all their senses when we are observing the forest, and taste is an extra special one. But it’s also the sense that we have to be most discerning with when learning about new plants - our first priority is safety. After an adult mentor positively identified an edible plant, we talked about harvesting ethics, and how we place limits on our collection of resources to ensure its sustainability.

With water falling from the sky, it was no surprise that we found a tumbling waterfall just a bit further up the trail. The boys learned some lessons about risk management, after we asked them not to climb over wet rocks… but when a kid is wrapped in waterproof gear, sometimes they want to test its limits. We practiced our engineering skills below the waterfall by constructing a small dam (and removing it afterward to let the stream flow naturally), and then put our rain gear to the ultimate test of crawling through a rushing culvert. No one was hurt, but everyone walked away with a better understanding of risk vs reward and thoughtful decision making based on current conditions and individual preparedness.

Further down the trail we had a conversation about “playing with honor” when one player of “Hide!” was revealed by his fellow explorers (he was standing right behind me, moving as I turned, and I actually didn’t notice until his fellows laughed and pointed him out). He might have set a BEC Hide measure record!

Down the switchback trails, and we were back at the big Arroyo bridge. Dozens of people flanked the bridge, watching the salmon fight their way up the rapids. The boys learned how to observe this natural wonder without disturbing the fish, and we connected the experience to our service outing, where we were restoring habitat along Connelly Creek in order to help bring back the salmon runs there. Just around the corner of the trail, a large downed tree has created an exceptional natural stream crossing, and we crossed the emerald-carpeted bridge to our lunch spot.

After lunch, we climbed up the hill behind the log bridge. Our rainboots eroded chunks from the soil, and we connected again to our participation in environmental stewardship and restoration. We have an impact on the land while we live on it, and so we work actively to reduce our impact and create a sustainable, resilient earth.

We ended the day with an epic game of Spider’s Web, and of course the closing circle of gratitude. The boys shared one thing they were grateful for, and one thing they had learned about camouflage. Ask your explorer how they used some strategies of camouflage: stay low, go slow (and silent), break up your outline, interpose terrain between you and the person seeking you, and stay alert yourself. After our final apple snack, we tromped back down to the gravel lot and towards our warm, dry homes.